Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Tested on: Xbox One
Prey: Mooncrash – Review
When Prey released in May 2017, people were expecting it to be the sequel to the game Prey that released in 2006 after the planned sequel was cancelled due to development hell. None of that proved to be true as the 2017 release of Prey was largely unrelated to that game. Now, in June this year, Bethesda has released the first DLC for Prey called Mooncrash. Being totally different in mission objectives as it turned out to be a survival mode in which you need to escape the moon in a limited amount of time.
Story
In Prey: Mooncrash you’ll enter a simulation inside a space station near the moon. The main objective is to escape the moon filled with alien creatures called Typhons with the chosen character. At first the only available character to play with is the Volunteer. By finding clues about available escape pods you’ll find your way out of the moon. After escaping the first time with the Volunteer, the simulation terminal you’re in will be upgraded. By escaping the first time with the Volunteer, you will unlock the second character, the Engineer. Many dangers await you on the moon as the dangerous enemies from the base game will be even stronger.
Graphics
Bethesda is not a publisher of which you expect the best graphics but they have delivered with Prey and Prey: Mooncrash cause it looks amazing. The Typhons look amazing and It’s clear that they’ve invested a lot of time in designing all these freaky aliens. The environments look very good with the moon surface being very detailed and realistic.
Sound
The sound has been well chosen for this type of game and the setting. Eerie and creepy tunes fill the game. Every different alien creature or Typhon has its own distinguishable sounds so you know something is near you. When gaining access to certain areas, a creepy tune will play, immediately giving you a tense feeling as you know something will come at you in the next few moments.
Gameplay
Prey is a First Person Shooter in which you need to defend yourself against all kinds of alien creatures. The DLC Mooncrash places you in a simulation that takes place on the moon and your objective is to escape. You need to defend yourself against all the strong alien creatures, so luckily, the game features many weapons too. There are ballistic weapons like a silenced pistol and a shotgun and electrical weapons like a stun gun and the Q-Beam. The Q-Beam is a big gun that shoots a laser to disintegrate your enemies. Many throwables are available that all work differently on different types of opponents.
When you initially start the game, you start with barely anything and you need to scrounge for loot and weapons. After the first completion of your escape you can assemble your loadout by spending currency that you’ve earned by completing objectives and killing enemies. Your possible loadout will be expanded when you find fabrication plans for guns, ammo and consumables. This will give you a head start in your next playthrough. Instead of upgrading your weapons, you will find weapons that will already be upgraded to some point with extras like fire damage.
The main opponents in Prey and Prey: Mooncrash are alien creatures called: Typhons. Typhons are hostile aliens that were initially being kept on the Talos I space station for study. Now in the simulation of Prey: Mooncrash, these creatures have spread to the moon. For example, Mimics are the smallest of the Typhon race. These small creatures can change their form into any inanimate object in the neighborhood like a cup, a headset and even food. Bigger opponents like phantoms and weavers form an even harder challenge as they don’t have the ability to camouflage themselves but they have more powerful offensive abilities and are much harder to kill. Rushing in for the kill won’t be the best tactic to oppose these feisty opponents.
Five characters can be chosen in Prey: Mooncrash but in your first simulation, there’s only one available to start with. First you’ll start with the Volunteer. After completing your first escape with the Volunteer you’ll unlock the Engineer. After completing other given objectives to unlock the other characters, you’ll get to play as the Security Officer, the Director and the Custodian. This does mean that you have to go through multiple playthroughs with success to keep on unlocking more in this DLC. Patience is needed to keep on going.
When you die in the simulation, you can go on as another crew member. If all crew members have died in the same simulation, the simulation will reset and you will need to start over with all the crew members. This reset will also spawn new enemies and new loot. The area and spawn point will stay the same.
All of these characters have their own abilities that can be installed by using Neuromods. Neuromods can be found by looting everything around you, killing strong enemies and you can even craft them yourself if you’ve found the Neuromod fabrication plan. Some examples of these abilities are placing a turret to help you in your fight against enemies or a kinetic blast to blow your enemies away.
Other abilities that are more like perks are also available like a hacking ability to get past security doors that can only be opened by having the correct password, a matching keycard or a high enough hacking ability. Leverage is used to remove obstacles that prevent you from getting inside a room. Abilities like regeneration and other resourceful abilities will make your escape from the moon a lot easier when unlocked. Each character has its own class abilities and abilities they can learn by researching the typhons, the alien creatures that live on the moon.
When you’re in the simulation for a long time, the simulation will steadily get corrupted. This corruption has 5 levels, Level 1 being no problem at all. When level 5 of corruption is reached even more powerful enemies will spawn everywhere giving you almost no place to run to. In the beginning, it’s recommended to complete your escape before the simulation will reach corruption level 5 or you will die!
Conclusion
Prey: Mooncrash is a good DLC that offers enough content if you put enough effort in it. It requires several playthroughs to complete everything that can be done in this DLC. The setting environment and many places to visit offer you enough content to spend a lot of time in this game again. But if you don’t like to do the same thing over and over again, this expansion may not be the one for you. If you like to grind, loot and replay missions a lot, then this DLC offers all that and more!
Prey: Mooncrash - Review,
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