Prey

Prey is a first-person shooter developed by Human Head Studios and published by 2K Games, originally released in July 2006 for Windows and Xbox 360. The game had a notoriously long development cycle, beginning in the late 1990s before being revived on the id Tech 4 engine. Players assume the role of Tommy, a Cherokee garage mechanic who, along with his girlfriend and grandfather, is abducted by an alien race known as the Sphere. The aliens seek to harvest humans as biological material, and Tommy must fight his way through the vast, living spacecraft. Prey is notable for introducing a range of innovative mechanics: portal-based teleportation, gravity manipulation that allows walking on walls and ceilings, spirit walking (where Tommy leaves his body to explore ethereal realms), and a death mechanic that sends the player to a spiritual afterlife instead of a traditional game over screen. The game also features a persistent lighter used for illumination, replacing the finite flashlight common to other shooters of its era. Multiplayer modes, branded as 'MultiPrey,' incorporate the same gravity and spirit-walking features. Critical reception praised Prey's unique mechanics and visual design but noted that its innovations felt underutilized and that the core gameplay remained a fairly traditional corridor shooter.