Even though I didn’t have all the abilities I needed to exploit them, it’s fun just to try to spot all the ways into a locked room and appreciate the thought that went into designing these puzzles. (Granted, that’s also shown up in recent Deus Ex and Dishonored games, though not on this style of open map.) One character build might look for opportunities to hack into computer terminals to bypass locked doors, while another would use brute force to open doors or remove barricades, and still others might just search the environment until they find the passcode written carelessly on a post-it note somewhere. What makes Prey feel more distinct is the flexible, semi-open-world level design that allows you to reach objectives by different paths, depending on your strengths. Most of the abilities themselves don’t feel like much of anything special, as things like enhanced strength, repair skill, the ability to move objects or kill with your mind, and even resurrect the dead to fight for you have all appeared in plenty of games lately. That, combined with being rewarded for picking up literally any piece of useful gear or actual trash thanks to a cartoonish recycling system that lets you turn even old banana peels into raw materials for manufacturing weapons and upgrades, made me eager to turn over every metaphorical rock on Talos. I enjoyed uncovering how that history unfolded in bits and pieces gleaned from news articles and tidbits on the brief loading screens. It’s an impressively fleshed-out universe, built around an alternate history of the space race that somehow led to an elaborate orbital station, complete with artificial gravity, where touchscreen computers exist side by side with film projectors and rotary telephones.

There’s so much storytelling treasure to uncover here, ranging from squabbles among co-workers to more personal notes like a scrapped proposal speech, Dungeons & Dragons character sheets, and even hilariously terrible in-universe science-fiction novel snippets. Between terminals containing all sorts of emails, well-acted audio logs, and thoughtful environmental storytelling, developer Arkane has done a fantastic job of making this bizarre place feel lived-in long before I ever met another living human. If you die a lot, at least you can listen to some catchy tunes.“The most interesting stories were the smaller ones I came across, those of the people who lived on Talos before, during, and after it was attacked by aliens. Orbital Bullet features a pounding electronica soundtrack composed by Juha Korpelainen & Niilo Takalainen. Don’t worry though, you will have plenty opportunity to die. Are you the type of person who enjoys some good ol’ pain? Good, because we got a Streak System that will make the game considerably more difficult (coupled with a few other surprises) with each completed run, until your streak ends. Unlock four different classes to choose from, like the turret-carrying Engineer or the fire-fueled Hellion, each with a different skill tree. “We need guns, lots of guns.” Unlock, find, or buy more than 42 different guns, weapon upgrades and various power-enhancing perks that will change the way you’ll play. Build your own custom skill tree with our Dynamic Skill Trees! Make clever decisions to empower skills and reach new power spikes while the tree changes every time you play.

Don’t like your starting weapon? Unlock a new more powerful one right from the start and get your revenge. Or activate the Combo System, to tremendously increase the pacing of the game and receive certain multipliers to currency drops and EXP. How about a bigger Medi-Backpack or extra Shield to last a little bit longer? Having a hard time making progress? Don’t worry, we got you covered! After each death you will be able to spend Nanobytes to receive permanent upgrades and skills. Fast paced unrelenting pixel style-action: each death is permanent, but let’s be honest, dying is part of the fun. Or are you more of a rocket launcher fella? Make the most satisfying long-range curved snipes you have ever done or blast and shred enemies with a load of your hyper shotgun. “Just one-more-run”: Procedurally generated planets, mean enemies, bad-ass bosses, a diverse weaponry and game changing upgrades guarantee addictive gameplay. 360° hard-boiled gunplay: Projectiles traverse in a 360°-degree pattern allowing for a new unrivaled gunplay feeling. TRIGGERFINGER LICKIN’ GOOD ROGUE-LITE ACTION

A fast paced 360° action-platformer with rogue-lite elements

Orbital bullet xbox