Prey Is An Excellent Homage To System Shock 2 That Was Finished In 20 Minutes

Arkane Studios’ sci-fi FPS horror game Prey is out and the reviews are trickling in. Based on the collective impressions so far, the game offers tight mechanics and a setting that follows the formula set by games like System Shock 2 closer than any other. In a rather surprising twist, however, it would seem that the game can actually be finished in less than 20 minutes if players really wanted to.

As The Verge notes, it’s not really surprising that Prey would be taking a lot of what made System Shock 2 such a great game since many of the original team behind that title are now part of Arkane. Aside from the formula of a protagonist who woke up alone in space only to be confronted monstrous aliens, there are plenty of subtle shout outs to the 90s horror classic.

With that said, the recently launched title does come with plenty of issues, with the messy setup being the biggest flaw. The grit is certainly there, along with the smooth gameplay, and the freedom of choices. However, with Prey being an enclosed open world of a title, there were bound to be some areas that could have been better developed.

What really makes Prey such a solid title, however, is the fact that the studio stuck to its guns and created a well-crafted horror experience. By most accounts, the mechanics are tight, the pacing is gut-clenching, and the story is a complex narrative with plenty of depth.

Naturally, being able to appreciate all of these elements require quite a bit of time spent in actually being immersed in them. For those who have no interest in bothering with the journey and just going straight to the finish line, however, they can watch Twitch streamer DraQu’s speed run of the game.

The content creator not only finished the game in less than 20 minutes, Polygon reports, he did so 20 hours after finishing it in 44 minutes. Now, it’s worth noting that this short session involved no side-quests or completion events, and required DraQu to perform some frankly unorthodox moves. As such, it shouldn’t be taken as a direct representation of how short Prey is.