If it walks like a metroidvania and quacks like a metroidvania…
Prey‘s reboot is a shakeup to more than just the narrative elements. It’s seemingly also a change to the very structure of the experience. Prey (2006) was a linear game, featuring 22 isolated levels. This Prey looks to be more akin to a metroidvania.
Bethesda recently released a video that talks about all the secrets from Prey‘s E3 trailer. In it, creative director Raphael Colantonio explains how this game encourages backtracking and re-exploring areas. “The space station can be explored in a continuous way. This is not mission after mission after mission. Everything is continuous,” Colantonio says. “You can always come back to where you were before. The context may have changed. And you can also visit it outside in zero-G and go from different airlocks to different airlocks and find shortcuts.”
That sure sounds a lot like a metroidvania. We don’t yet know the true purpose that backtracking will serve. If it’s to gain optional abilities and unlock new areas, well, that really sounds a lot like a metroidvania.
While Prey isn’t releasing until sometime next year, we’re probably going to learn a little more about it in the very near future. QuakeCon is taking place this weekend in Dallas, and that seems like a perfect place for Bethesda to reveal a little bit more.
