Prey 2 Concept Documents Imagine a "Spiritual Successor to System Shock 2"
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Last year, following reports that Dishonored's Arkane Studios had taken over development of Prey 2, Bethesda issued a strong statement of denial. Arkane is not working on the game, said the publisher. So take what you're about to read with a Hulk-sized pinch of salt.
Slides from what purport to be early concept documents by Arkane Studios show that Prey 2 could be (or once was) intended as a spiritual successor to System Shock 2; a single-player, first-person, “immersive sim action RPG” aiming for a Q3 2016 release.
There’s absolutely nothing to suggest that the documents are legitimate, and if they are then they’re certainly old (there’s references to Durango and Orbis, the Xbox One and PS4 pre-production codenames). It's also possible that the concept was abandoned in favour of a different project or a different approach. We don't know. But it’s all compelling enough to demand a closer look.
So here we go. According to the documents, Prey 2 is (or was) codenamed Project Danielle and is (or was) intended to build on the blueprint laid down by System Shock 2, which is referred to in the docs as “the king of immersive sim RPGs” and “one of the most anticipated cult sequels.” Arkane's Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith, it should be noted, helped create the System Shock series.
The documents make reference to “deep systems with original complimentary properties that encourage player creativity” and a “10-20 hour” story that is “highly repayable due to built in variability in the design and support for multiple play styles.”
Along with this open approach, the documents reveal level concepts that “avoid hallway-room-hallway play,” instead offering “verticality” and “multiple paths through the environment.”
There’s also an outline of a possible story opening, which follows a hitman in Bangkok 2072 who is looking after Danielle, a “young robotic girl he developed the AI for.”
Project Danielle’s documents also refer to new twists on System Shock 2’s stealth, hacking, mutants, robots, turrets, audio logs and resurrect chambers, plus “more cool shit.” The documents also state that “the game should be hard!” and feature “monkeys”. It’s a super compelling pitch.
But we don’t know if it’s legitimate. Our advice is this: presume it’s bullshit for now and have a look at the documents from the perspective of, ‘Would I play this game?’
[via AGB]