Full disclosure: I’m a total mark for Prey and stories like it. So when I heard there was a Digital Foundry video (which are always amazing and informative and inspire a constant state of personal and professional jealousy towards) I rolled my eyes so hard my eyelashes twisted. Because, come on. Does a game like Prey, which is so clearly a story-driven enterprise, really need to go on trial before the release in the court of spec-obsessed fanboy flame wars? The DF video is a piece of fine reporting, and uncovered a controller latency issue on PS4 that Bethesda addressed with specifics:
To address input lag, the fix within the final release in the game changes the raw input curve on the PS4 controller to be more responsive at the low end, and to tweak responsiveness to the center point on the controller (narrowing the dead zone.). The net result is faster/more responsive movement.
The problem isn’t the reporting. The problem is the response. It didn’t take long for the troll armies to arrive on the Plains of YouTubery and begin attacking each other. What sparked the battle? The Xbox version runs at 900p and the PS4 runs at 1080p, so clearly the PS4 version is superior and the console is superior and the owner is superior. Actually the PS4 is having controller latency issues and what about scorpio it’s going to blow ps4 pro away with native 4k so we’ll have the last laugh this isn’t over thank you fuck you bye. And notice how none of this is actually about Prey ?
And, yes, I know there is plenty of coverage about the Prey demo based on the merits of its story and gameplay. And there should be. We’ve been fortunate enough to do not one, but two, Prey demos so far and I really like what I’ve seen. To me, the moment when you realize Morgan has to smash the window of his/her apartment to enter Talos 1, revealing the depth of the simulation, the game is potentially iconic.
READ: Two Dorks Play The Latest 'Prey' Demo
Depending on how the full release of Prey shakes out, I have a hunch people will be referring to that moment for years. It is very challenging to design scenes like that which encapsulate the kind of storytelling wholly unique to gaming. Cutscenes are cutscenes and dialogue is dialogue, but this is an interactive moment where player agency makes you an active metaphor. To teach you that nothing in Prey can be trusted on sight Arkane makes you shatter the world. I obviously nerd out for things like that and have been clamoring for the full story ever since.
And while I get why people say it’s easier to just ignore the fanboys and the trolls and the pits of despair found in comments section, I don’t think the problem gets solved by ignoring it. It’s about context. Hypercompetitive multiplayer and esports games? Yeah, let’s talk framerates and latency because the game is about winning. A haunting sci-fi thriller that invokes Bioshock and System Shock and 2001: A Space Odyssey ? Maybe we shouldn’t tolerate the people screaming that they go down steps more slowly on one console version. They’re missing the point. They need to smash the window.
