"Prey" was first announced in 1995, though it took more the a decade after that for the game to be released, one of the early first-person shooters for Xbox 360. Similar in some ways to Valve's "Portal" with its gravity play and... well... portals, "Prey" both sold and reviewed well. Rights to the series recently passed to Bethesda Softworks, which announced today that a sequel is coming our way in 2012 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows platforms.
Unfortunately, that's all that was announced, other than confirmation that original developer Human Head Studios will be returning to deliver "Prey 2." The game will be powered the id Tech engine from id Software, which is also owned by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media. More details are coming in the May issues of Official Xbox Magazine and PlayStation: The Official Magazine, so expect to get a fuller scoop soon.
"We are thrilled to be working with Bethesda on 'Prey 2,'" project lead Chris Rhinehart said in the press release. "'Prey 2' will provide gamers the opportunity to explore a new facet of the 'Prey' universe, one that offers fast-paced action in an open, alien world. We’re excited to show gamers the title we have been working on and hope they will be as excited by this title as we are."
Wait just a darn minute, Chris... what's all that talk about an "open, alien world"? The original "Prey" was a pretty linear shooter. There were spatial puzzles in large environments to be sorted out, but you spent the entire game working your way through the corridors of an alien spacecraft. An open, alien world is a much different proposition. Intriguing, yes?