Sony is bringing a wildly ambitious title to the PlayStation 5 in early 2021 and impressively, the game in question, Prey for the Gods, is currently in development by only three people and already appears to be checking off all the right boxes.
At first glance and based on the game’s premise, it seems the three-man development team, No Matter Studios, wanted to see what it would be like if you took the unique giant encounters of Shadow of the Colossus, and also grounded the experience with hand-to-hand combat, the use of a bow and sword, as well as, a trusty grappling hook.
Now, speaking of the three-member developer, No Matter Studios is a tiny studio of three, and the game Prey for the Gods is a crowdfunded title that has been in development since 2016. At that time No Matter Studios released the game’s first trailer, which offered a somber, icy tone, showcasing a lone female protagonist who seems determined to conquer the elements of her snow-scaped environment and its larger than life creatures, with some of these beasts even taking flight.
Initially, the trailer reveals a wolf dragging a body past frozen corpses leaving us scratching our head. Then the female protagonist is shown fighting for survival within this frozen wasteland and also attempting to ride this massive flying beast, to which she is then shown slowly falling almost forever to her demise. The trailer concludes with the wolf walking towards where the protagonist has fallen.
Could she have been the body being dragged by the wolf at the beginning of the trailer or was the wolf dragging another poor soul who, like many others, have attempted the seemingly impossible task of conquering these god-like beasts? This makes us very interested!
According to No Matter Studios, Prey for the Gods is a brutal journey set on a desolate frozen island, where your only chance of survival is to destroy the very gods you believe in. So based on the gameplay trailer the beast within are in fact gods of legend worshiped by the natives of the land, and you the player are one such worshiper. Yet, to what extent? And why must you destroy the Gods you believe in to survive?
While the initial trailer tugged the lines of despair, the latest trailer maintained a more hopeful tone, giving the protagonist the potential of triumph in the face of uncertainty. While the trailer doesn’t explain much about the Gods other than their sheer size and destructive might, it does appear these Gods may have weak points ala Shadow of the Colossus. Also, we noticed that the main character wears different outfits in the trailer, including the initial trailer. Maybe we’re stretching it here, but that could be a sign that the game may involve a progressive skill tree as players advance, or maybe it is simply cosmetics.
Maybe the grapple hook on display is not a tool you start with, as the device is nowhere to be seen in the initial trailer. Nor is the sword. Then again, that trailer was revealed back in 2016 and what we are seeing today could be newly added additions players will start with. We certainly hope not. I love the idea of progression as you best each of the gods, and needing certain upgrades to ultimately experience the game to its potentially epic conclusion.
We also must point out that in the initial 2016 trailer, the scene where our star of the show is falling from deathly heights does take center stage as a significant aspect of the game. However, in the latest trailer you can see that our heroine has the ability of flight or should we say gliding with style with some sort of material being used as a parachute.
According to No Matter Studios, back in 2016, the game development was focused on PS4 with several optimizations over a series of months that managed to get the game up and running at a solid 30fps via the Unity engine, again, on the PS4. And while the game currently looks great on PS4 and runs well according to the dev team, the PS5 is where the game truly shines.
Game director, Brian Parnell goes on to say, “On PS5 the game is truly amazing. 60fps right out of the gates, at max graphical settings, full shadows, high res textures it is awesome. Load times are dramatically reduced — it runs like a dream on PS5.”
He continues, “Of course, our next thought was DualSense. We had played a couple demos from Sony showing how immersive it could be. Our minds were blown; DualSense is such a big deal. Feeling your bow draw back and the resistance match on the controller’s adaptive triggers is so visceral. Feeling your feet crunch through deep snow, the tug of your sail cloth popping open as you leap into the air, or feeling the wind blow — all of these impacts are felt in your hands as you control your character.”
“It’s so satisfying and incredibly immersive. For a game like ours, it brings so many details of our world to life and makes interactions that much more compelling. We’re still digging into the DualSense controller and will continue to tune it as we polish the game for our launch.”
“We want everyone to be able to play the PS5 version when they can so Prey for the Gods will have a free upgrade from the PS4 to PS5. This means you can buy it on PS4 and when you pick up a PS5 console the game will automatically upgrade when you play it on the PS5 version.”
According to the studio, the game is in the final stages of development and expected to launch early Q1, 2021 on PS4 and PS5. We certainly have our eye on this one!