I'll be honest, I wanted to enjoy this. Seriously, I did! I thought it would be an interesting addition to the Prey franchise, taking it to a new level and bringing people back in while we wait for a potential sequel. But in the end, it's rife with problems throughout. Let me explain to you my journey from beginning to end:

To begin with, I didn't actually know where to get the game. Based on how it was announced in Prey's announcement page, I thought it would've been a DLC like Mooncrash but it didn't pop up in the DLC field. After a while of messing around with the base game + DLC, thinking it was maybe an update for Mooncrash, I finally found out that it's a separate game entirely... WHY?! It could've just been a DLC like Mooncrash and it would've been fine! It would even save filespace that way.

I finally got Typhon Hunter and installed it. Initally, I thought the splashscreen looked cool and gave me a feeling this would be alright. One click later and I changed my mind. The menu is horrible! The design is bland, the options are lacking and you didn't really need to impliment a 3D menu outside of the VR mode (I'll get to that later). You could've literally just used the same menu as the base game, which you did in Mooncrash, but change the background image.

I messed around with some of the customisation options (Palette swaps for Morgan, hats for Mimics) before joining my first game. Only to find out that, for some reason, it was bugged. I want to believe it wasn't but I'm sure it was in hindsight. What had basically happened was that I joined the game as a spectator (flying start) and a few seconds later, Morgan was killed and... That was it. He was deader than a can of spam, despite him being the only character capable of respawning. After about two minutes, I left and my graphics bugged out entirely. I had to reboot my computer to fix it.

Once I finally got the game to work, the gameplay was... Alright, I guess? It has some major issues, like the lack of a mute button for both yourself and other players, but it's basically just prophunt but with "Not a Mimic!" post-it notes everywhere. I'll admit there's some new things that do mix it up somewhat, like Mimics having limited Psi for their abilities. This forces them into the open to collect coral after a while. Another one is that Morgan can get a psychoscope after a while, letting him see every Mimic no matter what (while also playing Semi-Sacred Geometry in the background). But despite all this, it's really just prophunt but with more issues.

For reference, I have a Oculus Rift CV1 + Touch controllers. And honestly, it's the part of the game I enjoyed the most, despite a few flaws such as the controls. The puzzles were interesting and explorting locations was fun. Sadly however, there's only three actual puzzle rooms in the game. One set in Morgan's Apartment, another set in Morgan's Office and the third is set in The Yellow Tulip (the bar in Crew Quarters). If you've got your VR legs and are good at escape-the-room puzzle games, you'll probably finish them all in about 1-2 hours tops.

There is another VR area but it doesn't have any puzzles, acting as a museum for the game. It contains all the weapons, a few enemies and some backstory ripped straight from the museum area in the Lobby. It even has a little display about how recyclers work (how cute). However, the recycler display is the most interactive part. And all you do is push a button, a light comes on and a sound effect plays. Everything else is just for show! Even the weapons! Come on guys, surely it wouldn't have been that hard to implement working guns in VR.

Prey: Typhon Hunter is prophunt but with major issues, despite some interesting ideas. No text chat, no tutorial, no mic mute, no matchmaking menu. The only reason to pick this up is for the VR puzzles but that's honestly it. Just stick with the base game and Mooncrash, they're much better. However, I wouldn't blame Arkane for this. Considering how much of a crapshoot Fallout 76 is, chances are that Bethesda caused this in some way. It just makes sense, you know?

If you read my entire review, thank you! This is my first time writing out any kind of proper review and this game just ticked me off enough for me to do it. If you've noticed any errors such as mispellings or inaccurate info, please tell me in the comments. Your feedback is much appreciated and will actually be listened to! (It's sad that I have to say that)

[h1]A naive beginning[/h1] I'll be honest, I wanted to enjoy this. Seriously, I did! I thought it would be an interesting addition to the Prey franchise, taking it to a new level and bringing people back in while we wait for a potential sequel. But in the end, it's rife with problems throughout. Let me explain to you my journey from beginning to end: [h1]Getting the game[/h1] To begin with, I didn't actually know where to get the game. Based on how it was announced in Prey's announcement page, I thought it would've been a DLC like Mooncrash but it didn't pop up in the DLC field. After a while of messing around with the base game + DLC, thinking it was maybe an update for Mooncrash, I finally found out that it's a [i]separate game entirely[/i]... [b]WHY?![/b] It could've just been a DLC like Mooncrash and it would've been fine! It would even save filespace that way. [h1]First impressions[/h1] I finally got Typhon Hunter and installed it. Initally, I thought the splashscreen looked cool and gave me a feeling this would be alright. One click later and I changed my mind. The menu is [b]horrible![/b] The design is bland, the options are lacking and you didn't really need to impliment a 3D menu outside of the VR mode (I'll get to that later). You could've literally just used the same menu as the base game, which you did in Mooncrash, but change the background image. [h1]Attempting to play[/h1] I messed around with some of the customisation options (Palette swaps for Morgan, hats for Mimics) before joining my first game. Only to find out that, for some reason, it was bugged. I want to believe it wasn't but I'm sure it was in hindsight. What had basically happened was that I joined the game as a spectator (flying start) and a few seconds later, Morgan was killed and... That was it. He was deader than a can of spam, despite him being the only character capable of [i]respawning.[/i] After about two minutes, I left and my graphics bugged out entirely. [b]I had to reboot my computer to fix it.[/b] [h1]The gameplay[/h1] Once I finally got the game to work, the gameplay was... Alright, I guess? It has some major issues, like the lack of a mute button for both yourself and other players, but it's basically just prophunt but with "Not a Mimic!" post-it notes everywhere. I'll admit there's some new things that do mix it up somewhat, like Mimics having limited Psi for their abilities. This forces them into the open to collect coral after a while. Another one is that Morgan can get a psychoscope after a while, letting him see every Mimic no matter what (while also playing Semi-Sacred Geometry in the background). But despite all this, it's really just prophunt but with more issues. [h1]The VR gameplay[/h1] For reference, I have a Oculus Rift CV1 + Touch controllers. And honestly, it's the part of the game I enjoyed the most, despite a few flaws such as the controls. The puzzles were interesting and explorting locations was fun. Sadly however, there's only three actual puzzle rooms in the game. One set in Morgan's Apartment, another set in Morgan's Office and the third is set in The Yellow Tulip (the bar in Crew Quarters). If you've got your VR legs and are good at escape-the-room puzzle games, you'll probably finish them all in about 1-2 hours tops. [h1]A VR showcase[/h1] There [i]is[/i] another VR area but it doesn't have any puzzles, acting as a museum for the game. It contains all the weapons, a few enemies and some backstory ripped straight from the museum area in the Lobby. It even has a little display about how recyclers work (how cute). However, the recycler display is the most interactive part. And all you do is push a button, a light comes on and a sound effect plays. Everything else is just for show! Even the weapons! Come on guys, [i]surely[/i] it wouldn't have been that hard to implement working guns in VR. [h1]To sum it all up[/h1] Prey: Typhon Hunter is prophunt but with major issues, despite some interesting ideas. No text chat, no tutorial, no mic mute, no matchmaking menu. The only reason to pick this up is for the VR puzzles but that's honestly it. Just stick with the base game and Mooncrash, they're [b]much[/b] better. However, I wouldn't blame Arkane for this. Considering how much of a crapshoot Fallout 76 is, chances are that Bethesda caused this in some way. It just makes sense, you know? [h1]A thank you[/h1] If you read my entire review, thank you! This is my first time writing out any kind of proper review and this game just ticked me off enough for me to do it. If you've noticed any errors such as mispellings or inaccurate info, please tell me in the comments. Your feedback is much appreciated and will actually be listened to! (It's sad that I have to say that)