Mobile
and PC/console/handheld games are several worlds apart. The biggest console game
of the year, Halo 3, retails for $60. I’m not sure what the biggest mobile game
has been, but you can be sure it retails for less than $20.
PC/console/handheld have an elaborate control setup, either built-in (handheld)
or external. Mobile games use a number keypad that was designed not for gaming
but for dialing and possibly texting.
PC/console/handheld games are played by every kind of gamer. Mobile games
primarily reach an audience of casual and so-called “non” gamers. They do not
reach the hardcore crowd. That’s why you don’t see Nintendo making cell phones.
They know that the best way to reach new and existing gamers is to create a
dedicated game machine.
Prey Mobile
Cell phone
users don’t care. They don’t anticipate the release of new games – they only go
looking for them when they’re bored and want something to play. If they expect
anything, it’s that the games will be simple, colorful, and offer gameplay
that’s very straightforward. They also want the ability to leave the game at any
time without feeling obligated to “save” first.
Thus, we – the
hardcore gamers – don’t think that Halo, the most mainstream FPS, will appear on
a Nokia device anytime in the near future. A scaled-down version, maybe. But not
the main game. And we never expect to see a hardcore gamers’ game – something
only we would be familiar with – on a mobile phone. But as we all know,
there is a first time fore everything. Enter the release of Prey, an unlikely
game for an unlikely platform.
This formation is doing its best Han Solo impersonation.
Prey is not the
kind of game that the average cell user will play, leaving the hardcore crowd as
its primary market, a group of gamers who get their on-the-go fix from PSP and
Nintendo DS. That poses a problem for the mobile version. It certainly looks the
part. The screenshots are eye-catching with rich textures, diverse environments,
and a true FPS view.
The gameplay,
however, is not much like Prey, or any other FPS you may have played in the last
10 years. Remember Doom for the 32X? Prey mobile looks better but runs slower
because the hardware (a cell phone) just isn’t powerful enough. The controls are
acceptable considering you don’t have a controller or mouse and keyboard
support. Use either the arrow buttons or the number keys to strafe, move, and
attack. You can also tilt the camera up to look around.
Prey is a step
forward, and I hope to see more of this in the future (with a frame rate we can
stomach). But unless game developers can push cell phone manufacturers into
producing better devices, they won’t have a prayer in advancing mobile-game content.
|
|
Gameplay: 5.0
The effort is
noteworthy and important to mobile game development. Console, PC and handheld
first-person shooters didn’t get good overnight. They achieved “Halo” and “Call
of Duty” status over time – a very long time. Unfortunately, that means it’s
going to be years before cell phones are powerful enough to produce a comparable
experience.
Graphics:
8.0
Prey looks great
when it’s not moving. If you can ignore the frame rate, it still looks pretty
good – much more advanced than anything else a mobile game has produced.
Sound: 3.0
No better than any
other mobile game.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The hardest part is
working the controls and enduring the frame rate. The game itself is very easy.
Concept: 6.5
No brilliant ideas
in this port.
Overall: 5.0
Prey won’t lure
gamers away from their handheld game devices, but it is an ambitious step ahead
of the pack. The graphics are like nothing you’ve seen before on a phone. But
the frame rate is too slow to produce enjoyable gameplay.
