Prey for the Gods is an upcoming indie monster hunter game that looks like the developers- No Matter Studios- took Shadow of the Colossus, Skyrim, and Bloodborne, threw them into a blender, and added a dash of survival horror for good measure.
Backed by a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, the Prey for the Gods Kickstarter campaign has raised over $500,000 USD from over 14,000 supporters to bring their idea to life.
With Prey for the Gods coming to Windows and both PS4 and Xbox One, No Matter Studios plans to have gamers worldwide scaling mountain sized baddies by 2017. In this article we’ll cut through the hype for this ambitious project and find out about the planned features for the final game, how far along the development team is, and some history on the studio behind the game.
The World of Prey for the Gods
Prey for the Gods plans to put players in the shoes of a lone hero sent to the edge of a dying world, tasked with uncovering the mystery behind a never-ending winter. Part survival horror, players will begin the game with only the clothes upon their back to survive the massive foes they encounter.
The core features No Matter have for their offering are varied and ambitious. No Matter are promising to deliver colossal battles with gigantic foes, with combat involving scaling giant enemies to bring them down. The worldspace design is intended to create a vast and mysterious atmosphere of intense survival gameplay where navigate dynamic snow, weather systems and terrain. No Matter boast a dynamic day and night system that affects the weather and landscape of the game, with a nonlinear storyline and gameplay that allows players to choose when they want to battle, and how.
The unique gameplay of Prey for the Gods is designed to allow players to immerse themselves in a dangerous and ever changing world full of ancient temples and fallen heroes ready to loot for weapons, supplies, secrets and treasures. Players will be rewarded for risky exploration in the snowbound world of Prey for the Gods, with becoming lost a very real possibility. Hunting for food, seeking shelter in ice caves, and retracing their path in the snow by following their own footprints, players are placed in an unforgiving and dynamic world where the treacherous weather system can change from a sunny day to freezing blizzard at a moment’s notice.
Gameplay
No Matter Studios describe the gameplay of Prey for the Gods as a combination of Shadow of the Colossus, Deus Ex, DayZ, and BloodBorne, with tight controls, action packed boss fights, and an emphasis on exploration and discovery. Prey for the Gods is intended to be played with either a keyboard/mouse combo, or a gamepad such as a PS4 or Xbox One controller.
The hero of the game is controlled from a third person perspective and basic player actions include attack, move, dodge and climb. No Matter describe the combat system as ‘simple to learn and critical to master’ with an emphasis placed on timing in dodging and maneuvering around enemy attacks. The combat of Prey for the Gods is served fast, brutal, and a la carte- players must form their own plan of attack for each individual enemy and attack them in the best way they see fit.
The enemies of Prey for the Gods are all unique, and require unique combat strategies to defeat them. Each enemy will have specific weaknesses to exploit before the player can climb and destroy them. Players have multiple methods of attacking each enemy, such as attacking giants head on and dodging their massive blows with pinpoint accuracy to strike at the opportune moment, or utilizing stealth techniques to approach unsuspecting enemies unseen. Weapons are varied, from swords to bows and more- players can even use a grappling hook to catapult themselves towards enemies to fight them hand to hand.
Prey for the Gods will offer players choice in the way they engage their enemies, and choice in the way they survive the tough in game environment. Weapons can break in the midst of combat, arrows are finite and the player can run out without careful planning, so players must be tactical in their allocation of in game resources.
Music & Sound
The musical genius behind the soundtrack of Prey for the Gods is composer Ian Dorsch. Dorsch has over fifteen years experience in composing and creating music for the game industry, and has contributed to massive triple A titles such as Gears of War and Xbox fitness. Dorsch is no stranger to the world of indie game development either, having worked on Airborn – Pino’s Journey and Polygon.
No Matter Studios has engaged Skewsound, a sound and music production studio, to bring life and sound to the world of Prey for the Gods. Skewsound has worked on a wide range of projects including Chariot, Lost Within, Knee Deep, Magic Circle and RockBand 4.
The No Matter Team
No Matter Studios is a three man team with over thirty years combined experience. Art and Design Director Brian Parnell has been working in the gaming industry since his first job as a Nintendo game tester in 2004, and has worked as an artist on many well known games such as Titan Quest, Rockband 2 and Dawn of War: Soulstorm.
Tim Wiese and Hung-Chien Liao head up the programming arm of the No Matter team and brings over a decade years experience in game programming to the table, both having experience working as Environment Artists, Technical Artists and Engineers.
No Matter launched their Kickstarter campaign on the sixth of July 2016, and in just thirty days had received $501,252 USD from 14,738 backers eager to get on board the hype train.
Prey for the Gods Pricing and Release Schedule
Prey for the Gods is currently available for preorder via the Prey for the Gods website for a minimum price of $15 USD for a digital copy of the game when it ships in Q4 2017. Various incremental pricing levels are available which include in game items such as grappling hooks, beta access and more.
