I'm Really liking the Cancelled Prey 2 Aesthetics

+
Prey 2 has those great looking graphics since early 2011 and it still looks better than Fallout 4, a game that came out in late 2015, almost 5 years later.

Really makes you think.



 
Last edited:
Lisbeth_Salander;n10712231 said:
Prey 2 has those great looking graphics since early 2011 and it still looks better than Fallout 4, a game that came out in late 2015, almost 5 years later.
It's Doom 3's engine. REALLY makes you think why did bethesda shutted down Prey 2.
 
metalmaniac21;n10712321 said:
It's Doom 3's engine. REALLY makes you think why did bethesda shutted down Prey 2.

Stop right there sir, it looks like you were about to insinuate that someone cancelled games due to personal interests, I'm here to remind you that any kind of accusations are highly illegal around here.


 
Sardukhar;n10712981 said:
Here's a thought...this has what to do with Cyberpunk 2077?
Here's for one: Prey 2 is oozing with cyberpunk aesthetics and atmosphere and the level design is top notch.
 
metalmaniac21;n10713011 said:
Here's for one: Prey 2 is oozing with cyberpunk aesthetics and atmosphere and the level design is top notch.

I..guess? Looks like Space Station Sci-fi Gutter to me. Seen it lots. No sign of Style other than a little neon, no sign of cyber, nothing from the Real.

Aliens, Duke-Nukem/Doom-style space station level with some neon. Less oozing with cyberpunk and more...mildly indicative?

Also not sure why the level design is top notch. It's not crappy, but nothing amazing. Oh and top-notch level design isn't Cyberpunk either, necessarily or people will be pulling in their favourite Quake and Unreal levels.

Although maybe that's not a bad thread either - Level Design We'd Love To See in Cyberpunk.
 
Sardukhar;n10713101 said:
I..guess? Looks like Space Station Sci-fi Gutter to me. Seen it lots. No sign of Style other than a little neon, no sign of cyber, nothing from the Real.

Aliens, Duke-Nukem/Doom-style space station level with some neon. Less oozing with cyberpunk and more...mildly indicative?

Also not sure why the level design is top notch. It's not crappy, but nothing amazing. Oh and top-notch level design isn't Cyberpunk either, necessarily or people will be pulling in their favourite Quake and Unreal levels.

Although maybe that's not a bad thread either - Level Design We'd Love To See in Cyberpunk.

The outer areas look pretty Cyberpunk to me.

Interior is definitely more sci-fi, though.
 
Snowflakez;n10713281 said:
The outer areas look pretty Cyberpunk to me.

Well, why? Is it just the neon or...?

I mean, where is the punk? Or the cyber? Did I miss some graffiti or some garbage? Contrasted with slick Corporate structures?

Just not sure why Industrial + Neon = Cyberpunk.

I don't think it necessarily does unless it also has, you know, some kind of augmented human vibe and some indication of rebellion/undercaste pushback.

Partly I think so-called "Cyberpunk aesthetics" are now shorthand for any kind of shiny building + neon and/or industrial zone + neon. It's no wonder then that an actual Cyberpunk game isn't a thing outside sort-of Deus Ex.

There are many interesting things about a real cyberpunk aesthetic, including but not limited to,

Realism. It's now + a bit. That's really important because it gives the audience the sense this could happen to them or their kids.

Edge. A feel of oppression and danger from other human beings, like the ones you saw on your way home today.

Nihilism. The fuckitall response to constant pressure from great financial and social megastructures. Dark Future.

Art. Cool, new, edgy - humans under pressure often respond with brilliant creative imagery. Graffiti, body mods, music, shows.

Contrast. Super rich and super poor. Super tech side by side with low tech. Overwhelming media towering above people reading screamsheets or anticorp flyers.

Human vs Human Plus. People like you and I, vs/allied with/replaced by cyborgs. Change yourself in response to a world that grips everything else lock-tight.

Change. Signs of a fight, signs of conflict, signs of Today becoming Tomorrow.
 
Sardukhar;n10713411 said:
Well, why? Is it just the neon or...?

I mean, I think Cyberpunk can have many different aesthetics. We don't know what the rest of the city looks like. This could just be a high-end corporate area, for all we know (the bar was certainly very high-tech).

I don't really think my view of what Cyberpunk should be is the de-facto cyberpunk aesthetic. Pondsmith might have popularized it, but he didn't invent it, so his view isn't the de-facto cyberpunk aesthetic either.

Take a closer look at the trailer. There is a LOT of grime and dirt.

Granted, there's no augmented humans in the trailer, but there's no reason they couldn't/don't exist in other parts of that city. Maybe the people in that high-end area are so well-augmented that they are completely indistinguishable from a normie.

Also, there is aliens, so yeah, that throws it off a bit. But, also, so what? Aliens can have the same problems as humans. There's even the potential to tell deeper stories about racism between actual alien species alongside all other standard Cyberpunk tropes.

Ultimately, this was but a brief look into a world that Bethesda (or whatever developer was working on this) had envisioned. A lot of the stuff you mention wasn't present in 2077's teaser trailer, either, so I'm not sure it's really fair to judge Prey 2's level of "cyberpunkness" on a couple ultra-short "gameplay" demonstrations.

The character was a bounty hunter, probably deals with a lot of low life scum and is probably a bit scummy him/herself.

So, bottom line, "Cyberpunk" (big C) is not the be-all, end-all of what cyberpunk (little c) as a genre can/should be.

Have you seen Snowpiercer?
 
Snowflakez;n10713551 said:
So, bottom line, "Cyberpunk" (big C) is not the be-all, end-all of what cyberpunk (little c) as a genre can/should be.

Have you seen Snowpiercer?

Oh, my Cyberpunk Aesthetic isn't just from 2020. Neuromancer, Hardwired, Islands in the Net, Rudy Rucker's stuff, these are all congruent with (most of? All of?) what I posted.

Otherwise all you get is "sci-fi-with-neon" and, well, that is pretty bland and done. That trailer wasn't anything all that interesting in terms of aesthetic. You have to add in "it could be there somewhere!" for lots of cyberpunk elements and not look at others. Also, I didn't see that much grime or garbage, no. Some shadows and darker colours but not much actual sense of urban/human waste.

If you take out what makes Cyberpunk Cyberpunk, then what do you have that makes it different, aesthetically? It's not fantasy? There are machines?

And this is the issue. Your choices are either bland, could-be-in-any-sci-fi-setting art choices (dirty industrial plus neon, like that trailer) or lets-add-in-stuff-not-within-human-experience (aliens, supertech, psy powers). And if you do those things, it can still be cool, but it lacks that particular aesthete and people complain it's bland or done or they've seen it or...

I've seen Snowpiercer. Fun movie. Lots of punk, not much cyber. Probably still closer than the Prey 2 trailer above, though. No aliens, corporate repression, dangerous underclass, could happen in the next 100 years, cool tech..

Hrm. Actually be pretty cool to run something like that in Cyberpunk the RPG.
 
metalmaniac21;n10712321 said:
It's Doom 3's engine. REALLY makes you think why did bethesda shutted down Prey 2.

Apparently the working list of achievements for the game was already complete when the game was cancelled and that's something that is done in the final stage of development, which seem to confirm the rumors that the game was almost complete before Bethesda decided to shut it down.
 
Aesthetics are fairly standard, like mentioned lacks detail and "expression" of Cyberpunk beyond industrial+neon.
But I love how it looks regarding gameplay. Seems like levels are very open to movement and creative gameplay.
 
Top Bottom