DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 976.disorienting opening to equally
disorienting end. Prey is pulp, but its
characters are entertaining caricatures and
Arkane has a knack for picking the perfect
moments to subvert expectations. And I’d
be remiss if I didn’t mention the run-based
expansion Mooncrash, which I’d pick as
another of my favorites this generation (go.
pcworld.com/moon) were it not
intrinsically tied to Prey.
A lot to love. To be honest, it’s a toss-up
whether Prey or Dishonored 2 (go.pcworld.
com/dis2) is Arkane’s best work this
generation, with the latter’s Clockwork
Mansion and Stilton Manor being some of the
finest level design...well, ever. But I love Prey,
and I still feel it was criminally underrated and
underplayed, so here it is.
- KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM
When I reviewed Kerbal Space Program (go.
pcworld.com/kerb) in 2015, I called it “the
embodiment of everything that’s noteworthy
and valuable about PC gaming.” High praise,
and I stand by it.
Kerbal Space Program (go.pcworld.com/
kspr) is the kind of niche experiment that only
ever thrives on the PC. Putting you in charge
of your own NASA, it asks players to learn
actual rocket science in order to thrive. Do
you know how to airbrake? Or how to feather
the throttle to optimize fuel usage during
takeoff? Maybe not—but if you want to get off
the planet Kerbin, you’re going to have to
learn. I spent many nights with Kerbal Space
Program open on one monitor and Wikipedia
open on the other.