We have more videos on Prey and Dishonored in the pipeline - we just knew this one needed to be separate and wanted to get it out early. We hope you enjoy it!

going into this game blind was one of my favorite gaming experiences this generation

I also loved the fact that they included the helicopter blades being able to "kill" you. I was entranced with the opening, but upon leaving the helicopter, the dark side of my mind went, "I wonder what would happen if I jumped into the helicopter's blades". So happy they included that as a possibility and an achievement, and then slightly annoyed when I realized I had to go through the cutscene again. >.

Arkane are incredible at what they do. That reveal will stick with me for a long time.

Oh my god, I never even realized you can smash that aquarium. But yeah, as many have comment already, going blind into this first sequence was mindbending. Really well done. Shame this game just kinda vanished from people's radar. It was a really awesome experience to play through, multiple times.

My favorite part of this opening level is how when you sit in the helicopter during the credits and the music plays if you look down you will see Morgan tap their foot to the music.

If for whatever reason you've jumped to the comments before watching the video and still haven't played Prey, you should know that Prey has a free trial. You can play the intro and first two areas for free. Go do that and come back.

I'm actually someone who went through the aquarium, and I'd argue that it was a better. Sure there's drama to smashing glass and seeing a set, but I loved walking around dark and eerie hallways only to turn around and see the room I was just in. It works both ways.

Oh hell yeah. Prey 2017 is one of the most underrated games ever. Such a creative, unique, fascinating game.

I'll never forget how my brain almost broke when I smashed that glass with the wrench for the first time going in blind knowing nothing about this game. It was utterly masterful the way they led you into thinking the game would be some kind of timeloop thing and instead you're now out on your own exploring the space station where they've been running experiments on you and oh also there's Typhon everywhere lmao. Such a fantastic and underrated gem of a game! I personally enjoyed Prey far more than any other game in 2017 (yes, including Breath of the Wild, Mario Odysse, Horizon, P5, etc.) and Mooncrash somehow even eclipsed that even further to cement this as my favorite game ever. Can't wait for the rest of the series!!

love the "canonization" of "it's not a bug, it's a feature" regarding the one-frame Looking Glass bug around 8:00...

I love the love you are giving Arkane and specifically Prey.

I actually ended up going the "fish tank route" of escape on my first play through. I can't remember the exact details but the reveal ended up being much more of a slow creep rather than the suddenness they intended. I think it is telling that I feel like I got the same sense of awe regardless of the vastly different (and admittedly maybe stupid) approach I took.

I knew that level was cool but I had no idea just how deep into the rabbit hole it went. Great video!

Looking glass screens are basically how they film The Mandalorian, and the actors indeed see the world warp in weird ways as it adjuats to always look correct for the camera.

I almost managed to break out of the matrix with this game before they even introduced it. It happened by chance, I took an object (a lamp) and happened to leave it outside the elevator. After I reached my floor, I saw the exact same object in the exact same position outside, but on a different floor. I had an X-Files moment, thinking this was somehow a bug or a glitch. I also thought that the devs could be swapping the entire map or loading a different one without reloading the entities. Hitting Morgan's room window was a huge surprise and totally unexpected. This game really nailed everything: Story, Game Engine, Level Design, Voice Acting, Music, Art, Characters, Enemies, etc. The mind games were very strong with this one. The most interesting mechanic for me was the Looking Glass. I can't believe they managed to build an entire fake virtual room inside a virtual room, not many appreciate the engineering that goes behind this. I'm pretty sure that this Looking Glass concept is the first of its kind, just like Valve pioneered in the Portals and Portal Gun concept. I wonder if one day we can also achieve that tech.

Prey is an amazing game. Played it 5 times already. Such a shame that it just never got the praise it rightfully deserved.

I'm pretty sure I instinctively hit the glass as soon as I got the wench because I was conditioned to by half life

Arkane is amazing at level and world design. When i smashed the looking glass and discovered that all was a simulation it blew my mind

Feel bad for people who got the game spoiled to them before they played. That first moment when you break the looking glass, and the realization of how much bigger this whole situation is slowly sinks in - one of my favorite moments in gaming in nearly 25 years I've been playing them. It's quite something. And the way it leads up to that moment is so delicately thought out. What a masterpiece.

Prey (2017) is one of my all-time favorite games. Going into this game blind was hugely rewarding and not just at this opening reveal. It’s also one of the best examples of environmental storytelling. I frigging love Talos I even though - well, I won’t spoil it. Thank you for showing this game some love.

Ugh this masterpiece didn't get the love it deserved

Devs: "It's a bug." Players: "NO, it's a feature!"

I'd love to see more on the level/environment design as a whole-one of the most impressive things, for me, was the ability to traverse the entire station from the outside. How did they go about developing a unified & coherent game world? What were some of the technical challenges involved with that? (And were there hardware limitations that necessitated the unfortunate use of loading screens?)

R.I.P Arkane Austin. This is the game we will remember. 😞

I was remembering looking out of the window of the helicopter and seeing how low polygon things were thinking "what a bunch of lazy pricks".

Just got Prey with the Moon Crash dlc on sale for $12. I love Bioshock so thought I would give it a try and wow I was missing out. So glad I stumbled on this even if a couple years late. It's so good, I can't put it down now.

i don't know why. but everytime I watch a Noclip short documentary like this, I get this nortalgia rush of going to the supermarket, wallmart, or whatever while i was living in LA in the 90s and going through all the gaming magazines and not actually buying it. Good times.

One of the best games of the 2010s, absolute masterpiece.

i feel like this level was the love child of Dishonored 2's "A Crack in the Slab" and Jindosh's Clockwork Mansion. I absolutely love the thought of Arkane incorporating elements of one of their masterpieces in a new game.

I remember thinking "wait this music is amazing who made it?... mick gordon? oh that makes sense"

It sucks that a lot of people gave up on this game before they got to know just how bloody brilliant it really is, I had expected this game to be more like the Dishonored games which happen to be some of my favorites of all time, so I had almost given up on the first hour of my first playthrough but I came back to it a short while later and tried to enjoy it as its own thing, and I completely fell in love with the game's atmosphere and story, it's obviously a game that had a lot of passion behind it. I really hope we get a new Prey sometime in the future even if it's unlikely to happen anytime soon.

My first time in the apartment, I tried to open the door to the balcony, only for it to read "jammed", so after I got the wrench, I immediately thought back to that door - "I can finally go there!" I actually thought they prototyped the city... or rather built a carboard cutout of the city. Even if it was a skybox, I thought I could break the glass and step out into the balcony, then find a ladder or something to get to the roof, but no - that just breaks the simulation. Was quite a surprise playing this without knowing.

I was one of the people that hit the aquarium instead of the balcony glass. Such a groundbreaking masterpiece this game.

My second favourite game of all time. It's a brilliant masterpiece. I hope we'll eventually get a sequel.

I did really like the opening level. Especially that reveal.

Welp, time to play Prey for the millionth time. That game is a damn masterpiece.

The best LookingGlass experience? The part where you fond a transcriber where 2 people talking about calibrating a screen, a second later you find it and, naturally, you start calibrating it... Good stuff :) bpBut the whole game is amazing experience.

That moment where you get the wrench, I knew exactly what I needed to do. Truly the most magical experience I've ever had, smashing that looking glass. That's when I knew, Prey (2017) is a goddamn masterpiece.

As someone who recently tried it out before it left game pass (though never got to finish), I was floored by that twist. I nervously thought I was about to make some daring escape down the side of a high-rise, but then was like "....wtf..." when the slo-mo kicked in. I showed the whole sequence to my family not long after I processed what happened, and they were equally shocked and amazed. The aquarium as an option would have never crossed my mind. Interesting fun fact. Great video, and insight.

I don't remember why I broke the glass but I remember the feeling being incredible

I think this game is brilliant! The opening is not only a great twist, but it supports an interesting theme of the game - how are you supposed to make ethical decisions when your perspective could be based off of something that isn't real?

When you can make a 20 minute video about the first 10 mins of a game, you know it's good

An underrated masterpiece. The very best parts of Half Life and Bioshock married together in 2001 esque sci fi horror thriller

This is a MASTERPIECE which deserves more LOVE from gamers. Thanks NOCLIP for reminding people about PRAY. They should do an Ultimate edition with the DLCs and release it on PS5 and XBOX/GAMEPASS.

I hit the glass thinking It would lead me to the balcony, imagine my surprise when that didn't happen. One of the best starts of a videogame that I ever played.

PREY is an underrated gem ♥

The first hour is arguably one of the best hours of any game made. That section was flawless game design. It might have been the most rewarding and surprising part I've ever played, and it didn't play any cheap tricks it worked for it all.

I just played Prey for the first time in prep for this documentary.

One of the top 5 games of all time for me. The window smash being one of the most genius moments. To still surprise a player like that in 2017 took some proper creativity. Oh to play it all again for the first time..

i remember how i went into it was i noticed the door was jammed so i thought ill break the glass to get to the balcony and the grand reveal just worked, i really loved it.

I always love it when teams really try to pour all their creativity into a game.

I went out through the aquarium, just to see if the water would spill out. Jaw hit the floor. I'm still playing this game, it is phenomenal.

Every time I play this level and still surprises me the open in all the different mechanics introduced

Oh man I didn't even go back into he main room to smash that window. I picked up that wrench and Bee-lined for that fish tank. Arkane games are genuinely fun, not just addictive. Props to the team.

Prey was the coolest first person sci-fi experience i had since HL2. Everything is Going to Be Ok means as much as Triage at Dawn to me now.

Fun memories. When I first played it, I took a lamp from the hallway with me and carried it to the helipad. I left it there couldn't take it into the helicopter, and was surprised to find it after the helicopter ride on what was supposed to be a different rooftop. I laughed to myself, thinking the devs probably reused the same area for both rooftops for some practical level design reasons. I also noticed a few other things, but didn't realize their significance until later. Like, "that looks like an expensive hotel, so what's up with all the black streaks on the floors?", "this suit looks worn-out, they didn't even give her a new suit?". Or how if you keep talking to the maintenance worker, she starts lowering her voice and saying things like "you're supposed to keep going", "I'm not supposed to talk to you", etc. Surprisingly, despite how dense I am, I didn't have trouble with breaking the glass. There was nowhere else to go, I had a wrench and the balcony was right there, so I figured I was supposed to go there. Half-Life logic. On the other hand, I totally missed the cup mimic scene because I was looking at the test screen.

Good morgan Morgan. One of the few time's a game has genuine surprised me in recent years. Hoping Arkane is given the green light for a sequel with even stronger and more elaborate level design. Something like Metroid Prime 2 was to Prime 1.

That reveal was amazing... second only to The Witness in terms of the magnitude of the "a-ha! moment". I remember waking up my GF and replaying the entire first 30 mins just to show her that awesome moment of first walking down the stairs on Talos 1. Unfortunately the game's bugginess made it impossible for me to finish. Tried twice, but the final area would always glitch out. Even tried editing save files per suggestions found online with no luck. Too bad, because it was a great experience up to that point.

Now I wonder whether the pilot's final announcement was specially crafted that way: "Mind the glass on your way out!" (can be heard at the end of the video, 18:40 ) I missed all these details like the skidmarks and probably "the glitch" (if I even had it) - I'm very gullible in these games :) Yet, at least I did take the intended route. Great game!

I'm about 2 hours in and loving Prey. You can tell its gonna go full god tier. It feels very special.

I finally bought the game yesterday after your video came out and immediately got sucked in for 3-4 hours and only got to the video now. Once again good job with these, I would not have found out about the aquarium.

Wait... Dr. Bellamy was voiced by Stephen Rusell!? I didn't recognize him! I guess I'll always asociate his awesome voice to Garrett (and Corvo). That man is pure gold.

this is one of the best opening scenes to a game

One of the best intros to video game, if not the best. What a game, I really, really hope we get another Prey in this style. The intro actually slightly reminds me of The Truman Show, which is a movie I also really like.

The moment I got the wrench I thought "Can I break the glass now?"

I love it when games work the titles or the credits into the world of the game. Hellblade did that great.

Well-made documentary as always. I'd like to see a video in a similar style on either "The Clockwork Mansion" or "A Crack in the Slab," both of which are levels from Dishonored 2. They're pretty mind-blowing as well when it comes to technology.

For me (a jaded long time gamer) my first reaction to "escape" was smashing the glass. I expected to find a fire escape or something like that... boy was I surprised...

I know it was mentioned briefly but that music really set the tone for me.

Best video game documentary Channel on KZfaq bar none.

The way how they tell about the opening playtesting reminded me of how valve did their tutorials for their games. Going through their developer commentary is really fun.

Just now playing this game in 2024 and really enjoying it! Almost 40 hours in without even noticing its been that long

I remember streaming this game to some friends and I went in completely blind. The first elevator ride I jumped and noticed that there wasn't any kind of extra or lessened height and talked about it being unrealistic and I couldn't believe it was overlooked. Then came the broken simulation :O That detail WASN'T overlooked, it was a subtle clue that what you were experiencing wasn't real. Freaking amazing and underrated game!

One of my favorite gaming moments of all time. Everything from the helicopter ride and that Mick Gordon song, to the big early 'twist' I was just smitten. And then the Mooncrash trailer is probably my favorite game trailer ever.

If there was one studio I could work for/with it would be arkane. They are gamers at heart and much more creative and original than most studios out there. Very under appreciated.

This is one of THE most underrated channels on YT

I bought the game like two years ago but haven't had time to play because of university. I finally played it during the quarantine and holy shit was I mind blown. The attention to details in this game is incredible. My only regret is that I can't have the "mind blown" experience ever again in a game. Truly a work of art!

I just finished Prey yesterday and god damn Arkane NAILED it! I will have to revisit this gem in a few months/years. Seriously one of the most underrated games of this generation...

I just played through Prey a week ago for the second time . Such a tasteful, and smart game.

Danny, I love your passion, your curiosity, and your precious ability to ask the question that these developers desperately want to answer but think no one will ask them. You bring joy - to games documentation as science and art, to your fans, and hopefully to your interviewees as we get a glimpse into their passionate moments of creating an experience for US to play with. I really appreciate NoClip more than I can make monetarily evident. Thank you, Danny.

That Intro scene. I re-loaded the game to watch the helicopter scene and listen to that song again. It was soooooo gooooood. And then when I cracked the glass, my jaw just dropped, i felt an awe in my stomach that I havent felt for quite a while. Great, great game :) definitely one or my favs now.

This truly is a mind game

This game is incredible, and it really bothered me to hear that it didn't get the success it deserved. In my opinion, it was a better game than the 2006 fps by human head.

I loved Prey but seeing just how much detail went into selling this whole thing is amazing, the subtleties like the marks on the floor is so cool to see.

Aquarium smasher here. It was in the same room with the wrench and I wanted to see if the water would pour out since everything else was so detailed. What they said in the video, I thought there was no way they would let you out on to that balcony. I even tried the door.

Huh... I just started replaying the other day! Going into this game with no knowledge was amazing, definitely the way the game should be experienced first time around.

I liked Dishonored 2 and I'm looking forward to Deadloop but honestly, I'm more interested in what the Austin studio is working on. Fingers crossed for a sequel. Hope they can pull it of without Raphael though.

Still feel like this game is underrated. I love the theme that plays in the speakers. I gathered a bunch of them up from the atrium and placed them around my office/hallway. (They stayed there my entire playthrough). Game let me do it. Thanks game. These details regarding player agency/immersion/interaction are missing from a lot of games these days. Prey remains one of my favorite games in many years.

Looks like part of a word was cut off in one of the bottom left tags. 4:17, "Looking Glass Works.." Looks like it might have meant to say "Workshop"? Just something I noticed. Keep killing it Danny!

Putting this in my "Watch after Playing" playlist and liking it!

@16:33 That tech prototype using the WiiMote was really cool. Basically he made the sensor bar with its two LED lights into a pair of glasses which you wear and the Wiimote is sitting on top of the television watching the two lights with its infrared camera. And this is what it normally does. But usually the sensor bar and the television aren't moving around. Hah. So the data gained from the two lights on the glasses allowed the software to track m the sides of your head at eye level. This was used to create a really convincing sense of depth in the image on the television. It truly looked like you were looking through the screen into a space behind it. But it was purely subjective for the viewer only. And interestingly enough, it worked even when it was a camera "wearing" the glasses.

Incredibly underrated game. A really impressive blending of genres and a really nice evolution of the "Arkane Game". Also nice edit sync when all the lights turned on.

I feel like this game is extremely underrated and not enough people is really talking about it. Great that you're giving more insight into this project. I loved Prey and still hope for getting a sequel one day!

I’ve been watching all the back catalogue- man, every video is fantastic. Thank you!

Mad creative geniuses work in Arkane. The utterly crazy rearranging Jindosh mansion and the surreal time travel device in Stilton Manor and the way the player could travel across different time periods was incredibly wild and creative in Dishonored 2. Prey with it's lab rat simulation with the glitches that one observes has a very quientisential Arkane wild/weirdness stamp. Very much looking forward to DeathLoop.

I hope this video gets more people who never played it into the game. This game was amazing.

Seriously one of the best soundtracks in a video game.

"...through the Looking Glass we go." My favorite gaming studio of all time

Prey is a masterpiece that will go down as one of the greats that was largely overlooked during its time (kinda like how Planescape was back in the day), and it has maybe my favorite opening sequence of all time. When I shattered the glass for the first time it felt like my mind was shattered for a brief moment! It set an amazing tone for the rest of the game.