Prey Reviews: 11 Critical Reactions You Need To Know

4. The Jump Scares Get Annoying Fast

"The one complaint we have with Prey is its over-reliance on jump scares - a thing that's also often used in horror movies - where your enemies will abruptly jump out of nowhere, often with blaring music as well. This is particularly common with the Mimics, who hide in place sight, taking the shape of an item like a cup in an office. Jump scares occur way too often for our liking in Prey, wearing out their welcome in the first couple of hours, and they continue to be annoying well after that." - Gadgets 360

"A major sticking point for me so far is the behaviour of the Mimic enemies...The idea behind this is sound--it creates a constant sense of tension--but in practice it has very quickly become annoying. Not just because a Mimic can attack when your back is turned and you're focused on something else, but also because the appearance of a Mimic is signalled by a sharp, shrill sound effect that--thanks to its overuse--soon grates. It is designed to create a jump scare moment, but since I was frequently looking in another direction and away from the Mimic, it often felt mistimed." - Gamespot

Prey isn't perfect, though, and there's been a fair amount of disdain for the game's employment of jump scares whenever the Mimics show up.

Several critics feel that what's initially tense simply becomes irritating after a few hours of play, and ends up feeling like a lame, cheap attempt to shock the player, much how jump scares are similarly criticised in movies.

Perhaps Arkane needs to provide an option to turn jump scares off, or conversely, maybe they feel it's too intrinsic to the gameplay to do so. Either way, it seems to be a poison pill that players will have to suffer through.