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But the real selling point is the unique gameplay twists it offers thanks to the bizarre world it inhabits and the themes of Native American spirituality. Back in the 90s Prey's big technological selling point was portal technology. This allows for portals that act not as simple teleports but as real rips in the fabric of space. You can see through them and shoot through them as if they were a simple door. Portals can be neat doorways built into a wall, or they can be impromptu tears opened up just about anywhere. These are used in all manner of fun ways, from spawning enemies into levels to creating some mind-bending puzzles.
The Sphere is a strange place indeed, made of a mix of metal and slimy green flesh. Its gravity is artificial, and thus manipulatable. Shooting switches can cause ceilings to become floors, or walls to become ceilings. Lighted paths allow for travel up walls and upside-down across ceilings. It’s these kinds of topsy-turvy antics that force you to rethink your environment. You learn new ways to get from point A to point B, and you keep your guard up in all directions.
 Tommy also gets in touch with his Cherokee spirituality which lends him a few other tricks to be jealous of. Tommy can leave his earthly body behind and travel in spirit form, where he will be unimpeded by the likes of force fields and be able to take out enemies with his spirit bow. Of course this will leave his physical shell defenseless at the point of departure, so these abilities need to be used strategically.
Even more handily, Tommy has the ability to travel to the Other Side and return. Effectively, he cannot die. When he loses all of his health, he will be transported instantly to an island in the spirit realm, where he snipes at wraiths with the bow for about 15 seconds before being dropped back in the level right where he left off. I'm not really wild about this feature. While it doesn't destroy the challenge, and you still avoid death, it does feel a bit like playing an arcade game with infinite credits. There is still health throughout the game, as well as classic quicksaves, and it should be possible to play without dying at all, but it's really just the desire to stay a part of what's going on that made me want to avoid death.
But for all the innovative thinking there's a certain old-school sensibility to Prey's design. While the enhanced Doom 3 engine provides some nicely realistic visuals and moody lighting, you don't get the sense that creating realistically designed architecture was a priority for Human Head. Just as Doom and Quake seemed more concerned with what makes an interesting level than how its denizens might realistically design such a place, The Sphere is full of bizarre puzzles, portals used to create dizzying Hall-of-Mirrors-style confusion, and other tricks that could serve no practical function to the aliens living there, but would surely please M.C. Escher and Enro Rubik alike.
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