Android Central is giving away the all new HTC U11!

Get your hands on this hot new device.

The new HTC U11 is a beautiful phone, with a design that’s truly unique to look at and solid to hold. The biggest new feature of the U11 is its “edge sense” technology, allowing you to literally squeeze the phone instead of using convenience keys. Be sure to check out our full review of the U11, because there are truly a lot of awesome new features you’ll want to know about. When you’re done there, come back here and enter to win one for yourself!

THE PRIZE: One Android Central reader will be taking home their choice (Sprint in blue or black; unlocked for AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon in blue, black, or silver) of brand new HTC U11!

THE GIVEAWAY: Head down to the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning! Keep in mind that all winning entries are verified and if the task was not completed or cannot be verified, a new winner will be chosen. The prize does not include service.

Android Central is giving away the all new HTC U11!

The giveaway is open until June 19th, and the winner will be announced right here shortly after the close date. Good luck!

HTC U11

• HTC U11 review
• HTC U11 specs
• Manufacturing the U11: Behind the scenes
• Join our U11 forums
• HTC U11 vs Galaxy S8
• HTC U11 vs LG G6

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Amazon reportedly working on an ‘Ice’ smartphone lineup with Play Store access

Amazon is planning to launch a $100 “Ice” smartphone in India later this year.

After the dumpster fire that was the Fire Phone, it looks like Amazon is planning to re-enter the smartphone segment with a new lineup of devices codenamed “Ice.” Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Gadgets 360 states that the Ice smartphones will be targeted at emerging markets like India. Unlike the Fire Phone, they will run the latest version of Android with Google Mobile Services enabled, allowing customers to download apps and games from the Play Store.

According to the report, at least one phone in the Ice lineup will be debuting in India before the end of the year, with Amazon eyeing the sub-$100 (₹6,000) price point. Alleged specs include a screen size between 5.2 and 5.5 inches, Snapdragon 435 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage, 13MP camera, Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and a fingerprint sensor at the back.

The report also claims that Amazon’s upcoming phone will offer Google Assistant out of the box and not Alexa. Amazon’s AI assistant isn’t available in the country yet, but with the Echo slated to launch sometime later this year, the virtual assistant is expected to make its way into the Ice phone in time for its debut.

Amazon managed to sell fewer than 35,000 units of the Fire Phone, but the retailer’s strategy with the Ice lineup may pay off. By targeting the entry-level segment, Amazon can market its devices to a broader audience, and providing access to the Play Store and Google’s apps puts it on an equal footing with the Chinese contingent of Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, and others.

All of the PlayStation 2 games that are available to play on your PS4

Breathe some new life into your old favorites by playing them on your PS4.

In 2015 Sony started bringing PlayStation 2 games to the PlayStation 4 and now the number of games supported is too big to memorize. That means it’s time for a list!

There are over 40 games available and they’ve been updated to include PSN Trophies and other PS4 features like Remote Play, posting to your Activity Feed, and PSN Broadcast just like any other game you might be playing on your PS4. On the graphics side, your PS2 games look better than ever with intelligent 1080p upscaling. What’s not to love, right?

Not so fast. You can’t just stick your PS2 disk into your new PlayStation and Sony isn’t offering any digital download for people who previously bought a title. You’ll be paying for each game you want to play again. the pricing is reasonable, though, with titles starting at $8 and most games are under $20.

All this aside, the list does have quite a few favorites in the mix. We’ll keep this updated so you know when your favorite PS2 game gets the treatment.

• ADK Damashii
• Ape Escape 2
• Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
• Bully
• Dark Cloud
• Dark Cloud 2
• Destroy All Humans
• Destroy All Humans 2
• FantaVision
• Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2
• Fu’Un Super Combo
• Grand Theft Auto III
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
• Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition
• Hot Shots Tennis
• Indigo Prophecy
• Kinectica
• Manhunt
• Max Payne
• Metal Slug Anthology
• Okage: Shadow King
• PaRappa The Rapper 2
• Primal
• Psychonauts
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
• Red Dead Revolver
• Red Faction
• Rise of the Kasai
• Rogue Galaxy
• Samurai Shodown VI
• Siren
• Star Ocean: Till The End of Time
• Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
• Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
• Star Wars: Racer Revenge
• The King of Fighters 2000
• The Mark of Kri
• The Warriors
• Twisted Metal: Black
• War of the Monsters
• Wild Arms 3

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

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MrMobile’s HTC U11 review: A study in contradictions

In five years reviewing smartphones I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so full of contradiction as the HTC U11. A stunning backplate mated to a forgettable face; fast software blunted by extraneous gimmicks; slick multimedia features without a big battery to back ’em up. Even the name “U11” seems an awkward compromise of last year’s simplicity and this year’s … peculiar claptrap.

But despite all the flip-flopping, the HTC U11 is a good smartphone with some unique features; find out whether they’re enough to make it matter, in MrMobile’s HTC U11 Review! And be sure to check out all of Android Central’s coverage as well!

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Never miss another delivery with the Ring Video Doorbell Pro for just $200

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a great savings on the Ring Video Doorbell Pro!

Thrifter deal alert! Who’s that knocking at the door? Oh, just a $50 savings on the awesome Ring Video Doorbell Pro? Well, come on in, don’t be shy. This savings drops the video doorbell to its lowest price yet, coming in at just $199.99. With the Video Doorbell Pro you’ll be able to not only see who is at your door in 1080p from anywhere but also interact with them without having to answer the door.

That’s right, you can interact with the delivery guy so you don’t miss that important package, catch the kids who keep ringing your doorbell and leaving, and much more. You can also pick one up through Best Buy’s official eBay store at the same price, so don’t miss out on this awesome savings. Order one now so you don’t regret it later. If you’re in the market for the basic Ring Video Doorbell, you can pick one up for just $149.99 right now as well.

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For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

How to fix Galaxy S8 battery life problems

Battery life on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is actually pretty good — but it can always be better.

After the first couple of week using a phone where battery life seems great, things can go south as we load up our new phone with all kinds of things and turn on every last feature. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ aren’t immune to battery shortcomings if you push them hard enough, and that means you’ll be looking for ways to scale things back and return to great battery life.

We have a handful of solid tips here to help you get the most out of your Galaxy S8 or S8+ battery, whether you’re currently happy with its longevity or not. Read on.

Use power saving mode

The easiest way to save precious battery power is to use one of the built-in power saving modes. You can find them in settings, device maintenance then battery. You can also toggle power saving mode in the quick settings area of the notification shade.

It’s all about finding a balance between features and battery longevity.

The power saving mode most people will use is the “mid” level, which tries to strike a balance between saving power and letting your phone do everything you need. When you tap “mid” you’ll see what it does — decrease brightness, lower the screen resolution, limit CPU performance and disable both background network usage and the Always On Display. It’ll add multiple hours to your battery life over the course of the day, but you probably wouldn’t want to use this all the time.

You can also tweak the parameters to maybe find a middle ground that works for you — just tap “customize” and see what you can change. For example you may keep the CPU speed limiter on, but also turn on background network usage so apps continue to sync when you’re not actively using them.

For the dire situations when you have very little battery or don’t have any idea when you’ll find power again, look at the “max” power saving mode. This mode dramatically turns down your screen resolution, limits performance further and turns off even more features — all in the name of letting the battery last as long as possible, while giving you the basic phone functions you need.

Finally, if you don’t want to delve all the way into the settings, Samsung has made it really easy to temporarily put an app to sleep straight from the launcher. Just long-press an icon on the home screen and tap Sleep. This puts the app to sleep — and saves it from eating battery — until you open it again.

Uninstall unused apps

This is one of the easiest ways to cut down on battery drain, and also one that so many people forget as they use their phone over weeks and months. We all install apps that we use once or haven’t touched in a month, and those apps can sometimes be using battery even though you don’t need them. Head into settings then apps and scroll through to see if there are any apps hanging out that you’ve forgotten about and don’t need any more.

Remember, you can always re-install the app later on down the road if you think you need it again. There’s little need to keep an unused app installed and potentially running on your phone.

Check for power-hungry apps

The last couple versions of Android introduced some really nice system-level features that take care of runaway apps, but every once and a while they can get carried away. If you notice your battery draining faster than usual, it could be one or two apps causing it — whether they’re running when you aren’t aware, or are just using more battery than they should even though you’re using them. Go to settings, device maintenance and battery to see what apps are using notable amounts of juice.

These settings are a bit confusing, but powerful if you want to tweak things.

This is best to do at the end of the day to get an accurate picture of just how much battery an app is using, but the bottom half of this settings screen shows what percentage of the day’s battery has been used by any given app. You’ll see usual culprits like social media apps or photo apps, but if something looks out of the ordinary you can tap on that app and hit “save power” to completely limit that app from running in the background. We wouldn’t advise you do this for lots of apps, but if something’s being problematic you can remedy that here.

For a bit of background, the system also automatically throttles back apps that haven’t been used in 3 days (customizable up to 7 days), so chances are any runaway app that you’re not using won’t be able to muck things up for too long anyway. If you don’t want an app to ever be throttled in the background, you can select it in the “unmonitored apps” area at the bottom of the settings pane.

Lower the screen resolution

One quick setting you can change semi-permanently to improve battery life without really hurting your experience is to reduce the screen resolution. Just go into settings, display and screen resolution to see your options. By default the Galaxy S8 and S8+ actually don’t run at their max resolution — they stick at “FHD+” instead, because the processor doesn’t have to work as hard to run the phone, which saves you battery lie.

If you’ve moved up to “WQHD+” for the best-looking screen possible, you can scale it back down to save a little battery life. We wouldn’t recommend going with “HD+” unless you’re really trying to save battery life … but in that case you may be better off considering the overall power saving mode instead.

Reduce screen brightness

Samsung’s AMOLED displays keep getting more efficient, but the screen continues to be a notable drain on a phone’s battery life. You can simply lower the screen brightness on your Galaxy S8 to save battery life — either by using the slider in the notification shade, or in settings then display.

If you want, you can also turn off automatic brightness here so that even in bright conditions the screen doesn’t ramp up and use up more battery. Just realize that the amount of battery you save by doing so may not be worth it when you consider you won’t be able to see your screen as well in those conditions.

Turn off unused radios

If you’re looking to save battery at the cost of convenience, you should turn off both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when they’re not in use. You can toggle either one from the notification shade quick settings, which makes the process easy.

Going a step further, you can also turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning, which is actually used to help with location services even when both radios are technically turned off. You can find this in settings, connections, location then improve accuracy. By turning off these two switches your phone won’t use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth at all unless you have them turned on — the one downside being that it may take marginally longer to locate your phone in the world if your data connection and GPS aren’t functioning properly.

Last resort: a battery pack

No matter how much you tweak and change on your phone, sometimes that just isn’t enough — after all, the battery isn’t getting any larger either way. For those times when the power you need out of your Galaxy S8 or S8+ is more than you can reasonably achieve with the built-in battery, check out the battery pack and battery case options available out there.

Most of the battery cases out there are a pretty terrible compromise of bulk for not very much battery power, so we would recommend a compact external battery pack that offers fast charging instead. Samsung makes its own line of battery packs that will quickly charge the Galaxy S8 and S8+ while matching its look, but there are tons available out there from Anker, Aukey and more.

Preview Glastonbury acts and never lose your tent at the festival with EE’s app

EE has announced the new and improved version of its official Glastonbury app, in time for this year’s festival, which takes place from 21 – 25 June. The biggest change over the 2016 app is Apple Music integration, which is built-in to let you listen to previews of all the acts performing, to help you decide who to see over the course of the weekend. You can also use the app to check the latest news to come straight out of the festival, and you can even place a pin on your car and tent so you don’t need to worry about losing them. How many times have you been at a festival and haven’t been able to find your tent at the end of the night? We certainly have. Battery life shouldn’t be an issue either, as EE will be providing wireless and quick charge 3.0 stations to use with compatible phones, but if you don’t have either of those, regular charging stations will be on hand to use too. EE’s Juice Tube Power Banks will be available for festival-goers too. For £20 you can buy one of the portable battery packs, and consistently swap it for a fully charged version when it runs flat. Charging stations can be found in the Recharge tent in the Glade area of the festival. 4G connectivity will be available across the whole Worthy Farm site thanks to a dedicated mast that EE is installing. The mast isn’t just for use during the festival, it will take up a permanent residence on the farm.

Mat Sears, Director of Communications and Sponsorship at EE, said: “Losing your friends is all part of the festival experience, that’s why we ensure Glastonbury-goers have access to the latest technology to ensure they can reunite with mates more easily.”

“Our 4G network on site means our customers can stay connected for the entire festival and the app continues to be an essential digital guide for those both there and also for Glastonbury fans who couldn’t make it down. It was accessed four million times during the festival last year so we know that those on site rely on it to ensure they get the most out the UK’s biggest and best-loved festival.”

The EE Glastonbury app is available to download now for iOS and Android devices. 

Amazon Ice phones look to extinguish the memory of the Fire Phone

Amazon is reportedly working on a successor range of smartphones, currently codenamed ‘Ice’, that will look to improve upon the rather poorly received Fire Phone, released in 2014.

• Amazon Fire Phone review

The Fire Phone was subsequently discontinued in 2015 as it couldn’t compete with the likes of the iPhone and Android phones in Western markets. It’s thought the Ice phones will be sold in countries such as India instead, and at least one phone should make it to market before the end of 2017.

Rather than rely on Amazon’s own Fire operating system, the Ice phones will run on Android and will even make use of Google’s own email and Play Store services, as well as Google Assistant, as opposed to Amazon Alexa. However, the person testing the phone has said Alexa could make its way onto the phone by the time it’s released. Alexa-powered speakers and the Echo aren’t sold in India, so having an Alexa-powered phone wouldn’t make a lot of sense. One of the Ice phones is said to be in testing and has a display between 5.2 and 5.5-inches, a 13-megapixel camera, a Snapdragon 435 chip with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. There is also expected to be a fingerprint sensor on the back.

No other features have been rumoured just yet, but it’s likely the Ice phones won’t have nearly as many intuitive features onboard, such as Dynamic Perspective, gesture controls and Mayday support for live help.The Amazon Ice Phone is expected to cost around Rs (Rupees) 6,000, which is around $93, or £72. Clearly the Ice Phone is going after the flagships of the world.

Zero’s DS 6.5 motorcycle was built for urban commuters

For other riders, an electric motorcycle is a two-wheeled invitation to talk. It’s the lack of sound that initially tips them off. They always ask about range and speed. But mostly range. How far can they ride before they would have to plug in? With the new Zero Motorcycles DS 6.5, it’s a conversation that requires explaining a few caveats about its 67 mile in-city range (it has a smaller battery so it’s cheaper and lighter). Surprisingly, they get it.

The Zero DS 6.5 is the motorcycle company’s attempt to find a middle ground between the 147-mile range 13kWh DS and its thrilling (but requires an experienced rider) FX and FXS line. Electric bikes are already more expensive than their gas-powered counterparts, so if they can shave $3,000 off the price of a DS by cutting its battery in half, maybe more people would be interested. It’s a financial compromise that on paper looks like a rather boring bike thanks in part to the reduction in horsepower. On the road though, the DS 6.5 is just as enjoyable as its more powerful sibling. In some cases, more so.

The biggest difference between the 13 and 6.5 is the battery size, but the byproduct of that is that the 6.5 loses nearly 100 pounds. That weight saving is immediately apparent when you get on the bike — it feels much nimbler. That translates to quicker maneuvers while navigating the obstacle-filled streets of San Francisco.

The weight reduction also means that the drop in horsepower (the DS 13 has 60 while the DS 6.5 tops out at 37) isn’t that noticeable. The 70 pounds of torque also help. The power is there whenever you need it — just twist the throttle and go until you need to stop.

The 6.5 is equipped with anti-lock brakes that kept the bike from locking up the wheels even on the slightly moist roads in the Bay Area. Unfortunately (but really fortunately for me) I wasn’t able to ride the bike in the rain to see how well it stopped in wet conditions. Soaked street test aside, the brakes felt solid and I felt confident each time I had to slam on them to stop from being killed by the growing number of inattentive drivers out there. Seriously, put your phone down and use a blinker before changing lanes.

The smaller battery and range only reared its head on a trip to Oakland that ended with me riding against a powerful headwind that sucked 25 percent of my power heading back over the Bay Bridge, leaving me with 15 percent power to get across San Francisco. I made it with power to spare, but it’s a reminder that highway speeds and weather can take their toll on the battery.

For the most part, I averaged about 55 miles between charges while riding in the city and mostly in sport mode instead of eco mode. I’m sure if I had decided to ride slower I could have gotten a bit closer to the rated 67 miles in the city. But if your commute involves a lot of high-speed cruising the rating plummets quickly to 47 miles riding in both the city and highway and 35 miles freeway only if you’re riding at 70 miles per hour.

Like previous Zero bikes, the DS 6.5 can be charged directly from a standard 120-volt outlet without any special adaptors. It’ll go from zero to fully charged in just over four-and-half-hours. It likely means an overnight charge but there is the option to add a level-two charging port like those found on electric cars to the bike. The optional $2,000 charge tank accessory supports all those EV charging stations that have been popping up and it drops the total charge time down to 1.4 hours. It’s an expensive option, but if your access to wall sockets is limited, it might be worth the extra cash.

That’s where you have to make the decision about the DS 6.5. Yes, it’s $3,000 cheaper than the 13kWH version, but it’s still going to cost you $11,000 (not counting the Charge Tank). Meanwhile, the go-to DS — the Kawasaki KLR 650 — is just shy of $7,000. But while these bikes look similar, the KLR is an adventure bike. It’s ready for long rides both on and off road. The Zero DS 6.5 is a city bike that is ready for some offroading, but in reality, the crumbling streets of San Francisco (and other cities) make the bike’s off-road capabilities almost necessary for two-wheeled commuters.

The lack of a clutch, while initially odd, is also perfect for stop and go traffic and lane splitting (only in California). And there’s another feature that will make commuters happy: That smaller battery opened up room for a storage area large enough for a trip to the corner market. That storage joins the lockable compartment that resides where the gas tank would usually be. Unless you get the $2,000 charge tank, that is.

So, the Zero Motorcycle DS 6.5 isn’t going to take you on long mountain rides or trips through the desert regardless of its off-road capabilities. But what it will do is get you around an urban area where its suspension and high sitting position make it ideal for navigating our crumbling infrastructure.

Like other electric vehicles, the DS 6 is pricey, but various incentives (that vary from state to state and from county to county) will bring the price down. And if you factor in the gas and maintenance savings (no more oil changes!) it starts to make more financial sense. But more importantly, it’s a joy to ride. It’s not as exciting as the FXS, but not every ride needs to be a seat-of-your-pants extravaganza. Sometimes, you just need to get to work.

How the studio behind ‘Prey’ reimagined space history

Talos I is a beautiful nightmare. The privately-owned research facility, suspended in space above the Earth, offers a captivating blend of science and art-deco design. Its offices are filled with tall, geometric art prints, red leather sofas and mahogany desks laced with gold. The station’s lobby, large and extravagant, features two winged-lion statues carved from bronze and a huge set of windows overlooking the Moon. It’s gorgeous, but there’s a problem — the vessel is overrun with black, wispy aliens that can hide in everyday objects and kill you in a couple of seconds.

Welcome to Prey, the latest video game from Arkane Studios.

While many developers have tried to tackle the “extraterrestrial discovery gone wrong” concept, few have done it with an alternate history running underneath. Talos I presents an intriguing future that is unlikely to materialize by 2035 — one where commercial companies, rather than government-funded organizations, run expensive science experiments in space. In the world of Prey, it’s all possible because of a timeline that diverges from our own in the late 1950s. Piecing together this past is one of the most satisfying parts of the game. You’re fighting not only to survive but to understand the people and political forces behind your situation.

(Note: This piece contains some mild story spoilers.)

Breaking the norm

Arkane’s alternate history grew from a desire to break away from space-disaster norms. “We didn’t want to do any kind of installation that was military or government,” Ricard Bare, Prey’s lead designer said. “I feel like we’ve seen that a lot, and we just weren’t as interested in that.” Between Halo, Doom and even the most recent Call of Duty, the video-game industry is rife with uber-buff galactic soldiers. The focus on warfare leads to dropships and planet-side bases that are chock full of dark, oppressive metal. Experimentation and artistic flourishes are usually saved for the game’s alien species.

Looking for a new direction, the team researched the original space race that kicked off between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1955. The first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in 1957, followed by Sputnik 2, with the Soviet space dog Laika on board, a little more than a month later. A mad dash for space dominance followed, the two nations desperate to make history and outdo one another. Arkane wondered: What it would be like if cosmonauts discovered an alien race at this time? How would the two nations react?

Ricardo Bare is a writer and game designer living in Austin, Texas. He’s currently lead designer at Arkane Studios.

“Now, secretly behind the scenes, the US and Soviet Union are collaborating rather than competing,” Bare explains. “And the early kernel of the [Talos I] space station, called the Kletka, is actually a collaboration between the US and the Soviets to contain this alien organism.”

During development, Sébastien Mitton, art director for Dishonored and Dishonored 2, visited the team in Texas to give some feedback and direction. He suggested that, in the game’s universe, John F. Kennedy should survive his assassination in 1963. “I was like, ‘Man, that fits with what we’re doing really well. Let’s go with that,’” Bare recalls. The idea became another crucial turning point in Prey’s alternate history. If Kennedy survived, he might have had a greater influence on the space industry. Extra funding and government support would have fueled innovation, accelerating humanity’s early efforts into the cosmos.

In Prey’s timeline, the US and Soviet Union build Kletka to trap and observe the vicious “Typhon” alien threat. A company called Transtar eventually takes control of the project, expanding and transforming the ship for its own needs. The Kletka name vanishes, replaced by Talos I.

The privatization is a reflection of our current space industry. While NASA struggles to retain its funding, companies like SpaceX are stepping in with new ideas. Elon Musk’s fearless startup is now delivering payloads to the International Space Station and learning how to land rockets so they can be cleaned up and used once more. “What happens to Elon Musk’s company? What if he, or Google, or someone like that … what would happen if they … what would they look like in 100 years if they decided to build a space station? It certainly would not look like the ISS,” Bare muses.

Keeping up appearances

The parts of Talos I built by Transtar have a distinctive, retro-futuristic look. They represent the company’s wealth and lofty ideals, but also the impact of Kennedy, and how his extended reign as president affected architecture, fashion and interior design. Art-deco typography lifted from the 1920s and 30s stand out on station maps and laboratory signs. Wooden floorboards and overused ash trays permeate every office. It’s a dark, decadent place, the kind The Great Gatsby might build if he woke up one day and suddenly decided to live in outer space.

Like everything in game development, it took time for Arkane to finesse this look. The team looked everywhere for “signature visual motifs” that embodied Kennedy and the early 1960s. A big source of inspiration was the Viceroy hotel in New York, near Central Park. While less than a decade old, the luxury tower borrows heavily from art deco culture, with guest rooms that resemble a tailored ship’s cabin. “If you imagine the station was built by a company informed by that sort of aesthetic, but then also had some futuristic layerings on top of it — that’s where we ended up,” Bare explains.

Talos I is split into different sections, complete with science fiction names like Hardware Labs, Psychotronics and Deep Storage. Some, such as Crew Quarters, are designed for leisure, with a huge swimming pool and cafeteria close by. Others, like the Neuromod Division, are meant for scientific research, or day-today repairs on the ship. Wandering through the hallways and nosing around people’s offices, it’s easy to believe that this was, indeed, a working station where brilliant minds collaborated and lived together. There’s a commitment to detail — everything, from bedside books to cluttered workstations, feels consistent and considered.

“Our approach is simple,” Bare says, “everything in the world should have a reason for why it’s there and why it looks the way that it looks.” Take the gorgeous, geometric-art prints dotted around the station. A book later in the game reveals they’re part of a series designed exclusively for Transtar by former street artist Patryk O. They all convey a space-centric theme, such as orbit and eclipse, through a mixture of circles and simple, deliberate line work. The posters symbolize the importance Transtar and its staff place in art, philosophy and risk-taking.

As you move deeper into the station, this elegance fades away. Talos I is like an onion with “layers” that span several decades. The core is the original Kletka station from the 1950s, all sparse and metal. The first laboratories were built by the US and the Soviet Union, and often feel like an old Russian submarine. The corridors are tighter, with exposed piping and hatches that lead to cramped ventilation shafts. Huge computers line the walls, crammed with physical buttons and switches. A needle dances from left to right on one of the readouts, while various red lights flicker on and off.

These older machines also feature in the modern facilities built by Transtar. Staff have modern, touchscreen monitors on their desks that you can use to peek at emails, transfer important files and, sometimes, find important employees on the ship. Beside them, however, you’ll often find a dusty tape deck or a console that feels woefully archaic by comparison. That juxtaposition is intentional and, in some ways, historically accurate. Space travel is expensive and infrequent, which makes swapping out equipment difficult. If there’s a use for something, it’s better to keep it on board than waste precious cargo space shipping it back to Earth.

There’s also the old phrase: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. NASA hardware can often look a bit chunky because, over several missions, it’s proved to be reliable. It’s why the International Space Station isn’t filled with touchscreens or the latest Apple MacBooks.

A space to play

Talos I is more than an architectural marvel, however. The station has to serve the gameplay too, which falls into an awkwardly-named genre called “immersive sim.” That means you can tackle foes and explore the spaceship in a variety of different ways. If a monster is blocking your path, you can shoot it in the face with a shotgun, hack a nearby turret, or avoid it completely by sneaking inside a ventilation shaft. All three strategies are equally viable, and experimentation is encouraged.

The open nature of Prey is augmented by Neuromods. These upgrades, which you adopt by shoving a needle in your eye, are at the center of Transtar’s research. They grant incredible powers, such as superhuman strength and lightning-quick hacking, by quickly rewriting the brain. Partway through the game, you also gain access to Typhon-based Neuromods that let you shapeshift, control minds and launch devastating kinetic blasts. The Neuromods you enable, and how you use them to traverse Talos I is entirely your choice. A pacifist may focus on morphing to sneak their way past the enemy; a merciless hunter might invest in the “Electrostatic Burst” instead.

Talos I, then, needed to be a playground. The lobby, for example, with its high ceiling and central elevator, is a versatile battlefield at multiple points in the game. You can hide behind a sofa and set up some turrets, or run along the chain of marble glass panels that hang overhead, getting the drop on some unsuspecting Typhon. The space, then, serves two purposes — to be visually interesting, and facilitate dynamic combat encounters.

“We didn’t want the player to feel claustrophobic or think the environments were repetitive,” Bare says. “We still wanted big, open-feeling spaces. So that was a game-design constraint. Sometimes you have a fictional idea, and it informs how you want to build something, but sometimes you want to build something a certain way and then you look for a way to justify that fictionally. So that worked out the other way in this case.”

Delivering the story

Arkane’s alternate history is presented in a few different ways. The environments themselves tell a story — just walking through the garden-like Arboretum, for instance, will help you understand the breadth of research that was occurring onboard Talos I. Then there are the books, notes and “transcribe” audio memos dotted throughout every room. Some of them are personal, revealing heated arguments and bitter rivalries between employees. Others are insightful, explaining Transtar’s influence and the public perception back on Earth. Reading and listening to them all will help you slowly piece together what’s happened.

“It’s sort of like … I have this huge photograph, and every new thing I encounter and pick up increases the resolution of the photograph in my mind,” Bare says. “That is, the picture in my mind of what this place is.” Such a concept will be familiar to immersive sim fans. System Shock, BioShock and Deus Ex all feature rooms packed with written messages and note-to-self recordings. The more you read, look and listen, the more each game and its world come into focus.

Prey’s use of environmental storytelling helps to counterbalance its game structure, which is neither linear nor nonlinear. Some missions are critical in order to complete the game, while others are optional and occasionally inaccessible depending on your actions. You can go (almost) wherever, whenever you like on Talos I, meaning how you uncover the central mystery and Arkane’s alternate history is up to you. Some players, for instance, will find the museum early on and quickly piece together the Kennedy-era space program. Others will miss it completely, or only discover it 10, 20 or 30 hours later.

Every person’s playthrough is different, which is both a blessing and a curse for Arkane. The freedom to explore makes your discoveries feel more personal, but on the flipside, they can be confusing or meaningless until you’ve found other, related pieces of correspondence on the ship. “My mental map of the story and the world might be totally different than yours because I didn’t find that one character you found and rescued,” Bare says. “Or I didn’t read that one book. Or I didn’t see that one poster. A lot of it is in the hands of the player versus me, as a level designer, trying to be an author and make sure that every single person experiences this one beat at this one time, and feels a certain way about it.”

“We’re totally OK with the player not seeing every beautiful, meticulous thing that we created.”

There’s a book, for example, written by an author called Lance B. Jenkins on the ship. An excerpt from the back cover praises the “alternate history novel” for its depiction of a Vietnam war: “But what if America had stood up for its allies in Vietnam? Would Communism still reign in the East? Would the Iron Curtain have fallen?” The insinuation, of course, is that the conflict never happened in Prey’s timeline. Bare suspects that only 10 percent of players will find and read this blurb in the game.

Prey gambles on the player adopting the role of detective. You’ll get the general gist if you blast through the mandatory story missions, but the subtleties of the ship and Arkane’s alternate space race will probably wash over you. Bare doesn’t mind, however. He says the freedom to examine or ignore people’s possessions is what makes Talos I feel so real. “That’s what I love about these kinds of games,” he says, “and what makes them feel like worlds that are alive, versus worlds that are static. We’re totally OK with the player not seeing every beautiful, meticulous thing that we created.”

The game’s alternate space race is easy to ignore. With a dozen deadly Typhon on your tail, it’s understandable — sensible, even — to prioritize your health bar over haphazard exploration. To bury that curiosity, however, would be a disservice to the world that Arkane has created. Among its emails and art-deco furniture is a reality that feels both reflective and strangely prophetic about the future. What our space industry was, and could have grown into; what it’s like now, and could be if privatization outstrips government interest. Let’s just hope a race of conscious-sapping aliens isn’t lurking amongst the stars.