Downward Spiral

Apparently, it’s time to listen to some Nine Inch Nails music. This game really does use the Quake engine, I guess. You can start the mopefest by reactivating the human-juicing machine via the control panel nearby. It’s not nice, but it’s an option!

As you move along the pathway here, your first Hunter will appear. Whack him with your wrench and nab his weapon, an organic rifle. It’s got a powerful primary fire mode that rapidly shoots out bolts, and a handy secondary sniper mode which deals more damage, but uses much more ammo. Another Hunter will appear through a gate further down; you can head through the gate to find a small health boost.

Art? Is This Art?

Deactivate the energy shield nearby with your hand to open the passageway, then drop down and start listening to the Art Bell broadcast that’s mysteriously being pumped into your little chamber. Also mysteriously pumped are the small organic balls of matter being excreted from a tube nearby. You have to push one of these balls down the ramp here until it comes to rest on the webby membrane at the end of the hall. When it’s in position, shoot it with your gun to disintegrate the membrane and move on.

You’ll see these membranes throughout the game; when you do, find an explosive, place it on top, then shoot it to move on.

Fall down and start killing the Hunters that appear in the next room. You can move through the doorway to your right to find more ammo for your rifle, as well as another crazy person. You can’t move on from that room, though; you have to go back to the room where the floating devices were located and jump down. You’ll pick up your first creepers down below. These are basically your hand grenades in Prey. Like all the other weapons, they have two firing modes, which you can flip through with your alt-fire button. If you throw a creeper while its legs are facing up, it’ll detonate a couple of seconds after it lands; if you throw it while its legs are down, it’ll lie in wait and act like a proximity grenade, detonating as soon as an enemy walks by.

Use the wallramp here to walk up to the upper area, then use the second ramp to proceed even higher. You’ll come out to an area with a few Fodders lying around; kill them before dropping down to the floor, then move around to reach the oft-featured-in-trailers moment where a crate topples over and reveals another Fodder emerging from a portal hidden within. How exactly the Fodder managed to topple the crate is unclear, but regardless, it’s your passageway...to adventure!

Adventure!

So head on through, then! The next room features a couple of portals, including the one you just came through, as well as a tiny little globe inside a metal box. What insidious purpose could this globe be intended for? Well, if you head through the other portal on the ground here, you’ll discover that it’s just a way for the developers to play around with you. When you pass through, you’ll find yourself miniaturized and on the surface of the globe; apparently the portals can make things bigger or smaller when you go through them. Fight your way straight ahead (or, if you want to avoid combat, turn around from where you land on the globe and head across the black portion of it) and drop down into the portal there to move on.

You’ll find yourself in some kind of blood processing room here, with numerous mouths attached to the walls that periodically disgorge effluvia from their spigots. You’ll take damage if you’re hit, so shoot the mouths to prevent them from moving on. Note that you can see yourself through the portals here if you look around; you can also shoot yourself, but that has obviously deadly consequences.

Keep moving on past where you encounter Jen; beyond that area, you’ll find groups of Hunters tracking down escaped humans. You probably can’t save any lives here, but you can make the Hunters pay for what they’re doing. Take them down, then deal with the Hounds that come hard upon them. Nothing especially difficult here; just shoot them a bunch before they manage to close in on you. If you let them get close enough to bite, they can start to confusingly circle you, making them difficult to hit, especially with the 360 controller.

Space...the final frontier. If only you could leave the ship!

Where The Hell Am I?

In the next room, you’ll get your first big reveal. Hit the power switch to turn on the walkway nearby, but be sure to stick around and watch the lightshow as the observation panel opens up to space. If there was any doubt about your location, this should end it; you’re definitely on the interior of the Sphere, a gigantic set of cobweb-like structures that rotates around a small, enclosed sun. You know where you are, now; now you have to find out how to leave, hopefully after finding Jen.

Walk up the walkway nearby to find another small room filled with Slaves, zombified humans that apparently work as laborers in the Sphere. You can kill them if you wish, although they’ll turn violent if you attempt to do so. Regardless, roll an orga-ball towards the membrane covering the door, then shoot it to move on. You’ll eventually come to a metal walkway suspended from the ceiling of a crevasse; if you walk across, then attempt to backtrack again, you’ll be shot down and (apparently) killed. But, your journey isn’t over yet...