The videogame "Prey" is one that has been highly anticipated for both its story and scale. Attached to the gameplay is an orchestral score from Jeremy Soule and Julian Soule, who bring another layer of quality to the production. The scores are available in a unique manner, by downloading each from the website DirectSong.com. Now, purchasing music online is no longer a novelty, but when I bought the "Prey" volumes from the site, the entire package (cover art and track listings) was attached. So I appreciated the 'kit' that was provided along with the download. Now on to the music...
Volume 1
The first album opens with simply a stunning overture, offering a main theme that is full of originality, mystery and depth. It's with this track that I realized that the composers behind this score quite obviously have a significant range of talent. The driving rhythm and the broad, sweeping force of the orchestra was as addicting to listen to as any opening title in recent history; it set quite a high standard. Unfortunately, this opening track proved to be deceptive for what was to come.
The music, by and large, felt very unpleasant to me as darkened underscore seemed to be the motif of the day. The thematic value realized during the opening title was quickly enveloped by the style of music that followed. With the exception of some minor references to the aforementioned main theme, the potential of an epic score (even if judged by film standards) fell by the wayside. Indeed, the sparse thematic value, which I refer to as the human element of the score, are only moments that shine on disc 1.
At its best, I can say that "Prey: Volume 1" could have been an adequate score for a big budget science fiction film. However, this is a different arena and there are better opportunities for one's creative freedom in crafting a video game score. Thus, with that said, I expected more from the output and was left feeling disappointed by the overall tone of the album.
Volume 2
The second act, musically speaking, picks up where the first Volume left off and you won't be surprised to know that it's a seamless transition. The good news is that the energy of the second album increases the deeper you get into it. One can tell that there is a lot of activity and urgency during these stages of the game. This bodes well for the listening experience. Specifically, track 5 ('Splitting the Arrow') recalls the main theme from album 1 in all its glory and is delivered within a mix of Williams-worthy action cues. Another cue that stood out to me was the impressive closing track, entitled 'Prey Super Trailer.' If one heard the first track from album 1 and the closing track from the 2nd installment without listening to anything in between, that individual would think that the cues were an excerpt from the one of the greatest game scores in recent history.
And this again leads me to my disappointment. The talent was in place, the venue was set, but for whatever reason, the gameplay did not call for the a sustained representation of the thematic wonders we're briefly teased with. Perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations.
As a final note, this disc offers 11 tracks (as compared to the first album's tally of 18) at approximately 55 minutes. As with the first album, there is no shortage for running time as quite a bit of content was packed into both installments.
