While only a small portion of the gaming community actively attempts it, speedrunning has taken the gaming world by storm over the past few years, with YouTube channels, Twitch streams, and entire charity events dedicated toward the art of beating a game as fast as humanly possible. From AAA blockbusters such as The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 64, to more obscure titles like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, games from all different genres have been attempted at some point or another.
Arkane Studios’ Prey, which released last month, is one of the more interesting titles in the world of speedrunning at the moment, mostly due to the game’s unique weaponry and gadgets that are available to the player. Taking place on a space station orbiting the moon, Prey features a variety of sci-fi and futuristic tools, including the Gelifoam Lattice Organism Obstructer (or GLOO Cannon, for short).
The GLOO Cannon fires quick hardening glue, which can be used not only to dispatch certain enemy types, but to create makeshift ledges and bridges. Intrepid players have been able to take advantage of the GLOO Cannon to skip entire sections of the game, by creating platforms to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
In conjunction with other strategies, such as utilizing glitches to pass through solid walls, and ignoring most enemies instead of engaging them in combat, Prey speedrunners have been able to complete the game faster than the developers ever intended.
One such speedrunner, who goes by the name of “seeker,” has recently broken the previously held speedrunning record. As reported by PC Gamer , “seeker” has managed to complete Prey in just under seven minutes, beating the (now) second place speedrun by over 20 seconds. For comparison, the average player takes anywhere from 15 to 40 hours to complete the game when played normally, depending on how many collectibles and achievements one tries to collect along the way.
For those interested in learning more about speedrunning, be sure to check out the annual Summer Games Done Quick event. Kicking off on July 2, speedrunners from around the world will show off their skills via livestreaming, in an effort to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.
[Featured image by Bethesda Softworks]