3D Realms and Valve already have a few things in common but now they are set to share an online distribution method as well. The less than prolific 3D Realms have just announced that they have signed a deal with Game xStream which will see their upcoming title Prey available to purchase via download. The company plans to have the entire game available for pre-order and pre-load, a move which will allow gamers to get immediately stuck in once the game is ready to be unlocked.

"Gamers will be able to pre-order and pre-load Prey onto their hard drives, ready for instant activation and play upon the official release date," explained 3D Realms' CEO Scott Miller. "Or, after the official release, players will be able to buy the game and begin playing in minutes, as if the full game was already downloaded. This is what sets Game xStream apart from anything else the industry has seen."

The partnership between Game xStream and 3D Realms won't be confined to the release of Prey. Both companies see their arrangement as a long term deal, so if Duke Nukem ever manages to drag himself out of the bar he'll no doubt be puffing cigar smoke down broadband links thanks to the xStream distribution service.

The reemergence of Prey, a shooter originally planned for release back in the latter half of the nineties, came as a surprise to the gaming world when developer Human Head announced last month that they had taken stewardship over the title. Set to finally make its way onto hard drives next year, Prey is the FPS that will try to, amongst other things, resurrect the portal technology which got people so excited around the time that the game was initially under construction. While we're holding back reservation on the outcome of this, Prey's use of the Doom 3 engine should ensure things at least look 21st century.

Mythology and story are also being touted as key elements of Prey. Players will assume the role of Tommy, an ordinary garage mechanic who is abducted by aliens and held captive on a hazardous spaceship, a prison that turns even more sinister when the spaceship is found to be an organic, living creature. Tommy's Cherokee heritage forms the framework over which the game's plot and many of the gameplay elements are hung.

Keen to try and catch a little of the light off of the stellar presence of Star Wars in the air today, PR folk were only too happy to point out Prey's use of the work on 'the nature of stories' by Joseph Campbell. A certain George Lucas also studied Campbell's findings and used this knowledge to good effect when he was creating the Star Wars story arc. Prey is being developed by Human Head Studios and will feature on both the PC and XB360.

By Sam Gibson

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