Gamers can now get a glimpse of Prey like never before after leakers posted a 1995 prototype of 3D Realms’ portal shooter online.

An early build of 3D Realms’ portal first-person shooter Prey has leaked online, giving players a look at a version of the game that never saw the light of day. The leak of the 3D Realms prototype comes just months after a leaker posted the studio’s infamous, long-delayed 2001 build of Duke Nukem Forever.

Prey prototype from 1995 leaked from GamingLeaksAndRumours

Originally announced in 1995 by developer 3D Realms, Prey would have allowed players to create gateways to travel through the game’s world, more than a decade before Valve popularized the mechanic with the iconic Portal. Known to gamers at the time for its work on the Wolfenstein 3D-inspired shooter Rise of the Triad, 3D Realms went through several prototypes as it sought to solidify Prey’s gameplay and story. Although the title wowed gamers when demos of the portal technology were shown at E3 in 1997 and 1998, a number of technical issues kept this version of the game languishing in development hell for years. It wasn’t until 2006 that gamers could get their hands on Prey, which already ran on the id Tech 4 engine and featured a scaled-down version of portal technology.

In a new post on r/GamingLeaksAndRumours, Redditor enterthedragonpunch revealed that an early prototype of 3D Realms Prey was made in November 1995 and posted online on Archive.org. According to the file description on Archive.org, the build is playable and allows players to change the display mode and access the console in-game. The file also contains several demo files that players can play using commands typed into the console. The leak was posted by a user named hogsy and did not provide any information on how he got hold of the leaked build.

Fans of classic first-person shooters who reacted to the post were excited about the unexpected leak, with one user wondering if the source of the Prey and Duke Nukem Forever leaks could also be a former 3D Realms employee. Referring to the game’s long and troubled development history, one commenter expressed his excitement to see early versions of gameplay elements that appeared in Prey’s 2006 release. Another commenter referenced the recent leak of Rayman 4 source code and wished gamers a Merry Christmas with the two unexpected leaks.

Although Arkane’s brainy sci-fi shooter probably comes to mind for many gamers when they hear the name Prey, for fans of the classic shooter, Prey is the title they’ve been waiting for years. It’s unlikely that this early build will be able to live up to nearly two decades of anticipation and curiosity, but for classic gamers, it may offer an exciting glimpse of what could have been.

Source: GameRant