After sunning myself in the Virgin Islands for the last week among iguanas, palm trees and other honeymooning couples, I'm back. And so is Prey, the newest title from 2K Games. The FPS, which will arrive in North America and in Europe July 11 and July 14, respectively, has generated some buzz lately. In fact, the game has already gone gold, which is great news for 2K and its beleaguered parent company Take Two Interactive Software (more on that later).

Prey's story sounds simple if not downright derivative; Tommy's girlfriend Jen is abducted by invading aliens, and he must save Jen and the earth from destruction. But here's where it gets interesting: Tommy is a Cherokee garage mechanic and the crisis awakens the spiritual powers of his Native American heritage. As a result, Prey will offer gamers some intriguing features such as "Wall Walking," which allows players to, well, walk on walls and ceilings.

There's more: "Prey" features space portals that allow players as well as enemies to teleport from place to place. Players can also engage in "Spirit Mode," where Tommy leaves his body and can sneak up on enemies, and, perhaps most interesting, "Death Walking" - when Tommy is killed, he can return to life by battling wraiths and ghosts in the spirit world.

Prey

Prey did some Death Walking of its own not too long ago. The game has had a lengthy and troubled development history and at one point appeared to be teetering on the edge of oblivion. The game was first announced in 1995 and developed by 3D Realms (which would later become infamous for the oft-delayed Duke Nukem Forever). It earned acclaim with its portal features, which were demonstrated at E3 in 1997 and 1998. But Prey, based on the Doom 3 engine, soon encountered technical struggles and the title was indefinitely shelved in 1999. A couple of years later rumors began to swirl that Prey was still alive, and lo and behold, 2K Games and 3D Realms announced in 2005 that the game was back on. "The initial concept for Prey had been incubating for a while, waiting for the right opportunity to come along," said George Broussard, president of 3D Realms in the 2005 press release, which may have been the understatement of the year.

While some of 3D Realms' original work and concepts, such as the portal features, were retained, Human Head Studios took over as lead developer for the PC version (Venom Games handled the Xbox 360 version) while 3D Realms stayed on as a producer - whatever that means. In any case, demo versions of the game have impressed many with its sleek visuals, innovative features and disorienting game play.

Could this be the FPS that finally shakes up a genre that has become bland and soulless over the years? Will "Prey" give Take Two a much needed boost? I guess we can only pray to the spirits.

For more on Prey, click here and here.