3D Realms has released the Prey demo, and the file is available from a number of sources listed on the 3D Realms website. Prey has had a long and convoluted development history, but the latest incarnation, using the Doom 3 engine and being developed by Human Head Studios now has a demo available. Early feedback seems to indicate that the download is worth the wait (in both download time, and development time). The file weighs in at around 449 megabytes, so its time to crank up the bandwidth. Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 version of the demo has been held up temporarily, while Microsoft completes their final QA sign off, but every indication is that this process should only take a day or so. The demo features the first five single player levels, and two death-match maps, so it should keep gamers occupied for at least a little bit.

PC System Requirements after the jump.

System Requirements

Minimum

* CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz / AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor
* RAM: 512MB system RAM
* Video Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 64MB video card with latest manufacturer drivers (see supported chipsets below)
* Drive: 8X CD-ROM (standard edition), DVD-ROM (Limited Collector’s Edition)
* Hard Drive: 2.2GB of uncompressed free hard drive space
* Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP with latest service pack installed
* DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended

* CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.5Ghz / AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor
* RAM: 1GB system RAM
* Video Card: ATI Radeon X800 series or higher video card with latest manufacturer drivers
* Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series sound card
* Internet: Broadband internet connection or LAN required for multiplayer

Supported Video Card Chipsets

* ATI: ATI Radeon 9600 series, ATI Radeon 9700 series, ATI Radeon 9800 series, ATI Radeon X300 series, ATI Radeon X550 series, ATI Radeon X600 series, ATI Radeon X700 series, ATI Radeon X800 series, ATI Radeon X1300 series, ATI Radeon X1600 series, ATI Radeon X1800 series, ATI Radeon X1900 series, or better with latest manufacturer drivers
* NVIDIA: NVIDIA GeForce3/Ti series, NVIDIA GeForce4/Ti, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 5900 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series, or better with latest manufacturer drivers.