Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4
Far Cry Primal – Review
Modern times as we know them today, isn’t something that popped up all of the sudden. Thanks to a chain of events in our history, we stand where we are today. Far Cry Primal takes us back to the beginning of mankind, as primates in the wilderness. As you can only count of your own skills and the basic weaponry you can make, are you ready to take the first steps and fight of your enemy?
Story
We’re sucked back into time, to 10000 before Christ to be exact and at the start of the Mesolithic. You’re Takkar, a warrior and hunter of the Wenja tribe and you’re dropped into a hunt with your tribe, but things go South in the blink of an eye. You end up on your own quite fast, with only your primal instincts to count on. You continue your quest to find the land of Oros, which leads you through a rather dark cave. In the end, you meet a strange female, called Sayla. She is also a Wenja member but it seems that a lot is amiss. The land of Oros is inhabited with a tribe called the Udam and you’re not invited. They keep on killing Wenja members, making life really hard.
After a while, it is clear that you have quite some skills. It is not before long that you’re put into a more leading role. It is your task to fight of the Udam, and in particular their leader Ull, and make your tribe flourish in this new land.
This is everything you’ll receive of information, and how long the story and game lasts, depends on how fast you go through the main quest. If you don’t do certain side events, you’ll miss a lot of extra details and information though.
Graphics
We have gotten the opportunity to test this game on the PS4 and the graphics are quite stunning. When you watch a sunset or sunrise and you’ve the chance to witness this, take your time to take in your surroundings. Everything is bathed in soothing light, making it all so much easier to bear when you have to slay your next enemy or wild animal.
Next to the splendid surroundings, the wildlife itself is quite stunning as well. When you’re attacked by a brown bear for the first time, you will be flabbergasted for a sec and then start screaming and running around like a chicken. The same goes for your weaponry for instance. Since you’ll playing in first person, you have a good look of the tools in your hands and you might recognise something new every time.
The Udam warriors you’re slaying look almost the same and it would have been nice if there was a bit more diversity. There are a few differences between the outfits of your assailants, but nothing to write home about. Some graphics might not render that great, but that isn’t that noticeable with the other beauty surrounding you.
Sound
If the superb scenery isn’t enough, you’ll be treated with some nice tunes and vicious sound effects. The combination of both might seem a bit strange, but when you venture the land of Oros, you’ll mostly be hearing softer tones and a gentle wind now and then. This changes when you’re getting into a fight, to increase the tension and give you a signal that something is amiss. Combine this with the raw sound effects of a smashing club, the agonizing stutters of a dying man and the howling of a wolf, you’re immersed into the game without a doubt.
Voice acting wise, you’ll definitely need subtitles as the characters are mostly rambling vowels and unknown words. Each voice really fits each toon though, as Takkar has a more raw and dark voice. Even more, the expression on the faces really fit the intonation of the ‘sentences’, which is a nice job.
Gameplay
Far Cry Primal is an action adventure game that will take you back in time. Since you’re defending your tribe and fighting of animals, it is only natural that you’ll be in battle a lot. This means that you’ll need some weaponry and even some companions.
The material for your weapons can be found In plain sight. For instance, making a bow is simple when you have enough wood and rocks. The surplus will be saved in your backpack for using it on another time. You can spot important areas by using your hunter vision which means that the surrounding area is grey, with the important highlighted items in yellow. Next to items, animals and enemies will be visible as well.
Since this is a first person game, you’ll be up close when you engage battle. When you’re using ranged weapons, like a bow or spear, you won’t have any problems. The fun starts when you’re getting in close combat. You can’t seem to lock on to someone, which makes it hard to target and hit your enemy. It will happen multiple times that you charge to an enemy and just smash into thin air.
Getting hit, burned or poisonous damage means that you’ll lose life points. Thanks to the meat you gain from skinning animals and such, you can regain health, especially in combination with the herbs scattered across the map. You can improve your health and healing capabilities by appointing skill points. These points can be earned by killing enemies, discovering certain areas on the map, doing quests and so on. Next to your own personal skills, you can also invest in the expertise others have. Sayla is a master in finding herbs and materials, and increasing her skills will benefit you as well.
Next to the main quest, there are loads of side quests and there is a thin line between these two. At a certain point, you need to develop your town more before you get new quests, but it isn’t clear what is what afterwards. Main quests seem to be scrambled, making it harder to determine which thing to do first. Even more, you don’t need to do these errands. For all that matters, you can run around and kill animals all day or just do side events and discover things. You shape your own life in Oros.
One thing you shouldn’t forget is the development of your town. Upgrading ‘buildings’ might cost some materials but you get a lot in return. Certain side events even gives you new inhabitants, which increase the stash. If you run out of certain materials, you can always check this spot to see if you can use something. There are several camps on the map where you can access this stash as well, and you can use fast travel here, making it easier to get around.
Venturing this wild area will also mean you’ll encounter vicious animals. Thanks to a befriended Wenja shaman, you can tame certain animals and use them as a companion during battle. When this fails on the other hand, you can skin these beasts and use their fur for several purposes, like upgrading buildings.
Conclusion
Far Cry Primal checks a lot of boxes, like the stunning graphics and ambience together with the setting of the game. If you’re looking for a game where you can roam free whilst killing wild animals and persistent opponents, then you’ll enjoy this game for sure. On the other hand, if you want a bit more structure, it might feel like you’re running around like a headless chicken and it might spoil the fun.
Far Cry Primal - Review,
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