Far Cry Primal – Review

Far Cry Primal – Review

Platform – PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer – Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher – Ubisoft
MSRP: $59.99 USD

Introduction

Far Cry Primal is the newest entry in the Far Cry franchise that takes place during the primitive era. Ubisoft has decided to jump into an era that’s quite different and not the easiest thing to achieve in terms of gameplay mechanics. During the primitive age, people were surrounded by wild savage creatures and only had spears, clubs, and other primitive objects to defend themselves with and the food was also hard to come by. However, if executed properly, the primitive era can be a lot of fun and feel like a breath of fresh air considering the majority of the current FPS market is surrounded with futuristic shooters such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Halo 5: Guardians. So how does Far Cry Primal stands out in the market against every other FPS game out there and does it do well enough to warrant a purchase? Find out in our review down below.

Story

You play as a character named Takkar who turns out to be a part of a clan called Wenji. The Wenji tribe is being threatened by other tribes such as Udam who classify themselves as eaters of the flesh and the Izila who are masters of fire. The main premise of the story is that you need to make sure the Wenji tribe survives and lives on while eliminating the Udam and Izial in the process. Throughout you’re surviving and brutal adventure you will come across other important Wenji members who have unique personalities and traits. One of them is the shaman whose named Tensay, he is quite disturbing and likes to feed on animal blood by sacrificing them to see visions. As you meet all these different characters you will be asked to do different quests for them out in the world in order to have them join you in your village. As your village gets bigger you’re able to upgrade it by hunting for different materials out in the world to upgrade each of the important member’s huts. Each of the huts provides specific upgrades to you character that you can later learn as you gain skill points by acquiring EXP just like you did in the previous Far Cry games.

Gameplay and Immersion

The meat of the gameplay in Far Cry Primal consists of hunting for food, materials, completing character quests and slaying other tribesmen in their fortresses and kill savage beasts. All of these elements come really well together in this massive world. As you slowly take out fortresses one by one, you will start taking over the map, growing your tribe population and unlock fast travel points. The game does an extremely good job at immersing the player in the savage land of Oros, the visuals are outstanding, the trees look beautiful, the rivers flow nicely and some of the views in the game are just drop-dead gorgeous. But it wouldn’t be all that immersive if the game didn’t have any kind of wildlife or enemies running around.

Throughout your travels, you will come across many beasts such as wolves, different types of sabertooth tigers, lions, hulking mammoths and other smaller creatures like badgers, turtles, deer and many others. Thanks to the game’s audio design, the ambient sounds make the world feel alive and believable. You will hear animals growling, wind gusts, water and everything else that you’d expect to hear when you’re in living in a harsh primitive era. Sometimes I just want to jump into this game and just stand on top of a cliff and stare at the beautiful vistas that are surrounded by large trees, mammoths, and fantastic river views. The world of Oros also has quite a diverse climate, you won’t just be going through beautiful lush forests you will also encounter snowy mountain-like areas and desolate places.

Surprisingly the combat in this game feels great. It’s extremely enjoyable to hear the sounds of stone clubs hitting someone in the head with a full powered swing and watch their bodies just fly to the side. The bow in the game is also tons of fun to use and as you get further in the game you can upgrade it to carry more arrows, do more damage and so on. There are also other types of weaponry and gadgets you can use such as slings that throw pebbles to stun enemies from a distance, spears that can either be used in close-range combat or sniping across the terrain if you’re good at aiming and even use bees as bombs to distract or stun enemies. You can also throw clubs at the enemies or even set your weapons on fire to light up other tribesman huts, or use the weapons as a light source in dark caves, and even make the animals fear the fire. Takkar can also call upon his Owl pet who can be used as a scout that can kill tribesman or create a distraction using different types of bombs that either poison enemies or stun them with bee bombs. However, in order to get the fancier Owl’s abilities, you need to unlock specific talent tress and put skill points into them.

Far Cry Primal features a dynamic day and night cycle that actually plays a role in your survival. During the night different creatures will come out and also you can collect different types of plants at night as opposed to during the day, so if you want to fully upgrade your village and get all the talents possible then you will have venture out into the wilderness and find certain animals and plants at night to get the required materials. Takkar is also able to learn to tame beasts to use them during battles or as mounts to travel the vast lands of Oros. At first, you will only be able to tame creatures like wolves and as you get further in the game and progress in the story you will eventually be able to control sabertooth tigers, lions, bears and so on. You cannot tame mammoths, but you will learn the ability to ride them later in the game to stomp on people and cause chaos. Regardless of all these elements in the game, Far Cry Primal doesn’t really add anything new to the FPS genre. Instead, it’s just another entry in the series with a completely different theme, a cast of characters and similar mechanics from previous Far Cry titles. In this case, those mechanics have been improved upon by a large margin, but they don’t really create whole new experiences.

Regardless of all these elements in the game, Far Cry Primal doesn’t really add anything new to the FPS genre. Instead, it’s just another entry in the series with a completely different theme, a cast of characters and similar mechanics from previous Far Cry titles. In this case, those mechanics have been improved upon by a large margin, but they don’t really create whole new experiences.

If you’re a collector junkie then there is plenty to collect in Far Cry Primal. You can find Izial masks, Wenji bracelets, Daysha hands, cave paintings and spirit totems. Every time you find a collectible you’re rewarded with EXP so it’s a good incentive to do so, however, if you’re expecting anything special once you collect 100% of the items in the game then prepare to be disappointed as there is no reward for getting everything, not even a trophy or achievement. But, if you really like exploring this primal world and just enjoy collecting stuff then you won’t mind it. However, the only issue that I came across was the design of the hidden secret caves that contained collectibles and cave paintings. At first, these caves were nice to explore, but it to got to the point where it was very confusing and sometimes difficult to navigate, especially the caves that had water in them that you had to swim under to find different pathways to the collectibles or exits.

Final Verdict

Far Cry Primal is an excellent game in the series, however; it doesn’t do anything revolutionary or evolutionary for the FPS genre and also the interior caves started to drag the game down due to their maze-like design that was hard to navigate. I give credit to Ubisoft for crafting such an immersive world. Despite the fact that the game is not the second coming of the FPS genre the world felt very atmospheric and it’s thanks to the outstanding ambient sound effects, the beautiful surrounding environments and the beasts that roam the land of Oros.  The brutal combat, survivor elements, beast taming and the day and night cycles made this game an enjoyable experience because all of the mechanics were very well done and didn’t feel tacked on.

Ubisoft Montreal definitely nailed the feel and brutality of the primitive era and I give them credit for trying something most developers are scared to do so. If you’re looking for a game to escape to a more of a savage world and become a true beastmaster and have the beasts bent to your will and do your dirty biddings then Far Cry Primal will be your best choice. The game offers a solid single-player experience, has beautiful artistic direction and gameplay mechanics that blend well together and create a fun overall experience.