There isn’t anything much to be said about far cry, a first shooter game which mixes survival and mystical adventure. This time around, the spin off game is set in the Stone Age which is around 10,000 BC. This is the first time Far Cry tried something new and pushes us back to the era where guns and technology do not exist compared to the previous spin off of Blood Dragon. Will Ubisoft manage to pull this off? Let’s find out.
Story
You play as Takkar, a hunter of the Wenja tribe. While hunting with your party, you are attack by a Sabertooth Tiger and given the task by your dying friend to find the land of Oros and other members of the Wenja tribe. On the first night, you are thought to craft survival items to survive. The next day you arrived at the land of Oros and your gran adventure begins.
The story this time around is a little blend but a story none the less. Maybe being a spin off instead of a true Far Cry has that effect but I find it hard to care for the characters in this game at all truthfully. Unlike the crazy antagonist of Pagan Min, or Vaas, there was no drive to kick the ass of the evil doers in this Far Cry. This is made worst with the language that is spoken as the emotion of the words is not depicted properly. You are left reading subtitles which breaks the emotion of the scene. I give compliments to Ubisoft by creating a new language but it did not translate well as the language had no emotion to it, it just sounds like people screaming at each other.
Graphics
Using the same engine as Far Cry 4, there are some minor improvement on the and frame rate maybe because Far Cry 4 had to support the previous gen consoles while this is exclusive for the current gen. The fur on the animals seems to blend too much and does not look like fur close up. Since it runs the same engine as Far Cry 4, nothing much changed in the graphic department.
Gameplay
Far Cry Primal adjusted the mechanics of the game to fit the 10,000 BC era. First thing you will notice is that there is a lot of crafting in this game. Besides the usual crafting to upgrade the amount you can carry, you are now able to craft weapons. All weapons are crafted by scavenging the environment for wood, stone or even bones to craft the weapons. All weapon held can be used as a projectile so you are able to throw a club overhead and deal damage to your enemy. Something new to your arsenal is the ability to light you weapons on fire. You can do this by going near a fire and lighting it or by using resources to light it on fire. This ability has several uses. First is to help you see in dark places. Second to burn dead brushes to reveal hidden areas and also you are able to burn your enemies. The weapon menu is small by having the top half being the main weapons and bottom half throw able objects.
The weapons variety here does not play that much as so far I progress 90% of my game by only using the bow type weapons. Because of the lack of weapon variety also, we get some dull story missions. No driving a plane and dropping bombs, no plating bomb stealthily and exploding the base, etc. Lack of cool missing makes the gameplay kind of repetitive. Some mission spawns unlimited mobs running at you while you trying to light the camp on fire which makes them look cheap. Besides the main mission there are some side quests, from escorting to drinking a mixture of blood form a skull and get in a trance which brings you into a dream stages which Far Cry is famous for.
There are a lot of collectibles in the game so it will take a while to collect them all if that is your thing. The interaction from Far Cry 4 Kalinag and Sky Tiger is implemented as a way to tame wild animals to assist you. Several animals can be tame by throwing a piece of lure on the floor and distracting them. While distracted you move near it and hold a button to tame. Each species brings different like how cats are good at taking out people quietly. You will also have an owl as a way to tag enemies around this world. The owl also can take out enemies or drop an explosive onto an area with a cooldown timer. There are also the usual mounted an elephant…. Or in this era a mammoth and trampling over people. The only thing new in this Far Cry is because of the lack of vehicles, you are allowed to tame a Sabertooth tiger and use him as a mount to move around the map.
Although you have a variety of animal you can tame, they all seems a little lackluster compared to their wild counterpart. Don’t be surprised if your bear is taken down sometime by a tiger or wolf. Taking down an elite using a bear usually take him down to half health if 1v1, in a mob of bad guys, your bear will go down easily.
Something new introduce in this Far Cry is the hunter vision. This vision looks like a watered down version of Batman’s detective mode. Once activated, it allows you to see objects like animals, enemies, bloodstains, resources and etc, glow bright yellow in your sight for a few seconds. This Far Cry also implements a bank system for your resources. Since there is always crafting for weapons and no shop to buy or sell items, they creating a hunter cache at camp sites. Any resources you collect while playing will be moved to this cache once your back pack is full. Sad to say thought, as far as my play through, I had never need to take any items out from the cache as there is abundance of resources scatter around the map itself.
Other
Being a spinoff, there are a lot of things lacking compared to the Far Cry main series. There is no multiplayer included in this game, the map might feel familiar to the Far Cry 4 map because it was generated using the same layout, lack of a main badass villain and many more. There are also some bugs like enemies sometimes charging around the map pointlessly, enemy spawn camps respawning once your turn your back. I also had some issues with the pets blocking my path or line of sight. The way point system does fall short. New quest are added sometime by going to one location without notifying you where to go next. There is also no option to adjust map rotation.
Conclusion
Far Cry Primal lacks the excitement and enjoyment of a Far Cry game. As a Far Cry title, it is one of its weakest one. If compared to the spin-off of Blood Dragon where humor and over the top made that game enjoyable, Primal makes a dull reappearance in this series. Unless you enjoy pets and throwing people with stones, this might be one Far Cry you like to avoid.
Pros
– Fairly new gameplay setting and much research done by ubisoft
– A lot of things to collect which sinks into the gameplay hours
Cons
– Story is too weak. Lacking a good villain. Repetitive mission.
– Some item recycles from other Far Cry series
– Pet’s AI still not there yet. Seems little buggy sometimes.
– Even with melee weapons, bows are still the best weapon in the game
Final Notes (TL:DR)
It’s a same really. Feels like a beta for the next Far Cry somehow. The only thing you will get is value for your money as you stroll around doing side quest and collect items even though you wont be having fun while doing it.
Score Breakdown
1 Point – New setting, good development research
1 Point – Gameplay hours
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