As noted in my review of “Far Cry 4”, I was genuinely apprehensive about investing my time and money in the series due to my short, mostly disappointing time with “Far Cry 2”. I eventually gave the sequels a chance and found myself incredibly satisfied and excited when a new game was announced.
Yet, that apprehensive, cautious feeling returned with the announcement of a promised full-blown sequel to “Far Cry 4”. Rather than stick to the formula that had become the series’ norm, Ubisoft Montreal stripped the game of most everything that we “Far Cry” players had become accustomed to. How? Because “Far Cry Primal” takes the series back some 12,000 years into the past; placing the gamer in the year 10,000 BCE. With the promise of no guns, cars, or even the incredibly fun & beneficial wingsuit, “Primal” had the potential of alienating anyone who loved what made the last games what they were. But there was still a chance that everything would work out and give the series a new lease on life by embracing its, up to now, unknown primitive roots.
Did I Complete “Far Cry Primal”?
Similar to every “Far Cry” other than the second iteration, “Far Cry Primal” allows the player to control a named character with his own identity – in this case, Takkar – as he enters a land inhabited by several groups waging war against one another called “Oros”. Takkar is presented as a simple hunter trying to survive alongside his fellow tribesman called “Wenja”. But things get a lot more complicated for Takkar when a food hunt goes wrong and he is forced to save a young woman from being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger. What comes from Takkar’s single action is what jumpstarts the plot.
While there are obvious fundamental changes to how the game plays compared to its predecessors, the general setup when it comes to gameplay isn’t too different even if the setting is nothing like “Far Cry 4” or prior. Gamers can liberate the equivalent of outposts to create fast travel points, craft useful items and pouches by collecting random items such as plants and bones, and hunt animals so Takkar can eat raw meat to heal himself. After reacclimating myself to the controls and what I was given in terms of weaponry, I took to the game like a fish to water; doing pretty much everything in the right order unlike what I did in “Far Cry 3” by clearing areas and collecting everything from sticks, to rocks, to even animal hides. I upgraded my weaponry and pseudo-armor that allowed for quicker kills and an enhanced ability for Takkar to survive the coldest of areas. Close to thirty hours after beginning, I watched the platinum trophy pop and the credits roll. Without any multiplayer modes this time around, there wasn’t much else to do after Takkar wrapped up his brutal campaign.
Did “Far Cry Primal” Live Up to the Hype?
As noted in the previous section, “Far Cry Primal” had the initial promise of being nothing like its predecessors, yet still embraced the essence of what made the previous games enjoyable. Rather than turning the man character into a slightly magical Rambo, “Far Cry Primal” sees the player turn a character into Hunter the Barbarian thanks to the understandable lack of weaponry compared to every other “Far Cry” before it as Takkar is only given three main, upgradeable weapons – a bow, a spear, and a club. Since the player isn’t allowed the ability to wield everything from pistols to rocket launchers due to obvious reasons, “Far Cry Primal” sees a reworking of the fundamental gameplay so stealth actually works effectively.
The first few hours when the player’s initial weapons are noticeably weak compared to what enemies are wielding showcases just how effective stealth can be in “Primal”. If you fail to stay hidden and everything breaks loose during those introductory hours it can mean a sure death; and that doesn’t just apply when encountering human foes. One of the reasons death is something the player will get used to early in the game is due to the fact the developers didn’t re-work the game’s melee system – something that is much more important in “Primal” than any other “Far Cry” game. Without block and dodge buttons, melee combat feels like a staggering mess that leaves Takkar flailing wildly around randomly hitting whatever is near him. There’s definitely a lot to be desired when it comes to the melee combat in “Primal”.
Thankfully, as one progresses in the game so does the ability to make stronger weapons (not only the three main weapons, but also bombs that can turn enemies against one another, custom-made “bear” traps, and even a slingshot that can become a one-hit kill weapon if you can embrace your inner David when taking down these Neanderthal Goliaths), tame animals to serve you in battle and store more useable items than anyone should be able to while wearing a skirt and some furry ankle pads. In “Far Cry 4”, there was a slight expansion when it came to the animal kingdom. Roaming throughout the last game were animals ready to kill at will. The same applies in “Primal”, but the system expands thanks Takkar’s “Beast Master” abilities. With a little bit of bait made from collected meat thrown in almost any direction will attract a wild animal that Takkar can sneak up on and tame with the tap of a button by the player.
These animals Takkar tame become not only allies that can scare away local wildlife while traversing Oros, but also are invaluable in battle as each controllable animal has specific abilities like the jaguar not being detected by other adversary when it kills an enemy’s ally. Depending on the gamer’s play style, certain beasts might suit one better than others as animals such as bears and honey badgers have different base abilities (“Strength”, “Stealth” & “Speed”) that gives the player an idea of what to expect from these creatures in battle. Certain beasts can be ridden, helping alleviate the problem of not having vehicles in the game for those who either don’t like fast traveling or a certain fast travel point isn’t beneficial for one’s goal. But no animal is more important in this game than the owl – the first animal Takkar tames. For those who have played the previous games and remember using the lead character’s camera to tag enemies will love utilizing the owl in battle. Not only does the owl tag adversaries, the creature can also attack enemies by dropping bombs, sending allied animals to kill certain targets, and simply lunge in for one-hit takedowns on non-heavy/barbarian enemies (the equivalent of flamethrower-wielding enemies in the previous games). In a lot of ways, the lacking of typical weaponry seen in other “Far Cry” games is made up for in “Primal” through the implementing of animals in effective ways.
Not only can Takkar tame beasts while preparing to fight off copious amounts of enemies with a fire-ignited club, he can also go on liquid concoction-fueled scouring trips featuring quirky hallucinations and confused adversaries, protect traveling tribesman by tackling incoming foes, free hostages under the cover of darkness, down fortresses (giant, heavily occupied versions of outposts) and even hunt fearsome beasts that have to not only be tracked, but also taken down during potential phases across various regions of the map. Random events also occur during the playthrough that usually involves Takkar either freeing a lone Wenja from his/her captors, settling a bloody squabble through violence, and chasing down couriers (though one never knows what in the world these travelers are carrying).
While there’s a lot to do in Oros, one of the biggest disappointments when it comes to mission structure is the lack of “bell towers”. Instead of being able to climb tall structures in an effort to embrace your inner parkour athlete while exposing more of the in-game map, “Primal” understandably flips the script and introduces “bonfires”. Bonfire areas at first appear to be the primitive form of bell towers where the player must find a way to scale rocky terrain and ignite a pillar of sticks to claim the area. Unfortunately, bonfires soon become nothing more than smaller enemy outposts were the player has to kill three to four adversaries before lighting the fire. Bonfires feel unnecessary especially compared to both larger outposts and the bell towers seen in previous games. Thankfully, most everything else about the environment that is Oros feels as lush and vibrant as it is dangerous.
There are mountainous, snow-covered areas to traverse; lush fields where one can find wild boars and deer grazing; extensive caves possessing paintings and one of the near 200 collectibles. There’s a day-night cycle that actually restocks certain items in the stockpile located at every fast travel location every morning. The beauty of Oros does fluctuate when some of the textures in these various locales appear rather flat including waterfalls. And then there are times when the vegetation can become overwhelming as enemies blind in almost too well with their surroundings before one realizes what’s going on.
One of the biggest positives about “Far Cry 4” was the ability to play with friends both in co-op and multiplayer environments. Rather than improve on what the series was building towards when it comes to multiplayer modes, “Primal” ditches it all to embrace the single player aspect that made the series what it once was. For some this is a big step backwards as replay-ability is severely cut down.
And then there’s the plot. The “Far Cry” franchise has never been one to present a strong story, and the developers’ promise of delivering something grand during “Far Cry 4” failed to live up to expectations. Very little was stated about the game’s plot pre-release, and for good reason. There’s not much to cover when reviewing “Primal’s” plot. As noted earlier, Takkar and his Wenja tribe are at war with two other tribes (who are also fighting each other). These tribes – the “Udam” and the “Izila” – want to rule Oros through the bloodshed of their enemies. With only a little more than a dozen story missions to craft this story, “Primal” refuses to use its time wisely and ends up utilizing a few cut-scenes here and there while the player is taken through story missions that follow the same tired open-world game formula of “go get this”, “go kill that”, or “go burn that down” without much to differentiate itself from the rest of the competition. The main mission structure could be a lot more forgivable if the story wasn’t so disappointing and, at times, nonexistent. One believing that “Primal” being in a primitive setting would encourage a primitive plot doesn’t take away from the fact there’s little incentive given to the player to enjoy what little makes up the plot. There are some secondary characters that the player must gather to join his tribe while they help him learn new abilities and offer missions.
These secondary characters, while intriguing, rarely get any screen time other than the witch doctor Tensay – who proves to be the game’s introductory narrator. One major gameplay addition associated with these secondary characters (as well as missions both main & side, and random encounters) is village building. In “Far Cry Primal”, the player is given the ability to improve Takkar’s small village by completing missions to gain more villagers (the more villagers the more boosting of experience points, though there is a EXP level cap) and collecting items that can be used to create huts for the secondary characters … and that’s it. Unlike other recent games with “village” building such as “Fallout 4”, improving Takkar’s original HUD only slightly changes the look of his home and the homes of others while opening up the option of learning more skills or attaining some better tools. While it’s definitely helpful to make the game easier for the player, it doesn’t feel necessary both for the person playing and the game itself.
If there’s one thing “Primal” got right compared to it predecessors it’s boss battles. In “Far Cry 3 & 4”, the lead character downed major villains during cut-scenes that the player had no control over. This time there are actual non-quick-time event boss battles where the player kills the top adversary in somewhat grand fashion. Though there is plenty to do in Oros via side quests, the quests not connected to the main story suffer from the same problems as the main story missions by being too similar in nature. If you’ve saved one pack of hostages, assassinated an Udam commander, or liberated a “Very Hard”-level outpost most likely you’ll do it in the exact same fashion the next time.
The great amount of variety actually becomes less varied before the game reaches its halfway point because the amount of weapons just isn’t there. The copious amounts of collectables don’t add much to the game. Animal buddy AI can become a little too intrusive even when the player doesn’t command a beast to do anything. And, for some reason, chain takedowns (an ability that allows for Takkar to attack unsuspecting enemies with blazing speed if they’re close to one another) are actually harder to pull off because the button-pressing window is almost too frenetic compared to “Far Cry 4”. But if there’s one major plus regarding this game when you look at who made “Primal” it’s this: I didn’t encounter a single noticeable glitch during my thirty hours of playing. Kudos, Ubisoft Montreal. “Far Cry Primal” continues to embrace the template of “Make Your Own Fun” when it comes to open-world video games. Sadly, most of that fun occurs outside of the story and the main incentive to continue through slowly fades as the plot progresses just like its predecessors.
Should You Play “Far Cry Primal”?
Like the other “Far Cry” games that came before it, “Primal” feels grand, yet all-too familiar. The gameplay is exceptionally fun thanks to the restructured dependence on stealth while battling enemies. But the story is, once again, lacking without much intrigue; let alone inspiration. There is plenty to do in the game, but obviously similar in nature as you pick a mission, read what it entails and understand that its almost exactly like what you did earlier on a different part of the map. But it’s still mind-numbingly good fun mostly throughout. If you enjoyed the last few “Far Cry” games or simply like solid, if somewhat unspectacular FPS open world games, you’ll actually enjoy this beastly trek through a land before known time; but only if you either rent it or get it on sale as doesn’t feel worth the sixty dollar price tag mostly thanks to the game’s lack of replay value for those who go out of their way to experience as much as possible on their first playthrough. And seriously, who wouldn’t enjoy riding the back of a bear while taking down enemies?
