After about a week spent with Ubisoft’s Far Cry Primal, I have to say that I’m mad, and disappointed. I loved the idea of branching out and breathing new life into a solid franchise before it has a chance to slowly die of repetitive fps syndrome. The main problem is that there are too many ways this game feels like a step backward from the year and a half old Far Cry 4. The story is “meh,” graphics are shit, and gameplay gets slow and boring way too fast. Granted, it does pick up a bit with new abilities and animal companions (riding a saber-toothed tiger into battle is pretty fucking fun), but even those novelties lose their luster pretty quickly. If you’re a die-hard Far Cry fan, well, you already have this game. If you’re a die-hard paleolithic era fan, you’ll probably have some fun here too. But if you’re on the fence, or curious about the series as a whole, just play (or replay) 4.
Let’s take a step back and look at what they did well. Quirky and memorable characters are at the core of what makes the series great. Controls feel as smooth and solid as ever, with glitches few and far between. Where Primal really shines though, is its sound design. Trumpet blasts from stampeding mammoths either strike fear or excitement for the ultimate hunt. And when night falls, crackling torches and howling wolf packs make your hairs stand on end. Also, bee grenades.
Although you could ride elephants in Far Cry 4, this is the first time you have actual animal companions. First up in your zoological arsenal is your trusty owl, used to scout locations and tag enemies for you to sneak up on and spear through the back. You can also tame attack animals ranging from wolves to bears to honey badgers. Little Randall and I wreaked havoc all throughout Oros, but my jaguar, Sam Fisher, was more suited to the stealthy takedowns of enemy campfires. Being able to ride some of them is not only ridiculous and fun, but really helps navigate a map that’s about as big as Far Cry 4’s.
This, however, brings me to the part of the review I’ve been dreading since I first fired up the game: what they fucked up. First off, compared to promos, the game looks like woolly ass. Water looks like chunky salt crystals, and fur looks like dead leaves from Skyrim. The overarching story of bringing together scattered members of your dwindling Wenja tribe is pretty much a flimsy pretext for endless fetch quests. Primal does a terrible job of explaining pretty much anything beyond basic mechanics. It took way too long to figure out I could craft arrows, multiple sneak attempts to learn white wolves aren’t stealthy (damn you, Ghooast) and I still don’t know if resting saves progress or just accelerates the day/night cycle. And instead of telling you where to go, the mini map leaves a dotted trail showing where you’ve been, which only clutters the radar as you run in circles shooting flaming arrows into prehistoric pigs.
At the end of the day, Far Cry Primal isn’t a terrible game. I do like this crafting system a bit more, and silently taking over enemy camps with clubs instead of suppressed snipers provides an entirely new challenge. But the single most glaring “fuck you” to fans is the complete exclusion of any multiplayer modes. Coordinating base attacks with a friend is by far the most fun I’ve had in any Far Cry game, and is about 70% of why I was interested in this one at all. I honestly didn’t even think to make sure it was an option when I pre-ordered it. I’d understand if it was a matter of saving system resources, but the game seriously looks like it’s 10 years old, and I’d be surprised if they changed the game engine at all. I have a hard time justifying a full $60 price tag for it, but the eventual price-drop to $30-$40 could be worth it. Final verdict: a bold risk that falls short. I appreciate the effort of a preemptive strike against series staleness, but Far Cry 4 did it better in almost every way.
M.Hamilton
@Hamilton5280
Far Cry Primal