Far Cry Primal Review: Unleash the beast within

Far Cry Primal’s prehistoric setting, graphics and wonderful interplay of AI systems make up for its bland story and repetitive melee combat.

Takkar finds a vantage point from which he scouts the Udam outpost at the base of a snow-covered peak. He patiently draws his longbow, tagging enemies so that the perfect infiltration can be orchestrated. While the rock on which he’s perched overlooks most of the enemy encampment, there are still parts of it which are not visible to him. So he calls in his trusty owl scout. He surveys the hidden areas from above, finally ordering his owl to swoop in and take out an unsuspecting guard.

It’s now time for him to make his move. With his trusty Leopard at his side, Takkar enters the village, beast and man taking out enemy after enemy in silence. However, a lone Udam soldier (who was just about to call it a night) spots the dynamic duo, and all hell breaks loose. Takkar now has to face off against a dozen well-armed flesh eating tribesmen with nothing but sticks and stones. This is not going to end well.

As the person in complete control of Takkar, I force a much-needed end to his life so I can start over from the last checkpoint. Far Cry Primal, the latest installment in Ubisoft’s open-world action series is fun on many levels, but straight-up combat is not one of its strong suits.

Over the course of several games, the emphasis on stealth gameplay has grown in theFar Cry series. The latest installment, Far Cry Primal is no different. But the difference between Primal and its predecessors is very apparent. In Far Cry 4, protagonist Ajay Ghale could easily decimate an entire enemy fortress on his own. If his stealthy infiltration did not work out as planned, he always had his trusted AK-47, C4 explosives, sniper rifle or hand-held grenade launcher. Takkar has a pot of bees and a club. I mean, you can make it work, but it’s just going to take a while. Cancel your plans for the evening.

I do not mean to imply that Far Cry Primal isn’t any good. In fact, it does so much right. Its systems are an iteration on Far Cry 4’s, and the game more than justifies its status as a full price title. It is, after all, a showcase of the constantly evolving idea machine powering the franchise.

Far Cry Primal dials back the clock—to 10,000 BCE. Playing as Takkar, a Wenja hunter, it is your job to unite your people and end their oppression by the evil flesh-eating Udam and fire-worshipping Izila tribes. Over the course of several hours, you will recruit powerful allies, learn new abilities, hunt and tame the wild beasts of Oros, as well as defeat your enemies in gruesome fashion.

It is fitting that a game set in a time when hunting for food and materials was commonplace reaches its high points in these activities. Be it hunting wild beasts as part of the ‘legendary beast hunt’ questline or a pack of wild boar to feed your pet Sabretooth Tiger, Far Cry Primal is all about giving the player the best possible primitive hunting experience. Use Takkar’s hunter vision to track beasts, snipe them from a distance with bow and arrow or get up close with a club or spear.

It’s particularly fun when a hunt or assault on an enemy encampment can be foiled by the random interaction of AI systems. For instance, a bear could crash the party and you might either end up on the same side as the Izila tribesman you were about to kill two seconds earlier, or let the bear deal with the whole village. This is all too common in the wild, when something as routine as gathering wood for a hut could turn into an intense pursuit, with Takkar being chased by a couple of cave lions. We’ve seen this before in older Far Cry games but Primal takes it to another level, both in terms of frequency as well as variety.

The most impressive aspect of the game is the world itself. The world of Oros, which you will spend a dozen-or-so-hours inhabiting, can look (and sound) astonishing. The attention to detail here is staggering, with Ubisoft’s Dunia engine bring this ancient place to life. While the game world and each player’s unique experiences in it will result in a lot of stories being told, Takkar’s story isn’t a particularly interesting one.

Be it the characters Takkar encounters or the surprising lack of closure to story arcs, Far Cry Primal doesn’t try particularly hard. The cutscenes and dialogue (in made-up languages based on early Proto-Indo-European) have to be endured, not enjoyed. The generic character archetypes are present in the form of shaman, hunter, warrior and the like, but nobody stands out. They do not succeed as narrative tools, but instead are tools for game progress, giving quests and unlocking upgrades.

Far Cry Primal is an impressive looking game. The lighting engine is particularly good—sights such as fire-lit outposts visible from afar at night or rays of the sun entering a dense forest from above, are almost hauntingly immersive. The fire propagation engine is back with a vengeance as well, with the absence of guns and explosives shifting attention to the most destructive force in Oros: fire. The game’s characters, beasts, vegetation and overall impressive visual elements contribute equally to make Oros feel believable.

Fans of the Far Cry series should feel at home in Primal. It’s more familiar than different, so if you’re looking for more of the same, it should do nicely. If you didn’t pick up Far Cry 4 because of its apparent similarity to Far Cry 3, this year’s departure in terms of setting and delivery could prove interesting. For those of you who are not series fans, however, I’m not sure if Primal will change your mind.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7.5

The Good - Innovative use of the Far Cry IP - Hunting/taming beasts can be a lot of fun - Looks and sounds great - The game world, Oros, and everything in it

The Bad - Bland story, blander characters - Repetitive melee combat - Damage-sponge elite enemies and bosses

Minimum System Requirements:- CPU: Core i3-550 / Phenom II X4 955 RAM: 4 GB OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only) Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 / Radeon HD 5770 1 GB Free Disk Space: 20 GB

Recommended System Requirements:- CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K | AMD FX-8350 or equivalent RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only) Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 | AMD Radeon R9 280X or equivalent Free Disk Space: 20 GB