★★★★
Ever since its announcement there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding Far Cry Primal. Can it really be a Far Cry game when you’re wielding a club? The answer is: hell yes.
The narrative behind the game is relatively simplistic. You play as Takkar, a Wenja tribesman from the fictional land of Oros who finds himself separated from his people after a disastrous mammoth hunt. You help him to rebuild through pure survival, which often includes killing a whole lot of prehistoric animals (and Christ they’re fast), not getting eaten by cannibals and making sure you get damn good at crafting and levelling. Also, don’t go out at night.
There’s a large focus on animal slaying, which quite an impact on me when I first started playing. I’m ridiculously sensitive when it comes to animals and didn’t handle having to slaughter the goats in the tutorial very well. Then, unsurprisingly for a game set in 10,000BC, everything started trying to kill me. It didn’t take too long before I developed zero qualms with killing it right back. Animal by-products are admittedly also quite handy when it comes to the incredibly streamlined crafting system the game has to offer.
Plus, it isn’t all maiming and murder. You have an owl friend who will scope out the land for you and help you destroy your enemies once you level it up. Plus, the Beast Master ability (which is arguably the highlight of the game) is a fantastic tool that enables you to control wild beasts. There’s nothing quite like riding a saber-toothed tiger through the truly gorgeous world that Ubisoft has created.
When I first spoke to lead writer Kevin Shortt about Primal, he was adamant that despite the lack of modern-day weaponry, this was still Far Cry. This is abundantly clear when playing the game – there isn’t anything particularly innovative in relation to the mechanics, story or feel and that’s OK. It is more than rectified through the gameplay, spectacular graphics and the total immersion that comes from a game that offers its own prehistoric language. Fans of the franchise will agree that this is indeed Far Cry, and this time around, they’re simply exploring the first frontier.
Far Cry Primalis out now on PS4 and Xbox One.
