Far Cry Primal is the new action game set in 10,000 years before Christ, which has launched already on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Situated in the Land of Oros, a hostile region populated by wild beasts and factions, the adventure details the history of the conflicts of Wenja tribe, led by primitive instincts of the protagonist Takkar. The game has excellent graphics, but brings some problems in its history. Check out the full review of Far Cry Primal, a prehistoric adventure from Ubisoft.
Gameplay and Characters:
There is no video game that can construe so well and the experience of living in the Mesolithic period as Far Cry Primal. Tribes fight for survival against cannibalistic clan on the dirt roads while saber-tooth tigers, cave lions, mammoths and brown bears threaten the inhabitants in the dense forests of Oros.
The pre-historic experience is heightened by characters and dialogues built in a language of the time that is indecipherable today. The feeling of being present in a world without rules is highlighted when Takkar, the protagonist of the game, is thrown into the land of Oros to improve their war utensils and do whatever is required.
Unlike other games in the franchise, Far Cry Primal is a little deeper into the narrative. The title goes to the point and leaves the player in the middle of the jungle. The premise is simple – Takkar must recruit new fighters to strengthen the army of Wenjas, whose goal is to exterminate the leaders of rival tribes of Udam and Izila.
Although the campaign is consistent, consisting of memorable scenes, the same cannot be said of the villains, which add a little in the overall context of the plot. An antagonist with personality really is lacking in Far Cry Primal like the flawless performances of Vaas Montenegro and Pagan Min in Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4.
The dialogues, perfectly adapted to our language, are brief and straight-forward, because the game wants the player to discover the secrets on the basis of exploitation. However, exploring is not as simple as Oros is a dynamic world where different things happen around all the time. Animals hunt their prey, cannibals commit collective massacres by a mere piece of meat and enigmatic events mystify tundras and caves.
The map of Far Cry Primal is relatively large, but smaller compared to Far Cry 4, for example. This is because most of the time you need to walk to complete dozens of side missions and activities that take place in real time. Although it is possible to ride on animals in more advanced points of history, walking is the best way to explore and collect raw materials.
Taming Animals is Unique:
Even with the theme of radical change, the Himalayas of Far Cry 4 to the Stone Age, Primal keeps intact the essence of the Far Cry series. Make no mistake, you will still need to master outposts of enemies and take pyres – which replace the communications towers from previous games – to unlock new fast travel points.
Skinning animals also remains a need for the system to create weapons and items that are much more robust in this release. Takkar needs to create bows, tomahawks, spears and bee pumps with his own materials collected, ie; no weapons are bought or granted without costs.
The downside is that there are few weapons options to be architected through the creation system. Fighting sometimes appears to be limited by the lack of variety of weapons available, and makes it necessary to work most of the time with the same arsenal.
Primal is, above all, a survival game. If the player kills an enemy with a spear or arrow, for example, you need to seek the same to detach it from the body of the opponent to not waste ammunition. If you are feeling cold then you need to seek shelter and make a fire to keep Takkar warm. If Takkar was injured during a direct clash against rival tribes and has no raw meat to restore the health meter then the only option left is to go hunting. Survival will depend solely on the ability to hunt effectively and manage resources.
The system of taming beasts is the most remarkable change of Far Cry Primal. There are dozens of rare animals from canine to feline and predators, which can be used as a battle partner and transport. The functionality of turning animals into allies can renew the combat mechanics shaped from Far Cry 2, which ensures an extra layer of complexity to the gameplay.
In the style of Pokemon, Takkar is able to use the beast to fight animals and specific warriors from only attack commands, but first need to make the animal docile with the help of supernatural powers learned from the Master of Beasts. If your pet dies, you can cure it with meat or relive it anytime by going into the game menu.
Another welcome addition is the construction of villas feature. The Wenja village serves as a safe haven for members of the tribe. In view of this, Takkar should fortify the hollow to unlock brand new skills and weapons. The same materials to create weapons are used for making new hollow, but the houses consume more raw materials.
By having the dynamic weather, the ground of Oros raises the level of challenge of wild creatures when the sun goes down. The dangers of night-time test all the player’s survival skills, as visibility is low and there are more predators hunting.
The feeling of overnight weakness is intense and nerve-racking because you need to fire the weapons at all times to be able to see. The problem is that every time a torch is used, an animal fat unit is consumed, that is, there is always the risk of running out of light in the dense forest.
Prehistoric Beauty
Far Cry Primal is designed with the same engine for Far Cry 4, but the look of the new game is much more inviting. It is impossible not to be surprised and flabbergasted with the incredible level of detail of the dense vegetation that surrounds the open world of Oros. Tundra, rocky mountains and forests make up the ecosystem of Far Cry Primal.
Surprisingly, the flora and fauna of the prehistoric adventure do not use the base formed in Far Cry 3, quite the contrary. Here we have new plants, trees and creatures minutely planned to be part of a single universe.
Conclusion
Without any fear to dare, Far Cry Primal reinvents concepts established by predecessors to offer an open world adventure game focusing on survival. The game just hit everything that is proposed, even with the shallow and predictable story. Ubisoft proves that the formula of the franchise is still able to adapt to any environment, whether in the Himalayan Mountains or primeval forests.
