If there is one thing I have noticed playing Ubisoft’s games, it is that they have some of the best gameplay and level designers in the world. When Far Cry Primal was originally unveiled, a lot of people understandably called it a tiring and recycled effort, however, after playing through the game, that is not entirely true.

In Far Cry Primal, players are transported all the way back to the Stone Age, a setting which has rarely been utilised in videogames. Ubisoft described the world as lush and teeming with dangerous encounters. One thing is for certain, they really undersold the dangerous part. Unlike other Far Cry games, you are not provided with the affordability of heavy weaponry and are instead forced to rely on stick and stones, literally. For that reason, it isn’t only the other factions that are a danger to you, but also the wildlife.

However, luckily for you, you play as Takkar, voiced excellently by Elias Toufexis (Jensen in Deus Ex Human: Revolution), whose mystical ability allows you to tame and command the wildlife around you. There are several different animals that you can tame, each with different attributes and talent. For example, the bear can be ridden, provided you’ve unlocked the beast rider skill, and bring you items found around the game’s world. On the other hand, if you prefer stealth, the jaguar could be your best friend, silently taking down enemies without giving away its position on your command. However, if you really want something that would decimate your enemies, the massive and grizzly cave bear would be your best bet. What really makes you want to switch between different animals is the balance behind them, imploring you to try out different beasts for different scenarios.

Lastly, there are Elite animals as well, which cannot be tamed by distracting them with a bait like the others, and you have to partake on relevant missions which end with an animal boss fight. During those boss fights, you can set traps and call on one of your beast companions to make it a fair fight as the animals you are fighting are quite powerful and behave differently from the rest of their species. Once you have wounded the animal you are fighting and it is near death, you need to catch up to it in order to tame it. These beasts are some of the most powerful animals in the game, capable of tilting the tide of battle in mere seconds. Animation is perhaps the driving force behind making the animals look both majestic and dangerous. I can never get tired of seeing a Sabretooth Tiger lunge on a Woolly Rhino to take it down, and the detail in that kill is impressive, especially how the tiger bites into the rhino’s neck then uses its own weight to bring it down.

I understand that a lot of people may be wondering how much the game sticks to the infamous Ubisoft open world formula. Well, for starters, the game features a fog of war map type where different parts of the maps are only revealed via exploring. Furthermore, the outpost system is back from the previous Far Cry games where you have to successfully take over an outpost in order to unlock Fast travel points. The one notable thing about the previous outpost system in the Far Cry games was that you got to unlock some rather impressive weaponry, but unfortunately that is missing in this game.

Now the reason that feature is missing in this game isn’t because the developers forgot to add it in, but instead it is because there isn’t much weaponry to be had in this game due to its setting. The most notable weapons you will have are a regular bow, long bow, multi-bow, spear, one-handed and two-handed club, and a trap. So, it makes sense as to why you do not unlock anything worthwhile. Still, you do end up with more resources in your daily rewards bag.

The daily reward bag is perhaps one of my favourite personal additions to the game. The way it works is that you are given different resources every day, gathered by the members of your tribe. These resources can be used to craft items, and Ubisoft’s hunting/crafting system also makes a return here where upgrading different weapons and apparels requires you to hunt certain animals. This feature perhaps makes the most sense in this game, seeing how you are a master hunter, and the game mostly revolves around you conquering the wildlife to help you. Furthermore, this time, not only are you required to scavenge dead animals, but also the plant life around you, which can net you with different resources to upgrade your ammo sacks and weapons.

The Ubisoft formula doesn’t necessarily feel stale as the level design, especially since the cave aspect is done very well, giving you various ways to complete an encounter. The mechanics have also been adapted to the time period involved. What I really admire mechanic wise is that you now have the option to disable the search animations, such as the ones which see you skin animals or your hand move to pick up an item. Those are cool a first few number of times, but become stale and destroy your flow after a while, so thankfully now you can just disable animations and quickly scavenge and gather items.

The combat is quite similar to the last games as well, if you were to throw out all the guns and keep only the bow and arrow. You can take cover, peek out, run, slide, stealth kill and chain kill like the previous games. However, this time it feels more savage due to the game’s primal nature and mature violent animations. Healing is also the same, where you need plants to heal more than one bar of health and if you don’t have any you will have different animations play out when you press the heal key, animations like you pulling out an arrow from your arm or relocating your broken bones. This time however, the game allows you to set which healing option you want on the heal button, allowing you to conserve plants if you plan to do so.

Takkar’s Owl is a handy addition as well, one that can not only spot out and mark enemies for you, but also drop different grenades you craft. Unlike the old Far Cry games, if you are to survive the land of Oros, you will have to cleverly utilise different grenades to tackle difficult situations. The previous games were a bit easy, so I didn’t have to bother with them, but this time around, since you don’t have the advantage of long range weaponry, you have to. It gives you a tactical edge, and that is all due to good game balancing.

The story also managed to surprise me quite a bit, as it was both inventive and masterfully performed by the actors involved. The character designs and the basic arc is interesting enough that you want to see the game and its characters reach their conclusion, and the experience is made even more memorable thanks to one man, Jason Graves. Jason Graves has created, or rather crafted in this case, one of the most interesting and fitting soundtracks to date. Everything from the exciting percussion to the alarming screams and vocals which have been recorded by the ever so talented Malukah, which manage to keep you on your feet and paint the world as something sinister and dangerous the entire time you are playing.

Not to mention, Ubisoft has a great ear for song selection as they always mange to pick a fitting tracks that highlights a certain scene during gameplay. Previously it was Make It Bun Dem by Skrillex and Damian Marley for “Kick the Hornet’s Nest” mission in Far Cry 3, or Jogi by Punjabi MC in Far Cry 4, and this time it is “The Wolf” by Fever Ray which plays during the Batari boss fight.

Coming back to Jason Graves, another reason why his style fitted with the game so well is that the game has a substantial horror element to it. If I was to give it my personal genre, it would most definitely be survival horror. Surviving from both the enemies and animals in a twisted and mysterious era. Last thing worth mentioning is that there are some really interesting Easter Eggs to be found in-game, such as the one that concerns a Blood Dragon, and another that concerns The Flintstones, giving you an incentive to explore more.

One problem I have had with the game is that it can feel repetitive after a while as the side missions and the world around you starts recycling itself. There are also some frustrating bugs that were present, especially with Mammoths getting stuck in the air, preventing me from skinning them, which is bad considering how hard it is to take them down. Other than that the game has robust mechanics with a really interesting level design. I would definitely recommend it once it is a bit cheaper, not to mention a brand new survival mode has just been released for free which lets you play the game on a ruthless setting with no hud, where death truly means the end, which really let’s your Primal Instincts takeover.

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