This year in games has been one of the most surprise-filled in recent memory, and the reveal of Far Cry Primal was one of the most unexpected. A screenshot simply appeared online out of the blue and confused journalists everywhere. The next day Far Cry Primal was formally announced. Without possessing a numeric title, I was unsure that this next entry in the series would meet the scale of the previous core entries, or if it would match more the scope of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Without a doubt, not only is Far Cry Primal a full Far Cry experience, it looks to change the formula in exciting new ways. Before going any further, it is important to note that the version of Far Cry Primal at the preview event was still in alpha and only showed a small portion of the game.
Far Cry Primal brings you back to the Stone Age and into the world of Oros. Oros is comprised of three major environmental segments. The north is a cold an icy mountain range, the center of the world is a dynamic wooded landscape, and the south is filled with marshlands. During this hands-on event, we were only allowed access to part of the north and center areas of the map.
In this world of Oros, you are Takkar, the first human to master the art of beast taming. You fight for your own survival and for the security of your people. Outside of your tribe, two other were introduced during my time with the game—the Udam and the Izila. The Udam closely resemble the appearance of Cro-Magnons and are a ruthless people who live primarily in the frozen north, where harsh conditions have forced the tribe into a history of inbreeding and cannibalism. The Izila—as well the main character and his people—are similar in appearance to modern day humans. Large portions of their bodies are covered in blue war paint, and they live in the central woodlands. Beyond that, I don’t know anything more. I only encountered three of the Izila in my time with Far Cry Primal, and I dispatched them as quickly as possible since all outside tribes attack on sight.
With Far Cry Primal taking place so long in the past it’s obvious that one of the series’ pillars is missing, but it’s not missed. Far Cry has always focused on guns, and lots of them. Fantastic gunplay is even what the series is commonly praised for. So how does Primal appear to stand up without one of its core features? Well, it’s simply swapped it for a slightly less combustible one.
The weapons showcased during the demo were largely new, but the trusty bow made a return in two forms; shortbow and longbow. As a primary bow user in the past Far Cry games, the bow in Primal felt like a natural homecoming. It’s still just as satisfying sinking an arrow into an enemy during the Stone Age as it is in the present. If I could have, I would’ve used the bow my entire playtime, but Ubisoft has found a great balance to encourage the player to use the game’s other weapons, either due to the shifting circumstances of combat or because you’ve simply run out of arrows and lack the resources to make more.
Other weapons found in Far Cry Primal include a one-handed club, two-handed club, spear, throwing daggers, sting bomb, and poison pot. As you would guess, the clubs are blunt, hard-hitting instruments that will daze your enemies and dispatch them in a few hits from the one-handed club, and be demolished by just a single swing of the two-handed. The spear has a primary thrust motion that will kill an enemy in about three hits to the body, but a single jab to the head will do in any human adversaries—at least the ones present in the demo. One-handed clubs and spears can also be thrown at enemies by holding the aim button (L2) and then holding the attack button (R2). You can hold and craft multiple one-handed clubs and spears as well, so as not to have you throw away your only weapons.
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The sting bomb, poison pot, and daggers are the true throwables of the game. The sting bomb is essentially a miniature beehive that you can toss at unsuspecting enemies like a grenade. Also like grenades, bees have no allegiances so be careful not to drop one too close to your feet or else you’re liable to be stung as well. The poison pot is a small clay pot filled with a noxious gas that slowly eats away at your enemy’s health. Several of the Udam I encountered also carried poison pots and were more than happy to give me a chance to experience them myself. They seem to have no serious lasting effect and can be quickly cancelled out by healing yourself by holding down the Triangle button. Throwing daggers in Far Cry Primal act as you’d expect them too and are constructed from shards of rock that can be collected throughout the world.
One surprise during the weapons demonstration is the ability to light any melee weapons and arrows on fire for extra damage. This is possible by gathering and applying animal fat to them or lighting them on nearby campfires. The burning effect is only temporary and appeared to consume a weapon—like one-handed clubs and spears—once the flames died out. Lit weapons will not only deal additional damage and set your enemies on fire, but you can also use your fired-up gear to burn enemy encampments to the ground.
Combat overall feels solid and the two-handed club is particularly satisfying when it connects with enemies after winding up a powerful swing by holding down R2. The one-handed club and spear however feel almost clumsy and ineffective when not thrown or performing a Takedown by pressing R3 near unsuspecting enemies. These weapons appear to recycle the same animation with every attack, making you feel slow and unthreatening when using them. Hopefully later-acquired combat skills will add more variety and speed to these weapons, otherwise I can see myself largely ignoring them, apart from using them as powerful throwing weapons.
The biggest surprise during the demo was discovering that predators of the world are no longer just terrifying foes, they can now become your powerful allies. Takkar holds the title of Beast Master, and it’s not just for show. Similar to Far Cry 4, another equippable item from the weapon wheel is bait, but it serves a much more interesting purpose in Primal. Bait actually allows you to tame the predators of the world, however it is a rather simple and unexciting process, especially considering the creatures you wish to recruit. You simply throw bait in front of a hungry predator, wait to see if it starts eating it, then go up to it and pet it on the head. Now you have the complete trust and obedience of one of the most savage mammals in history. Personally, I thought it was going to be like breaking in a horse, but instead of horses you have giant grizzly bears and saber tooth tigers. I hoped it would be more of a spectacle, or at least have a cinematic scene depicting some sort of fight for dominance between Takkar and each animal.
Once under your control, beasts can be freely summoned, dismissed, and swapped by pressing right on the D-pad. They can also be revived (seemingly) an unlimited number of times, so no need to be distraught if your furry friends die in battle. When aiming with L2, pressing R1 will send your companion to the observed location or attack the targeted enemy. I was told that these companions will have differing characteristics that can be taken advantage of depending on what a situation requires. For example, jaguars are more suited for stealth operations, and saber tooth tigers strip killed enemies of their loot and automatically add it to your inventory. While the addition of companions is undoubtedly a plus, there seems to be very little variation from the Shangri La tiger in Far Cry 4, and they don’t seem to really change the game or how you play it as much I would have liked to have seen during the event. A fantastic use of the companions in Primal, however, is the ability to use the larger ones as mounts in order to travel more quickly through the landscape. I’m definitely looking forward to the day that I get to ride a saber tooth tiger into battle and terrorize me enemies.
Another companion on your journey is a gigantic great horned owl. This majestic creature’s origin is still unknown, but it acts as your eyes for scouting encampments and the land around you. When the owl is called, you have full control over it and can fly it around for a limited time. The owl is a great tool for surveying the landscape and highlight enemies. Particularly with the absence of radio towers to reveal areas of the map, the owl—apart from general exploration—is how you uncover new sections in Oros and find event markers. Both Takkar and the owl also have the ability to enter into Hunter Vision by pressing R3, which changes the screen to black and white and highlights points of interest, interactibles, animals, and enemies in yellow. You can also set waypoints or position your beast while controlling the owl, and can even be used to hunt enemies and animals.
The wildlife of Far Cry Primal in general is at a whole new level of realism regarding their behavior. Predators won’t simply charge at you upon sight, or relentlessly chase you no matter what you do anymore. For example, packs of wolves were common during my playthrough, but they didn’t come close to the infuriatingly high levels of annoyance that I experienced from the canines of Far Cry 4. These new wolves in Primal were cautious and often times circled around behind me before attacking, if they even chose to attack at all. If you are under attack, a well-placed thwack of your club will cause them to stagger and regroup, or if you take out the pack leader the rest of the pack will disperse and leave you alone. I always had a problem with the unrealistic aggression of the predators in the past Far Cry games, specifically Far Cry 4. The fact that I was surrounded by more predators than ever in a Far Cry game and never had a problem with over aggression or being able to fight back was impressive to say the least.
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Crafting plays an even larger role in Far Cry than ever before. As I said earlier, you have the ability to craft your own weapons, arrows, daggers, etc. The number of crafting items that can be collected seems close to that of MMORPGs. Various types of rocks, wood, feathers, plants, and animals hides all seem to serve a purpose. It was honestly slightly overwhelming seeing the number of items required for crafting, and my hour with the game wasn’t nearly enough time to get a handle on item locations or what crafting functions each item served. I also didn’t see if creating larger pouches and packs for equipment using animal hides was part of this crafting system like in Far Cry 4, but I’d say it’s a safe bet to assume that is the case with level depth present in this new crafting system.
Skills are also being framed in a very different way in Far Cry Primal. There are eight different categories, and each category is tied to specific characters in the game world, including two that are connected to the Udam and Izila tribes. The other categories are Survival, Gathering, Hunting, Fighting, and Crafting. I was told that skills within these categories will be unlocked primarily through furthering the questlines of specific NPCs that are related to them. This was done in an effort to help give players the ability to play the way they want to play and build a master of the wilds that fits their vision.
Visually, parts of Far Cry Primal are still unrefined, like the animal fur textures and some of the finer details—which is expected because of its current development state. What is finished is beautiful. Oros is a vibrant world, even in its most desolate parts. Character animations are realistic and seem to be fully completed. There were a couple of instances where animals didn’t act as intended that I saw, like a bird trying to take off from land and getting stuck in a flying animation while still on the ground, and a grizzly bear getting up to rush towards me getting caught in a animation loop of standing up over and over.
Character interactions overall were virtually non-existent in this demonstration. I was told that any real story elements of Far Cry Primal were purposefully left out for this event, but there were only two encounters I had that sparked any sort of dialog with your fellow tribesmen. These events were one-sided, in-game conversations that initiated brief side quests. Undoubtedly these brief sequences will help to create a more lifelike game world like in the past Far Cry games, but it was disappointing that they chose to still keep all the story elements a secret.
Cultural exploration in the previous Far Cry games—like the Tatau in Far Cry 3 and Shangri La in Far Cry 4—has been one of my favorite aspects of the franchise, and Ubisoft has promised that Far Cry Primal will be equally as rich. Immediately I was fascinated by the origin of the language used in the game and how Takkar’s people would be as culturally deep as the previous entries. I was able to speak with Narrative Director Jean-Sebastien Decant, who eagerly enlightened me. The language spoken in Far Cry Primal is based off of Proto-Indo-European, which was the mother tongue of that era. Each tribe speaks their own regionally distinct variation of this language, and it seems to be the only language spoken within the game—meaning it’s all subtitled—and I hope that is true, because the little of it that was spoken added a great deal to the immersion of being in a different time. Mr. Decant—who also worked as the narrative lead on Far Cry 3—continued to talk about the process of researching the Stone Age and how surprised they actually were with the number of gameplay or story ideas they had before researching that ended up actually being true to that period.
Overall, I’m disappointed that I couldn’t learn more about the story and the world of Oros, but what I did see has me hopeful that Far Cry Primal could end up being the best Far Cry yet. With the game still in alpha, I trust that Ubisoft will address most, if not all the flaws that were present during this early showcase. The vast majority of the game appears to be completed and is now entering the very final stages of development. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product and genuinely hope it is able to replace Far Cry 3 as my favorite Far Cry game.