Far Cry Primal Reviews
Far Cry Primal takes players to an era rarely visited in modern gaming and does so convincingly.
Far Cry Primal takes the franchise back thousands of years to the Stone Age and a tale of a tribe decimated by their enemies. While this tale had promise, the lack of a central villain means that the story also lacks focus and is relegated to the sidelines while the side missions take pride of place. Away from the story, Primal offers hours of other activities that usually involve the game's satisfying melee combat and a beast from the game's rather fun taming mechanic. Players are never left with nothing to do, but it's for how long players will persist before the game starts to feel a bit too repetitive. This doesn't mean that it is a bad game by any means, especially when offering 40-50 hours of gameplay before reaching 100% completion. It just means that Far Cry veterans will have seen this all before but under a different skin.
"Primal" tries something new within the "Far Cry" series, and nails nearly everything it sets out to do. Taking away guns and adding animals is a breath of fresh air not just within the series, but within video games in general. Becoming the king of the jungle is a wild ride.
I suspect the next major Far Cry instalment will return to the modern day, but I'd love to see Ubisoft continue experimenting with the franchise from time to time. Primal doesn't quite discover the secret to fire, but it's an entertaining blast to the very distant past.
Far Cry: Primal could so easily have been a weak spin-off or a throwaway blast like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and it owes too much to the Far Cry formula to be described as a true original. Yet it builds a spectacular world, fills it with dynamic characters and gives you a role that feels meaningful and potent.
While this is a different direction for the Far Cry series, Far Cry Primal is an excellent entry into the franchise. While it might not be the best introduction to the franchise, it's certainly one the fans of Far Cry should definitely check out and those interested in the series will find something incredibly unique, action-packed, and a lot of fun.
Far Cry Primal presents an interesting take on the series' formula by going way, way back in time. The change in environment helps freshen up familiar mechanics that can get stale in a more modern setting while also making the game seem far more brutal and visceral. Folks who feel queasy at the sight of bloody animals and people might not be able to stomach Primal's prehisotric immersion. Gamers looking for a different open-world experience, however, will likely appreciate the change in setting.
Far Cry Primal really wants you to know that there are tons of things you can do in its prehistoric, open world. Unfortunately, you may not want to do any of them.
Far Cry Primal does little to reinvent the series established formula, sometimes taking it backwards more than its new time period may suggest. It's filled to the brim with the familiar and fun Far Cry trappings, if that's what you want out a game. It's an enjoyable, gratuitously violent romp in the past. If you're looking for some sort of narrative impetus tying it together though, you're bound to be a little disappointed.
Taming bears is a blast, but sometimes playing beast master is still a day job.
All in all, Far Cry Primal is a great entry in the series when it comes down to gameplay alone. The refocus was necessary to rein in the series, introducing a renewed sense of helplessness with more thoughtful engagement.
Although it's light on story and can get a bit tedious due to an emphasis on hunting and crafting, there's a lot to like about Far Cry: Primal. A beautiful game through and through, it's as immersive as it is nice-looking, and presents a rich world that is easy to get lost in.
It would be difficult to call Far Cry Primal a bad game, but it would be just as hard to recommend it with anything other than a thousand and one caveats attached. While it presents itself as something new, different and vital, the truth behind this absurdly shallow veneer is that you've played this game before − at least if you've touched a Far Cry game since its third instalment.The amount of traction you get from that fact will vary, just as the enjoyment of Ubisoft's other big series, Assassin's Creed, wavers from person to person. A victim of Ubisoft's mass homogenisation techniques it might be, but Far Cry Primal is still fun, solid and the kind of thing you can lose hours to, given half a chance. Problem is, that half-chance is getting harder to come by. Why give it that amount of the day when you've already given nearly exactly the same thing your time before?
"Far Cry: Primal" won't re-wire your expectations of what a game can be but it has just enough energy to pleasurably distract one over the length of its journey.
A change of scenery does the Far Cry shooter series good. Primal's caveman drama, beast-taming, and prehistoric hunting are highly satisfying, even though we've tread this ground before. Can we get dinosaurs next, please?
Far Cry Primal seeks to put you in the shoes, or rather, hunting furs of a primitive human trying to survive and secure a place for his people, but it seems to get in its own way at the worst times.
While playing leaves players at the mercy of its time period due to the lack of firearms and weapons we've come to know in recent installments, instead players are treated to a leaner, and thrilling take on the series that works perfectly in its Stone Age setting. In any case, Far Cry Primal proves that looking back to the past can reveal an experience that's crazy and brutally fun.
Far Cry Primal is more and yet less of the same Far Cry we've been playing for the past few years, minus a few fun systems. It's not worth the asking price, and demands more of your time than it deserves.
Far Cry Primal takes the series in a strange and satisfying direction