Far Cry Primal Review

After crafting a bow, gathering resources and finding shelter, Takkar sets out to track his fellow tribe members. One of the very first is Sayla. Sayla fails to recognise Takkar and is attacked by a Tiger. With no time to spare, Takkar and Sayla make haste to escape the wrath of the tiger. Once in an area of safety, Sayla informs Takkar of a tribe called the Udam – a savage and primitive tribe of cannibals who believe that human flesh will cure them of sickness and their afflictions – who have been tormenting the local tribes. With this knowledge in hand… Takkar must gather his tribe and put an end to the Udam and their tribal leader, Ull.

While the storyline of Far Cry Primal starts off as a promising one, it lands up falling flat. This is due to underused supporting cast and a rather bland storyline – which tends to lack drama and depth. While Far Cry Primal’s storyline is a bit of a disappointment its visuals, combat mechanics, and open-world are anything but disappointing.

Far Cry Primal is an exceptionally beautiful game that features a spectacular open-world, which is filled with vibrant fauna and flora, vicious wild life, and desperate tribes seeking only to survive in a world that is savage at heart. As Far Cry Primal is set in the Stone-Age there are no guns, grenades, or anything similar to modern warfare weaponry. Takkar relies solely on the weapons he crafts throughout the game. The weapons start off simple; however, Takkar is eventually able to craft some rather devastating weaponry.

Melee combat plays a vital part in Far Cry Primal; however, it tends to take a backseat when it comes to one of the game’s greatest mechanics – the taming of wild beasts. Imagine this… It’s 10,000 BC and you are all alone in a savage world… you hear the howls of a Dire Wolf. Along with the danger of being torn apart by this vicious animal, you also have a half a dozen Udam warriors trying to server your head from your shoulders. You now have a choice… die at the hands of the Udam, or attempt to tame the Dire Wolf and watch as it lays waste to the enemy. It is choices like this that make beast taming in Far Cry Primal even more rewarding. Granted, taming animals comes with the risk of you becoming the pray; however, more often than not, most animals are easy to tame once you progress further into the world of Far Cry Primal.

Once tamed, you also have the ability to ride various animals… including the Brown Bear, the Sabretooth Tiger and the Woolly Mammoth. Along with these animals, Takkar also has the ability to tame the Owl. The Owl can be used to survey areas, tag enemies, and attack enemies. Takkar can even go as far as training it to drop pots filled with deadly bees, toxic gas, or even fire.

Oros is a dangerous place, and while everything is essentially trying to kill you, you will also need to protect Takkar from the elements. Once further into the game, players will essentially need to craft winter clothing in order to prevent Takkar from freezing to death. This is another area where Ubisoft exceeded my expectations, as I have seen various developers add in winter sections; however, these were more cosmetic and offered the protagonist no risk at all.

One thing that also captured my attention was the fact that the valley of Oros is very much alive. There were times where I would be gathering resources and I would come across Udam warriors being attacked by a bear. To add to this, I watched in shock and awe when a bird swooped down to capture its pray right in front of me. There were other times where I’d sit in the distance and watch as rival clans clashed; however, before the first tribe member fell they would scatter as a bear joined in the fight. It’s moments like these that made Far Cry Primal an unforgettable experience.

While random events are a highlight, one of Far Cry Primal’s biggest pulls is the fact that none of the characters speak English. Instead of the stock-standard grunts, Ubisoft enlisted the help of linguists Andrew and Brenna Byrd – a husband-and-wife team from the University of Kentucky – to assist with creating an entirely new language for the in-game population to speak. While its storyline is bland, listening to different tribe members talk to each other is pretty much one of the biggest reasons to pick up a copy of this title.

Conclusion:
Let’s face it, Far Cry Primal features a mediocre storyline at best; however, Ubisoft has placed in a tremendous amount of effort in crafting and creating an open-world experience that exceeded my overall expectations. Not only is the valley of Oros a dangerous place, but it features an equally dangerous protagonist who wields the power to tame beasts.

Overall, Far Cry Primal is well worth picking up… it showcases the Stone-Age in all of its glory, and the development team has even gone as far as throwing in its own take on what language and communication would have been like back then. To add to the features, Far Cry Primal has an excellent combat system – including the taming of beasts – which allows it to be as vicious as its beautiful open-world.

Far Cry Primal was reviewed by Darryl Linington
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