...did I do it? Did I turn it around on the Far Cry 3 morons?
Far Cry was a series I got into, like many people I know, with Far Cry 3 which I thoroughly enjoyed. The exotic location of Rook Island coupled with the very unique and deeply intricate story arc that Jason Brody went through to go from 20-something SoCal douchebag to fearless, bloodthirsty warrior made it an absolute hit. There was a reason to everything, there were milestones to aspire to, and a bunch of tasty heavy ordnance to mow down the unsuspecting jungle mook with. Really, it had a great deal more to it than the typical first person shooter has these days. It aspires to greatness and, in many ways, exceeds it.
Then came Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Basically, all that but with the filter of 1980s sci-fi over it all. Still good, and indeed even more enjoyable than the vanilla game albeit for entirely different reasons.
Then came Far Cry 4. which was...well...Skyrim with Guns as I said in my review of it. And, truth be told, I may have been a bit too nice to it. Not that it was bad by any means, but it lacked the colorful cast that 3 and Blood Dragon had, thinking back on it only Pagan Min remains that fresh in my mind after so long.
Anyway, fast forward into 2016, and Ubisoft is taking another stab at the franchise. Like Blood Dragon, they wanted to do something a little different. Sadly, it wasn't getting a sequel to that 80s shlock masterpiece, so they decided to wind the clock back in the other direction...10,000 years back, in fact. The Earth has come out of the last Ice Age and now the Wenja tribe are unifying under the banner of Takkar, the Beastmaster. Okay, to be truthful, Takkar actually comes to the land of Oros and just so happens to start unifying the Wenja into a tribe following the destruction of his own.
But the opening cutscenes depict Wenja shaman Tensay telling the player about the exploits of Takkar and how he unified the Wenja, so we know it's gonna happen from the jump.
As far as mechanics go, we aren't too far off from Far Cry 3 or 4. There's running, there's jumping, there's skill trees to make you run and jump faster. The real difference comes in the weapons, and there's a tasty variety of them to scratch that caveman itch. I enjoyed it in 4 when I had advanced enough to ride elephants and go plowing into enemy strongholds with all the subtlety of a cat being thrown into a bathtub...in a piano going over a cliff...on fire. But I really had not anticipated how much I would actually enjoy the simple act of beating a caveman's skull in with a club.
Also, get good with the bow. Really, it's the best weapon in the long run.
But yes, mechanics-wise if you've played either of the previous two games, you've played this. Same goes for crafting, albeit it now extends to buildings in your tribal village and your very weapons instead of just toking the reefer. You want to make a spear? Find so much of this kind of wood and you can make it, on the spot. No muss, no fuss. And the best part is, you don't have to spend another three hours looking around for a pack of duct tape.
...sorry, I'm still a bit mad at Fallout 4.
However! A new feature is touted by the game. As mentioned before, Takkar is the Beastmaster. Following a vision quest he's sent into by Tensay (really, it's Far Cry, we expect drug trips by this point), Takkar suddenly gains the ability to bond with animals - provided he has the necessary talent to do so - and get them to aid him in battle. Remember how you could use bait to lure animals into enemy strongholds in the previous games? Now, just have that clawed/fanged death machine walking alongside you ready to obey your every command.
Fire is also both your friend and your enemy this time around. Fire can be used to fend off animals who would attack you, but everything will be set ablaze given the opportunity. And with being able to set everything on fire short of your spear, you will accidentally set a field of grass or some trees on fire if you aren't paying attention. Pro-tip, keep stocked up on animal fat and you never have to worry about not having it as an option in your back pocket.
While it does follow a great deal of the formula of the previous games, it does actually bother to bring us something different with that concept rather than just retreading the same ground again. The environments are lovely and the gameplay is, as I've mentioned with the combat, very fluid and an absolute joy. Bringing us back to a land before time, showing us the simple joy to be found in being a beastmaster in their domain.
Sure, there are no dinosaurs, but if Far Cry 4 could pull yetis, I'm sure that Ubisoft could pull some strings with their DLC for this one. C'mon, Ubisoft! Make it happen!
Far Cry Primal is now available for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.
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