Far Cry Primal is best Far Cry. Tragically, still a Far Cry game.

[Post Tenebrae Morte]

Personally, I really love the game. It explores an interesting setting, utilizes a pretty good gameplay system, and just lacks in a few things like combat animation reactions to melee weapons. I've played all of the far cry games, but I found 3 and above to be superior to the first two. Maybe it's because I played crysis before the first far cry, but it just felt meh to me. 2 showed an early version of what would be perfected in 3, and is a pretty good immersion simulator. But it put too much importance on the realism to me.

I don't see why the series has to reinvent the formula every time a new game comes out. 3 was awesome, it let us explore a tropical environment with a heart of darkness esque story. Blood dragon reeked of the eighties and was just fun as hell. 4 explored the true stories that exist in civil war struggles, showing that not everything is as plain as it may seem, along with a wonderful india esque setting. Primal puts forth the Stone Age setting which isn't explored as often as it could be, along with a more savage gameplay type.

It's not the next silent hill 2, doom, mario 64, etc. But it is a fantastic game and the series is certainly in a better place than assassins creed, which has been rotting since unity.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

...

Biggest disappointment is the melee combat system. There isn't one. You just equip a melee weapon, walk into range and mash left click. You flail at the enemies and they flail at you until whoever started with less health falls over. No block, no parry, no counter, no dodge. Later on you can hold click for a charged attack, but I'm pretty sure it's actually less efficient than just mashing left click.

...

Fuck me, really? No block? Seriously? I'd heard the melee combat was pretty bare bones, but I didn't realize it was that basic. Even Dishonored has a block, and that' a stealth game. I really don't see how they think they can get away with removing the guns but not substantially improving the melee you're left with.

The stone age setting is intriguing enough to have me somewhat interested, but everything I've seen of the game makes it seem like they've gutted the mechanics and replaced it with nothing significant.

 

[IceForce]

Several actually. You go on a flying adventure in one, play as an enemy tribe and try to destroy their idol in the second one, and the last few put your mind in that of a mammoth.

Well, I stand corrected. Can't beat those stone age drugs.

Yeah, it wasn't called the stone age because there were rocks around but because of all the stoners.

Heyo!

Because the animal taming thing is not actually a new feature; it was in Far Cry 4 during the drug induced sequences (where you have a tame white tiger following you around and who can be directed at enemies).

Yeah, I played FC4 after Primal was announced and as soon as I got to the first Shangri-la sequence I realized where the idea for Primal had come from.

It's getting a bit uncanny how that keeps happening, -- how Ubisoft takes something from one of their previous games and makes an entire game based around just that.
It happened with AC: Black Flag too. "People really liked the ship combat sequences from AC3? I know! Let's make an entire game based around that!"

Actually, Black Flag was pretty good, so I guess the plan works some of the time. But it's still a bit weird how often this pattern is happening.

 

[Dalisclock]

Speaking of, are there any drug trip-outs in Primal? I'm guessing not.

Several actually. You go on a flying adventure in one, play as an enemy tribe and try to destroy their idol in the second one, and the last few put your mind in that of a mammoth.

Does he turn into an eagle like that bit in ACIII?

Actually, is it obligatory for pretty much all the big ubisoft games lately to have at least one mushroom samba? Several AC games and the last few FC games have had them.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Basically you throw some meat at an animal (predators only)

Aww, you've destroyed my dreams of winning the heart and loyalty of a bunny by throwing giant slabs of raw meat at it.

I sense that someone might try to mod in the Killer Bunny from Monty Python. Just remember to bring a Holy Hand Grenade if things go south.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Thanks for the quick review. I was actually on the fence with this one, but I'm somewhat unique among Far Cry fans (I thought 3 was a masterpiece, but I was bored to tears by 4).

I honestly didn't even think about the fact that the takedowns would be so limited now that things like the gunslinger takedown and grenade takedown are no longer viable.

But what sounds most disappointing to me is that I was really hoping the game would expand upon the 'using the jungle to kill the baddies/you're a hunter' idea. Things like setting up snares and traps in the jungle, camouflage, luring baddies into the woods, jumping down on them from trees, etc. Instead they basically seemed to have thrown that out the window and gone with "you're the Beastmaster and now you can control animals! Grrrr!".

 

[FirstNameLastName]

Thanks for the quick review. I was actually on the fence with this one, but I'm somewhat unique among Far Cry fans (I thought 3 was a masterpiece, but I was bored to tears by 4).

I honestly didn't even think about the fact that the takedowns would be so limited now that things like the gunslinger takedown and grenade takedown are no longer viable.

But what sounds most disappointing to me is that I was really hoping the game would expand upon the 'using the jungle to kill the baddies/you're a hunter' idea. Things like setting up snares and traps in the jungle, camouflage, luring in the baddies, etc. Instead they basically seemed to have thrown that out the window and gone with "you're the Beastmaster and now you can control animals! Grrrr!".

To be fair, I never used any of those other takedowns outside of playing around with it once or twice as a fun gimmick. Its usefulness always felt way too situational, since I never really got the logic of following up a silent takedown with a loud gunshot or grenade blast. Unless I was noticed the instant I used the takedown, it was always far more useful to simply continue sneaking or use a silence weapon.

It was especially useless when you unlocked the takedown combos.

 

[stroopwafel]

Seems typical Ubisoft to not make a new game but just new wallpaper for their previous game. I'm all for change and innovation but not when it's shoehorned into an existing franchise using the exact same mechanics. FC Primal seems to have a barebones combat arsenal with very little to compensate for it. You'd think at the very least they would adapt the melee combat to make it more satisfying and rewarding instead of just the cumbersome, weightless swinging of the previous games. Atleast in those games you had an entire arsenal at your disposal so the melee didn't matter as much but now you only have a bow and spear.

I like the concept behind Primal and in theory it could have worked but this is just Far Cry 3 or 4 with no weapons and an extra gimmick. I was kind of on the fence about this title but after watching gameplay I was like..no thanks.

Btw can you atleast drag a woman into your cave? (hey it's what they did at the time. )

 

[Phasmal]

Eh, is it weird that I'd be way more excited about this if I could make my own character?
I want to be a cool cave-lady taming lions.

As far as I've seen, it looked like a really cool concept but I'm not sure they've done enough with it to make it interesting.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

So I just watched the TotalBiscuit review ...
<youtube=ZVp0x_eaMVs>
... and while there are many of the same criticisms I've seen echoed by pretty much everyone else (extremely basic melee combat, mechanics either carbon copies of previous mechanics or missing entirely, extremely repetitive and mundane crafting/gathering, etc) the game apparently also has chronically bad optimization. Can anyone else confirm? Either way, it's looking like my cautious optimism was misplaced, and that the setting alone is it's only redeeming quality.

 

[Zhukov]

Actually, Black Flag was pretty good, so I guess the plan works some of the time. But it's still a bit weird how often this pattern is happening.

Heh. I was going to make a thread on Black Flag.

It was going to be called, "Sadly, Black Flag is still an Assassin's Creed game."

Btw can you atleast drag a woman into your cave?

Yes you can.

Although you'll need to kill her first.

 

[Zhukov]

[Double post]

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

A far cry game is still like a far cry game? Well it's a damn good thing i like far cry games and don't demand they change the whole formula to a point where there would be no reason to even place it in the same series, other than name recognition. Admittedly a more complex melee system would be nice, but these are cavemen/women who i would imagine are not elegant fighters akin to ballroom dancers of blood. Does every sequel require mind-blowing innovation? For the purposes of critique, it may require, if only to make the writer more interested in their job. But to demand innovation with every title is a little touch...demanding, no?

 

[Zhukov]

A far cry game is still like a far cry game? Well it's a damn good thing i like far cry games and don't demand they change the whole formula to a point where there would be no reason to even place it in the same series, other than name recognition. Admittedly a more complex melee system would be nice, but these are cavemen/women who i would imagine are not elegant fighters akin to ballroom dancers of blood. Does every sequel require mind-blowing innovation? For the purposes of critique, it may require, if only to make the writer more interested in their job. But to demand innovation with every title is a little touch...demanding, no?

There's a difference between demanding "mind blowing innovation" and not being impressed when a sequel is just the same game on a new map.

Especially in this case when they actually removed a lot of things. Guns, vehicles, explosives, enemies that use those, some of the takedowns. That's fine, considering the setting, but it would be reasonable to expect them to replace those things with something, yes? Like a decent melee system. Except they kinda didn't. Just put in the simplest melee imaginable, threw up their hands and said, "Fuck it, they'll buy it anyway!"

As for cavemen not being skillful fighters, we're talking about a caveman who can command an owl and can ride around on a bear. I think my suspension of disbelief could have been stretched to accommodate him being skillful with a spear.

 

[Fappy]

Sounds like people should just replay Skyrim rather than wasting their time with this one.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

Sounds like people should just replay Skyrim rather than wasting their time with this one.

but skyrim is not also a good game.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

There's a difference between demanding "mind blowing innovation" and not being impressed when a sequel is just the same game on a new map.

Especially in this case when they actually removed a lot of things. Guns, vehicles, explosives, enemies that use those, some of the takedowns. That's fine, considering the setting, but it would be reasonable to expect them to replace those things with something, yes? Like a decent melee system. Except they kinda didn't. Just put in the simplest melee imaginable, threw up their hands and said, "Fuck it, they'll buy it anyway!"

As for cavemen not being skillful fighters, we're talking about a caveman who can command an owl and can ride around on a bear. I think my suspension of disbelief could have been stretched to accommodate him being skillful with a spear.

Hmm, i was really hoping that owl command skill would be something i could learn later on in life. Also seasonal tradition dictates that i fulfill the second...erm, skill?
Well i have yet to play the game, so i can't honestly comment further. Just that a lack of guns and cars doesn't sound like a bad thing and a sabre tooth vehicle sounds like a worthy replacement for almost anything including food.

 

[Fappy]

Sounds like people should just replay Skyrim rather than wasting their time with this one.

but skyrim is not also a good game.

But the Nords are the most manly and badass of them all!

 

[IceForce]

Sounds like people should just replay Skyrim rather than wasting their time with this one.

but skyrim is not also a good game.

But the Nords are the most manly and badass of them all!

Oh yes indeed!

I think you'd be struggling to find someone in a game more manly than this!

 

[SweetShark]

Far Cry Series is the new Assassin Creed Series:

Far Cry SeaDogs.
Far Cry Desperados.
Far Cry Space.
Far Cry Mafia.
Far Cry Fantasy.
Far Cry Reality.
Far Cry Cry.
Far Away Cry.
Situated at a Great Distance in Space or Time Cry.

I guess I will wait for the "black Sheep" of Far Cry Series which ALL the heroes/villains of Far Cry games Fight in a Mortal Kombat like game.