I’ve had this game in my Gamefly queue list since December of last year. Going by the box, it looked interesting. A new take of the FarCry series, except this one will go way.. WAY back to the year 10,000BC, the dawn of mankind; our ancient ancestors. When we discovered fire, and managed to rise to the top in the food chain with our skill in using tools.
But the events of this game aren’t about that recorded history, nor does it focus on a single person who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time (such as in the middle of a civil war), but about a guy and his dying tribe called the ‘Wenja’.
His name is ‘Takkar’, a seasoned hunter of the Wenja. After a successful Mammoth kill, his tribesmen are attacked and killed by a single Sabertooth Tiger.
He is the only survivor, and he must use his survival skills to kill the weak and fend off predators, for he is nothing but pray to them. But he can rise up to the top of the food chain by crafting weapons like bows, spears, and hammers(that can also be used as a torch).
The survival of his dying tribe (and possibly the future of the human race that we know today in 2016) is on his shoulders, and he can help them against the Udam, a strange human tribe of questionable ethics, by completing ‘Wenja Events'(similar to Karma Events in Farcry 4).
Takkar later finds out (after drinking spiked blood) he’s a Beastmaster; the power to tame all sorts of animals and have them attack his targets, which is a first for the FarCry series. This also seems to remind me of the annoying Hunters from FarCry 4 for some strange reason. Could they possibly be descendants of Takkar?
And that’s as far as I can say without spoilers.
Now I’ve been a fan of the Farcry series since the first game (and I’ve said this countless times). And this game, from what I’ve seen of the ‘lucky’ ones that Ubisoft paid(I’m sorry.. “sponsored” is the term I should use) to show the first two hours into the game, it looks.. and feels different. But there’s just something bugging me, and it’s something that all Triple A devs do when it comes to a successful series; copy the same features over and change them up a little, to put less work on their part instead of build it from the ground up.
Though to say this is a case of pure laziness of the devs, or a case of how expensive it is to make a video game nowadays.. I don’t know the answer to this as I’m not a developer.
All I can say, is this game (to me.. dunno about you guys) is a “need to watch” instead of a “need to buy”. It looks really cool, and I do like the fact it’s based more on the crafting aspect instead of buying weapons from dealers (and/or getting them free from unlocking radio towers). See, there was no such thing as ‘trading’ back then, or even a need for currency. It’s all about survival against hostile creatures.
But…, the fact it also feels like Farcry 3 and 4 (recycling the Eagle mob and Karma Events)… I dunno. Also, it needs more of a true Survival aspect instead of just hunting (the need to eat/drink, and stay warm(like The Long Dark, but less harsh)). This would really make Farcry Primal completely separate from the previous four games (Farcry: Blood Dragon included).
As for the asking price, it’s going to be $59.99 in the US (which is the normal retail price for most if not all Triple A games).