Far Cry Primal

Given the fact that with its setting, Far Cry: Primal could’ve really been a breath of fresh air for the series, the actual game is somewhat of a disappointment. By no means is it a bad game though. Combat is still fun, the crafting-system is very well implemented and graphically it looks very good. But Ubisoft had a chance to break out of the same old same old formula that the Far Cry games suffer from and did not utilize it. Instead, we get the ever so similar Far Cry gameplay – but now it’s the stone age. Without a doubt fun, but all of the repetition is starting to become pretty tiresome.

Solid, engaging and technically delicious, Far Cry Primal is a spin off that amuses the player even without firearms and vehicles, although the playful infrastructure is too conservative. On PC the only major differences are the sixty frames per second and a sharper image.

Far Cry Primal brings the stone age to life like nothing else before, but the repetitive gameplay can't keep up with the great setting.

The hackneyed story doesn't detract from the thrilling world and new challenges of 10,000BC. [Issue#249, p.45]

Primitive gameplay cycle of Far Cry, placed in primitive world, suddenly starts to make sense, and even story doesn’t feel as barebones and perfunctory as usual. Here, you’re not playing as a skinny frat boy who suddenly discovers a talent for killing hardened soldiers but ultimately just wants to get back to civilization – you’re a hunter who simply wants to become respectable leader of his tribe with a personal luxury cave. [Issue#207, p.46]

The PC version of Far Cry Primal is the best of the pack, but Ubisoft could have squeezed some more power from the newest video cards.

Far Cry Primal's setting is its greatest strength, and in its newest form on PC, it's still worth the many hours it takes to explore.

A very decent Far Cry game, but its handful of genuinely fun, original ideas are overshadowed by an overriding feeling of familiarity.

If you’re even remotely interested in the Far Cry games then you’ll be right at home with Far Cry Primal, but if you’re looking for a completely fresh experience you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

Combat is simple but fun, and once the game brings a tameable animal companion in then Primal becomes entertaining enough to last you many hours. Unfortunately stealth gameplay is more problematic as enemies blend into the environment and Hunter Vision is useless, but worse is that the constant need to hunt and gather resources takes up the majority of Primal’s play-time and isn’t fun at all.

Far Cry Primal on the PC looks like a well prepared conversion - stable, pretty and optimized. But these days that's not enough - a game running on a much more powerful hardware should be unique and FCP isn't. It's hard to justify spending money on a superb PC that will run the game in the highest settings when an equally good console version runs great on a cheaper machine. And you need to remember that Primal is just a visual overhaul of Far Cry 4.

Far Cry Primal is instantly pleasing to the senses and great to play. Stone Age is a really interesting setting and the whole map offers a lot of content and some great supporting characters. The PC version is very similar to the consoles versions, its major defect being those blurred textures.

If they had put another year of development toward it, maybe then we would've seen what we were hoping it would be.

There is a seed of a fascinating game hidden somewhere in Far Cry: Primal, but, I’m afraid, someone else will have to find it and grow it.

Far Cry Primal starts with a great premise and then falls into the same, increasingly-tedious groove as its predecessors.

A decent game, but nothing more. Far Cry Primal tries to differentiate itself from past Far Cry games with mixed success, managing some clever new tricks, but losing a lot of what made Far Cry feel special in the process.