Far Cry Primal

Far Cry Primal is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 23, 2016, and for Microsoft Windows on March 1, 2016. The game is a spin-off of the main Far Cry series. It is the first Far Cry game set in the Mesolithic Age.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) An open-world game during the Mesolithic Age is a pretty unique and original idea.
 * 2) Decent story that tells of a tribesman named Takkar trying to rebuild his tribe known as Wenja.
 * 3) Whenever you start up the game, you'll be given a section to help you remember what's happened in the story so far. This is helpful for people who may have lost track while exploring the game.
 * 4) Because the game takes place during the Mesolithic Age almost everything must be crafted. From spears, bows, arrows, slings, and of course, medicine. The player also has to eat in order to heal instead of just using syringes.
 * 5) Since there is no camera, Takkar has an owl, his spirit animal which can be directly controlled. Through the owl's vision, the player can scout enemies' outposts and highlight enemies. Through skill improvements, the owl can be upgraded to have various abilities added, such as diving to kill an enemy or dropping bombs.
 * 6) Good voice acting.
 * 7) Takkar is known as a Beast Master meaning that (depending on the animal) he can use bait and tame animals, which ranges from foxes to wolves, to even a sabretooth tiger.
 * 8) Good soundtrack that fits to the stone-age settings.
 * 9) Decent graphics.
 * 10) The characters speak a fictional language that is based on the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language, which is the theorized common ancestor of most modern European languages and some languages in Asia and the Middle East. Linguists constructed three dialects—Wenja, Udam and Izila—one for each of the three featured tribes. Each dialect was designed to have a distinct sound conveying the culture of its tribe. Lead writer Kevin Shortt said that players are able to understand Wenja vocabulary, and finish the game with "a real sense of it".

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The map is literally a recycled version of Far Cry 4's map. This was apparently intended as an Easter Egg, before conflicts within the story team shifted the setting to Central Europe.
 * 2) The ending is anti-climatic since the game abruptly ends after Takkar brings back UII's children to his tribe.
 * 3) The optimization is awful, as it lags on lower-end PC's, even on the lowest settings.
 * 4) The graphics are slightly downgraded compared to Far Cry 4.
 * 5) No 100% reward.

Reception
Far Cry Primal received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the concept and setting, as well as the animal-taming mechanic and world design. However, some reviewers noted that the lack of weapons players can utilize led to a repetitive gameplay design, while others felt the story and characters were not on par with the previous Far Cry games.

Destructoid's Kyle MacGregor spoke positively about how the game depicts violence towards animals and the survival aspects in general, saying that they were designed with realism in mind. He also felt that the animal companion mechanic was one of the game's strongest elements, saying that it has "limitless potential". In regard to the choice of setting, he felt it was a welcome and natural evolution in the Far Cry series. However, he described the story as being familiar and predictable and said that, even with the drastic change of setting, the Far Cry formula isn't as innovative as it once was.

Matt Buchholtz of Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote, "The graphics are stunning—Ubisoft has truly mastered facial animations and lighting effects." He added, "The game feels like a full-priced reskin of Far Cry 4, without the engaging storyline", finishing with, "Far Cry Primal really wants you to know that there are tons of things you can do in its prehistoric, open world. Unfortunately, you may not want to do any of them."

Jeff Cork from Game Informer praised the setting for allowing for gameplay and story elements with more realism, specifically in regard to the protagonist not being a stereotype young male who inexplicably has advanced combat knowledge. He called the visuals and world design "beautiful", and said that the decision to use a primitive language made specifically for the game was "effective". Lastly, Cork wrote: "Players who associate Far Cry with explosions and massive gunfights might find the setting disappointing, but it's one of my favorite entries in the series yet."

Matt Utley of Game Revolution called Far Cry Primal a "breath of fresh air for both the franchise and first-person action games in general". He praised the decision to remove guns and motorized vehicles for enabling more dynamic gameplay, called the graphics "lush" and "evocative", and, like others, commended the bold setting change. Utley's critiques were minor; he disliked some aspects of the control scheme, found that the quieter moments of the game were drowned-out by aggressive enemies, and felt that not enough improvements and fixes were made to the basic Far Cry formula.

Mike Mahardy of GameSpot gave the game a mostly positive review, calling the setting its greatest strength. He praised the open world for being "cohesive" and "foreboding", enjoyed the "tense" focus on survival, and called the beast-taming mechanics "creative". Mahardy did feel as though there was a limited amount of weapons given to the player and disliked some of the gameplay for being "repetitive".

Joe Skrebels from GamesRadar was more critical of the game, summarizing his thoughts with: "Primal takes the great structure of the Far Cry series, but little of its character. No clear goal and a limited arsenal end up making this feel a little prehistoric itself." Skrebels too praised the taming mechanic and the open world design.

Luke Reilly of IGN summarized his review with: "Far Cry Primal comes to the table with a quiver of neat ideas but it forgot to bring much of a story with it." Reilly thought the game's strongest aspects were created by its twist on the series' formula, highlighting the scavenging elements and the animal-taming mechanics. However, Reilly felt the drastic change for the series wasn't without its flaws, saying that the characters, quests, and overall story were a step back from the memorable moments of the previous games.

Polygon's Justin McElroy particularly praised the open world environment, calling it the "most immersive" in the series. He summarized his review by writing: "I don't want every Far Cry game from here on to trade bullets for arrows, motorcycles for tigers, but Primal is an invigorating example of how to re-imagine a tired franchise while keeping its soul intact."

Even though he described the game as being "very fun" and felt that the decision to develop a spin-off-type game in the series was a great one, Simon Miller from VideoGamer.com recognized that Far Cry Primal "doesn't do anything drastically new" for the series. He too praised the animal taming mechanic and the visuals.

Sales
The retail version was the best selling game in its week of release in the UK, debuting at No. 1 in the UK retail software sales chart. It was also the best-selling game in the United States in February 2016. According to Ubisoft, the game performed better than they had expected, and that its release became the biggest launch of a game in February.