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Tech

'Far Cry Primal' Finds a New Kind of Shooter in the Stone Age

Turns out a shooter with no guns was a great idea.
Image: Ubisoft

As much as I loved the last couple Far Cry games, between this series and all the other open world games using almost identical templates, the entire genre is getting awfully long in the tooth. Even Far Cry's publisher Ubisoft seems to understand that its yearly-release mentality is getting old. The company just announced there will be no major Assassin's Creed this year, so the team can "re-assess" the series—it's a desperate move desperately needed for the series that long since wore out its welcome.

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Ubisoft's first-person shooter series Far Cry, in which the player is always free to explore and explode an exotic locale, is quickly approaching the same problem. Far Cry 4 was a snowy revision of the tropical Far Cry 3. Still fun, but lacking its own identity. When Ubisoft first announced Far Cry Primal, I honestly thought it was a joke or a goofy, caveman-themed take on the greatest of all Far Cry games, Blood Dragon, which was a quick and dirty '80s-themed parody of Far Cry 3. Instead, Far Cry Primal is a full-priced, dead serious, and bold take on open world games.

Image: Ubisoft

This isn't some crude, uneducated "cave man" game, but a stark, beautiful, and brutal window into at least the idea of another time.

The premise still boils down to killing as many enemies as possible—you, as the lone survivor of a party searching for your clan, must engage in a lot of murder. But then, that's pretty much what all AAA Ubisoft games are about. Yet in Far Cry Primal there's a natural urgency for survival that feels truer and more realistic than any game it's made.

The developers have taken their subject matter seriously and presented something that brings the past to life in an amazingly detailed and enthralling way. Far Cry's crafting system, which allows players to make their own tools and weapons, finally makes sense, since the player is not a fish-out-of-water hero like in the last two games, but a man who only knows this way of life. The hunting, gathering, violence, and crafting were all parts of daily life in the Stone Age, which makes the requirement of killing two wild boars for their skin to make a new pack a little more sensible.

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Image: Ubisoft

That's not to say that there aren't questionable elements of course. Even in the Stone Age, it might be nice to occasionally resolve interpersonal issues in some way that doesn't involve crushing your opponent's skull. Also, last time I checked, people in the Stone Age didn't have maps with constantly updating, GPS-like accuracy, which the player still has in Far Cry Primal.

Far Cry Primal doesn't shed all the tired video game tropes, but it does get rid of a big one: guns. There's probably a natural urge to shun a Far Cry game without guns, but I barely noticed. You still have a trusty bow and throwing spears for distance, but stealth and creativity are key. Taking on sabretooth cats and mammoths with weapons essentially made out of sticks and rocks is an intense experience unlike anything seen in this series. The lack of guns heightens the intensity and sense of anticipation of the whole game. It's just a refreshing change of pace from the usual shooters.

Image: Ubisoft

Ubisoft is also intent on showing that Primal's prehistoric characters weren't mindless primitives or vicious death machines. Primal manages to show early man's faith and bonds with each other and the land in subtle ways. These elements exist in a way that doesn't feel nearly as cheap, forced, and cartoonish as previous Far Cry games, and they don't get in the way of exploring the game's massive world.

Far Cry Primal does, however, set up an expectation for Ubisoft. If the game gets the success it deserves, Ubisoft will have to continue down this road, presenting players with things they haven't seen before, even if it's in a familiar framework. It's not that I want a whole series of Stone Age Far Cry games. The whole reason Far Cry Primal works is that it's so different than what came before it. Instead, I want Ubisoft to keep transporting me to times and places we never see in games.