Far Cry Primal is releasing this week, and it’s a big departure for the series regarding its settings, even if many facets of it will be familiar to fans of the franchise. However, given that this is the first time the series have traveled way back in time to the Stone Age, replacing its modern day beasties with the likes of mammoths and saber-tooth tigers, there’s a lot to see in the prehistoric Oros that wasn’t present in the likes of Kyrat and the Rook Islands.
With their being said, here are some things that you might not know about Far Cry Primal:
It’s more violent than you’d think
Despite its prehistoric setting meaning that you’ll be armed with more primitive weaponry rather than the explosive firearms featured in previous Far Cry games, Far Cry Primal looks set to be the goriest game in the series yet, if its ESRB rating is to be believed.
The ESRB rates the game “M” for mature, with players apparently able to hold enemies over fires to burn their faces off, along with drilling holes into their skills while they’re still alive. There’s also some other incredibly graphic ways to dispatch of your foes, including impaling them with your spear, alongside prehistoric animal abuse that includes, but is not limited to, stabbing mammoths in their tiny, beady eyes. If that’s something you’re into, then have fun but also stay the Hell away from us.
You can train wild animals
In Far Cry Primal you are the “Beast Master,” meaning you can train many the Oros’ imposing animals to fight alongside you.
While you’ll inevitably spend the majority of your time mercilessly hunting down creatures in exchange for their pelts, it’s more beneficial to tame them and use them to take out large numbers of foes. Also, it’s far more enjoyable to roam around the game’s world on the back of a saber-tooth tiger than it is to walk.
Oh, and if prowling the land alongside a prehistoric beast wasn’t enough, you can even enlist the help of owls who, for some reason, lend you a helping hand/talon by dropping bombs on rival tribes.
Ubisoft has put a lot of effort into realistically recreating the ancient world
Okay, so maybe bomb-dropping owls and riding saber-tooth tigers isn’t realistic, but outside of the more “game-y” aspects of Far Cry Primal Ubisoft have clearly put a lot of effort into making its recreation of the ancient world a believable one.
In a developer diary posted by the company, they revealed that they’ve been working closely with experts for the game’s dialog to successfully represent the various languages present in that period. It also highlights how the voice actors involved in the game each spent lots of time learning the nuances of these languages, holding full conversations with one another in the dialect featured in the game outside of their recording sessions. For the history buffs among you, it should certainly make for an enjoyable experience.
It still retains those Far Cry beats
Just because Far Cry Primal has moved into uncharted territory with its ancient setting doesn’t mean that it’s strayed too far from the formula established by its predecessors, as the game employs a number of the series’ most well-known mechanics and story beats.
Drug-induced hallucinations are still present and correct, what with them being a weird mainstay of the Far Cry series, as are encampment takeovers that allow the player to successfully take control of an enemy settlement in a variety of ways, whether that be going in all guns blazing or opting for a more stealthy approach. There are also a variety of over-the-top characters, reminiscent of those featured in the past two Far Cry games, though none perhaps as eccentric as the enigmatic Pagan Min.
There are cannibals
You’ll be fighting against two sets of rival tribes in Far Cry Primal‘s world, the Izila and the Udam, and while the former are a more advanced and cerebral civilization, the latter are a group of primitive, bloodthirsty hunters that favor flesh of the human variety.
Closely resembling neanderthals with their primitive appearance, the Udam are led by their brutish leader Ull (pictured), who is looking to wipe out any and all opposition by force alone. His aggressive approach to leadership is contrasted by the Izila’s leader, the god-queen Batari, who has a more regal command over her people. Both are formidable foes, and while it remains to be seen whether they’ll be as memorable as Pagan Min or Far Cry 3‘s Vaas, they provide Ull with two unique and equally dangerous threats.
