Far Cry Primal: 8 Things We Learned From The Gameplay Footage

While Far Cry 4 was fantastic, it didn't build much upon its predecessor. Similar gunplay, similar skills and an aesthetic similar to the previous instalment ensured people still loved it, but that might not have been terribly exciting to come back for a fifth instalment if it was to be essentially the same thing yet again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e58zrK0yMuw So, understandably, Ubisoft has gone for an audacious change with the next Far Cry, cosmetically at least, taking things all the way back to the mesolithic period of the stone age. At a glance, this sounds fascinating, and is the first time a AAA title is tackling the era with relative realism (in so far as we won't see humans pitted against dinosaurs - a DLC opportunity, perhaps). When Far Cry Primal was announced a couple of months ago, Ubisoft pushed the focus of the game as being about survival, tribal warfare, and crafting. Now that a new trailer and gameplay footage have emerged, we have a much better idea of what to expect - and whether it really offers the fresh new Far Cry experience many of us were hoping for.

8. Wild Animals Are Your Friends And Weapons

The main new gameplay dynamic (and one of the only new ones, judging by the footage) involves taming wild animals as pets. The realism of this is up for question, considering how animals back then all look like they'd be particularly ferocious and eager to dig into your jugular, but the great fun offered by the short animal sidekick sequence in Far Cry 4 means that there's plenty to be excited about in such a feature. Taming a prehistoric beast - which can be a sabre tooth tiger, bear, wolf, or another one of 17 possible predators - is simpler than you'd think. Unfortunately, it doesn't involve shouting 'yee-haw' and jumping out of a tree onto its back for 10 seconds. No, all you need to do is get your hands on a piece of meat from another animal you slay (these predators aren't too picky), throw it to lure in the creature, then go up to it and press a button to start patting it on the head like your average domestic pet. The smoothness of this process is partly explained by the fact that your tamed animals are about as expendable as KFC chickens, so don't get too attached to them, because they probably won't stick around for long. Any animal you tame can be called on to aid you in battle, and certain ones, like bears, the tigers and mammoths, can also be used as a nifty means of transport around the land - which solves the problem of having no vehicles.