Far Cry Primal Hands-On Review - 9 Things You Need To Know

3. Visual Quirks Make Established Features More Interesting

There's a structure to Far Cry games that rarely ever changes from one release to the next. For instance, before any major enemy encounter you're undoubtedly going to find yourself a vantage point, get out your trusty goggles and start tagging enemies so they don't get the drop on you later, keeping an eye out for any possible entry points or alarms that could prove useful in your upcoming assault. While much of that remains integral to the gameplay of this spin-off, the means by which you accomplish these tasks has been changed. For instance, while planing an attack in Primal, you're now prompted to use the Beast Master perk to take control of an owl that can scout out upcoming areas and survey currently unreachable objects. Tagging enemies isn't always the most exciting aspect of a game like Far Cry, but infiltrating enemy lines as an owl and looking for potential weak spots is a great way to make the experience less of a chore. And that was only one of the many slight tweaks I glimpsed in my time with the game. Although the core mechanics of the series are as alive as ever, the small ways in which they're now executed means even the most rudimentary of features feel exciting and fresh.