Changing everything fans knew and loved about Far Cry was always going to go one of two ways. Luckily for the most part, Far Cry Primal is a solid entry in the franchise but, in typically iterative Ubisoft fashion, thanks to a lack of major gameplay changes you can probably predict how the majority of review reactions are going to play out. Primal's animation set is by and large reused from the older games, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Unlike Assassin's Creed, Far Cry is relatively new to being frequently trotted out and, for parts three and four in 2012 and 2014 respectively, Ubi established a surprisingly high bar of quality. One that the gaming public is still very much enjoying. They did that by sticking to their guns, by reusing assets and gameplay features to either a pleasing or off-putting degree, and it was with Primal that we were finally going to see a much-needed shakeup to not only the core formula, but also all the modern trimmings you associate with the series. Has that paid off? Well, yes and no. This is definitely 'more Far Cry', but whether or not you'll consider it better than the previous instalments will come down to the following 10 points...
10. No 'Big Crazy Villain' This Time
"Unfortunately, while Far Cry 3 and 4 both had charming, charismatic villains as their centrepiece, Far Cry Primal has no characters quite as memorable. The enemy leaders are only glimpsed in a few select cutscenes, so theres no Vaas or Pagan Min to get attached to." - Paul Tassi, Forbes"Primal falls flat here; neither of Primals main villains are a patch on a character like Vaas. A considerable letdown for a series thats carved out a reputation for fascinating and nuanced bad guys." - Luke Reilly, IGN Personally, this is a massive sigh of relief. Far Cry was in danger of being too formulaic with even its narrative, as although you can apply the 'if it ain't broke' mentality to game mechanics, we don't want to see the same story setups time and time again. Granted, Pagan Min was a fun enough character and carried FC4 very well, but he was not only no Vaas, but also the last time we collectively thought "Okay Ubisoft, you can do this 'big crazy villain' shtick one more time, but that's it." Luckily, they've listened. The story is now split over focussing your attention on resource management, before deciding how best to tackle two warring tribes baying for your blood. To that end, there are tribal leaders heading up these factions, but the majority of their screentime is reconciled to fleeting appearances in cutscenes.
