Ubisoft managed to bring the Stone Age to life in its latest installment, the Far Cry Primal, and the powerful beasts featured in the game will be your life and death.
For the first time in the Far Cry franchise, the wild creatures have the upper paw.
The preview event held by Ubisoft allowed users to familiarize themselves with the universe of Far Cry Primal. The game developing company allowed only side quests in the open-world game, but moving from campfire to campfire and exploring the ancient world was rewarding on its own.
Sabretooth were one major challenge for the poorly equipped, low level player in the demo. At the end of the one-hour exploring, the best course of action was to avoid the Sabretooth altogether.
Later in-game, the arsenal of weapons allows gamers to go toe-to-toe with the majestic beasts. Fans of the Far Cry series will find that there is a great distance from the bullet-spraying of previous titles to club, spear and bow yielding. The new choice in weapons means that the gameplay will be a bit more tactical and fighting moments more intense.
To survive, players get some help from the developers in form of the main character's connection to the wilderness.
Takkar can unlock his potential as a beast-master, allowing him to tame various beasts which can be summoned to assist his fights. Although the full game is rumored to sport 17 variations, the demo only showed three such sidekicks: a white wolf, a bear and a small jaguar. Their role goes beyond simply distracting enemies in battle, as they are quite potent at handling human attackers on their own.
A nice touch is the way Ubisoft crafted the behavior of the mammoths, which are untamable. However, you may jump on one's back and stomp an enemy campfire or outpost, but the giant elephant precursors are moody and might turn their tusks on you in no time.
While fighting unfriendly hunters can be a good way to get extra skill points, the true mastery of combat shows when you face enemy wildlife. That is why using your own furry allies against humans is very rewarding, as the animals can tear through them with relative ease.
It should be noted that not all beasts in Far Cry Primal act as attack weapons. The owl, for example, works great in reconnaissance missions: you can summon the flying ally to scout human outposts and prepare your attack. Fans of the series will recognize its role as the camera-tag from previous titles.
With the reworked dynamic between humans and beasts, Far Cry Primal reinvents itself and returns the game to an intense, engaging, survival premise.
Ubisoft also revealed the Deluxe Edition of the game, and it contains quite a few goodies.
Fans of the series will find both physical items and digital content in this edition. Inside the box are the Far Cry Primal game, an exclusively designed Steelbook, the map of Oros and the official game soundtrack.
The exclusive new content shows new missions, a new weapon and four enhancement packs.
The aptly named "Legend of the mammoth missions" gives you the chance to play three missions as Oros' strongest beast.
In the first, Duel of Beasts, you take on a mighty rhino spirit and his herd to prove your superiority. During the second, The Trapped Elder, you rescue the leader of your herd and smash the camp of the foolish hunters who captured it. The third mission is called Hunt the Hunter, and simply asks you to take charge of your herd and crush all those who oppose you.
The blood Shasti Club is the name of the new weapon. Once owned by Ull, the infamous leader of the Udam, the club is made of teeth and bone and aside from being indestructible it takes no damage from fire.
The deluxe edition features four enhancement packs which give early access to rare resources and customization options.
With the Sabretooth Pack, players get early access to animal furs to help their crafting, and can switch from Oros' sabretooth tigers to the intimidating Flame Fang Sabretooth tigers.
The Owl Pack eases access to resources for crafting, allows decorating your arms with Wenja tribal paint and changes how your owl looks like by giving it the dark feathers of a raging storm cloud.
Mammoth Pack permits early access to a recipe that extends your endurance, and switch from the mammoths in Oros to the Ash Back Mammoths.
Finally, the Bomb Pack brings early access to two extra string bags, increasing your chances of survival.
Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gamers will get Far Cry Primal as soon as Feb 23, while PC players must wait until March 1, 2016 for the official release.
Check out the gameplay video from the World Premiere, below.
