We’ve come full circle – an early Far Cry tech demo, from back when the series was unofficially known as X-Isle, featured huge lumbering dinosaurs. That was in 2002. Skip forward fourteen years, and Far Cry finds itself revisiting its prehistoric roots. No dinos, mind, but plenty of primal rage.
The new setting allows for some fun ideas (rideable woolly mammoths! Pet bears!) but some sacrifices have been made along the way, such as a far smaller assortment of weapons. Stodgy melee combat is one apparent downfall; the poor story another. Most critics agreed though that there’s plenty to get your carnivorous teeth into – this is a fully-fledged Far Cry, and not a mere Blood Dragon style spin-off.
As you can see for yourself below, Far Cry Primal has arrived to a steady slew of 7s and 8s:
4.5/5 – The Escapist: “Do you like Far Cry and survival games? Play Primal right away. You won’t regret it”
8.75 – GameInformer: “Don’t let the lack of a number fool you: This is a full Far Cry experience, with top-notch production and another massive open world to explore”
8.5 – Polygon: “I don’t want every Far Cry game from here on to trade bullets for arrows, motorcycles for tigers, but Primal is an invigorating example of how to reimagine a tired franchise while keeping its soul intact”
8.5 – The Jimquisition: “Far Cry Primal is a great example of trying new things in a smart and relatively safe manner, demonstrating how a popular series can keep itself invigorated”
8.5 – God is a Geek: “Far Cry Primal retains the framework of previous entries, but introduces enough to breath life into the series”
8/10 – GameSpot: “When it uses the Stone Age setting to elevate the combat and reinforce the brutality of nature, it thrives”
4/5 – Examiner: “Far Cry Primal is an unexpected but wholly welcome entry to the series, and serves as an example of something you didn’t see coming, but can’t see yourself without”
4/5 – Digital Spy: “It feels like Far Cry Primal is a refresh of the series that we didn’t know it needed. Basic combat makes you think more about your approach, while the addition of animals makes you feel powerful”
7.9 – IGN: “Far Cry Primal comes to the table with a quiver of neat ideas but it forgot to bring much of a story with it”
7/10 – The Metro: “The prehistoric setting adds little to the Far Cry formula, while taking away several key features – even if the overall experience is still enjoyable”
7.0 – EGM: “Far Cry Primal really wants you to know that there are tons of things you can do in its prehistoric, open world. Unfortunately, you may not want to do any of them”
7/10 – Destructoid: “In some ways, Far Cry Primal is a breath of fresh air, but the methods it uses to shake things up are largely superficial or ancillary. There’s a dissonance between what is new and what is not”
7/10 – VideoGamer: “Far Cry Primal is a very fun video game (which sounds like a sentence a child would write), but it is a video game you’ve played before”
3.5/5 – GamesRadar: “Lacking a map-editor, co-op, and charismatic central villain, Primal sacrifices its forebears’ ‘big event’ status, but this back-to-basics approach makes for an all-natural off-the-reservation romp”
3/5 – Giant Bomb: “There’s nothing inherently wrong with Primal, and I found the game’s combat systems to be pretty exciting at times, but the structure of the game and most of the tasks you’re given are one-note”
