Far Cry 4

Far Cry Primal, more like Far Cry from a good game amirite

I keep going back and forth about whether I think Ubisoft is the worst gaming company in the world, or the best. The company has a profound talent for driving good ideas into the ground, but also for coming up with good ideas in the first place. Assassin's Creed stands as a good example. Good idea, and fun the first time. Ten games later the whole thing is a smoking ruin of overused ideas and easy combat. 

I've got a bad feeling that this is the route Far Cry is following.

Far Cry 3 brought a lot to the table. The wingsuit was a huge addition, along with a very tight combination of stealth and gunplay. Far Cry 4 picked up on this, and played to the strengths it had discovered in the previous game perfectly. Not too much wingsuiting to be doing on a tropical island, but in Not!Tibet, covered in mountains and valleys? It was an excellent choice, and it made the game a lot more fun. You can find videos on Youtube of the crazy shit you can do to take outposts undetected while still flying around like batman. The gunplay got tighter, the stealth got better, you got more toys to play with and you got to use them earlier. It was genius.

So what in God's name were they thinking with Primal? Who sat down and thought it would be a good idea to make a Far Cry game with LESS mobility? Controlling animals is cool, sure. Using an owl like a predator drone is fun, definitely, but it's no replacement for actually flying around.

The lack of guns didn't bother me as much as it did some people. For me, Far Cry was always about getting the drop on people and killing them with knives, and occasionally shooting someone at a distance. Throwing knives were my favorite weapons in 4, so the whole caveman shtick came to me pretty easily. But I'll tell you what did bug me: The campaign.

See, in Far Crys 3 and 4, there was a strong narrative element to enjoy. Vaas was great in 3, a strong antagonist with a lot of charisma who drives you to continue challenging him. Pagan Min was even better, because he didn't die halfway through the game for no fucking reason to be replaced by some British dipshit.

The problem in Primal is that there IS no antagonist. There are two minor antagonists who you meet and then kill in pretty short order. There's no lasting, personal antagonism there, just some guys you have to kill for your tribe.

The Good: It's still Far Cry. Combat is fun, Stealth is fun, Some of the quests are pretty good.

The Bad: It's a step down in every department from Far Cry 4. It's shorter, has less variety, and gives you less freedom and less mobility.

Is it worth a buy? I'd wait a few months for it to go on sale or something, but it's not a bad game.