Far Cry Primal: Review

Hello fellow gamers, today i will be reviewing Ubisoft's Far Cry Primal. One of the great things games can do is give us a glimpse of a different world. It might not be authentic, lifelike, realistic or remotely believable. It might be a fantasy, dream or nightmare. What matters is that it feels – if only for a few hours – convincing, and that it takes you out of your mundane life.

Very much a 'take the previous template and make it feel primal' approach, Ubisoft's latest imagining on the Far Cry franchise is a smart piece of work. The atmosphere and scope in particular are highlights, making you feel as if you have traveled back to the past where tribes, woolly mammoths and Sabre toothed tigers roamed the Earth. There are no guns. There's no radio conversations. There's no pretty much everything you might expect in today's world!

Such a decision has shunted Far Cry into somewhat new territory, too. With an emphasis on what tools were around at the time, crafting and building feels essential from start to finish. Whether that's sculpting a new arrow for your bow, or smashing together a new club to whack someone in the face with, collecting resources is as important as doing missions.

 The same can be said for Primal's settlement system. Serving as the game's point of progression, focusing on these RPG-like trees and increasing the population continually offers more rewards. These could be your standard level-up boosts – more health, better speed etc. – but it also ties into what animals you can tame, what extras are available to you and, quite nicely, how many resources you have flowing in your direction – every time night turns to day you'll be given a 'reward stash'. The bigger your miniature home, the more benefits you'll get.

Such evolution is nothing new to the Far Cry games, mind. It's certainly dressed up in different clothes this time – as well as having an addictive nature – but the familiar tentpoles are all there. Nowhere is this more apparent than Primal's mission structure. All set within a map so big it'll make you sick, the majority of the time you'll be hunting animals, recruiting important members of your tribe, or flat out killing your main rivals, the Udam. Certain missions play with the formula a tad (and as you'd expect it's littered with side quests), but a certain routine does set in relatively early.

There's nothing wrong with 'do mission, return home, level up, do another mission', but if you've sunk a lot of time into past Far Cry titles there's a slight chance it may all start to ring a few bells sooner than you'd like. There's only so long you can go looking for a deer to skin until before getting the itch to do something else. When it's good, however, it is entertaining and presented pretty damn well, the visual side of things being an absolute treat.

Whether or not it's better looking than Far Cry 4 is arguable, but from the off Primal is an example of why the current generation is impressive. Be it the sheer size of the thing or how pleasant it is to find a high spot and just stare off into the distance, Ubisoft's engine remains an absolute monster. It's a huge plus, mostly because it turns simply walking around the environment into a joyful experience. And then there's the bow and arrow.

 While sharing many traits with the one from 4, having to rely on it so much this time (mostly because there's not an MP5 in sight) forces you to get the hang of it. Once you do, it's a delight. Plunging an arrow into someone's skull is easily as satisfying as a sniped head-shot, and stacking these together sees it become better still. The same is true for the spear, making the slight dip when you engage in melee combat a little disappointing. It's certainly not bad, but up close attacks often spiral into button spamming with no real sense that you're trying to smash someone's face in. You're just swinging wildly.

Thankfully there are ways and means to avoid this, namely the ability to tame animals. Far Cry Primal holds nothing back in this regard either: if you want to have a bear as your partner in crime, you can go and get a bear to be your partner in crime. What's more, you can extended your finger, whistle, and the monster will go rip apart your prey. Acting as a party of sorts, it's a constant as you progress, coming into its own when larger beasts become accessible. Much like nearly everything in-game, this can also be ranked up. Before you see the end credits, you'll essentially be a walking disaster.

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. Think how much a new setting means to you – and how much you enjoy Ubisoft's take on the open world genre – and the answer to whether you need this should be very clear. If you're still on the fence, you can ride around on the back of a woolly mammoth should you choose. That's alright...

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3: Review

Hello fellow gamers! This is my first try at a blog so I have decided to share my personal experiences of games that I love and hate, as well as throwing in some tips. I am a marketing student and I have always been gripped by gaming from a young age. It all started with my mums Nintendo 64 and Golden-eye 007. Most of you will have found this blog from my social media accounts where I share what I have to say, something I’m prone to speak before I think but it has never let me down.

Seeing as I’m new to this my first blog will be about Call Of Duty: Black Ops III but please suffer in silence as I will be rougher than a badgers arse, nevertheless I am anticipating to upload a new blog each week so keep up to date with my social media accounts @csd_cheshire  

I’ll be the first to admit, I was not enthusiastic about “Black Ops III” when I heard about it. The previous installment from the “Call of Duty” franchise was “Advanced Warfare”, I was tired of the whole sci-fi portion that has taken the franchise by storm. It’s more like enough already stop trying to be like other competitors. I admit that I was dead wrong about my expectations about “Black Ops III.”

I’ve always believe Treyarch develops the best “Call of Duty” games, and “Black Ops III” is a additional proof to that. Personally the controls feel effortless and straightforward which make your personal character have some substance. Graphically, this game really shows what the current generation of consoles are capable of. “Black Ops III” is a gorgeous game to look at from the ominous sounds of the robots and the splatter of blood when someone is shot.

Of course, what kind of horrible world would it be without “Call of Duty” and its multiplayer? “Black Ops III” brings the typical offering with this installment. The “Pick 10” perks system returns, which means players can have a total of 10 guns, tactical grenades, attachment, perks, lethal grenades and wildcards. 

Together with the “Pick 10” system, players can choose a specific specialist class who has their own unique abilities. Specialists are identified by a unique Callsign. Each has one special ability and one special weapon. These abilities and weapons become available after enough time has passed and/or score has been earned in a game. Outrider is my personal favorite and I always use vision pulse, this ability when activated it sends out sonar-like waves that penetrate walls and other surfaces, giving the player the ability to see enemies through objects. This ability makes it easy to track down campers and wipe them out before they even know what hit them. It’s a good bit more powerful than the Tracker perk, which just allows you to see digital footprints of nearby opponents.

Firstly I’ll admit, I was so worried with the idea of Specialists, and though it would just make players to spam their abilities and make me very angry. Again, I was wrong because matches always seem to be very close this year. Specialist abilities have potential to cause real damage in the right hands, but weaknesses make them vulnerable at the same time. Nothing makes me happier than killing someone who is using their Specialist ability or gun because I understand how frustrating it is. As of this writing, my kill to death ratio is 1:56 which is my highest since “Modern Warfare 3” 

I will say, personally I think the sub-machine guns need to be adjusted because they are a little bit OP, and some of the spawn locations can cause very quick deaths. This does cause my controller to be nearly thrown out of the window at times.

Of course, “Black Ops III” also boasts a zombie mode this year featuring a cast of Jeff Goldblum, Ron Perlman, Neal McDonough and Heather Graham. The mode I’ve played so far is a noir-style mode, which is unique and one of the more memorable ones out there. Admittedly, my experience with zombies hasn’t been as positive due to a lack of communication with random teammates. The people I have been paired up with usually run off and do their own thing, and before I know it, I’m surrounded and quickly killed. I’m really hoping to get a solid group soon because zombies this year feels like it could really prove to be a time sink.

Coming off of the fairly underwhelming “Advanced Warfare,” Treyarch did something special with their turn at “Call of Duty” this year. “Black Ops III” has a campaign that, while confusing at times, is actually worth playing even if it’s just to unlock aesthetic things for online play. Cooperative campaign mode adds value to the single-player mode, which is something that really should be implemented in every “Call of Duty” game.it’s worth noting that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users don’t have access to the single-player mode since the developers opted out of it due to system limitations.

Multiplayer mode, for the first time in years, feels like a fair and balanced system that rewards skill. Of course, spawn kills and questionable kills will always exist, but they’re far and few between this year. There’s also a giddy sense of satisfaction when using a specialist class to really bring the pain. Zombie mode once again uses an all-star cast to give players an opportunity to go zombie hunting, and it’s a game mode with loads of potential next to the campaign and multiplayer modes. There are also some hidden modes to be unlocked, which I’ll let you discover on your own. At the end of the day, “Black Ops III” is what every “Call of Duty” should be - a complete package that is full of content without relying too much on one game mode.

What did you think of “Call of Duty: Black Ops III”? Is it the best in the series so far? Leave a comment below, or email me at cheshirechats@gmail.com and let me know what you think!