Month: March 2016

Cheap A$$ Gaming – The Debate of What Store Membership is Best for You

/ Dustin Murphy / 4 Comments

itsokbro

So when it comes to gaming, we’re all about cutting corners to save a bit of cash. We all know as gamers the cost of gaming has finally exceeded the 80-120 dollar limit, which means in the short term of things? Our games aren’t cheap. They’re actually quite expensive with micro-transactions, season passes, and other little additions here and there. Luckily a few companies have come out clean and showed their two-tier pricing scale for their games. For Ubisoft they’re showing our games are going to average between 69.99 USD to 99.99 USD depending on the value of content offered with the packaging. For many of us, that means we’re buckling down, holding our breaths, and taking a punch in the kisser. Yes, you read that right. We get hurt and we get hurt badly when it comes to what we do. However, this price scale isn’t that odd at all. Battlefield and Call of Duty entries with season passes will run you roughly 99.99 USD to 120 USD and some loose pocket change, but how can we shave off a few dollars in the long haul? Easy, lets take a look at the memberships such as GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards, Best Buy’s Gamer’s Club Unlocked, and Amazon’s Prime membership to see who takes the crown and the B.A.T.G.R. recommendation.

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Power Up Rewards
If you’re a frequent to GameStop and their system, you’re no stranger to their constant ways of trying to cut a few dollars off your pre-orders. You’re also used to the fact it takes a lot of time to even get rewards through their store. If you’re like me, it’s enough to make you cringe, and even pucker a bit at the sour taste in your mouth. While GameStop as a company has been doing a lot to reformat Power Up Rewards, they – at times – just don’t seem to get it right. As a Power Up Rewards veteran, I can already tell you I’ve not been impressed for years. Want that 5 USD coupon? Guess what. That’s going to cost you several hundred to say the least. However, GameStop has recently begun to run a lot more promotions in order to give their membership some appeal. Lately they’ve been doing things such as matching cash with in-store credit to bring in more used games, but also customers.

They’ve also been offering some rather good trade deals, the company has also made a few advances towards better promotions. Like recently, they had an offer with Far Cry Primal; buy the game, get a 1,000 reward points, plus what you already get for just purchasing the game. Good deal, right? We wish, but unfortunately, GameStop is still losing out to both Amazon Prime and even Best Buy. Their promotions are attempts to bring in some extra customers, but unlike the next two titans. This does not necessarily mean GameStop is back in the front of the race. Instead they’re going to have to change up their approach, make better offers, and even show just how good they really are in order to keep ahead of the race. Unfortunately for them, they may not have what it takes, and that spells trouble out for the company as a whole.

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Amazon Prime
If you are an avid Amazon Prime subscriber, you already know the company has a mean streak with creating some awesome deals, but also pulling a bit more money out of your pocket. With them now splitting Kindle Unlimited from Prime Membership, we won’t be surprised if they soon split both the movie and music departments away also and force users into subscribing to more services to earn just a few more dollars. But what this online giant market has done, is joined Best Buy in the 20% off of new games, but this theirs? Only through pre-orders that are directly coming from the company themselves. This means that any game you pre-order will see 20 dollars cut from the top and thrown down just for you to have. However, this does not mean hold your breath and pray that you’ll save  a giant amount. This does spell trouble for those of you who may want your game on day of release.

There has been some issues regarding this, but in the long run? It’s 20% off and you are guaranteed your copy of your game and its pre-order bonuses, which we’ll admit that Amazon has had some great offers in the past. However, that doesn’t always mean you’ll get that collector’s edition as we have seen those disappear faster than both GameStop and Best Buy. So you may want to hit multiple outlets if you are expecting a rare copy of a game. Y’know, like that DOOM Limited Collector’s Edition with the Revenant statue.

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Best Buy’s Gamer’s Club Unlocked
While we’ve never been quite impressed with Best Buy’s attempts at gaming, we can say that they are truly trying to revitalize a user base, and a consumer base. With Gamer’s Club Unlocked, Best Buy has decided to once more step up to the plate and attempt a grand slam, or if you want to be honest – undermining their competition. While Wal-Mart has never been a great place to go, GameStop has been decent, Amazon has been a crowning champion, but here comes Best Buy on their pink little bicycle, crash helmet, and a sucker in their mouth attempting to ramp a plywood ramp. Guess what? They’ve made the jump and are doing it over, and over, and over again.

But how did Best Buy manage this? We’ve become loyal to using their new service, offering between 20% off new games, 10% off used, and double points on all game purchases, this was too good to pass up, but they also offer rewards for trade-in’s, which seems to sucker punch GameStop quite well. If these two titans were in the ring? It’d be a helluva good show to watch as we know fists would be flying. What GameStop doesn’t have though, is Best Buy has one-upped them yet again. With certain pre-orders Best Buy offers between 5 USD coupons and 10 USD coupons. While these offers aren’t stackable, they are quite enjoyable, and ones that keep customers coming back. It’s why we do. The certificates, however, aren’t like GameStop’s where they are instantly redeemable. They instead are ones that you will have to wait between 15 to 30 days to see moved to your account so that you may use them. While that seems like a bit of a nail-biter, we can honestly say it’s worth it in the long haul.

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Who’s the Victor?
While some of us like to be cheap a$$ gamer’s, it’s hard to say that GameStop is even in the ring anymore. Instead they’ve been put in time out as their offers have begun to decline and not keep a grasp upon those hoping to have any form of relief when committing financially to games. While Amazon doesn’t have a loyalty program or even a rewards program of any sort, it’s nice to see they are joining in and finally giving Best Buy a run for their money. With some of their exclusive pre-order bonuses, it’s hard to say that Amazon isn’t in this race. Instead they are slightly ahead of GameStop, but not by much, but what our third competitor does offer is what these two titans don’t.

If you’re familiar with Jason and the Giant, you’ll know that Best Buy was one that suffered in this arena. Their prices are sometimes much higher than others, but with competitor pricing becoming more frequent and allowing for price matches with Amazon, it’s hard to say they aren’t ahead in this race. With their unique loyalty program through Gamer’s Club Unlocked and My Best Buy Rewards programs stacking, the points add up quick, which means fast discounts on games within a month. Due to this Best Buy has become the best one we’ve found to save a good 20-30 dollars with within a month if you are one that buys multiple games. With base games going between 59.99 USD and 89.99 USD it’s nice to see Best Buy takes those offers down to 48 USD and some change before tax and even 63 USD and some change. So our victor? Best Buy wins the day and we hate saying it, but if GameStop want’s to stay in the race, they’ll need to re-work their points scaling as well as special offers to bring in customers already using Gamer’s Club Unlocked. Unless you’re, well, a PC Gamer then Steam, GoG, and Humble Bundle have your back.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Hardware Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 – A Power House in a Small Device

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Beautiful and bright AMOLED screen offering vibrant pictures and color depth
+Absurdly slim and chic for a tablet
+Batteries last quite a while even while streaming or gaming
+Upgraded memory up to 128GB via Micro SD card
+Lightning fast processing power

Cons:
-iPad Air is almost as cheap
-Comes suited with Microsoft Apps
-Plastic-ish build, going away from any form of metal
-Two speakers on bottom inhibit movie watching or gaming all together
-Headphones required to truly enjoy for media with sound

 

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When it comes to tablets we are familiar with the fact that Apple has taken that side of the market by storm. They have created some of the cheapest, most powerful, and fastest tablets on the Earth at an affordable cost. They have also offered up free OS upgrades to owners of older devices, while ensuring that performance gains to those older devices would be plausible with how the devices access apps, and even memory. Much like ACER preparing to enter the ring with their Predator performance line, we see Samsung once more entering the ring, but this time, they’re ready to yank the red carpet right from underneath everyone else and take it for their own.

Entering the ring is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S2, which launched last year, and remains fairly relative in the terms of technology performance and upgrades. This competitor comes packed with Android offering up Google Services and even a bit of Microsoft’s own apps to allow those needing instant access to their Microsoft accounts the ease of doing so. If you have Office 365 and One Drive? Much like Google your apps are at your finger tips and at your disposal if needed be. But how does this thing compare to the market that’s becoming over-saturated with devices claiming to be performance ones? The 8 inch version, which is the one we are reviewing is extremely light, weighing in at roughly .5 to .6 pounds, the device is extremely light weight, meaning that users don’t have to worry about weight being an issue unlike former iPad devices. For those that are familiar with the iPad Air, you already know the device is light for the 10 inch version, weighing in at roughly 1lb, which makes the device alone for a metal one, feathery in weight, but still with a bit of a draw in the sense of being a strain to hold. However, this doesn’t fix the issue that fans will be slight disappointed with the devices quality in the terms of sound.

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For many that are familiar with sound quality, HTC has been dominating the market with their Boom Sound technology, which adheres to the need of quality for both multimedia and even gaming. Unlike HTC’s newer line of phones and tablets, Samsung finds itself staggering a bit. With both of the speakers being right at the bottom of the device near the USB, the sound suffers a bit when trying to hold it from the sides to enjoy films or even games. This little bit of trouble will lead to upcoming owners to needing a pair of headphones to really enjoy what they are doing without any trouble or annoyances. Much like the speakers and the USB, the audio jack is housed near the speakers, but also the USB port, making this device struggle a bit in the terms of enjoyability since cords will get in the way depending on what owners are doing. If a Skype call or even a vine? The audio situation won’t be much trouble, but as stated. For those preparing for a binging session, don’t get too comfy, you’ll want to find your headset first, which means don’t plan on sharing with others.

But even with that minor nuance, the Tab S2 is a powerful device, offering up a unique security that Apple users have been enjoying, which allows for fingerprint recognition so that the tablet can’t be unlocked by anyone, but you via the home button. The downside? Your fingerprint is stored and if someone really wanted it? It’s there for the taking. For those wondering though, the fingerprint recognition setup is rather easy, and takes only a few minutes while the S6 was a bit more of a hassle to do. Don’t want kids accessing the tablet or someone accessing work files? You can easily lock it down via the fingerprint security and make it so that it’s yours and yours only. However, when looking at the device? We aren’t looking at just the devices security, but also its overall performance.

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When looking at the Tab S2 via performance, this is where the tablet itself truly shines, and for my use? I stress tested it with games, and lots of them. The most demanding one of the lot? This War of Mine, which many fans have become familiar with on consoles and steam, but for me? It was time to take on the Tablet twist to it. Like many games it and Vainglory are rather demanding games, both of them suiting themselves with heavy particle effects, and even animations. This means that Samsung has gone all out with ensuring the Exynos octacore processor would be doing the job. To achieve this they combined both a quad-core chip at 1.9GHz with a second one sitting around 1.3GHz quad-core chip. With that ontop of it they packed the LTE or Wi-Fi versions both with 3GB’s of RAM, which is perfect to get the job done and this was perfectly exhibited while playing both This War of Mine and Vainglory as load times were quick, frames remained smooth, and both games acted just fine throughout my time with them to date.

But what Samsung does do right is packing this thing with an SD card slot so that 32GB’s doesn’t get quickly eaten by video’s, photo’s or even apps that can go on the SD card. If you’ve owned an Apple device, you know this becomes a problem, and quite quickly due to download sizes. All the while users can enjoy some built-in apps thanks to Samsung’s little bit of apps that they include, which is a popular and favorite one: Milk Music. This app allows users to customize radio stations based on their preference. For the test we decided to make a station that combined both EDM (Electronic Dance Music) with Chill, which included laid back EDM style music for those seeking to relax. For those that want a mix of say indie and techno? Have at it, this app makes just that possible. This is rather nice for those looking to have some music while playing their tablet based games or surfing the web. For a device, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is powerful, beautiful, and offers up a lot of capabilities, but the price could be a bit steep for some.

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For a tablet that is powerful, beautiful, and extremely light weight, the Galaxy Tab S2 is by far one of the best ones I have used to date. It offers a good bit of flexibility, a nice warranty, and a bang for its buck. For those wondering what the prices are. Samsung has the devices sitting at 400 USD for the 8-inch model, and 500 USD for the 9.7-inch model. While looking at one, it is suggested to check around as both Best Buy and Amazon have been having some reasonable sales on them. Both having them promotional wise between 350-400 USD depending on the screen size. If you are looking for for a device that is sleek, light-weight, and easy for on the go? This device is the best on the market and it shows through the work done here on Blast Away the Game Review. After hours of testing, the device has earned its stay for the long haul and one that’ll be here for quite some time. Sorry Apple, you got bested this time around.

 

Our review is based upon the hardware we purchased ourselves.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 8 out of 10

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Hands-On Impressions – Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: First Assault – Assaulting PC’s in a FPS Manner

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

GIS_kusanagi

When looking at anime’s we’ve seen plenty of interpretations of franchises. We’ve seen Full Metal Alchemist get its own games on PlayStation 2, we even saw Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex get a full blown game, and we’ve seen plenty of Shonen Jump titles get their own fighting games. Over the past decade that hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the fact that Neoplay from Korea has taken the concept of the franchises high action moments, and put players into the roles of Section 9. But how does this work for a very Deus Ex like series?

For 29.99 (4.99 USD for the base game) I was able to quickly able to enjoy a title that former colleague and good friend Josh Turner of Beyond the Pixels recommended to me. As friends we both have a mutual taste in games for the most part, but as journalists, we tend to like to spread the word about small niche titles that deserve the recognition when they need it. The result? A game that I find myself lost in while hearing Uzumaki, Tachikoma, and even the entire team of Section 9 echoing through my headset while finding myself grossly immersed into the game. Why did I have to pay for a game that would eventually go free-to-play? To help show there is interest there, but to also get a taste of some of the “premium” content that us Early Access users get through Steam.

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The beginning result of Neople’s risk is a rather enjoyable experience, as stated, it is an experience that will make you feel as if you’re apart of the Section 9 squad, and as if you are linked to them in real time while fighting like them in the series using the cyber-brains that are linked, but also by using the Skill Sync System. This system encourages that squads stick together so that they may sync to your abilities so they can have abilities such as Thermal Radar so that they can detect enemies through walls, thermoptic camouflage so that enemies can’t see you while you are moving, or even the ability to turn your arm into a missile launcher in order to dispatch enemies that seem to like to hide clustered together. To do this? Simply hit the “E” key when near a friendly that has their ability active and prepare to devastate or sneak through the battlefield. The idea itself is a great one as I did find myself constantly moving through each map with my own team so that I could snack on their cyber powers and find my k/d sky rocketing little by little.

The down side? I often did find myself getting picked off as I was constantly the first man to enter the room and constantly popping my Bio-Gel Armor in order to heal myself and the team. While I found myself constantly bouncing between both Kusanagi and Borma so as to provide my team with tactical advances through the map. What makes these experiences even more authentic is the fact the cast from the anime have assisted with voicing in the game, and even that brings the game to life. IF you hear Bato on screen telling you to capture an item or attack an enemy? You’re truly hearing his voice actor just as you do with the rest of the cast. However, to use other characters? It’ll take some leveling for players to earn their licenses to earn more of the characters over time. For me? I bought a founders pack, got Borma and even a few other characters, but stuck with Borma for the most part so as to provide my team with healing capabilities. This means matches are both completed for GP and XP, which brings forth weapon unlocks and even character unlocks when not earning parts for your characters cyber body and brain.

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When looking away from what makes the game feel more like the anime, it’s time to look at First Assault Online for what it is. The game when broken down is a rather basic FPS title with a few adjusted mechanics, small maps, and influences to the breakneck pacing of classic titles like Unreal and Call of Duty. Just minus the skiing across maps with pick-ups. While I would like to say combat is smooth, it’s not always smooth as I did find my game giving a few small hiccups in latency, and being picked off by someone with a 5ms latency difference only to find myself dead and respawning. With only a few maps there are, matches are fast-paced, and don’t last more than 5-10 minutes depending on the game modes there. While this seems problematic, Neople is rather busy at work with new maps, modes, characters, and weapons, which will be applied through future updates. With the success of Early Access seemingly been rather well, it’ll make wonder if the F2P portion of it will succeed as it will depend heavily upon the developers to keep the game alive and how many unlocks as well as paid options they’ll toss into their title. While I would like to predict if the game will be good or even determine the life-span of this title. Lets just hope the grind doesn’t get bigger than it is.

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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: First Assault  – PC
Developer: Neople
Publisher: Nexon
Cost: 4.99 USD for Early Access/Closed Alpha Access
Release Date: Now Available via Early Access

While I will be the first to admit that I would have loved to have seen a Deus Ex style game come out of Ghost in the Shell, I can’t say that I’m displeased with my experiences or even begrudgingly looking upon it. In truth I enjoy the uniqueness the game offers compliments the FPS, but also the genre as a whole quite nicely, and even brings the spirit of Ghost in the Shell to life. For now? This will be the game we will have to settle for and enjoy within the long run of things. If this game shows promise, we can only hope that the console crowd will get a chance to play the game, but only if Neople can truly show that the game will succeed, and offer a bigger fan base, which I’m sure it will among anime fans.

Once the game exit’s Early Access we will be tossing a review out at a later date.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Fallout Shelter Gets Update 1.4 to Add New Content

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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If you’re playing Fallout Shelter, you know the game has been getting lots of support. This includes cloud saving and even the ability to get things such as Mr. Handy in your vault. If you’re ready to invigorate your shelter, today is the day as Bethesda Zenimax has announced that the game has received some rather astonishing new additions to the game so lets take a look at what was added.

  • Turn worthless junk into useful items! Introducing… crafting!
  • New Rooms! Build the new Weapon and Armor crafting rooms and use them to create your own items in game!
  • Lunchboxes now contain a bonus 5th card: Junk!  Trust us – it’s more useful than it sounds. Lucky wasteland explorers may also find junk on their adventures.
  • Take the Overseer role to the next level. Build the new Barbershop and customize the look of any Dweller.
  • Keep up with the latest fashions! Find new Outfits and Weapons straight from Fallout 4 in lunchboxes, or craft them yourself!
  • Because four-legged companions bring overwhelming happiness, we’ve added new Dogs and Cats, and are introducing… Parrots! Plus, new Pet bonuses!
  • Time of day is now properly reflected. Because authentic Vault simulation is our #1 goal!

The title has taken the mobile community by storm with the release initially on iOS in June of 2015 while holding the future months as the third-highest-grossing game on the App Store within the first week. Since launching on both Android and iOS, Fallout Shelter has received amazing honors such as ‘App Store Best of 2015’, ‘Google Play Best of 2015’, and ‘Best Handheld/Mobile Game’ at the 2015 Golden Joystick Awards. Most recently, Fallout Shelter was named ‘Mobile Game of the Year’ at the 2016 D.I.C.E. Awards.

Since launch Vault-Tec has continued to deliver updates to Fallout Shelter. New features including pets, Survival Mode, holidays, free Fallout 4characters and cloud support have been added, with many more on the way starting with Update 1.4.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

 

Monster Hunter X is Heading West Renamed as Monster Hunter Generations

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

For Monster Hunter fans today is one to rejoice for. Capcom has announced that their latest Monster Hunter title Generations will be heading west exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS and will feature one of the most robust set of customizations to date. The series will also serve as a tribute to the last decade of the series and will feature new areas, monsters, and even returning some of the the fan-favored regions.

The game will return the known use of cooperative gameplay via online and local play for fans that want to carry on harder tasks than before. While offering new Hunter Arts to the game, players will see a new aerial style to the game so that fans can take on aerial monsters against one another. For those looking to try out new stuff with fourteen weapon types, field skills, and power-up’s, your chance is coming soon when Monster Hunter X releases on Nintendo 3DS.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: Far Cry Primal – When Surviving Goes Primal

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Pros:
+Astonishing graphics, animations, and detail
+An original story that deters from modern emphasis on human survival
+New weapons compliment the year 10,000 B.C. and even feel truly unique
+Lack of multiplayer truly makes the game feel alive and believable

Cons:
-Enemy camps can easily become overwhelming
-Saber tooth tiger feels at times, too powerful, or even not powerful enough
-Woolly Mammoths attack without a warning and will easily kill players

 

 

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I’ll be the first to admit my past few weeks have been busy. I’ve worked on our hands-on for Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta, Warframe, and even started working on The Witch and the Hundred Night: Revival Edition for our friends over at NIS America. While not playing those? I’ve spent a lot of free time on SMITE thanks to our newest writer, Christopher Adee who handed me an Alpha key for PlayStation 4. Deciding to take a break since I’ve been rather excited for Far Cry Primal, I headed down to our local Best Buy, toss down the money for the game, and headed home. With review copies not available, I still felt obligated to bring out the review the game, but also to enjoy it while I could still be hammering out some time on other titles.

Sitting down while it installed, my mind began to wonder what would allow the series to change, and this included what the graphics engine would be like, what weapons would be available, but also what story arch could they approach with letting go of the known formula once used. Sure I expected an approach that would require me to hunt certain creatures, gather certain resources, and even upgrade my weapons, but what I wasn’t expecting was the lush, beautiful, and massive open world. One that is large, sprawling with life, and even viewed through first person so that I would become largely immersed within the world before me. As the game began to start up, I excited grabbed my PlayStation 4’s dual shock controller, plugged in my PlayStation Gold headphones, and even turned off my gaming room lights. From there my adventure began.

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As the opening started, I was given my first glimpses of a rather cinematic experience, one that revealed Takkar and the tribe of Wenja hunters he belonged to as they tracked a herd of woolly mammoths. With food supplies short, they were close to starvation, which put their hunt in a dire situation. The language they used? One I’d never heard before, one that provided even more interest in this newest title, and one that has kept me interested for hours on end. Within opening minutes, the game took a rather familiar turn, Takkar’s tribe was wiped out, him being the lone survivor, I would be prompted to take on his need to survive, which includes him fighting his way through the wilderness to a play of safety. Within the opening hours of the game, I found myself immerse to the extent I was building up the tribe, forging new huts for the freshly recruited Wenja members, and even defending the home village from an Ulda attack only to later begin taming creatures such as wolves, dohle’s, saber tooth tigers, and even cave bears.

With my village built up to 121 people, my pack of animal companion’s almost completely filled up, and even weapons almost maxed out, my mind began to wonder while my focused begun to go outside of the campaign, which has been fantastic, but at the same time rather familiar. With an approach that fits rather perfectly tot he franchise, Far Cry Primal offers something beautiful, unique, and noticeably loved by the developers. The world is alive, it’s realistic, and the graphics are beyond amazing compared to many of this generations games. Even with games like Metal Gear Sold V: The Phantom Pain, Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and even Halo 5: Guardians – graphics have not been a problem for a few games now. Joining those ranks is our latest open world exploration that is primitive, gory, and brutal. One that makes those games almost week in graphics, animation, and lively.

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With this tidbit of graphical and audio prowess, Far Cry Primal is definitely a departure from the guns, the explosions, and modernization we’ve become used to with most of today’s games. With this departure it began to grow easy to appreciate what made this game so unique and the fact it reminded me of a game that I have come to know and love – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This was no easy achievement for me to hand to the game I’ve become to love, and even enjoy for hours on end. If it’s even possible to compare the two as Far Cry Primal does not call upon magical items, dragons, and even mystical beings, but instead it calls upon the ways of old, and traditions that ancient tribes would call upon during their days. While there are a few games that call upon bows, hammers, and spears, it’s not common in AAA market anymore. Thanks to Far Cry Primal, we are able to experience this and even appreciate it even more-so than ever.

Unlike Skyrim though, Far Cry Primal doesn’t just call upon the need to revive your companion, once entering mountains that are snow covered and cold? Players will find themselves worrying about Takkar’s warmth whether it means lighting a spear on fire or even one of their hammers. They’ll have to worry about sneaking through the plains that are inhabited by their enemy tribes and even worry about resources that can be used to heal themselves, their companion, and even craft their weapons. Let alone will they worry about all those mentioned things, player swill even have to worry about rescuing other Wenja and even protecting their villages and taking out enemy villages. With this bit of a twist, it’s hard not to say that Far Cry Primal hasn’t taken on a realistic twist in order to show that its world could truly have existed at one point. To be honest? I’m not too sure it hadn’t after having played the game as long as I have. But to be honest? If the Far Cry games could do this? What’s not to say that Far Cry couldn’t keep at it with the right amount of tweaking the skill tree, requirements to unlock weapons, and even modify their weapon crafting system a little bit? To be honest, the Far Cry series would be able to rival The Elder Scrolls quite easily if given a few years of development and decision making behind how many skills could be unlocked, and the likes.

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Far Cry Primal – PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Xbox One
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Cost: 59.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

But what makes this game more unique than past titles? The mechanics have changed a bit. Players will adjust weapons to the situation such as bee bombs to disperse large groups of enemies while switching to the heavy club to go in for close heavy combat. For range? Players will find themselves lobbing spears at enemies while even taking out the long bow for increased range. If a simple arrow doesn’t do justice and enemies are hiding behind some cover? Easy – light the arrow on fire and send it hurling their way to force them out of cover, or simply send your companion after them only to watch them get mauled while you reap the rewards afterwards. But there is something where the game does begin to struggle in the long run.

As players explore it won’t be uncommon for nature to fight back. In the mountains I found myself frustrated as the sound of a woolly mammoth trampling Takkar became all-to-familiar as I found myself muttering obscenities under my breath or even found myself all-in-all walking away for a few minutes to take a break. Once back? I soon encountered myself fending off not just woolly mammoths at night, but even saber toothed tigers, and even wolves as they went roaming across the mountains of Uros, making Takkar’s fight for survival a bit more brutal than easier. This even would show a difficulty when fighting through enemy camps, bonfires, and even territory while trying to once more tame the lands of Uros and become a master of survival while leading a tribe to the top of the food chain.

 

Normally this is where we would post the trailer, but due to this games blood, gore, and nudity. We’re not showing the trailer here, but if you want to? Head on over to YouTube here to view the official Story Trailer.

 

While Far Cry has departed from the approach it once knew, Far Cry Primal has reinvented the franchise for the better. The question at hand is, will Ubisoft follow this formula in the future and do what they’ve done now, but improve upon it? With weapons like the double arrow, the bee bomb, and even the throwing blades, it’ll be interesting to see what Ubisoft has up their sleeves for future content and even improvised content if any are to happen since a season pass is unavailable at this time.

 

Our review is based upon a copy we purchased ourselves due to the demand for review copies being extremely high. We still want to thank Ubisoft for the chances to do this review! For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 9 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.