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Primal - First Look Preview
Chris Leyton
15/01/2003
Watch out Lara, there's a contender to your throne...
Going up against Lara Croftâs highly anticipated return after over two years of self-imposed exile must say something about Team Cambridge hopes for Primal. For those that havenât followed the game; Primal is an action/adventure title from the creators of the Medieval series and C-12, that not only displays the true technical power of the PS2, but also ushers in a new-generation by which future PS2 games will be judged.
Pretty strong claims, however it only takes a few minutes to realise that these guys are pushing the PS2 into new directions; dazzling particle effects, depth filtering, multi-texturing⦠the list just goes on. Thankfully the gameplay looks to offer a similar standard; offering a rewarding experience in a tired genre and unlike a certain other SCEE title, showing no signs of disappointing!
Players take control of a female twenty-something going by the name of Jennifer Tate, more affectionately known as Jen. Despite her bright appearance, Jen hides a dark past; orphaned as a child when her parents were brutally murdered, Jen lives a hand-mouth existence with her boyfriend Lewis whilst working at a trendy café to pay her way through college.
Unfortunately because of the nature of the preview code sent; the whole introduction sequence was not in place, but we managed to get the gist of things.
Jen is sucked into what appears to be an after-life experience, having previously been lying in a hospital bed; however sheâs not alone, a height impaired stone demon going by the name of Scree has brought you here, to Primal.
After a lengthy cut-scene, which fabulously portrays the intricately detailed character models and texture work, we learn that Primal is the realm between the mortal world and the afterlife. Here the very balance of existence is created with the real struggle between Arella and Abaddon, the embodiments of Order and Chaos and where Jen beliefs Lewis can be found; the story transpires that Abaddon is pulling a few dirty tricks to upset the balance and destroy existence. Itâs up to you with the help of Scree to visit the four realms of Primal to assist Arella in rebalancing the struggle.
Immediately youâll notice Primalâs influences; the pairing of Jen and Scree bears close familiarities to the mentor-pupil relationship of Buffy and Giles, in fact youâd be convinced that having realised Buffy was past it, Joss Whedon had joined Team Cambridge and penned the script. Youâll quickly grow to like the pair, whilst the high presentation standards suck you in even further; however itâs not just an aesthetic feature; the coupling of two characters actually becomes the pivotal role in the game.
Anyone who remembers the SNES classic The Lost Vikings (soon to be re-released on the GBA) will know what to expect; switching between the two different characters using the âselectâ button, allows you to solve the various puzzles and progress through the game by making use of the different skills offered by each. Within a short distance into the game Jen acquires a dagger and becomes the natural fighter of the pair, whilst Scree has the ability to scale stonewalls in a feature that provides the scope for some excellent level designs. Other abilities open up for each character as you progress through the game, and suggest that the âcouplingâ feature could be the true strength of the title.
For example during the first realm of Sollum - a land of perpetual night and bad weather - Jen and Scree arrive at a temple, however the pair cannot cross because the bridge has been destroyed. The solution is to use Scree to scale along the stonewalls and join the other side, where he can push a tree down for Jen to cross safely. This is one of the first âpuzzlesâ in the game; the complexity increases later in the game, yet the implementation and solution remain as intuitive and rewarding.
The coupling system also has other features; by pressing the 'triangle' button, Jen can ask Scree for help on her quest, giving you information on a particular puzzle or your quest in general. Given the size of each realm this is an excellent feature and helps to reduce the frustration of retracing steps and hitting your head against a brick wall because you canât find the solution.
Progress through the first realm and youâll eventually learn of your deeper past, Jen learns that she has the ability to switch into different demon forms, which grant her a range of new abilities such as the ability to communicate telepathically to being able to warp time!
Due to buggy the nature of the code, which made progress into the game very difficult; weâve yet to sample how these powers work to their full extent. However we recently had the chance to see and play with Jen in her first demon form; which along with the aesthetic change also increased her fighting ability, by giving her claws to fight with.
Combat plays a heavy part in Primal; lead designer Chris Sorrell recently told us that up to 50% of the actual game relies on combat. Fortunately then that the designers at Team Cambridge have come up with a slightly different technique to the button-bashing norm; using the left and right shoulder buttons for respective attacks and another to block, results in a system that feel strange to begin with but becomes natural after only a few minutes of play. Surprisingly a wide range of moves are accessible from this system using different combinations and varying amounts of pressure; along with the standard attacks come a range of special and finishing moves and those that are specific to your current form.
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