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Primal Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Primal lies in a dark, fantastical realm between the mortal world and the afterlife, where an eternal struggle between ORDER and chaos rages.
In the push for their first big title, The Getaway, SCEE have been reluctant to release information on their other PS2 title, Primal. Understandable really, however the fact that this is shaping up to be so good certainly surprised us as we took our first look last week.
Primal tells the story of a young twenty-something going by the name of Jen Tate. Jen was tragically orphaned as a child, but has rebuilt her life and found an inner-strength that has helped her boyfriend Lewis, a member of a rock band and an orphan similar to Jen.
Jenās journey takes her from the physical realm of āMortalisā otherwise known as the āreal worldā, across four otherworldly realms - realms - Solum, Aquis, Aetha and Volca - collectively known as Oblivion. Between Oblivion and Mortalis lies the Nexus, centre of a power struggle that has raged between the forces of Order and Chaos for aeons. Now, in the present day, the forces that champion Chaos seem to be succeeding in their design to upset the equilibrium - turbulence and fear are beginning to gain their hold as Abaddon gathers the demons of Aetha and Volca around him.
Looking down on the proceedings is the all-seeing presence of Chronos, an immortal oracle who maintains the delicate equilibrium of the primal energies. But even the elevated position Chronos holds may be usurped, for into the battle arrives a human from Mortalis who may prove to be the only defender able to preserve Order across the kingdoms. That person is Jen, an unwilling visitor who is violently transported to a hostile new world and becomes drawn into a dangerous crusade, which she learns, only she has the power to lead.
We took Primal for an extensive playtest last week and came away suitably impressed. The first thing that strikes you are the absolutely amazing visuals, weāre not overly-hyping the game by saying this wouldnāt look out of place running on an Xbox! The character models all have that organic and natural look to them; skin curves beautifully, clothes are intricately detailed whilst the little touches such as moving hair compliment the finished article perfectly. The same can be said about the lavish yet dark environments, and special effects such as the wonderful particle system that greets the mystical side of the game. Primal is without doubt the best-looking PS2 title weāve ever seen, finally it seems developers are beginning to harness the machine in the way that Sony first promised.
Taking control of Jen the game initially appears to be your traditional mystical third-person action/adventure once youāve finally gotten over how good the visuals are, believe me itāll take some time! However play through and youāll realise that everything has been done so well and thereās enough neat touches to guarantee this has got the word āHITā written all over it.
Accompanying Jen is a funny little fella going by the name of Scree. Weāre not too sure about the exact situation regarding his involvement, however often the dynamic between the two characters lays the solution to most of the puzzles. Being a small demon Scree isnāt an ideal shape to fight, so he leaves that to Jen, however the tike has a handy habit of possessing statues. The demo we played allowed us to take control of Scree, and collect a number of items, which allowed us to possess the statue and open up the door to carry on with the game.
A very neat touch between the two is the ability to ask for help. By pressing the Triangle when youāre in control of Jen, youāll find yourself asking Scree what to next, similarly it works when youāre controlling Scree. OK not too special, however itās the way that itās implemented is what makes it shine, the scene closes in on the two characters and itās all voice acted, which helps to convey the cinematic nature of the game.
The combat system is refined to perfection, using the shoulder buttons to perform a variety of deadly attacks; it feels responsive and gives the impression that youāre totally in control and not just button bashing. Smack the enemy enough, and youāre open to perform a finishing move in a similar manner to Mortal Kombat.
Carrying on with the demo we entered a temple, where a powerful demonic king that resembled a ram was praying. This scene showcased the wonderful lighting and particle effects that take place whenever something magical occurs. After a brief cut-scene where the king stated his disapproval of the subject that Scree had brought to him, Jen was transformed into another form, one of four demon forms that she can take offering her a variety of special skills and powers.
This particular form that we took is known as the Ferrai form, along with the change in shape and face, Jen now had access to green glowing claws to perform some deadly hand-to-hand attacks and the ability to bend time. Unfortunately we never got to see the time ability, however the claws enabled Jen to perform some devastating manoeuvres. A neat visual touch is the way that enemies now suffered visual damage, as Jen carved into them lines of crimson adorned their bodies until Jen let out a brutal finishing move on them.
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Date Added:Mon 10th Dec 2007 18:50
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