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Primal Preview
Chris Leyton
06/03/2003
We've taken a further look at Primal as Jen reveals her demon side...
Weâve been putting the latest build of Primal through its paces, and are glad to say itâs shaping up to be a worthy addition to the PS2 action/adventure catalogue. If youâve missed out on our prior coverage, it might be a good idea to check out our earlier preview on the title; if not, follow on as we open up the first of Jenâs four âdemonâ forms and explore the realm of Sollum.
Thankfully the games stunning introduction is now in place, so weâve got a better understanding of the story behind the game and the two main characters. Primal fans will know that the game focuses on the twenty-something Jennifer Tate; as she becomes embroiled in a supernatural struggle between the forces of chaos and order, which incidentally threatens all of existenceâ“ and hopefully rescue her boyfriend Willis at the same time!
Weâve now put the game through its paces and have to say itâs shaping up to be a long game if the first realm is anything to go by; although weâve been playing for a number of hours weâre still in the games first realm, Sollum â“ home to the Ferrai race and where Jen learns of her demon background.
Hinted at in the past, this allows Jen to switch to the first demon form and grants her increased power and strength for the harder opponents that sheâll face in her quest. Letâs back up a little and explain the whole concept; having completed a task for the ruler of the realm, Jen is informed of her âdifferentâ past. Bewildered and panicked by the shocking revelation, Jen finds her body morphing into a demon form that bears a striking familiarity to the Vampires from Buffy.
The new-look Jen places more emphasis on combat and now has the ability to pull off devastating combos, attacks and finishing moves; in our earlier look at the title we were a little concerned by the lack of excitement during the opening combat scenes with Jen, fortunately this âtransformationâ increases the pace considerably. Along with the body transformation, Jen acquires a lethal pair of glowing claws that can quite literally rip an enemy to shreds, a pivotal ability to match the increase in enemies that youâll have to deal with.
Fans will remember that Primal ditches the conventional combat approach, and utilises two shoulder buttons to dish out a variety of attack and combos. This system works surprisingly well and has more depth then it initially sounds; automatically locking on to the nearest enemy, you can circle around, dodge and switch between targets using a combination of the analogue sticks and face buttons. Having depleted an enemyâs energy, youâll be given a short amount of time to pull off a finishing move - Mortal Kombat style â“ by pressing both shoulder buttons at the same time; does it add anything significant to the game â“ no, does it require skill â“ no, but itâs certainly gratifyingâ¦
When Jen runs out of âspiritualâ energy in the Ferrai form, sheâll transform back to her vulnerable human appearance. To change back, Jen has to draw energy from Scree, which he stores by collecting the various gemstones that are scattered throughout each level. Itâs amazing quite how the partnership system is really beginning to develop now that weâve progressed through the opening section; we were a little sceptical before and believed that it was simply a glorified way of opening doors for each other - hopefully the remainder of the game will extend the concept further.
Anything else you need to know about Jenâs transformations? Oh yeah the 360° pan cinematic that accompanies Jenâs transformation each time looks amazing and never gets stale.
The main task featured in the Sollum realm revolves around finding Jared â“ heir to the throne and who has recently been abducted. Youâll learn that the noble king Herne has to abdicate from his throne within the next few days, before Sollum is thrown into Chaos. Without wanting to reveal too much of the plotline, progress through the level reveals a number of surprising plot-twists and highlights the overall picture between Chaos and Order.
Although not as innovative as we could have hoped for, the coupling system has certainly advanced beyond the basic âopening inaccessible areas for the other characterâ system that is employed at the start. Some of the puzzles feel a little forced and the solution a little too well hidden; this has the overall effect of slowing down the game and upping the frustration, as you spend hours trawling through the huge levels just to find a particular item. During these moments it would be helpful if the advice from Scree were a little more informative, instead of spouting out the same line over and over again. Whilst weâre looking at the bad points, one section sees you searching for a specific door without any clue as to which it is; itâs only after going through each door and playing the tediously long animation that greets every attempt that youâll find it â“ definitely not an example of riveting gameplay!
On the whole our enjoyment has increased as weâve progressed through the game, and are looking forward to moving on to the other realms; however Sollum could certainly do with some work to tighten it up and remove some of the niggles that hinder your enjoyment and progression.
Further progress through the game will open up Jenâs other demon forms, which include âUndineâ form that allows her to swim and breathe underwater and use crackling tentacles of energy to combat the enemy threat; in âAethaâ form Jen encounters the first realm aligned with chaos and gains the power of vampire like time-shift abilities; finally her âVolcaâ form will grant her the powers of fire.
For a game thatâs marked as âReview Copy 3â, there are still a load of bugs and niggles that simply shouldnât be there. We highlighted this in our earlier preview, and hope that the team will have enough time to iron them out before the games release on April 11th. Weâve encountered game crashes, characters wandering through the walls and out of the game map, and numerous times when our characters have become stuck in the environment!
To make matters worse there are a few niggles that simply shouldnât be there; early on in the game, Scree will inform you that one of the perks of being a 3ft stone gargoyle, is being able to climb and walk around on any stone surface. Itâs not long before you realise that this is a blatant lie and you can only grab hold of those that are specifically featured in the level designs; youâll find yourself constantly standing against a wall just to see if you can grab hold of it, because thereâs no indication which oneâs you can, and which oneâs you canât!!! To make matters worse, when you finally grab hold of a wall youâll realise that Scree is actually pretty pathetic, the smallest crevice is insurmountable for Scree and forces him to work his way all around a two-inch gap!
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