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Primal Review
Chris Leyton
11/04/2003
We take an extensive look at one of the most visually impressive PS2 titles ever created...
From the creators of the Medieval series and the hit PSOne action romp C-12: Resistance, comes a new action/adventure, that proves to be frustratingly difficult to get into but rewards perseverance with some fantastic moments and genuinely impressive production values.
Players are introduced to the games two main characters, Jen & Scree, through the gobsmacking introduction sequence, which thankfully does a good job of explaining why a sexy and sassy girl is hanging around with a pint-sized stone goblin. Arguably the games strongest pull is thanks to the lavish attention paid to the games storyline; told via fantastic cut-scenes and making use of professional actors, Primal has a level of quality not usually witnessed in the videogames industry.
Whilst we donāt want to ruin the story before youāve even begun to play, itās safe to say that the story runs far deeper then the rescue of Lewis, Jenās boyfriend who is abducted after a demonic figure makes off with him one night. The overriding story teaches us of the balance between the forces of āChaosā and āOrderā, and how Abbadon ā“ the God of Chaos ā“ is fighting to overthrow the balance and throw all of existence into anarchy.
Of course this doesnāt all happen on earth but in four otherworld realms, two of which are aligned with Chaos and two of which are aligned to Order. Events within each of the games worlds has caused strange happenings to occur, so itās up to the pair of you to readjust the balance and find Lewis if you have the time.
Primal takes the partnership idea of titles such as āThe Lost Vikingsā as its main gameplay feature; players can instantly swap between controlling Jen and Scree by pressing select, opening up a wealth of puzzle possibilities and innovative features.
Itās not long into the game before youāre introduced to the functional differences between the pair; Jen soon finds a weapon and takes on the physical aspect, whilst Scree crawls up into a stone statue whenever the smell of combat is near. Whilst Scree isnāt much of a fighter, he has the slightly hit-and-miss ability to scale stonewalls. Whilst this could have led to some great level designs, it does unfortunately provide one of the games first main flaws. Despite proudly announcing that he can climb on to any stone surface, youāll soon realise that this is a blatant lie and he can only climb those that the designers have designated; worst still thereās no indication of which he can climb, so every time you have to stick him against a wall to see whether heāll climb it or not. A number of the first levels puzzles are based around this system, which unfortunately bogs down the whole process and becomes more frustrating then it should.
Youāll also notice other differences between the two; Jen can navigate along crevices by sliding along them whilst she can also fit through narrow gaps; Scree youāll learn later in the game has the ability to possess stone statues ā“ but more on that later in the review. Most of the characters actions are context sensitive and are automatically performed when youāre near to the area, there is no jump button or action button, instead Jen or Scree will automatically jump when they need to and pull themselves up onto higher ledges. This lack of interaction with the environment helps to streamline the experience and removes the opportunity for yet more frustration, however the overall experience feels a little āseparatedā when compared to other games in the genre.
Jen also has the ability to ask Scree for help throughout the game by simply tapping the Triangle button; Scree will quickly chirp in with a helpful comment but unfortunately this feature hasnāt been implemented as well as we would have hoped for.
Half way through the first mission youāll learn more of Jenās mysterious past and realise thereās more then meets the eye with this girl; having the potential to swap between four demon forms certainly elevates her to the āsomething specialā category. The first demonic form that Jen takes on is her Ferrai form; the Ferrai are the race of fighters that populate the first realm of Sollum that you find yourself in. Once youāve gained the ability to switch to this form, Jen finds herself equipped with a pair of glowing claws and the traditional ādemonā look from shows such as Buffy and Angel.
This feature is one of the games true strong points and works very well; in demon form Jen has the ability to pull off some devastating attack moves along with an ability to perform some ludicrously high jumps. When Jen loses all of her energy in this form she reverts back to her weaker human shape, however Jen can absorb spiritual energy from Scree who collects various gems and energy from fallen foes throughout the level to do so.
Unfortunately the actual combat system hasnāt worked as well as it could have; Team Cambridge opted for a new approach by using the two bottom shoulder buttons to pull off punches from both arms. The system appears to have a sufficient level of depth, with a wide range of moves available determining on how hard you hit the pressure sensitive buttons. But unfortunately there is very little scope for skill and battles soon become frenzied button-bashing affairs; to their credit fights often look good especially when in the Ferrai form and being able to pull off finishing moves is a satisfying feature despite the complete lack of skill needed to pull them off.
Before we move on to the other strong points, we should note the other flaws that stop this game becoming the classic that it should have. Progress through the first level is painfully slow and frustrating; most of the puzzles revolve around using each otherās abilities to open up inaccessible areas for the other character to begin with and provides little excitement. Itās also fair to say that some of the solutions are very obscure and usually involve a lot of backtracking just to find the solution by accident half the time. Itās a shame that the help system between Jen and Scree hasnāt been properly thought out, as this would have helped this area of frustration immeasurably; as it stands youāll find yourself going red as Scree spurts out the same unhelpful comment time and time again. Taking the frustration to an unbelievable level is the sheer size of each of the four game worlds, theyāre absolutely huge and whenever youāre stuck for a solution youāll find yourself wandering around without actually knowing what to do. Itās a shame that the first level hasnāt been tightened up as it could put off a lot of people from progressing to see the games most memorable moments.
However persevere through the tedious nature of the first level and youāll realise that things begin to drastically improve. Towards the latter half of the first level the game introduces some nice ideas and the tempo picks up substantially, whilst the luscious presentation further compels you to carry on with the game.
Itās quite amazing how much the game improves by the time you reach the second stage, and thankfully the gamer is rewarded with some of the best visuals Iāve seen on the PS2 to reward this perseverance. Whereas the first realm of Sollum is a cold and gloomy affair, the second realm is a water based level, which features a fantastic effect of reflecting images onto the water surface yet being able to see whatās under the surface when the camera is pointed in the correct direction.
Jen soon learns of her second demon form, which allows her to breathe underwater and swim like a fish; quite handy considering the majority is spent under the surface. Controlling Jen is fluid and responsive, whilst the combat works surprisingly well considering youāre fighting under water! However itās the actual way in which the game substantially improves thereinafter; thereās less of the tedious opening doors for each other and more focus on tighter crafted puzzles.
Two more realms and two new demonic forms greet the player with further progress, and you can guarantee that thereās enough twists and changes in the story to keep you playing until youāve completed it; Primal has a lot to offer and hopefully fans of this genre will persevere with the game to see its true strong points.
Thereās only so much you can say without talking about the staggering visuals in Primal; put simply it ushers in the next wave of Playstation2 titles and wouldnāt look out of place on a superior format. Character models are wonderfully created featuring a very natural look and with attention to the smallest details, however itās the texture quality which really tickled our fancy ā“ youāve never seen better on the PS2. The same high praise can also be made regarding the games animation, whether itās combat, running, swimming or our personal fave climbing ladders (!) Jen just looks the part and really warms to the player. From a technical point of view Primal is doing things we just donāt expect from the PS2; levels are absolutely gigantic affairs with no loading times, depth-blur is used to fantastic effect, whilst the water effect on the second stage rivals the likes of what weāve seen on the Xbox and GameCube. Throughout the whole game Primal maintains a visual quality that helps to ensure you want to see what lies in store next.
Thankfully Team Cambridge hasnāt overlooked the important aspect of music. Tracks are used sporadically to heighten the atmosphere and are all of high quality that suits the atmosphere of the game, ranging from orchestral tracks provided by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to tracks from the heavy-rock outfit 16volt, which really add to the combat scenes. Wisely recognising that poor voice acting would have killed the game, Team Cambridge brought in Hudson Leick (Callisto of Xena) and Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar of Babylon 5) who deliver brilliant performances that helps the player to warm to Jen and Scree instantly ā“ if only more games were like this.
Despite only having four main levels, Primal will take you an absolute age to complete. The sheer size of each level and whatās involved is absolutely huge, whilst DVD styled extras are unlocked as you progress.
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