Trying to cash in on third-person horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, Sony released Primal in late March to scare up some competition. The game is very involved, but it suffers from long, drawn-out video sequences and pointless action.
First Impression
The game starts with the lead singer of a heavy metal band getting kidnapped by a demon the size of Michael Clarke Duncan. His girlfriend Jenn is left to remain in a coma.
This sort of full motion video runs through the first hour of the hour of the game. I said hour. It mainly consists of video, then some running, then some more video, then more running, and so on.
I was about to give up on the game, but unlike Sony's last third-person action title, The Getaway, you can skip the video. So in my next attempt to play the game, I skipped all the video and got into the game.
Gameplay
As described before, this is a third-person action game along the lines of a Tomb Raider and Super Mario Sunshine. You play as Jenn and have the help of a gargoyle named Scree. These two work hand-in-hand. When Jenn can't get through an obstacle (more than likely a locked door), Scree will do the job for her and vice versa.
The fighting in the game is pretty basic. The L2 and R2 buttons perform all the action and act as right arm and left arm. Later in the game, Jenn turns into a demonic form that reminds me of the main character of Soul Reaver. Her weapons are Wolverine-style claws that are green with demonic energy. Unlike Soul Reaver, Jenn doesn't suck the souls for energy. That's Scree's job.
Like most third-person titles, Primal suffers from bad camera angles in important fighting or puzzle scenes. I found myself getting attacked from behind while I was trying to target the enemy in front of me. I was easily taken down when being attacked from a sniper and four ground troops.
Graphics
The cinematic scenes in Primal may be long, but you almost find yourself getting sucked into them because they are so visually stunning. Once you finally get into the game, the pre-rendered backgrounds keep you looking around instead of keeping on the mission. The one thing that impressed me is that no matter where you are in the game, you know which part of the map you are on. They really did a great job here.
Sound
The sound is the best feature of this game. Professional actors do all the character voices. The music is a great mix of heavy metal and general ambient music. The heavy metal really kicks in when you are being attacked.
The one thing that really annoyed me about the voice acting was the constant cheesy valley girl accent for Jenn. Even when she was transformed into a demon, that accent still remained.
Final Thoughts
This could be a really good game, but with all the long, drawn out cinematic scenes, you find yourself watching the game more than playing it. If you want to give it a shot, you should really wait until after finals to commit some real time and energy to it.
Ryan Eilders is the Webmaster and video games reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at ryan.eilders@asu.edu.
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