With the announcement and upcoming release of Far Cry: New Dawn, a post-apocalyptic spinoff,
now would be a good time to head in the opposite direction. For fans of primitive archery,
you can’t get much more primitive than Fry Cry: Primal. Set in the fictional European
region of Oros, Primal puts players into the hide boots of Takkar of the Wenja people,
and his journey of survival in the untamed wilds of prehistory.
While Primal is entirely made-up, it’s worth noting with some fascination how little we
retain of true primitive archery. Archery predates recorded history, and we know of
archery being used from cave paintings. However, as bows were made from organic materials,
nearly every specimen has been lost to time. Fragments of arrowheads and bows have been
dated to well over 10,000 years ago. Primal doesn’t exactly present us with a realistic
or historically accurate take on primitive archery, but…it’s not a huge suspense
of disbelief. This is, after all, a world where the developers have created their own
languages, and our protagonist rides a saber-tooth tiger.
Join me in my journey through the primitive lands of Oros from the view of a modern-day archer.
While bows have been in the Far Cry series since Far Cry 3 as an optional stealth weapon,
in Primal, bows are the primary weapon. Of course you have clubs and spears, all of which
can be thrown – and spears especially do significant damage. Bows, are however, are
the first weapon you obtain, with several different types of bows for different purposes,
and generally being the most versatile weapon set. Not only does this make archery fans
happy, the primitive setting really makes this fascinating.
As a first-person shooter, Primal adopts Far Cry’s smooth gunplay…without the guns.
All bows can shot from the hip – if you can call it that – with the widening reticule
representing the spread that we are more familiar with in gun-based shooters. Aiming replaces
this with a single dot, which is nearly pinpoint accurate. While a far cry from realism compared
to more immersive games like Kingdom Come Deliverance, this simple method facilitates
faster engagements.
In fact, the archery is so smooth, the bow is probably going to be your go-to weapon,
unless you really need to smack someone with a club or bring down a wild animal with a
spear. Ammunition is plentiful, either being found on fallen enemies or crafted with basic
materials – the latter option being significantly easier with some skill upgrades multiplying
the number arrows crafted.
This faith in the good old stick and string is shared by your allies and adversaries.
Most fights take place in mid-range, with most fighters being armed with bows or javelins
and skirmishing with each other. As the human player, you have much more mobility and better
reaction, taking control of the situation with more robust tactics. The responsiveness
of the controls and the frequent quick engagements is a hallmark of the Far Cry games, and Primal
feels just as good.
Beyond just shooting things, Takkar has the ability to set his weapons on fire. This makes
the most sense with arrows. While this can be used to set fires to control the environment,
this is most likely going to be a utility tool to burn objectives and set signal fires.
That said, the bow is going to be the weapon you use from start to finish, and integrated
into the gameplay and story. There’s even an amazing dream sequence in which you take
on the persona of a flaming warrior to literally shoot down the moon. This makes Primal one
of the most dedicated archery games in the mainstream market.
As an open-world game, the player is given a few basic tools and then has the option
of going out into the wider world to collect materials to upgrade items. Later weapons
and tools are locked behind missions.
Takkar’s starting bow is…the Bow. I seriously had to look this up on Google to make sure
I hadn’t missed a more obvious name, but here we are. The Bow is the general-purpose
bow, with well-rounded stats for speed and accuracy – though it’s worth noting that
“accuracy” is more or less exactly where the dot is. Suited for most scenarios early
in the game, the upgraded Bow increases damage and speed, making it the equivalent of an
assault rifle in modern Far Cry games, just…with single arrows. But rapidly.
Takkar can then unlock a primitive Long Bow. This fills the role of the sniper rifle. The
Longbow does more damage, and provides the player with a small degree of magnification
for better accuracy on long-distance targets. The improved long-distance accuracy and power
is compensated by having a much slower rate of fire.
The third type of bow is the Double Bow. The Double Bow shoots two arrows at once for double
the damage. While the stats imply that it has the best speed, that seems to go to the
upgraded Bow rather than the Double Bow.
Of the bow types, I found myself defaulting to the regular Bow most of the time, especially
after upgrading it. The Longbow has some use as a long-range weapon, but most of the time
you should be able to dispatch enemies with the regular Bow stealthily and quickly. I
found the Double Bow to be the least useful of the three, mostly because it doesn’t
do anything the other bows can’t. The spread of the double-shot is unfavourable compared
to just hurling a spear, which has the most raw ranged damage of any weapon.
Now, you might be wondering – how authentic is all this? There’s a surprising amount
of detail. Sure, spears are just pointy sticks with stone heads, and clubs are big sticks
or bones, the amount of time you spend using the bow makes you think about how plausible
they would be in real life.
The regular Bow is…fairly regular. While most bows in the real world are made from
a single piece of wood, Takkar’s bow is made from two pieces lashed together with
leather strips to create what would be a decently sized bow by modern standards. This is certainly
plausible, especially if you don’t have the length needed to make a bow from a single
piece, but it does rely on the bow not falling apart from poor crafting and uneven torque.
The upgraded Bow is really fascinating. From the player’s point of view, you can admire
the engravings in the belly of the bow. However, if you look at the bow in the menu, and especially
seeing it in the Izila’s hands, it’s very clearly a visual replica of Asiatic bows.
The long “tips” are referred to as “siyah” in Arabic sources, and serve to provide extra
leverage for shorter bows. This design far pre-dates actual usage in real life. This
is probably an implausible design in the game. In reality, Asiatic bows were composite bows,
made from layering horn, wood and sinew. The all-wood design in Primal would probably not
be that strong and not necessitate the elongated tips.
The Long Bow is certainly not a plausible design. It’s tough to see what the bow is
made from. If it’s bone, the long length would simply snap. Bone is too inflexible
and brittle to be suitable for the flexibility needed for a bow. If the bow is made from
wood, it would need to be a very strong wood. Having a longer bow doesn’t make it a more
powerful bow, and bow length was mostly a matter of necessity. In reality, self-bows
were typically made from a single piece of wood and the length was required to get the
maximum power without snapping. Shorter bows were often made from composite materials.
The Double Bow might look like the most ridiculous fantasy design to the layperson, but it actually
is based off a real design. These bows are commonly referred to as Penobscot bows, also
known as double bows. The purpose is to provide extra strength by combining two separate bows
and having them work together, as compared to a single bow. The version in Primal is
a bit more decorative with the split limb tip, but otherwise the bow should function.
The double-arrow thing has to be addressed though. While it is possible to shoot multiple
arrows at once, the game does a good job of replicating the spread it would have in real
life. However, what is overlooked is that the energy in the bow is divided between the
arrows. Shooting two arrows at once means that they will only be half as effective.
There are a couple of small nitpicks. The shooting animation, for some reason, keep
the arrow pinned against the bow rather than resting on the hand, which would have certainly
been the only way to shoot without an arrow rest. The bow limbs don’t flex when fully
drawn, so the bows look a little static from the player perspective. The bows also contain
some decorative blue stones at the tips. This is not good bow design – the tips have to
be as light as possible, as adding weight will slow the bow and have a negative effect
on performance. It would be more suitable to have these decorations closer to the grip.
A small positive is the shooting animation. The bow and hand seems to jump forward on
release, and this is actually what happens in real life, though different styles of archery
control this differently.
Overall, Far Cry Primal offers an interesting take on archery in a series that is otherwise
known for its excellent gunplay. Fights are smooth and fast, controls are on point, and
it makes you want to pick more fights just to get the satisfaction of drawing the bow
and hitting another warrior in the head. The small nuances in control, visual and sound
effects is pleasing for the player.
If you haven’t played Primal, you’re not missing out on too much. It lacks the deep
story and twists in the main Far Cry games, and its main appeal is in the prehistoric
setting. If you like FPS games or open-world games, especially of the Ubisoft variety,
you’ll like Far Cry Primal. As an archer, it was pretty fun running or riding around
a colourful landscape to inflict primitive death on my foes. For me, this game does hit
the mark.
Thank you for joining me on another episode of Archery Popshots. This is NUSensei, and
as always, shoot straight and aim for your best.