Bloody Roar: Primal Fury

"If we could talk to the animals..."

So there I was, browsing the Gamecube section at EB games. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, just searching for something to catch my eye. I was about to leave when I noticed something: a somewhat rare game nestled within a rack of other common games. Well aware of the utter lack of fighting games on the Gamecube, I promptly picked up Bloody Roar: Primal Fury. Now, I know I've been spoiled with far too many Soul Calibur 2 sessions, so I wasn't expecting much. And unfortunately, my fears were justified this time around.

For those of you expecting some sort of Soul Calibur 2 epic storyline, you'll likely be disappointed. Bloody Roar doesn't have much in the way of character development or intricate plotlines. Instead, we are given some sort of sci-fi plot involving regular humans and Zoanthropes, humans that can mutate into beasts at will. These races coexist with hopes of peace and equality within a struggling new nation. However, rumors of illegal Zoanthrope experimentations are running rampant among the commonfolk. In an attempt to boost the morale of the citizens, the government decides to hold a fighting tournament featuring the elite Zoanthrope fighters of the military. Unlike other characters in fighting games that we've become accustomed to, these characters aren't necessarily fighting for glory, love, or power. They're just in it for the title, or even the cash reward. With that precedent established, the characters lack any sort of likeable traits or personalities. And it's that lack of appeal that gnaws away at what could have been an enjoyable aspect of the game. The only thing left is to choose a fighter and make your way through the tournament.

The gameplay itself revolves around the basics of most three-dimensional fighters that we've grown accustomed to. We've got sixteen fighters at our fingertips, each with distinct moves and varied fighting styles. The character you choose reflects your own fighting preferences. If you like quick, up close and personal action, you're apt to choose someone like Xion or Bakuryu. If you're into pure power, you might consider Stun or Gado to do your dirty work. But with the varied amount of fighters to choose from, it may take you a while to find the fighter that suits you best. Once you've found someone that suits your needs, I'd recommend spending some time actually training with the character. Button mashing may seem like a simple shortcut, but it won't get you very far later on in the game. There is a real need for you to be able to learn moves and use them to your advantage in combat. Each character has some 20 or so attacks, blocks, and other maneuvers that can be executed via series of button combos. These attacks can be chained together to create massive combos of health gauge devastation. But remember, the need for practice is clearly shown throughout the game. The enemy AI is more that willing enough to use powerful combos to juggle you into oblivion. It's up to you to incorporate your character's strengths and weaknesses into your overall combat strategy.

So, what makes Bloody Roar: Primal Fury stand out from a generic three-dimensional fighter? The gimmick is the ability to morph into fighting animals and using the ability to your advantage in the midst of battle. The first time I played this, I got my arse handed to me by a penguin. How's that for novelty? Essentially, the morphing ability is just like the Soul Charge from Soul Calibur 2, except with more visual effects. Instead of creating a bright green aura, your character lets out a roar and morphs into a half-human, half-whatever animal they happen to be akin to. The fighter can then reach deep down and use their special powers to use new moves and even stronger attacks. You can even attain a sort of hyper mode to unleash even more wrath on your hapless adversaries. Changing your form is not necessarily the key to your success. However, this aspect of the game is the only thing that sets it a notch higher from the basic run of the mill fighter. If you take away the morphing ability, you've got nothing but the essentials of 3-D combat.

Luckily for us, this game comes with varied fighting modes and unlockables. The arcade and multiplayer are basically a given, but we've also got Time Attack, Survival, and Team Battle modes to contend with. It's nothing new, but at least we have something to choose from. Also, you can unlock A few new gameplay aspects to add some more variety to the fun. There are a few characters and levels hidden throughout the game, as well as a few cheat modes to add the fun. However, this game could have benefited so much by implementing these unlockables to a further extent. Perhaps less cheats, and maybe more beast forms or moves to unlock per character could have saved the somewhat lacking gameplay. Even more playable levels could have been beneficial. In the end, the unlockables add little to the replay value, as if they're just there as little novelty option features of the game.

Also, the visual and audio presentations lack the certain substance that we've gotten used to. And we can't blame this lacking on this game being released in the Gamecube's infancy. In the early days of the Gamecube, we were blessed with excellent presentations of graphics and sound through wonderful games like Super Smash Bros. Melee or Rogue Squadron II. But alas, the same brilliance seems to have been forgotten with Bloody Roar's mediocre showing. The music is nothing but some strums of electric guitar, and it does nothing to add to the overall atmosphere and realism of the setting. The character voice acting is in English, but there is so little of it that it hardly does the game any justice. The majority of character interaction comes in the form of a cut scene at the end of the game. Each character gets a different animated cut scene for their victory. While these cut scenes are of excellent quality by anime standards, they don't balance well with the graphics of the rest of the games. The fighters and arenas lack a fair degree of realistic texture, the basic lighting effects tend to be superficial, and the fighters' movements can be awkward at times. It lacks the clear-cut visuals of some of the other more prominent games on the system. For those of you that have grown accustomed to the Gamecube's graphical and audio capabilities over the years, you're going to be disappointed. This presentation is above average at best, nowhere near the caliber that we've come to expect on the Gamecube.

So where does this leave this nature walk/bloodbath? This game has a fair amount of selection with regards to character selection, gameplay modes, and combat techniques. There's the novelty of changing into a wild beast to annihilate your opponent. But I think that the implementation of that ability that what ultimately brings this game down. You may be able to morph into some fearsome creature, but you're still using Kung fu to ravage your enemies. If you're going to focus on anything in this game, let it be the need for using strategy and learning characters abilities and limitations. The more time you spend training with a character, the better you will get, and you will eventually be able to dish out more punishment as a result. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. But is this game really worth spending cash on? I found this game for twenty bucks at EB. It's really more worth a rental than an actual purchase. But if you're a collector like me and need something to round out your collection, feel free to track this game down. And for those of you that love wild beasts, stick to watching the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. They have much more to offer.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/04