Primal

"The new king (or should I say queen?) of fantasy gaming on PS2"

They say that the best games for a console come out at its peak, which is about 2 or 3 years into its existence. At this time, the developers finally have the experience and know-how to get the best out of the machine. This is certainly true with the PS2, as now the games are beginning to become truly impressive.

Primal is one such game. Although it's not a revolutionary title, it's certainly one of the best PS2 titles in recent memory.

Story
This is one of the areas in which Primal excels. Its story is gripping and involving, and will always have you wanting to find out what happens next. It would be a crime to spoil too much of it, so I'll just relate the beginning of the game.

Jen Tate is a girl who hasn't had the best of lives, being orphaned at a young age, and having a generally tough time. Over the years though, she's learned to deal with whatever life throws at her (and what's coming up is a doozy!), and she seems to be getting on in life.

She is the girlfriend of Lewis, lead singer in a rock band. Lewis has had a similar experience in life, making them soul mates. Things are beginning to look good for them, and life should be OK from now on. (Of course, if it was this game would be boring as hell)

One night, Lewis is playing a gig at a nightclub, and Jen goes to meet him backstage. As they leave the club, they are accosted by a rather unusual assailant: a rather big demon. He attacks them, and carries off Lewis, leaving Jen for dead.

Jen wakes up in hospital, except she finds that something's a bit off. She's stepped out of her body, which is never a good sign.

This is rather confusing, and becomes even stranger when she meets a gargoyle named Scree. Scree has been sent to serve as her guardian, and explains about how she is part of a battle between the forces of good (lead by Arella) and bad (lead by Abaddon). Together, they step out of our world (which is known as Mortalis, BTW) into another, mysterious realm called Oblivion...

And that's pretty much as far as I'll go without divulging lots of spoilers in great detail. Needless to say - the story is good.

Graphics
This is one of, if not the best looking games on PS2. The characters are very well animated and detailed, and the level of detail on the environments is astounding. The game's textures are of a very high standard, which is notable for a PS2 game as the system has a reputation for poorly detailed textures. The lighting and shadowing are also great too. I hope that in future, games companies are inspired to try and get more out of the PS2 as the system (despite not being able to shift as many polys/sec as Xbox) is capable of stunning visuals if you know how to do it.

The first realm, Solum, looks good but as you get further on into the game you will see some stunning scenery. Jen's creature forms, depending on the different realms, (more on those later) are also stunning as well.

This was all done by putting the game through Sony's Performance Analyzer 2, which worked wonders for PS1 games, and looks set to do the same for PS2 games.

Gameplay
Here is where something new begins to come into play. Rather than just play as one character, you can switch between Jen and Scree, with the character not being controlled tagging along behind.

Scree does not fight at all, instead preferring to use his abilities to solve puzzles and explore areas that might be harmful to Jen. Scree can climb walls, which makes him useful for getting to certain areas that may be inaccessible to Jen. He can also absorb energy from lodestones to power up statues etc. and also absorb the lifeforce from enemies Jen kills. The lifeforce from these enemies can then be used to heal Jen from injuries she sustains in fighting.

Also, being made of stone, Scree isn't particularly appetizing to some of the enemies they encounter. This comes in handy for certain puzzles in the game. At the beginning of the game, an unarmed Jen comes across a cave full of beast-like monsters, which would like nothing better than to eat her. However, Scree can pass through this cave as he's made of stone (not what Malkai like to eat), and find a torch that will scare off the Malkai, allowing Jen to progress.

Jen has her own specialities. The two most important being: squeezing through gaps and killing things.

Jen can get into some areas that are inaccessible to Scree. Scree, being made of stone and thus inflexible, cannot squeeze himself into small gaps to get into otherwise inaccessible rooms. Jen, being a shapely human woman, can. This comes in useful numerous times when Scree, despite being a versatile puzzle solver, cannot get into places where his skills may be needed. They can get around this by getting Jen to squeeze through and open the door for Scree.

Jen's other, and very important talent, is killing things. She starts out unarmed, and then gets a hunting knife. This allows her to defend herself against the easier monsters like the Malkai, but the realm-specific monsters like Ferai and Djinn are much stronger, faster, smarter and powerful than these brutes. It is good, then, that Jen happens to get the ability to transform into creatures like the Ferai and Djinn.

In her demon form, Jen is a lot faster and stronger. She gains access to many of the powers they have, and thus can face up to more powerful enemies like the Ferai of Solum and the Wraith of Aetha on equal term. Many of the Ferai, for instance, sport long, sharp claws. In her Ferai form Jen has a set of these too, and is able to inflict as much pain on them as they are on her. Unlike the simpler beasts like Malkai, however, more powerful monsters will not simply die after having their life bar depleted. They will hang about in a groggy state until they have fully regenerated their health and are able to fight again. To make sure they stay down, Jen must use one of the very cool (and gory) finishing moves to kill them for good. My personal favorite is one of the Ferai moves where she knocks the enemy to the floor and plunges her claws into their chest - good for a quick, but painful death. After they've been dealt with Scree can drain their lifeforce, and use this to heal Jen's wounds.

If Jen gets hit too many times and becomes weakened, she'll go back to human form and then, if you're facing some of the more powerful Djinn or Wraith, you have a problem. The combat is mostly quite good, but at times just mashing the shoulder buttons aimlessly can get a bit dull. It is a minor niggle, and doesn't really detract from the game that much. Maybe if there is a sequel they could make the combo system a bit deeper.

Overall, it plays very well.

Sound
Many good film soundtracks have a great soundtrack with many different themes to suit the various situations. Primal has a really strong soundtrack, and could teach Eric Serra (composer of Bond film GoldenEye) a few things about how to make good music.

For the cutscenes, and general exploring, Primal has a breathtaking orchestral soundtrack provided by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Many of the tracks suit the mood of the cutscenes exactly, ranging from triumphant to melancholy. The classical instruments and use of a choir lend it a touch of class that puts it up there with MGS2 and Xenosaga, and shows you how far games have come since the days of the likes of My Hero on the Master System (a game I reviewed and absolutely slammed). I hope they release the soundtrack, as I would love to be able to listen to the music when I'm not in front of the PS2.

When you're attacked by an enemy, though, the music changes from the orchestral soundtrack to heavy metal music provided by 16 Volt. Just like the orchestral section, it suits the situation perfectly. Killing supernatural monsters to loud rock music - could anything be better?

The game also supports Dolby Surround Pro Logic II as well. This technology is an advancement of the old Dolby Surround system many PS2 games have used previously, and it is an improvement. Instead of using old 4-channel sound (left, right, center and surround), it uses 5.1 channels. This really helps to add to the game, as you can hear a wide range of sounds all around you coming from different directions. Having stereo surround channels rather than the mono sound of the old system really adds to the atmosphere, and in some places can work very well (the Malkai cave is quite creepy). If you have a sound system that supports Pro Logic II, connect it up and you're in for a treat. DSPLII is also compatible with Pro Logic I, so even if you have an old Dolby Surround I system it'll still sound great.


Overall
Primal is an absolute treat. It truly deserves to do very well, and I hope so too as that means we'll see a sequel that should make a great game better. It does deserve a place in every fantasy fan's collection, and is worth a look even if you aren't particularly.

One word of warning, though. If you don't like puzzles, and roaming about looking for things, and prefer non-stop action, it might not entirely suit you. Primal is a fairly long game, and has a lot of exploring involved. The plot, graphics, sound and gameplay are great, and if you're willing to devote some time to it you'll find the game is truly enjoyable.

If you love action/adventure games like Soul Reaver and Tomb Raider though, I have two words for you: BUY IT!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/03, Updated 03/29/03