Primal

"A cerebral, gothic adventure"

I honestly wanted to give this game at 10. I could have, but I would have been lying. In my mind, a ten denotes perfection, and this game isn't perfect. It's close; very close. But not quite.

This game definitely isn't for everybody. I just wanted to make that clear up front. If you're looking for something like Devil May Cry, where the main plot goal is bludgeoning demons to death, look elsewhere. But if you want a more cerebral adventure, get this game. Now. Seriously.

Primal is tough to label, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it an adventure, because it has a sweeping, majestic feel to it that most good adventure games seem to have. There's some puzzle solving. There's some fighting. There's other stuff. But the game's largely about immersing yourself in the game's world; and it works.

Story - 10/10.

It's good. Really good. I could break out the thesaurus and come up with other adjectives to describe how great the story is, but I won't. I'll leave it at that.

I don't want to spoil anything story-wise, but you play as both Jen, the main character, and her gargoyle buddy Scree. Jen can transform into four different types of demons and do all sorts of fun stuff, while Scree can possess statues and climb walls. And any game where you play as a gargoyle is okay in my book.

Graphics - 10/10.

Some reviewers like to toss around terms like ''polygon count'' and ''bump-mapping''. I have no idea what bump-mapping is, and I don't really care.
What I do care about, however, is whether or not a game is pleasing to the eye. Which this game is. This game pushes the PS2's graphical hardware to the limits, and it shows. Shadows and reflections are realistic, and everything is painstakingly detailed, from the smoke trailing from Scree's torch to the true-to-life way Jen hoists herself up a ledge.

Sound - 9/10.

As one reviewer already noted, the game's music is conducted by the Prague Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. The game's tunes vary; you'll hear dark, melodic string quartets during some of the game's cutscenes, while the combat music leans more towards hardcore-industrial music. During some sequences, the game completely foregoes music altogether and uses ambient sounds, like the blowing wind, as a soundtrack.

The voice acting's great, Scree in particular; he actually sounds more like British nobility than a gargoyle. These guys aren't stock video game characters; they actually have personalities.

Gameplay - 8/10.

For some reason, several people have complained about the game's combat system. Guys, no offense, but it's not that tough to master. R2 and L2 are your primary attack buttons. You push them to attack. It's not exactly quantum physics.

L1 does some kind of magical spin move that I never use. R1 blocks, which I also never use because dodging the enemies is quicker. The attack buttons are pressure sensitive; pushing them harder does a slow, but more powerful attack, while tapping them does a quicker but weaker attack.

But combat's not the point of the game. You have to master each character's individual strengths -- and weaknesses -- to go farther in the game. Scree can, as I said before, climb walls, but Jen's lithe enough that she can fit in narrow passageways that Scree can't. And Jen can turn into demons, each one with individual skills, while Scree can't.

Numerous glitches abound in the game, however, which brought the gameplay score down. Jen sometimes gets stuck in walls, warranting a game reset. I've heard about some sound problems where the voice acting skips, but I haven't come across those yet. And there are others; none of them are bad enough to render the game unplayable, but they're still there.

And the game can be unforgiving about where you position your character. I got stuck at one point in the game because you had to place Jen in a very, very precise spot before she would perform the action I wanted her to (in this case, a jump).

Overall - 9/10.

If anyone out there's ever played a little-known game by Delphine called Out Of This World, you'll instantly be reminded of it (except you don't die as frequently).

All in all, rent this game first to see if it's your thing. If it is, awesome. Go buy it. If not, take it back. It deserves a chance, though, because it's getting completely overshadowed by the other new releases, and a bunch of people worked really hard on making this game work. And it works.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/03, Updated 03/29/03