In the tall grass, I'm stalking the Udam as they escort a captured member of my tribe through this forested area. I'm definitely capable of taking them down; I have more arrows than I need because

Terrific world building; Controlling a creature is fantastic; Moment-to-moment gameplay is back to its best

Could've gone deeper with survival; Melee combat boils down to button mashing

It is now 2016 and, let's be honest, it takes a lot more than fancy guns and insane action to make a good first-person shooter game. Gamers want more than to run from point A to point B, shooting and blowing up everything in between. We want substance. We want depth.

It's hard to imagine any other modern first-person shooter series being able to make a 12,000 year trip back in time and arrive there with its identity still intact, but Far Cry Primal has made it work.

Far Cry Primal is what you might call intelligent resource management. Survival games seem to be fashionable nowadays, and Far Cry's gameplay mechanics wrap perfectly around the concept.

What even is a Far Cry game anymore? There were hints to indicate that it was just an open world shooter set in an exotic locale. Then there were hints that the villains of the games were the cornerstone of each game. But with Far Cry Primal, we go back to square one.

Welcome to 10.000 BCE. This is a harsh land, filled with creatures and people that can kill you in an instant. Many lead a nomadic existence, following food and avoiding the colder climes. But you have a home, a people, however others are trying to kill you, to eat, enslave or sacrifice the Wenja.

Beautiful graphics | Amazing attention to detail

Poor story | Boss battles | Urki

There are countless amazing open world moments to be had in Far Cry Primal. One of my most memorable moments was riding a bear and taking out a mammoth. But the game is greatly hindered in two key areas. First its story is nothing short of terrible.

With Far Cry Primal , Ubisoft Montreal is doing things a little differently. This isn't a tropical island plagued by a mentally unstable drug lord, or an African state locked in a civil war. And it certainly isn't a fictional region of Nepal.

But something about the utilitarian nature of Far Cry Primal clicked with me, beyond my own magpie-esque affinity for picking up every scrap of flint and animal fat dotting the landscape.

It was an unfamiliar scent, making him easy to track. I had come across many wolves in Oros, but none like this. He was striped, white, brown, and black, with a scar on his eye. I had managed to separate him from the rest of the pack to a small opening in the forest lit by moonlight.

Lack of guns and vehicles allows for more dynamic gameplay; Great Beast hunts are tense; stressful; awesome; Lush; evocative visuals; You can ride a bear

One button; too many functions; Abundance of things that can kill you can detract from quieter moments; Tags