Primal Preview

Primal is the latest offering from Sony's UK-based Cambridge Studio. The development house, best known for PlayStation games such as C-12 and the MediEvil series, has spent the better part of the last two years working on this unique title. Primal is a third-person action adventure game that puts a different spin on the genre by throwing some unique mechanics into the mix. We finally had a chance to check out a fairly solid previewable build of the game, which, despite a few rough edges, seems to be coming together pretty well.

The game, dubbed a "dark fantasy" by the team, begins in a world called Mortalis, where the everyday life we're accustomed to coexists with a dark world of supernatural demons. The relationship between Mortalis and the demon world appears to play out in much the same way as life in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel does. Essentially, the demons enjoy a revolving-door policy between the two worlds that often leads to unpleasant encounters with humans. The game's main character, Jen Tate, has such an encounter when she and her boyfriend, Lewis, are accosted by a surly pack of demons. As you'd expect, the meeting doesn't go very well and ends with Lewis being kidnapped and Jen left in a coma. Although things look pretty bleak, they pick up when Jen is visited by a gargoyle named Scree, who takes her astral form to the demon dimension, Oblivion, and fills her in on what's going on. It seems Lewis has been pulled into a conflict between the primal forces of Chaos and Order. Abbadon, the ruler of Chaos, intends to use Lewis to tip the scales of the battle against Arella, the poster girl for Order, in his favor. If Abbadon and his forces win the fight, the ensuing anarchy will have dire consequences in both Mortalis and Oblivion. Although the tide of the battle is slowly turning against her, Arella manages to send Scree out for some help. Scree's quest leads him to Jen, who is asked to help in the fight against Abbadon. Jen, who is eager to get her boyfriend back, agrees and sets off with Scree as her spiritual guide to explore Oblivion. You'll take control of Jen and Scree as you try to rescue Lewis and return home. However, over the course of your adventures, you'll find that there's a great deal more to Jen than meets the eye.

The gameplay in Primal is fairly straightforward, featuring a story-driven, objective-based structure that should be accessible to most gamers. You'll journey to each world in Oblivion, check out the local sites and sounds, suss out what the Chaos-related problem is and deal with it. Along the way, Jen will make some discoveries about her family history and gain the ability to morph into different demon forms that will come in handy in her quest.

While Primal's structure is pretty basic, the actual game mechanics feature some nice elements. You'll play through Primal from a standard third-person perspective, and your time will be divided between exploration, puzzle solving, and combat. You'll alternate between controlling Jen or Scree depending on the situation, as each character has unique abilities that will be vital to progressing through the game. In addition to her demon-morphing abilities, Jen will also be able to fit in some places Scree can't and is a better overall fighter. On the other hand, Scree has some pretty slick moves of his own, thanks to his demonic nature. As Scree, you'll be able to climb up stone surfaces, possess statues, and turn into stone. In addition, the gargoyle will also offer tips when you're unsure of where to go next and serve as a "battery" in the game that Jen will be able to draw power from. When you switch characters, the character who isn't being actively controlled will usually follow close behind.

The game's control is solid. When you're exploring and solving puzzles, you'll move Jen or Scree around with the left analog stick, use the X button as a context-sensitive action button, and trigger special abilities with the circle button. When you press the triangle button as Jen, she'll ask Scree for a hint on where to go next. When you're brawling, the controls change up a bit. When you encounter enemies, you'll hit any shoulder button to engage a combat lock, and the surprisingly solid fighting system will offer a variety of context-sensitive attacks and even a parry that you can use in battle. Combos will range from standard button combinations to more-complex timing-based attacks. You'll even find some finishing moves to use. Each demon form Jen morphs into will feature different types of attacks that are best suited to specific enemies and locales.

Graphically, the game looks quite sharp, thanks to Cambridge Studios' heavily researched custom graphics engine. The sturdy engine juggles a hefty load, creating massive environments that feature environmental effects such as falling snow or the light and particle effects associated with fire. There's obviously been quite a bit of work put into the objects that populate the worlds you'll explore--everything from the intricate detail on stonework to the heat haze and light coming off torches looks very sharp. The enemies and the character models for other NPCs are very detailed. As you'd expect, Jen and Scree look quite good, featuring a high amount of detail and smooth movement, thanks to inverse kinematics and animation blending. A little touch that impressed us was the lack of any onscreen meters. Jen will offer visual cues regarding her health via an ornate tattoo on her back that reflects her condition.

The game's sound is strong, thanks to solid voice acting and impressive use of Dolby Pro Logic II. The game features a rich palette of sound that includes ambient noise from the environment such as wind and animal cries and a host of effects that will affect main characters' voices depending on the where they are. For example, when the pair is talking inside a cave, you'll hear an echo, and if they're outside by a waterfall, you'll the roar of the water.

There were some hitches in our build, mostly to do with gameplay. We'd like to see the game's pacing tightened up a bit, as the intro was bit too leisurely for our tastes. In addition, the hint system from Scree was a little too vague to be helpful. Navigation was also a bit tricky in spots. Finally, the AI in the game seemed to be a bit rough, as the enemies and the character you weren't actively controlling exhibited some questionable behavior. We expect these rough spots will be polished up by the time the game ships, though.

Judging from what we've played so far, Primal is looking quite good. The game's strong story line and engaging gameplay appear to have a lot to offer. The impressive graphics engine also serves up some tasty and twisted visuals that are pretty slick. If you're looking for a different spin on the third-person action adventure genre, you'll want to keep your eyes peeled for this game. Primal ships early next year for the PlayStation 2.