Primal Carnage First Impressions Review

Introduction

Gameplay Overview

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For those of you who haven't gotten a chance to check out the online videos, {{product.model}} is a class-based MMO deathmatch with two different teams (humans and dinosuars), and 5 different classes for each. For more on each class, click humans or dinosaurs.

As you may have guessed, the overall objective of the game is to kill all of your opponents, but as of yet, a winning condition has not been set for the deathmatch. What sets this game apart from other deathmatch-style games is the fact that there are so many ways to destroy your opponents with inventive classes like the Pteranodon, which can pick up opposing human players, fly high in the sky, then drop them to their deaths with a rather jarringly gruesome animation. If you are looking for a class-based MMO that allows you to learn unique strategies to succeed, this is a game to check out.

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{{product.model}}'s gameplay largely relies on whichever team, and class you pick. For example, dinosaurs are all played from a third-person perspective, and class-specific control schemes (with some simple button combinations and a WASD movement layout), and humans are played from a first-person perspective, meaning you can't see behind you. Playing as a human looks and feels like your garden-variety FPS game, with virtually identical controls and capabilities. The HUD shows your ammunition, health, and stamina in a way that users of the Max Payne games will immediately recognize.

Dinosaurs, on the other hand, have certain advantages based on their size, speed, and class-specific abilities. For example, velociraptors are great at stalking and ambushing prey, while T-Rexes are slow, terrible at fine maneuvering, but can unleash hell on a group of cornered humans. Each class has an entirely different set of abilities, allowing users to tank through some of their puny human adversaries, pick them off one by one, or impede their vision for others to kill. There's no teamspeak element yet, but the game has a ways to go before it's released.

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While the physics are somewhat rudimentary, the implementation and consequences of defying them are not: planning a huge jump, or trying to carry someone off to drop to the ground requires a certain level of forethought, but ultimately makes sense and is easy to pick up. Keep in mind, gravity is the law, obey it. You can get injured and die from falls if you are a human, and dinosaurs are not invincible from this, either.

Should you get injured, or run out of ammo as a human, you can always raid different buildings in a compound (depending on the map), or find a medikit. For dinos, the method is somewhat more grisly: you eat your dead teammates' carcasses. While this isn't exactly as straightforward as a medikit, it is far more interesting.

Controls

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Because {{product.model}} is a PC game, the control layout closely mirrors your normal FPS game, but with a few added functions. For example, even though the movement controls are WASD for both humans and dinosaurs, only dinos can strafe while seeing what surrounds them. Mouse click 1 and 2 are primary and secondary fire, respectively, shift enables running, and space jumps.

What makes {{product.model}} unique is that how you control your player depends on which class you select in order to provide a better level of control for some players. For example, the TRex is large, slow, and relies on trampling and eating humans, and can't make intricate cuts or weaves. The Pterodon, on the other hand, needs a strong jump to become airborne, and you can glide, divebomb, or drag humans up into the air using multiple controls (shift + jump + look up).

Special abilities are operated by hitting the "Q" key, which allows players to to things like roar and disorient opponents, increase damage, throw a flare and blind opponents. The traditional "use item" button (for things like medkits and eating corpses) is the "E" key, both very easy to tap in-game, and in a traditionally located spot.

Multiplayer

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Multiplayer works exclusively online, although platforms and services have not been finalized yet Lukewarm Media informs us that they will be looking into getting dedicated servers for users to host their games on. Multiplayer matches can contain 2-10+ players, and is absolutely more fun the more people play, as the more people who join the game, the more variety in classes there are to face.

From the start of the match, and every time you die, you choose your class in whichever team you are assigned, allowing you to switch things up if your team is getting slaughtered. No plans for teamspeak have been announced, but this is a game still in development, so you may see this for one or both teams.

Graphics, Storytelling, & Atmosphere Overview

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Considering that {{product.model}} is still not finished, we're willing to give some rough edges on the graphics a pass, but while the overall aesthetic of the game is quite appealing, there are a couple of spots where the polygons are a little undeveloped, like some of the high grass blades having a thickness of 0 and the seemingly-indestructible bodies of the humans.

Aside from those minor blemishes, the modelling of the environments and players is very realistic and pretty to look at, despite the rotting carcasses you'll occasionally find in the forest. Because this is a deathmatch type game, there isn't much story (as of yet), but you get the feeling that if there was one, there would be an elaborate exposition to explain away what calamity happended to pit dinosaurs versus humans.

Art Design

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The art of {{product.model}} is very realistic when it comes to most aspects and models in-game. For example, concrete is textured well, the skin on the dinosaurs looks very much like what a bird-like lizard might be, and weapons obviously had a lot of attention in their modeling.

Sound Design

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Sound plays a larger role in this game than it does in some other deathmatch games, as a large part of the game is stalking prey either as a dino or a human sniper. Noise can give you away, but there are things you can do to minimize your presence. Screams of humans getting eaten offer dino players a sick sort of satisfaction, and are obviously done in-studio, which is a good thing. High marks here.

Conclusion

Despite not being quite ready for launch yet, {{product.model}} promises to be a fun online FPS MMO game that brings a fun twist to the typical MMO deathmatch. Like many MMO shooters, the more people you get in a game the better, and large matches will throw lots of different curveballs at you to fight through. You won't get bored quickly.

As it sits right now, a platform for the game hasn't been officially announced, but according to developers it's very likely it will end up on the PC via a client like Steam. If you like semi-realistic shooters that let you play as a dinosaur, definitely give {{product.model}} a go when it releases.