Primal

You might be turned off of Primal from the description of its worlds in my introduction--does every game have to have a lava world, an ice world, etc.? Give Primal a chance. It's a good looking game with some creative worlds and some creative gameplay, distinguishing it from Yet Another 3rd Person Action Adventure^TM.

Those worlds I described go beyond colouring the floor white for winter (as opposed to yellow for desert). Every one is well realized with a distinct look, and even a distinct people. Solum, for example, looks like a burnt out medieval Europe, if Europe had been transported to the North Pole during the dark months. And creatures that look like a cross between mountain goats and Klingons populate it. You even get to talk to a few, and get a sense of their personality. You spend most of Aquis underwater, looking at eerie but elegant buildings and encountering mermaid-like creatures. Like most of the game, the monsters look like they fit right in, and there are some clever problems to solve in each realm--like clear up that polluted water you have to swim through in Aquis.

But the big pitch of Primal is that as Jen journeys through these worlds, she gains demon forms. Her Ferai form is good in a fight and can jump very far. The Undine form turns Jen in an aquatic creature that can swim, but will begin to choke out of water. The Wraith form has the power to slow down time, so enemies appear to be moving in slow motion. Finally, the fiery Djinn form has extra attacks. Jen stores up primal energy so she can transform into any of these creatures at a whim. Here is where we applaud the art and animation departments, because they did a great job on each form. In fact, every creature is beautifully designed. They look like they belong in their world. It's almost on the level of Giants: Citizen Kabuto for distinctiveness, and if I might get flowery for a second, savage beauty.

Playing Giles to Jen's Buffy is Scree, a little gargoyle-like creature who explains much of the plot and goings-on while managing to be occasionally exasperated by Jen's aloofness. Scree has powers of his own, including the ability to scale stone walls, possess statues, and turn into a statue to avoid danger. He also acts as a kind of battery for primal energy. Jen can transfer energy from Scree to herself, while Scree drains energy from corpses dispatched by Jen to restore it. You can switch between controlling Scree and Jen by pressing the Select button; sometimes one can do something that the other cannot and they must be separated to achieve that task. Together though, they can operate certain machines, or lift grates that they can't move solo. Unless there's terrain they cannot cross, or a logical plot development in the game, one character will follow the other. Impressively, I never had a problem with either character getting stuck on something while following the other. The designers did a great job of avoiding this potential game-killer.

Primal is a game of solving problems, and of combat. In the first world for example, you must solve a problem with the succession of kinghood from a father to a son. You'll journey back and forth, find objects to help you out, talk to people, and so on. It's linear, but not dull. The cool looking worlds and interesting creatures you meet really help elevate it above the norm. There's a lot of backstory which unfolds over the course of the game, which also helps make each realm and its characters more believable.

There are opposing forces of course, which Jen can fight in human form with a knife (doable, but not advisable) or in demon form. Combat is achieved though pressing the shoulder buttons of your Dualshock, an odd choice but I got used to it. The buttons do different attacks (one blocks), and there are combos for special attacks. Plus, after bringing the enemy's health down enough, you can do a finishing move, which is mandatory for the defeat of some baddies. If they hit you, you lose primal energy. Lose it all, you transform back into Jen. If Jen loses all her health, Scree must hurry back to a portal to rescue her before her physical form in Mortis dies.

I am tempted to give this game 10/10 for one simple thing alone--you can save anywhere, anytime, with nothing reset, like a PC game. If I'm not mistaken, it even remembers where corpses are. That's a big deal since they're a source of energy for Jen. This does take up a big chunk of your memory card, but I don't care. In fact, I applaud this decision and I've been pressing for more console games to use this system.

I also like that the game worlds are large, but there is no load time between regions. Or if there is, they disguise it beyond recognition. Even if you step through a portal to go to another part of the level, the switch is instant. Your maps are almost always marked with a symbol indicating where you need to go, and your position and facing, so figuring out what to do is usually not an issue. Scree can also be consulted for hints if you get stuck. I did get lost once or twice, as some environments can be confusing to navigate in (such as Aquis, the underwater realm), but it wasn't too bad.

If you like what Primal offers, there isn't much to detract from the fun. My only request would be more attack combos for Jen to make combat slightly less repetitive. I said there were no load times when you switched areas, however if you separate Scree and Jen and put a lot of distance between them, there can be a lengthy pause as you switch between them. Fortunately, this isn't often necessary.

There's lots of dialogue between Jen, Scree, and a multitude of characters, and most of it is supported by some sharp dialogue and great voice work. Jen is voiced by Hudson Leick, who played Callisto in Xena: Warrior Princess. One of the unlockables is a short video showing the actors recording their voices. Strangely, she looks like your uber-kindly second grade teacher when she's wearing glasses instead of leather and not snapping necks.

I would not call Primal an innovative title, but it has lots to do and TONS of different powers, which the game doles out just about when you start wanting something new. It does a lot of little things right, and is complimented by the voice work, and nice music too, I might add. It starts off a little slow, but give it a rental at least. It will probably grow on ya.

Oh, and one more compliment to the developers: thank you for avoiding another videogame clich� by a) providing a believable reason why a super-powerful character in a game can't do something as simple as swim, and b) coming up with a cool and logical way to get her to swim anyway.

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