Primal

Sony would disagree – for they have spent a small fortune marketing this game to the hardcore console crowd – but Primal has the potential to be that breakaway hit that appeals to all gamers.

My first impressions of Primal were decidedly nasty – Jen Tate is another smart-mouthed, tight-assed young heroine who you want to smack alongside the head just to clear the bubbles. But it is her sidekick who saves the day early in the game. Scree is an animated stone gargoyle come to life and is easily one of the more memorable sidekicks in gaming history. In his natty British voice he serves not only as an advisor to Jen, but is also a playable character.

Scree has the unique ability to possess the ‘bodies” of non-animated stone gargoyles adorning buildings and is then able to embrace that entities magical ability. He can also, as gargoyles are wont to do, scale walls to search for entrances to locked buildings. I only mention this because not only is the movement so fluid as to seem real, but when Scree leaps down from a wall he does a back-flip that the camera follows momentarily disorientating the gamer. I’m not one to gush over graphic tricks, but I constantly found this impressive.

Jen soon receives her comeuppance – I won’t spoil it for you – and goes from looking like Laura Croft to Courtney Love with horns and makeup applied after a night binging. For some reason, her new facial seems to thrust Jen into early PMS and the tone of the game becomes more menacing. The game takes on a supernatural twist as Jen “assumes a host of savage demon forms each with their own unique powers and abilities (can you tell that I stole that last line from the Sony press release?).”

The demo ended too soon, but was enough to whet the appetite. Pure adventure games won’t find Primal too their liking as there is much combat and moves to be learned. But those who love action/adventures with the emphasis on action will be in for some pleasant evenings with the decidedly unlovely Ms. Tate and her stoney-faced cohort.