SCE Stuio Cambridge’s third-person action game for the PS2 that came out way back in 2013 is now available on the PlayStation 4. Sony re-released the game on their eighth-gen console as a way to supplement the fact that the PS4 has one of the most paltry libraries of interesting games in the history of home consoles.
Ubergizmo did a quick write-up on the game coming to the PS4, noting that it arrives in HD. Why Sony picked this title in particular to port over to the PS4? I have no idea, but it’s an extremely interesting choice, mainly because before hearing about the PS4 port I had no idea that it even existed.
I’ll admit that back in the early aughts I was mostly all-in on the OG Xbox. Halo, MechAssault, TimeSplitters and Forza were the king of the crop back then.
The story of Primal follows a 21-year-old who is dating a rocker. One night the couple gets attacked by a demon and the rocker’s soul gets taken. Players assume the role of Jen, the girlfriend of the rocker, as she astral travels into the world of demons with some kick-butt gauntlets and a little sidekick, battling the forces of evil while attempting to rescue her love.
It’s a twist on the dude in distress story, and is a game from 13 years ago, yet no one seems to have talked much about it. I guess it just goes to show that back then games wasn’t nearly as divisive or as politicized as they are now. But then again, the games media wasn’t controlled by cultural critic college kids posing as gamers… back then the media was composed of actual gamers.
Anyway, you probably want to see what the game looks like in action. There’s a few videos on YouTube that will likely get a lot more traffic now that the game is on the PS4. The video below from PlayscapeTimeline showcases the first half hour of gameplay. The first 12 minutes is just cinematics.
Man, those cinematics were long. The music was legit, though. They did a fantastic job with making the world seem fantastical and eerie all at the same time.
Back then games were pretty creative. It’s crazy how homogenized games have become these days and how abjectly boring the main characters are. Everyone has to be politically correct or spout a lot of politically concurrent talking points.
I wonder if the re-release of the game marks a potential remake of Primal? Then again, in today’s generation a remake would likely only be worse for wear.
Anyway, Primal allowed you to assume different demon forms to fight against the creatures of the night. It also allowed players to switch between the two adventuring characters. With improved frame-rate and 1080p support, this game should be a real pleasure to play on the PS4. It was exceptionally atmospheric to be as old as it was.
You can learn more about the game by checking it out on the PlayStation website.
