‘Far Cry Primal’ To Get Free Survival Mode, Major Changes To Gameplay
Ubisoft is reportedly releasing a free survival mode DLC for Far Cry Primal on April 12. The new survival mode radically retools the way the game is played; the new survival mode ramps up the difficulty of Ubisoft’s stone-age shooter and gives Far Cry veterans a new challenge with new rewards.
“The idea of doing this mode actually started from the team saying they wanted to create this mode based on feedback they got from the community,” said Far Cry Primal director Thomas Simon on the Ubisoft blog today.
The idea for the survival mode DLC may have come from the community, but it was popular among the developers who toyed around with the idea of permadeath internally before getting it ready for Far Cry Primal players in a formal update. The Far Cry Primal survival mode adds a few new features designed to give players a new level of difficulty – something more than just making bad guys stronger and Takkar – the protagonist – weaker, reports IGN.
A new Survivor mode is coming to Far Cry Primal in a free update. More details >> https://t.co/6bskl5zGMt pic.twitter.com/nvqiZ9csPr
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 30, 2016
“The keystone of that survival mode is the change in the exploration, crafting and difficulty of the game, to make it even more realistic. After that, there are options the player can activate to go further,” said Far Cry Primal director Thomas Simon in a blog post today.
The new survival mode introduces a stamina gauge which allows Far Cry Primal players to track how tired and weakened Takkar is at any given time. Additionally, the survival mode adds an optional permadeath – like Diablo‘s famous “hardcore mode.” In Far Cry Primal‘s survival mode, once you die, that’s it, game over.
“If you felt the stakes weren’t high enough before, you can now turn on full permadeath, which means your game is over the first time you die, except in vision missions,” writes Mikel Reparaz, editor of the Ubisoft blog.
We proudly present to you our very own #FarCryPrimal documentary: The Wonderful Wildlife of Oros!https://t.co/JISY6Nyk4l
— Ubisoft Canada (@UbisoftCanada) March 30, 2016
Far Cry Primal’s survival mode doesn’t just end there, though. It includes a ton of new features to radically alter the way the game is played. Instead of just worrying about health, Far Cry Primal players will have to worry about fatigue – getting enough rest, getting enough food, and staying warm. Cold areas now require warm clothes, otherwise, Takkar will slowly freeze to death.
Additionally, a few features from the base Far Cry Primal game will take a backseat during survival mode. No more calling Takkar’s owl to kill enemies from afar, and Far Cry Primal’s popular animal taming system is going to be retooled for survival mode – making the game even tougher, no matter how strong your animal companions are.
“The beasts you’re going to control are going to get less powerful, the most powerful beasts you control like sabretooths and bears will not let themselves be tamed so easily. You’re going to have to fight them up to the moment that they are at half-life, then bait them and tame them,” said Far Cry Primal director Simon Thomas on the Ubisoft blog today.
It’s going to be a lot of work to tame stronger animals, but more than that, they’re going to be a lot more valuable in survival mode – not only will Takkar be more reliant on his animal companions, but once they’re dead they’re gone. Permadeath includes Takkar and his furry friends in the Far Cry Primal survival mode.
“We’ve also decided to make this combo of survivor and perma-death available at any difficulty level, so even players that don’t necessarily like to play extremely hard difficulty modes can still enjoy the change of experience in survivor and try perma-death if they want to,” said Far Cry Primal director Simon Thomas, speaking with the Ubisoft blog today.
The Far Cry Primal Survival Mode DLC will be released for free on April 12.
[Image via Ubisoft]
