Primal:Primal
Primal is an Action Adventure fantasy video game released in 2003 for the Playstation 2 system, and re released digitally for the Playstation 3 as part of the PS2 Classics program on February 28, 2012.
The battle to save the outside world starts within as Jennifer Tate, a young woman who faces the demons of alternate planes and discovers her own supernatural origin. In Oblivion, there are four distinct realms, each occupied by a demon race. Two are aligned with order and two with chaos. But the scales of balance are overthrown, and chaos is engulfing Oblivion.
Description
Jen Tate was attacked when leaving a nightclub with her boyfriend Lewis, singer in the club's industrial music band. The attack leaves Jen and Lewis unconscious in a hospital. A short, dark figure approaches Jen's bed and raises her spirit up out of her body. The figure reveals itself to be a small stone gargoyle named Scree. Scree explains that Jen's body is close to death and she must come with him to the Nexus.
Through the long path, Jen and her gargoyle companion Scree will fight through four elemental realms in order to restore balance between Order and Chaos. Along the way Jen gains the ability to transform into four demonic forms.
Gameplay
The player control either Jennifer Tate, the snarky Goth girl, or Scree, the possessed gargoyly statue. Control can be instantaneously switched between Jen and Scree at any time, and when the player control a character, the other one is operated by AI, performing various functions depending upon the situation. During the game, the characters can interact with one another and perform actions such as asking questions or siphoning energy.
Jen's Elemental forms are healed by drawing elemental energy from Scree that only he can collect. Her human form is weakest, but regenerates naturally after a short time of not being hit.
Development
The Primal project was developed by SCEE Cambridge, the development team responsible for MediEvil and its sequel.
Soundtrack
The Original orchestral soundtrack was composed by Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas, performed by the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. It was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award.
The Combat Soundtrack by 16Volt, an American industrial music group.
Both soundtracks were released commercially.
Voice Actors
- Scree: Andreas Katsulas
- Jen: Hudson Leick,
- Jared: Sean Pertwee.
Voiceovers were also done, by different actors, for French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Reception
The game received positive to mixed reviews, with IGN stating "Limited by an inconsequential combat system and basic wander-puzzles. What it does manage to do though is overwhelm us with high-quality production values, wow us with an excellent graphical presentation, and move us with one hell of a killer soundtrack". In the article "Overrated/Underrated" in their September 2004 issue, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine cited the game's protagonist as an underrated "hot chick" in comparison to Lara Croft, stating "She's smart. She's funny. She hangs out in biker bars. She's good in a fight. And she's got a really nice butt." In the same article, Scree was likewise cited as an underrated sidekick, stating "This is the way to make a memorable sidekick: Make him dignified, make him funny looking, and make him useful." Edge Magazine on the other hand, stated: "A rank combat system, quirky camera and a lack of inspiration at the game's exploration/puzzle core make playing the game hard work." It has an overall score of 73 on aggregate site Metacritic
Trivia
- The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London had an exhibition of original artwork from the Primal project, as documented at the now defunct website www.primal-art.com
- Along with European (PAL), USA(NTSC), and Japanese versions, a PAL "Collector's Edition" was issued with the game's initial release.
Gallery
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