Primal Carnage Review

With all the action on screen it’s often hard to get a good feel for the battle before you. A lot of kills feel more like luck than skill. Half the time it’s unclear whether shots fired by humans are hitting or doing significant damage. Likewise, pouncing with the raptor sometimes resulted in unexpected takedowns or misses. Even the T-Rex bite can miss when humans are standing right under his jaws. The Dilophosaurous blinding spit seems erratic in deployment. Probably most noticeable was with the Pteranodon; after he swoops to pick up humans you’ll soar into the air with nothing. Many of the human weapons lack precision and the shooting mechanics are rudimentary. The imprecise nature of many attacks and abilities makes the action feel too random.

This six foot turkey kills, as long as he's not disturbed

Matches with smaller players are tense and produce more deliberate teamwork. Humans will watch for movement in the foliage and Dinosaurs will wait patiently for their window to attack. While playing as a Dinosaur, stalking just a handful of humans felt more appropriate for the setting. Unfortunately the lower player count leads to other problems. The biggest concern is actually finding the battle, especially at the start of rounds. Maps are clearly designed for large groups and the visibility is limited at the best of times. Usually the teams silently agree to host the action in specific areas so it’s not a game of hide and seek. This is better than matches with admin dedicated safe zones. The game is fun with fewer players but not really designed for it.

Primal Carnage is designed for quick mayhem and isn’t too concerned about realism. Fast respawn times encourages immediate attacks and large matches will have you back in the heat of battle within seconds. Raptors can slash humans multiple times without scoring a kill. Humans can and will chase down injured Dinosaurs should they retreat into the jungle after taking damage. Some may even camp around the dinosaurs health stations. The circular type rock-paper-scissors balancing ensures all classes can get kills when the opportunity arises. You just have to use your strengths and be aware of your weaknesses. If the opponents have a heavy Raptor count, then maybe your team could use more Trappers. If the humans are holding their ground on a narrow bridge, then a Carnotaurus charge will knock some sense into them. The speed of the action is certainly an appealing quality

The setting is good despite the limited number of maps and solitary deathmatch mode. Dinosaurs have excellent animations, yet they frequently clip through objects. The T-Rex can eat people through walls and the humans can shoot its head when it tries. Some of the maps are actually quite good looking with many Jurassic Park inspirations. All maps have dense foliage, which is a necessity for many of the attacking Dinosaurs. There is something quite neat about seeing the trees move and hearing the call of a Novaraptor as you try to make your way back to the group. It’s a pity this atmosphere element wasn’t explored further in smaller, objective based modes.

No wonder they're extinct

Primal Carnage is easy to play pandemonium. A balanced spread classes facilitates an even distribution of kills. Deathmatch is simple to play and the game mechanics are straightforward. If you’ve seen the movie Jurassic Park, Primal Carnage is not often like the tension experienced by Dr Sattler as she is being hunted by Raptors. It’s frequently like the scene where Dr Malcolm lights a flare and the T-Rex eats the lawyer who is sitting on the toilet. Just replace the toilet with a health station. Player numbers are usually below a few hundred during primetime, with most located in the larger player servers. Limited player numbers, a handful of maps and a single deathmatch mode will struggle to keep gamers entertained for a long time. Even with these problems, Primal Carnage is a decent choice for some crazy Dinosaur fun.