At first glance, Far Cry Primal seems like a huge departure for one of Ubisoft's premier franchises.

What was once a game about big guns and bigger explosions has been replaced with bows and arrows and woolly mammoths — which, considering how successful the series has been over the years, seems like a strange move. As the old saying goes: why fix what isn't broken?

However, if you take a closer look, it's easy to see the Far Cry DNA running throughout Primal's veins — it's just wrapped up in a drastically different setting. Binoculars become owls, throwing knives become shards of rock and grenades become jars of bees ... the only question is, do all of the prehistoric changes actually work, or should Ubisoft have stuck to the modern era?

To be honest, the answer isn't quite as straightforward as one might expect — despite all of the radical changes that Ubisoft has made to the formula, Far Cry Primal is a worthy successor to the games that came before it.

The story of Far Cry Primal begins way back in 10,000 B.C. Players take on the role of Takkar, one of man's ancient ancestors — and when a routine hunting trip goes about as badly as it possibly could, Takkar finds himself in the prehistoric land of Oros. While this new land initially seems like a paradise, it's anything but: not only is it teeming with vicious beasts of all shapes and sizes, a number of different tribes have declared war on Takkar's already weakened people.

From there, Primal tells a rather straightforward tale of survival — and while the characters involved are entertaining, Primal's story doesn't really go anywhere. While it makes sense that simpler times make for a simpler story, there's no sense of cohesion throughout the experience: separate plot lines remain separate, and there's no real overarching story of which to speak. As a result, the game's ending just sort of appears, and there's a good chance that players will be left wanting when the credits roll.

At the very least, the story's major characters are all entertaining. While they don't all work (there's a hillbilly caveman for some reason), their individual moments throughout the campaign shine. It's just a shame that they couldn't keep the story from being the worst aspect of the game — thankfully, the rest of the game manages to stand on its own.

If you've ever played a Far Cry game, you'll know exactly what to expect from Primal. Once players are done with the intro, the world of Oros opens up, and you can start playing for real: there are story missions, optional side objectives, drug-induced hallucinations, outposts and hunting for rare skins and resources to keep players entertained.

In a lot of ways, Primal is a slower, more methodical take on Far Cry's overall gameplay. Simply put, guns and grenades have been replaced with bows and clubs. More gear is unlocked as players progress through the story, but they take quite a while to unlock, and the resources required to use them aren't easy to come by — as such, weapons like bombs and throwing shards are more for emergencies than general use.

With such primitive tools, many of the options that Far Cry players are used to simply don't exist anymore — you just don't have the option of sitting back and sniping everyone from 400 yards away. Players are forced to get up close and personal, regardless of play style — and those trained on other shooters will likely spend the first hour or two adjusting to the new pace of gameplay.

Far Cry Primal's big new addition is the beast-taming mechanics. In a lot of ways, it's almost like a more violent version of Pokemon: once the requisite quests have been taken care of, players will gain the ability to tame a number of different predators, each with its own unique aspects. While it's a shame that they aren't used for more outside of combat, using an owl to drop a bomb full of bees or siccing a panther on a hapless archer are thrills you won't find anywhere else.

Primal's design also differentiates itself with the addition of base-building. Building and upgrading your home base is a bit simpler here than in other games, but it's still satisfying to see your village grow as you play through the game — and the upgrades that come with it are more than worth the time it takes to gather the necessary upgrade materials.

If there's any major downgrade, it's transportation: Oros is a big place, and without any sort of modern vehicles to get around with, players will be doing quite a bit of running throughout the story. There are skills to turn select animals into makeshift cars, but they're still nowhere near as useful as traditional vehicles — and running through the same expansive world over and over and over again gets tedious.

All in all, Primal plays just like its predecessors — for better and for worse. While the combat is still great throughout the entire campaign, the experience tends to get a bit repetitive over longer play sessions ... and Ubisoft hasn't ironed out all of the series' longstanding issues quite yet. Primal is a lot of fun, but it can also feel like the developers missed a few opportunities to improve on the franchise's mechanics.

Long story short, Primal looks great — even if all the individual pieces don't always hold up. Character models and environments tend to look great, but animations and textures are definitely carryovers from Far Cry 4 — and they don't look any better here than they did back in 2014. That being said, the game's overall visuals come together to make a strong impression, even if it isn't flawless.

Sound design is equally strong: given that there's no spoken English throughout the entire game, it's a testament to the writing team that the game's characters are so engaging. The game's soundtrack and ambient samples are as strong as they've ever been, and Primal does a genuinely great job of immersing players with its audio.

However, as with the gameplay, just about everything about Primal's presentation can also be seen in Far Cry 4. Sure, there are new character models and environments, but the textures, animations and assets are clearly recycled from the previous game. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it can feel like Primal is more of an expansion than its own unique experience.

Overall, Far Cry Primal is a great game. The core tenants of the series, while a bit different, are still present: true, it's not quite as explosive or over-the-top as other games in the series, but it doesn't need to be. It's clear that Ubisoft chose the prehistoric setting and never looked back — and it's hard to deny just how much fun rushing into combat alongside a saber-tooth tiger can be.

For anyone looking for a different kind of shooter, Far Cry Primal is definitely worth a shot: there's more than enough content on hand to warrant a $60 purchase (especially for completionists), and it feels new compared with most other shooters on the market today. Ironically, it'll be the longtime Far Cry fans that'll be harder to please — if you loved the series for its explosions and car chases, Primal probably isn't the experience you're looking for.

It's no secret that Far Cry Primal was something of a gamble for Ubisoft — while the story's a bit lackluster, it's easy to see that the team behind the game worked their hearts out on making something that's genuinely different. Primal is definitely worthy of the Far Cry name — hopefully, it'll inspire Ubisoft to take more risks like it in the future.