Far Cry Primal Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the video game score Far Cry Primal by Jason Graves.

Buy the score here (if available)

At a glance:

Geek Score: 100
Total Minutes Of Excellence: 118.4
Album Excellence: 100%

How are the scores calculated and what does it mean?

Far Cry Primal is a 2016 action-adventure video game developed and published by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The game is set in 10,000 BCE, during the beginning of the Mesolithic period. It takes place in the fictional Oros valley in Central Europe, an open world filled with wildlife such as mammoths and saber-toothed cats. Survival is a daily challenge as tribes come into conflict with one another and nature. Players take on the role of a Wenja tribesman named Takkar (Elias Toufexis), who is stranded in Oros with no weapons after his hunting party is ambushed. Takkar, using his newfound skill of taming animals, will eventually rise to power and lead his own tribe. The score is composed by Jason Graves.

The Far Cry series of games has always been wildly popular, the scores too, but I haven’t really loved a Far Cry score just yet. Maybe this will be the one. This is a very different kind of Far Cry though, set in the stone age which means the music will definitely be different than for previous games of the series. This time Jason Graves (Dead Space, Tomb Raider, Until Dawn) is doing the score. It’s a long one too, almost 2 hours so let’s see what it’s got. The score opens with ‘The Shaman’s Story’. The haunting woodwinds and heavy percussion puts you right there. This is interesting because 10.000 BC has a sound and this is it. You can hear the rhythm, the voices and the flute that it belongs in that era somehow. It’s very exciting to me when mood based music just hit the right notes and this one does. This score is primal, it takes the essence of the stone age and mixes it brilliantly. I love the three major instruments used, the broad strokes with percussion, woodwinds and voices, it just feels right.

The voices an be a bit unnerving at times, scary even. The voice at the beginning of ‘The Fires Of Conquest’ put me on alert as the rest of the music filled my soul. It didn’t end up being scary, but there are moments like literally screaming voices in there is going to haunt me throughout the rest of my day. It’s not a unique cue either in that perspective. Every cue is filled with this and I must admit I’m addicted to it. I’ve never quite heard a score like this. It sure kicks the 10.000 BC score by Thomas Wander & Harald Kloser out of the water in terms of atmosphere, mood and authenticity. It just sounds like a million bux. I think that there’s one thing you’ll have to be warned about though. If you’re not into percussive music, if you just don’t like that, I think you might struggle with this one. I just love percussive music and when you add the excellent percussion with everything else going on, it’s a fantastic listening experience, super exciting. The bone percussion is particularly great. Some cues gave me a hypnotic effect such as ‘A Hunter’s Eye’ and ‘Batari’s Song Of Fire’. It was like I was in a trance when listening to them. Just felt so good. This the first Far Cry score I’ve truly loved and it’s one of the most immersive listening sessions I’ve had in quite a while. I highly recommend you check this one out and see if it’s for you.

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The Shaman’s Story
2. Save The Wenja
3. Prowl Of The Snowblood Wolves
4. The Fires Of Conquest
5. The Mammooth Hunt
6. The Call Of The Widu
7. A Hunter’s Eye *
8. The Heart Of Oros
9. Sarta Wenja
10. Tales Of The Gwarpati
11. The Taken Wenja
12. Vision Of Fire
13. Batari’s Song Of Fire *
14. The Bloodfang Sabretooth
15. Gwarpati Salway
16. The Search For The Lost Wenja *
17. Vision Of Beasts
18. March Of The Bloodtusk Mammoth *
19. Survival Of The Udam
20. The Lost Caves Of Oros
21. Udam Wantari
22. Wadijam Izila
23. Hunt For The Great Scar Bear *
24. The Flames Of Suxli
25. Clash Of The Udam
26. The Altar of Suxli *
27. Fury Of The Great Scar Bear
28. Attack Of The Udam *
29. The Beast Master Strikes *
30. Vision Of Ice
31. The Wrath Of Ull
32. The Mask Of Krati
33. Takkar Of The Wenja