Call it coincidence or good timing, but Ubisoft is adding a new set of content for Far Cry Primal in the form of Survivor Mode. Yesterday, Bethesda Game Studios announced a similar Survival Mode in beta testing for Fallout 4 on the PC.
Die, And It's Over
Headlining the list of changes in Survivor Mode is permadeath, which means you have to start the game all over again when you die. However, you can also turn on an option in addition to permadeath that provides you with one more chance to try again before forcing you to start all over again. This final chance is replenished at various points throughout the game.
The game will also add a stamina gauge, which depletes throughout the day, and you’ll need to sleep in order to fill it up again. Food is also an important asset, and you’ll need to hunt for it, but encountering local wildlife will be less frequent. The minimap is also eliminated and the main map's fog of war is stronger so you will have to really explore every nook and cranny of the area.
You’ll also have to craft better gear for the colder parts of Oros, and you need to have a constant source of fire to stay warm. Crafting ammo will take a few seconds, instead of an instantaneous refill.
Watch Your Animals
The use of animals was also changed to reflect the difficulty. Your owl won't be able to kill enemies from above. For the stronger animals that you can tame, such as bears or the sabre-toothed tiger, you actually have to deplete their life by half, and then bait them with food to calm them down before you tame them.
If that wasn't hard enough, each of your tamed beasts will die permanently. You can still save them for a few minutes after they get knocked out, but the fact that they are gone for good will change some combat tactics. This feature holds especially true for the legendary creatures that roam about Oros. If you use them and they die in combat, you can never get another creature like that again.
Coming Soon
Ubisoft plans to release Survivor Mode on April 12 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, which should give you time to survey the land and get an idea of how to survive (no pun intended) on the higher difficulty. Those who play on the PC also get an extra bonus on the new update, as it also includes support to play the game at 4K resolution.
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