Far Cry Primal's animals are both pets and weapons

Yes, even super-bitey wolf up there (Latin name). The previously revealed cover art for Far Cry Primal's stone age reworking suggested animals would be as much allies as enemies, and now we know for sure, with creative director Jean-Christophe Guyot explaining more about how the creatures work.

Animals start out as enemies and create just as much chaos as they ever did, but it's now possible to tame them and bring them under your command. If you can do that without being eaten then you've earned a very special friend with some new skills. By pointing and issues commands you can then get them to fetch, kill or belly rub on command. (Maybe not that last one.)

"The way we wanted to approach the different pets is really [with] different categories," explains Jean-Christophe. "The wolves are really good at hunting, the felines are really good at being stealthy, the bears, they're much more tanky." As well as basic character archetypes, there are other subtleties depending on the animal you chose. Sabertooths can tag enemies for example, as well as crouch when you do to stay unseen longer.

And, while you can only have one animal with you at a time, you can swap between any of the ones you've tamed. "What we wanted to do is give you the ability to switch very easily depending on the situation, how you want to approach it, and what you are trying to achieve" says Jean-Christophe. They're not invincible either, meaning they can need healing or die if you send them up against bigger creatures. There are also 'legendary' animals to find and tame with better stats and skills.

Some creatures have other less lethal uses too, like fetching resources, while an owl acts as your feathery UAV as you directly control him to search out and tag or attack enemies from the air. Other creatures double up as transport. Things like mammoths, sabretooths and cave bears can be used a mounts, letting you travel the world faster and just looking damn cool in the process.

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