Regardless of what you think about Far Cry Primal, the reviews are in and one thing is clear; it is not a narrative-driven game. While the lack of a story has been cited by critics as a strike against it, some simply want to know; What does this have anything to do Far Cry 4? Though Primal does not seem to carry any official connection to the 2014 shooter, there’s a presumed connection because elements of the game were repurposed from the series’ last numbered chapter.
As it turns out, Ubisoft has provided a pseudo-canonical linking the prehistoric adventure to Far Cry 4 through a tie-in blog on the game’s website. In two short posts, the Cauley Excavation Blog offers dispatches from archeologist Joseph Cauley’s dig at “a Mesolithic site” in Central Europe, which we can safely assume aims to uncover the remains of Primal‘s cast.
Here’s the kicker: The first post, written by Dr. Cauley himself, introduced the blog’s primary author, journalist Divya Kandala, whom Cauley notes as well-known for writing a profile on Far Cry 4 villain Pagan Min. For Far Cry 4, Ubisoft created a fake personal blog for Kandala, a writer based in the fictional nation, which included an interview with Min.
“We’ve gotten permission to dig at a Mesolithic site along the Danube and we’re certain that we are going to find some very interesting items,” Cauley wrote in his blog post. “We are so certain of this, in fact, that we have hired rock star journalist, Divya Kandala, to document our progress. I submitted her name to the folks at The Molay Group after reading her work (you may remember her from her beautiful piece on former Kyrati dictator Pagan Min, published in Weekly Read). I’m certain that she will be writing something even more praise-worthy once we are finished here!”
As Kotaku pointed out, the stories of the Far Cry series are not directly connected, mercenary/conflict zone drifter Hurk, who appears in optional missions for both Far Cry 3 and 4, suggesting the two games exist in the same world. Last year, Eurogamer took some loose threads and wove a winding conspiracy theory-esque fiction connecting the narratives of all four numbered Far Cry games. It’s pretty neat, especially when you consider that it makes Far Cry Primal an indirect prequel for the whole series.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.