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Intro An alliance between the Humans and Zoanthropes promises to be one of the most powerful kingdoms of all time. That is, until word spreads that Zoanthropes are undergoing horrible experiments and both sides are unable to prove the existence of such atrocities. To bridge the gap between both groups, a tournament is held to see whom, out of all the Zoanthropes, is the most powerful, but the prize is much more than they bargained for. On its fourth time out, Bloody Roar proves that there is not only life, but also more possibilities left, in this aging series. Gameplay: 7/10 For those who haven’t played the previous three Bloody Roar titles, there are beings known as Zoanthropes who have a human appearance, but also an incredible ability to transform into powerful creatures. During combat, a meter fills and when it begins blinking, the character may turn into a powerful creatures; these creatures range from tigers, bats, moles, to even elephants. With a few more characters and stages added to the roster from Bloody Roar 3, those taking their first play through the Bloody Roar series will be in for a treat as most of Bloody Roar 3’s shortcomings have been fixed. In the previous installment, there was this invisible barrier of difficulty; around five or so matches into the game, the difficulty would ramp up so highly that beating the game seemed nearly impossible and proved to be far more aggravating and frustrating than it was worth, worse yet, the endings weren’t nearly enough to satisfy the lengthy bouts of irritation as you made your way past the last few characters and the final boss. Doing away with this barrier adds a tremendous amount to the game, as it becomes fun to play, instead of a chore. But, it would seem old habits die hard as remnants of the difficulty ramp still remain; after completing the game, it seems to become harder and harder the more it is continuously played through and beaten. This could be seen as a way to increase replayability, but I found it more annoying as it goes from being enjoyable to extremely frustrating. What does add to the replay value are the extra characters, stages, and a cheat mode. One of the more enjoyable cheats is the kid mode where the characters take the form of super-deformed versions of themselves – as seen in Virtua Fighter Kids and Pocket Fighter – and along with adjustable wall settings, other body deformations, and various goodies, it really does give a good reasoning to replay through the game again. The animated endings are also a treat as they are well-done, but each only present a fragment of the story and can end up being more confusing than explanatory; the exclusion of voices also makes the endings come off as rushed, but they are still entertaining nonetheless. Bloody Roar: Primal Fury isn’t a fighter for everyone though. While it will certainly be welcomed by some as it will give the starving fighting fan something to sink their teeth into besides Super Smash Bros. Melee, those seeking a more enriching experience may be let down. Those who prefer to pick a character and train, nurture, and grow with them, like in Tekken or Virtua Fighter, will find that the characters in the Bloody Roar series seem to have a ceiling to their potential and once its reached, they seem rather bland. There is also a lack of personality here; without any solid, strong personas to carry the title, Primal Fury comes across as a faceless title as there is no Paul, Ryu, or Akira to really give a sense of continuity or character to the game. The combat is also simplistic with reversals and timed counter-attacks taking a back seat to simply blocking and attacking with a button-tapping combo. Of course, none of this is to say that this is a bad title. There is enough fun to be had here to warrant any fan of the genre to give it a go, and as a more standard fighter, those who didn’t enjoy Smash Bros. will definitely find much to like here. While the extras are a plus, the ramped difficulty and basic limitations of the game’s style make extended playing sessions feel as more of a means to an end -- in terms of unlocking new cheats and levels -- as oppose to re-playing the title because it actually remains fun to do so. In some aspects, the series has come a long way and Primal Fury is a strong sign of its maturity, but in others, it shows that the there is still a very long way to go.
Graphics: 8/10 Special attacks and the other more powerful moves look very well with sparks and colorful explosions replacing blood and certain attacks add a nice blur affect that warps the creatures’ appearance, giving their textures a wave-like look. The backgrounds, while uninspired, look well and the ones that are multi-tiered are handled good enough. The real eye-candy comes from the character design and the overall appearance of the creatures. Some of the transformations, Alice’s rabbit form in particular, look absolutely phenomenal. With each creature ranging from great to outstanding, they are the true attraction to the game. The anime-inspired endings are also handled well. With almost no noticeable slowdown and frames running at 60 fps, the action certainly moves fast. At times, a little too much is happening as explosions fill the screen and due to close-up view, combat is made difficult as it gets hard to see what is going on at times. However, with that in mind, the only true technical flaw was the disappearance of characters during replays. Minor gripes aside, there are some truly incredible looking characters here and they are well worth gawking at. Sound: 4.5/10 What has to be the most disappointing factor in this category is that the endings completely neglect vocals altogether. With subtitles popping up, the characters are left moving their mouths with nothing, not even Japanese, coming out; this really made the endings feel incomplete and brought down the entire experience. While the graphics had its faults, they managed to overcome them and come out on top, but in the aural category, it’s just one stumble after another with nothing special to help counter the faults. Control:
8/10 Overall:
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