Developed for the Unigine by Lukewarm Media, Primal Carnage is a team-based first-person shooter where you get to play either as the mercenaries or the dinosaurs. The game focuses heavily on teamwork, so just like Team Fortress 2 you get a selection of classes to play as depending on which team you join. So far, there are two game modes, Power Grid and Survival. In Power Grid, the mercs are to activate power nodes so they can power up a radio station. Pretty much like capturing control points. The dinosaur’s objective is to stop them. In Survival, players are pitted against computer-controlled dinosaurs with the objective to protect a moving object such as a train or boat from being destroyed. Once the players reach a certain point in the map, they will enter a boss battle that will test the player’s abilities to work as a team. If all the players die, the round is over and restarted.
You get a selection of five different dinosaurs to play as. Only the raptor, the dilophosaurus and the t-rex have been revealed to the public. Each dinosaur has a specific special ability that defines their class. For instance, the raptor is an assault class. They move fast and are able to pin enemies to the ground. The dilo is a supportive class, they have range attacks and are the only dinosaur able to escape from a net on their own. The t-rex is practically a tank that can dish out a ton of damage to the enemy team. Obviously, if you are looking for a scientific accurate representation of dinosaurs, you are not going to find it in this game. Especially when the dilo can spit acid!
You also get a selection five mercenaries. Each mercenary represents a class. Only two have been revealed so far. The scientist and the heavy. The scientist fills out as the team’s only sniper, she can take out high profile targets from a distance with relative ease. The heavy is a supportive class. He specializes in close combat and can withstand large amounts of damage. Unlike the dinos, the mercs can also drive vehicles. Not much is known about the rest of the team. I know one is called the Trapper and has the ability to launch nets at dinosaurs but that's it.
I love dinosaurs and I am glad to see another dinosaur game coming out, especially a multiplayer focused one. Unfortunately, they haven’t released any demonstrations of the gameplay, which is disappointing. I already see some balancing issues with people being able to play as the t-rex. That thing is huge and it’s going to pass off just like any other class like the raptor class? I guess I will just have to imagine it in my head for now.
Since the development team is independent, they are currently not being funded by a publisher. The team has been entirely working out of their own pocket so far and donations are definitely appreciated. So if you want to help, go and donate! Donating will get you into the closed beta depending on how much you spend. Ten dollars will get you in the beta. But if you were to donate twenty dollars, you will not only get into the closed beta but you will also get a copy of the final game once it is completed and released. Not bad! If you don't want to donate, it's no big deal. Just by signing up on their forums is enough.
