theHunter: Primal

About

In theHunter: Primal, players are immersed in a prehistoric world filled with extinct animals. Using primitive weapons, such as spears and slingshots, hunt down species like the Woolly Mammoth and Smilodon. Experience a realistic, open world hunting simulation that challenges your survival skills in the stone age era.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

56%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,278 reviews

graphics137 positive mentions

stability132 negative mentions

The game has beautiful graphics and a stunning environment that immerses players in a prehistoric world.
The gameplay offers a unique blend of hunting and survival, creating thrilling moments when players are hunted by dinosaurs.
The community is generally friendly and helpful, making multiplayer experiences enjoyable.

The game has been abandoned by developers, leading to a lack of updates and new content, which diminishes replayability.
Players often experience bugs and glitches, including issues with saving progress and inventory management.
The limited variety of dinosaurs and weapons makes the gameplay repetitive and less engaging over time.

graphics
245 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
35%
9%
The graphics in "thehunter: primal" receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the beautiful environments and detailed dinosaur models, particularly for a game released in 2014. However, several users criticize the graphics engine for being outdated, leading to glitches and a lack of realism in certain aspects, such as dinosaur animations and environmental interactions. Overall, while the visuals are often described as stunning, they are marred by technical issues and a need for updates to meet modern standards.
- “The graphics are amazing for 2014.”
- “Beautiful graphics and ambient noises in the wild create a sense of atmosphere, and it's incredible how immersive the game feels.”
- “The graphics and designs of the dinosaurs and the whole map are very pretty.”
- “On top of that, the graphics and game world are shoddy.”
- “This is a half-made game with sub-par graphics, unexplainable ambient sounds, a terrible progression system, clunky game mechanics, and has also been abandoned by the developers.”
- “The graphics are complete shit; I can't move around without being killed by a Utahraptor or T-Rex because the graphics make the trees and grass stretched and obscure my vision.”
gameplay
206 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
62%
16%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky mechanics, numerous bugs, and lack of essential survival elements, leading to a repetitive and often frustrating experience. While some appreciate the unique hunting mechanics and beautiful graphics, others feel that the game is fundamentally incomplete and lacks engaging content, making it difficult to recommend. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a significant area needing improvement, with potential that remains largely untapped.
- “The gameplay is fun and not many bugs.”
- “The exploring, the survival feelings/elements, co-op and the gameplay are all great, and the visuals are absolutely stunning.”
- “The gameplay is good, could be great easy enough.”
- “The game itself is fundamentally incomplete, being sold as a survival game but without any survival, crafting, or base building mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is clunky, the dinosaur AI is predictable, the game has numerous bugs, and it crashed a few times during my experience.”
- “The gameplay feels little clunky and rigid, but it's in an early alpha stage of the game and there are only 3 types of dinosaurs at the moment.”
stability
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
1%
97%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous players reporting a plethora of bugs and glitches that significantly detract from the overall experience. Issues range from graphical problems and AI malfunctions to game freezes and crashes, leading many to recommend avoiding the game until these issues are addressed. Despite some enjoyment found in gameplay, the consensus is that the game feels unfinished and is not worthy of its full release status due to its unstable nature.
- “Runs great on a medium-spec PC, so it looks pretty well optimized.”
- “I'll recommend it when it's been finished, with no glitches.”
- “The multiplayer modes are what you'd expect, PvP and PvE are both playable although the hosting setup can be a bit buggy at times.”
- “What we have now is a game with minimal content, barely acceptable for a 'full release', while ridden with so many bugs and glitches that they alone could easily ruin the experience for many.”
- “This game should not have left early access for at least another year, there are still plenty of glitches, the game is missing any major content.”
story
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
80%
12%
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and lacking depth, with many players noting that it primarily revolves around hunting dinosaurs without any significant narrative or missions. While some players appreciate the environmental storytelling through scattered lore items, the overall consensus is that the game feels incomplete and would benefit from a more structured storyline and objectives to enhance the gameplay experience.
- “The graphics are good, and to be honest, it's a game that will take a lot of your time if you like hunting down the most dangerous creatures never seen by man and traveling to the deepest forests or one of the mysterious abandoned sites to discover the strange story of Primal Eden!”
- “Spectacular environment and an interesting backstory that you can discover in detail by finding abandoned documents.”
- “There is a minimal storyline that serves its purpose, but this game is all about your experiences hunting, being hunted, and trying to survive.”
- “✅ this game has no story”
- “There is no story arc, no greater goal to aspire to, nothing much else to do.”
- “There's really no plot to the game (except shoot dinosaurs)”
atmosphere
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
81%
14%
5%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and tense qualities, enhanced by beautiful graphics, ambient sounds, and dynamic weather effects. Players feel a strong sense of isolation and danger, particularly when encountering dinosaurs, which contributes to a thrilling survival experience. Overall, the atmospheric design is considered a standout feature, making the game engaging despite some gameplay shortcomings.
- “The atmosphere was fantastic; it really got your blood flowing when you heard a pack of raptors tracking you down, and you had to make a choice to set up an ambush or try to outpace them.”
- “Beautiful graphics and ambient noises in the wild create a sense of atmosphere, and it's incredible how immersive the game feels.”
- “The atmosphere is gorgeous, the dinosaurs are terrifying at every point in the game, and it works so incredibly well with teamwork.”
- “After startling him, I followed his trail for a while before I realized the growling behind me wasn't just part of the general atmosphere.”
- “Tense and foreboding atmosphere.”
- “+ intense and terrifying atmosphere.”
optimization
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
35%
32%
The optimization of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its performance and smoothness on various hardware, while others report significant issues, including lag and poor graphical performance. Many users note that while the game has potential and runs well on lower-end systems, it still suffers from bugs and optimization flaws that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the consensus suggests that while there are commendable aspects of optimization, substantial improvements are still needed.
- “The entire game is also quite optimized and I had no problem running it on higher settings when I had a lower-end GPU.”
- “For the size of the island and the amount of things it renders, it runs very smoothly compared to other similar games that are usually terribly optimized for PC.”
- “Perfectly optimized in fact of performance!”
- “This game is actually very fun and worth $10 if your PC can run it, but its optimization is poor.”
- “I thought this game could be very good and it has a good concept; just the way it was optimized isn't good.”
- “Don't bother, the game is highly unfinished, unoptimized, and unbalanced.”
humor
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
96%
12%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players finding it both hilarious and entertaining, particularly in cooperative play. Many reviews highlight the comedic elements of the game's mechanics, such as funny death animations, quirky dinosaur AI, and unexpected glitches that lead to laugh-out-loud moments. Overall, the blend of humor and challenge creates a fun experience, especially when playing with friends.
- “It's pretty funny when your buddy gets picked up by one of the flyers and screaming.”
- “Also a funny thing... when you find some T-Rex poo, you'll notice it has human arms and some skulls in it... fkn hilarious!!”
- “The second I started it up I was stuck in a bush; I actually thought this was fairly funny, however slightly annoyed.”
- “You're so insignificant it's not funny.”
- “The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
- “I expected more laughs, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
monetization
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
17%
70%
The monetization aspect of the game has been widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many users expressing frustration over intrusive ads and a lack of meaningful content. While some players appreciate the absence of microtransactions and the ability to earn in-game currency, the overall sentiment suggests that the game feels unfinished and exploitative, leading to disappointment among the community.
- “It's not pay-to-play, but you earn in-game money when you get ranked and can unlock and make in-game purchases with that money. Yay, no more dumping real money into a game!”
- “Once you have a few kills under your belt, you may buy items from the store which strictly uses in-game money; there are no microtransactions.”
- “Just one has dinosaurs and no microtransactions, which is awesome.”
- “This was nothing less than a simple attempt at a quick cash grab when Ark: Survival was released.”
- “Hours of walking, minimal interaction with any environment, low dino spawn rate (like next to no sightings for 30+ minutes of walking/sprinting), and the general feel that this game was just a quick cash grab.”
- “Another cash grab early access game sent from alpha to full release with barely any new content added and is buggy as hell.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight that grinding in the game is often tedious and frustrating, with players spending hours farming for gear only to face crashes or loss of progress. The slow movement and difficulty in finding weapons contribute to a monotonous experience, leading many to feel that the game lacks engaging gameplay. While some appreciate the immersive aspects, the overall sentiment is that the grinding mechanics detract significantly from enjoyment.
- “Spent hours grinding this game only for all my gear to be deleted by the developers. Do not buy this game.”
- “The entire time I was playing this game, I wanted to be grinding my face into a belt sander because honestly, the experience would have been more entertaining.”
- “I know they basically replaced the lodge with the drop ships, but the fact that you need to earn so many credits for even a basic weapon makes this game ridiculously tedious and hard to enjoy.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising the atmospheric soundtrack and its ability to enhance the game's tension, particularly in scary moments. However, others feel that the game lacks sufficient musical elements during gameplay, leading to a less immersive experience. Overall, while the main menu music and ambient sounds are appreciated, many players desire a more developed musical presence throughout the game.
- “Love the main menu music and being in the forest as it's raining with raptors calling in the distance is definitely awesome.”
- “From the music to the ambient life so far it's very good.”
- “While it's true that the dinosaur AI has room for improvement, it easily makes up for it with an awesome environment (kudos for the soundtrack) and the importance of it, somewhat realistic play and a genuinely stressful environment (you start walking and begin to hear sounds of Utahraptors circling you).”
- “Just filling noises, no music.”
- “Alos my opinion needed more music in gameplay.”
- “There is no music, no lead up to fear.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it infinitely replayable due to its multiplayer features, many express disappointment over a lack of content and support post-launch, which hampers long-term enjoyment. Critics highlight the need for more strategic depth and variety to sustain interest, suggesting that without significant updates, the game may quickly lose its appeal. Overall, the potential for replayability exists, but it heavily depends on future content expansions and improvements.
- “Infinitely replayable (or almost).”
- “It has multiplayer support, and I can co-op or PvP with my friends - it has massive replayability.”
- “If they expand on what they have at the moment, this game is going to be a great time killer with a ton of replayability.”
- “Not much replayability :<”
- “Not enough content is added to make it replayable.”
- “I have not played this game long, I feel I will enjoy it for quite some time, though I do feel as though after playing it for a day or so it might lose its replayability because killing three types of dinos can only be entertaining for so long.”
emotional
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a mix of emotional responses to the game, ranging from feelings of disappointment and frustration over its early access state to intense immersion and tension during gameplay. While some lament the game's potential, others highlight its ability to evoke strong feelings of being hunted and the thrill of survival, creating memorable experiences despite its flaws. Overall, the emotional impact varies significantly among players, with some finding it deeply engaging and others feeling let down.
- “But in terms of pure emotional turmoil and painting a picture of constant tension and subtle, creeping terror, I've simply never seen anything like it in a game before. Hunter Primal is worth a shot.”
- “I really love it! This game made me feel intense, like I'm really hunting and being hunted. It is one of the best experiences I've had in a while, and it's fun!”
- “Honestley, I don't know what it's for; sometimes it gives a location, sometimes it doesn't. It's emotional; I don't know.”