One thing I want to discuss in this review that I consider of highest priority is the state of the game’s community. I saw many reviews claiming the game to be dead. I disagree. In my personal, albeit admittedly limited experience, I have been able to find active servers to play on. In the evenings one can expect to find about 20-40 players online at any given time, often populating 1-3 of the seven or so servers. Usually there is one crowded server with 20+ players in it and a smaller server that may have 2-10 players online, giving both the option of playing on a crowded or a less crowded server. I must also stress that the servers populating are ones running game modes in spirit of the creators, not the RP servers that have engulfed the game’s successor. There is only one RP server and it typically has 0-5 players online.

Regarding gameplay, I’m a fairly new player to the series. I scarcely played PCE and purchased PC just a couple days ago because many friends of mine suggested it was a better game. So far I have enjoyed the gameplay. There are two game modes that see frequent play, Team Deathmatch and Get to the Chopper, both of which I enjoy. Mechanically, the game feels fluid and the physics and movement are well-designed, both for third-person dinosaur and first-person human play. I’ve had no lag issues at all and hits register when they should do so. The game has a very high skill ceiling, which admittedly has been tough as someone so new to the franchise entirely but it also encourages and entertains me by my desire to improve my own skill. Even if I have rage-logged once or twice, I wouldn’t want this any other way.

The entire basis of the game is humans versus dinosaurs, always in a team setting. Of course I love playing as the dinosaurs, but I was also pleasantly surprised to find I didn’t dislike playing the human side. It’s typical for me in games like these to heavily favor playing the animal side, but in Primal Carnage this isn’t the case. The different humans you can choose from playing are comical, charismatic, and enjoyable to play with a wide array of weapons, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. None seem particularly unbalanced or overpowered, and in general the dinosaur versus human establishment doesn’t feel one-sided. Both sides are fun to play.

Some of the maps are somewhat occluded, misty, and dark, giving good places to hide and ambush, whereas others are open and sunny so there’s good map variety. They are also well sized, not being too big or too small. A good balance of sneaking around and finding action has been struck by adequate map size.

The graphics and sound of the game are adequate, but nothing particularly fancy. I can’t comment too much on regard to optimization or graphics settings. My computer handles the game fine on max settings with an Intel I7, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce 980M card. The dinosaur models aren’t the greatest, but it isn’t a particular point of grievance for me. There are nice skins which I wish were unlockable in-game, but they’re only by purchase.

To conclude, the game’s community is not dead. It’s just small. Gameplay is enjoyable and both sides are fun to play with good maps. Graphics and models are adequate, though I wish I could earn skins in-game through play. Sometimes small communities can be more fun than big ones, and I haven’t had trouble finding a place to play against others which is the main point I want to stress here. I recommend playing.

One thing I want to discuss in this review that I consider of highest priority is the state of the game’s community. I saw many reviews claiming the game to be dead. I disagree. In my personal, albeit admittedly limited experience, I have been able to find active servers to play on. In the evenings one can expect to find about 20-40 players online at any given time, often populating 1-3 of the seven or so servers. Usually there is one crowded server with 20+ players in it and a smaller server that may have 2-10 players online, giving both the option of playing on a crowded or a less crowded server. I must also stress that the servers populating are ones running game modes in spirit of the creators, not the RP servers that have engulfed the game’s successor. There is only one RP server and it typically has 0-5 players online. Regarding gameplay, I’m a fairly new player to the series. I scarcely played PCE and purchased PC just a couple days ago because many friends of mine suggested it was a better game. So far I have enjoyed the gameplay. There are two game modes that see frequent play, Team Deathmatch and Get to the Chopper, both of which I enjoy. Mechanically, the game feels fluid and the physics and movement are well-designed, both for third-person dinosaur and first-person human play. I’ve had no lag issues at all and hits register when they should do so. The game has a very high skill ceiling, which admittedly has been tough as someone so new to the franchise entirely but it also encourages and entertains me by my desire to improve my own skill. Even if I have rage-logged once or twice, I wouldn’t want this any other way. The entire basis of the game is humans versus dinosaurs, always in a team setting. Of course I love playing as the dinosaurs, but I was also pleasantly surprised to find I didn’t dislike playing the human side. It’s typical for me in games like these to heavily favor playing the animal side, but in Primal Carnage this isn’t the case. The different humans you can choose from playing are comical, charismatic, and enjoyable to play with a wide array of weapons, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. None seem particularly unbalanced or overpowered, and in general the dinosaur versus human establishment doesn’t feel one-sided. Both sides are fun to play. Some of the maps are somewhat occluded, misty, and dark, giving good places to hide and ambush, whereas others are open and sunny so there’s good map variety. They are also well sized, not being too big or too small. A good balance of sneaking around and finding action has been struck by adequate map size. The graphics and sound of the game are adequate, but nothing particularly fancy. I can’t comment too much on regard to optimization or graphics settings. My computer handles the game fine on max settings with an Intel I7, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce 980M card. The dinosaur models aren’t the greatest, but it isn’t a particular point of grievance for me. There are nice skins which I wish were unlockable in-game, but they’re only by purchase. To conclude, the game’s community is not dead. It’s just small. Gameplay is enjoyable and both sides are fun to play with good maps. Graphics and models are adequate, though I wish I could earn skins in-game through play. Sometimes small communities can be more fun than big ones, and I haven’t had trouble finding a place to play against others which is the main point I want to stress here. I recommend playing.