After spending three months in Steam's Early Access programme, the final retail version of "The Hunter: Primal" is now available as a standalone release through Valve's digital video game distribution platform. "Primal" is the second game in "The Hunter" series that is developed by Avalanche Studios, which was also responsible for the open-world third-person action series "Just Cause." The game is being sold at a special discounted price of $24 on Steam. The offer is only valid until April 7; after that, the game will return to its standard $30 price.

Like its predecessor, "The Hunter: Primal" will be an open-world first-person shooter focused on hunting in an expansive world. Unlike the original game, the player is the one being hunted. "Primal" will focus on survival in a world infested with deadly dinosaurs. According to the game's Steam page, players are tasked with essaying the role of a criminal sent to the unexplored planet called Primal Eden. Their job is to survive against all odds and plant the seeds of civilisation as a pioneer in an uncharted planet.

The planet of Primal Eden is spread across a vast 24-square-kilometre wilderness inhabited by five different species of dinosaurs. This includes the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex and the flight-capable Quetzalcoatlus, which is a recent addition meant to commemorate the retail launch of the game. Players must scavenge the wilderness for clothing, weapons and ammunition, even as the game rewards patience and exploration through a persistent inventory system that stores players' items between game sessions.

On the flip side, dying entails loss of all equipment, unless players are fast enough to recover them from their bodies before they're stolen by other hunters. This is made possible by the game's optional multiplayer function that packs in both PVP and co-operative elements. Switching the function on allows players to co-operatively hunt down the dangerous dinosaurs. This can prove to be a necessity since players are thrown into a hostile world with nothing but a bow and a few arrows.

Gamespot reports that "The Hunter: Primal" supports eye-tracking functionality. The system is similar to the implementation found in Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed: Rogue," which allows gamers to control camera movement by moving their heads naturally. This feature, however, requires gamers to purchase the $200 SteelSeries Sentry with Tobii eye-tracking support.

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The Hunter: Primal Launch Trailer (Credit: Avalanche Studios YouTube channel)

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