UNDER MY THUMB

FAR CRY PRIMAL

(Ubisoft, PS4, XB1, PC)

Far Cry reinvents itself with each entry, this time going back to 10,000 B.C. and ditching firearms for Stone Age weaponry. It also makes the crafting more than a chore, because how else would you find food and create supplies in the prehistoric era than by hunting and gathering? So be warned, animal lovers: you’ll have to kill a lot of them. But you’ll also learn to tame them, the coolest new tactical feature — an owl becomes your high-flying drone, a wolf or bear your combat backup, a sabertoothed tiger your prehistoric vehicle. The story of Takkar rising from lone hunter in a lush Central European valley to a leader of his tribe is the weakest link. But as with the best sandbox games, narrative ultimately takes a backseat to experiential exploration of this brutal, beautiful and woolly mammoth-filled world.

THE WITNESS

(Thekla Inc., PS4, Steam)

Iconic indie developer Jonathan Blow has finally followed up Braid, his Super Mario deconstruction, with another ambitious inspired-by-art game, The Witness. Using the ’90s CD-ROM classic Myst as his starting point, Blow spent seven years crafting an open-world puzzle game set on a beautiful, diverse and mysteriously abandoned island that has been purpose-built for wandering. But unlike the environmental and temporal puzzles of Braid, here they are literal line mazes, and there are about 500 of them. But the logic problem solving required to unlock them, and witness their impact on the island, is more intricate and complex than it seems. Taking cues from theoretical math problem sets and offering up hidden audio recordings of philosopher and physicist quotes, The Witness is also a meditation on logic itself.