Take on Cybernetic Dinosaurs in ‘Primal Hunt,’ Out Today on Meta Quest 2

Dinosaurs are more than capable of tearing most living beings apart. Give them access to machine guns and rocket launchers, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a wildly powerful and dangerous creature—which makes hunting them all the more satisfying in a game like Primal Hunt, which is out now on Meta Quest 2 for $29.99 USD.

Taking place in a far-off future where extinct animals are brought back to life for entertainment, Primal Hunt has you playing as a hunter armed with hi-tech weapons that’ll help you trap and kill your targets. You’ll track down and encounter life-sized versions of the Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, packs of velociraptors, and more in their simulated jungle and desert habitats. And once you master your prehistoric prey, Primal Hunt introduces an even deadlier set of creatures: cybernetically enhanced dinosaurs! They come equipped with armor and ridiculous weaponry like mounted ion cannons, which significantly amps up the challenge.

But if you manage to survive these trials, you’ll forever be known as one of the best hunters in the world. We sat down with Creative Director Michael Daubert to talk about Phaser Lock Interactive’s return to a familiar genre, why they thought it was a good idea to give guns to dinosaurs, and how their approach to making VR games has evolved over the years.

Michael Daubert: The idea of hunting dinosaurs in VR had been floating around the studio for some time. Some of us worked on the original N64 title, so we had posters and swag on the walls. We even explored going after the Turok license but found we had more flexibility and creative freedom if we created our own IP.

I was a huge fan of the TV show Westworld, with one of the episodes showing a Game of Thrones dragon being created for the park. Mind blown! This just fueled the idea of a hunting preserve that recreated dinosaurs for the public, complete with all the threats and dangers of hunting such a dangerous creature. The idea kept growing, mixing a traditional hunting game with more “epic boss battle” combat.

It was an exciting time during early development. We reached out to David Dienstbier, the original mastermind behind the Turok franchise, to help consult on Primal Hunt. David was new to VR, so we sent him an HMD and had him jump in right away. I believe his first reaction was “Holy @#%$, this is insane!”. The feeling of realistic-scale dinosaurs in VR was something that he could only dream of back in the days of the N64.

In Turok, the player shoots anything that moves with over-the-top weapons. We wanted something more alive, leaning more into the hunting game aspect. But no, there isn’t a Cerebral Bore or Nuke in Primal Hunt… maybe later in DLC? Ha.

MD: I remember the Dreamdeck demo for the Rift, having a T-rex walk down that hallway right at you blew my mind! I demoed it for friends and family, and they either screamed and threw off the headset, or just soaked in the awesomeness of the dinosaurs. Most of us have been huge dinosaur fans since we were kids, so the idea of bringing a world of dinosaurs to VR was a dream come true. We got to explore all the different dinosaurs for the game with the dev team picking their childhood favorites. Our studio walls were covered from top to bottom with concept art. Oh, and we had some Fatheads made of our favorites. We had a 10-foot T-rex roaring at you when you opened the front doors.

We also wanted to take the dinosaurs further than we could with Turok. They’re not just “fodder” to shoot at, but living creatures that are alive in the biomes with each having different desire states like eating, drinking, and even sleeping. There’s always that first awe-inspiring moment, where you just soak in the scale of the dinosaurs, but we also wanted there to be a sense of danger to the game. Again, they’re dinosaurs! So the design team came up with Death Cams, which creates a cinematic event that shows the dinosaur tearing your avatar apart if you fail your hunt. It’s very satisfying.

MD: So there’s no “hero's journey” in our game. We’re just focusing on offering the greatest hunt ever. But the backstory for Primal Hunt is that it’s set in the distant future, and through the advancement of technology and genetic splicing, corporations can now bring dinosaurs back to life and offer the ultimate hunting experience. Patrons pay big bucks for the opportunity to test their hunting skills against these apex predators. The Hunting Biomes are run by Game Wardens who help to make the hunts more exciting and challenging for the player. As the player advances, they face creatures that are enhanced with technology, armor, and weapons to quench their thirst for the hunt.

But early on, the Game Wardens found that the patrons were “failing” at the hunts and being eaten by the dinosaurs. To keep repeat customers and cash flow, the Game Wardens created cybernetic hunting suits. The player's body is now contained in a biochamber as their consciousness is transported into a cybernetic hunting suit with real organs that match the DNA of the hunter. The Game Wardens use real blood and organs in the suits to keep the dinosaurs interested in the player (no dinosaur is going to hunt down a tin can!). But a tin can filled with yummy bits of human, now you're talking. It all comes down to keeping the player safe but still delivering the sense of danger and thrill to the hunt.

MD: There’s no doubt our concept artists had the time of their lives with these designs. It was a mix and match of styles, inspired by the Dinobots in Transformers, Gundam robots, the Primal animated series, and various futuristic cybernetic designs. Every design looked like a toy you’d put on your desk. Choosing what went into the game wasn’t easy. I feel they were able to pull together a very balanced look and feel to the cybernetic dinosaurs. They really delivered the wow factor of being face to face with a rocket-launching triceratops and a T-rex with a plasma cannon mounted to its back.

MD: We’re happy with the diverse group of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures we’re launching with. We wanted to focus on iconic dinos like the Triceratops, Raptors, Dimetrodons, and the T-Rex. But there are also some creatures that people may have not heard of, like the Titanis or Entelodont, a 1600 lb giant boar whose mouth is full of razor-sharp teeth that opens 110 degrees—this is what nightmares are made of!

But you should’ve seen the early designs when we let the artists have free rein! I think they had the most fun with the Tech Dinosaurs. They had dinosaurs with tank treads, Pteranodons with flamethrowers, and even a T-rex with rocket launchers and large saw blades for arms! The best part is we have a great library for extended content past launch. First, we want to let the players in and experience Primal Hunt, and then see what dinosaurs the players want to see next and take it from there. We have a great variety to launch with and so many great opportunities for DLC.

MD: The first answer I would say is scale. We knew how immersive scale can be in VR from our previous games like Final Approach and Final Assault. Having developed games with “God” and “Toy” scale modes, we knew we wanted to deliver that same type of experience. The team did a great job in delivering amazing dinosaurs and animations. But early on, we ran into the problem of “how do you hide a 30-foot dinosaur?”. Quite a lot of R&D went into the worlds, crafting them with corridors and more enclosed areas with the idea of the dinosaur being around the corner. But we wanted more open space for these massive creatures to move in.

Hence the fog level: This created a very ominous and almost creepy atmosphere, not knowing what was coming through the fog, as well as helping in optimization. And optimization was key to delivering this experience. We wanted large environments with plenty of wildlife. Early on, we chose a very stylistic art style that was just fun. Leaning on our past experience with Final Assault, we also knew the AI was going to be a challenge. We have huge worlds full of creatures, all with complex AI systems. So the balance of CPU and GPU was a constant battle.

There’s no medium outside of VR that can give you that feeling of standing under a gigantic creature. Sure, a dinosaur on a movie screen is amazing. But in VR, hiding in the bushes as a 30-foot T-rex walks by you, trying to sniff you out, is incredibly satisfying if not terrifying.

MD: If you ask each dev, they’ll give you a different answer. We tried to deliver enough weapons and traps so that players can have their own unique combat styles. Personally, one of my favorites is our Anchor Arrow: You fire one arrow into the dinosaur and one into the ground, anchoring them in place. Facing off against a Pteranodon, the best thing is to aggro him so he flies in close for a melee attack, and then shoot two or three Anchor Arrows to ground him in place. You have to be fast—he’ll flap his hardest to break free. Quickly switch to a Shotgun Arrow to easily bring him down. The Anchor also works on larger creatures like the Stegosaurus and T-rex, but they’ll break out of it quickly.

Another favorite is using your full arsenal to create a kill zone. Find a good close corridor area. Lay out a freeze trap and even an explosive trap. Then behind the traps you can set up a tripwire. Lure in a pack of Raptors to the kill zone. The first ones will hit the freeze trap, locking them in place. The explosive trap will take out one as well. Then sit back with your kinetic arrows and fire away as the raptors hit the tripwire or break free from the ice trap. It's all about knowing your surroundings and using the right tools for the situation. Remember, stealth is your best friend, as well as the explosive arrow!

MD: This has been a great journey so far. A majority of our team was lucky enough to be there in the early days of gaming when we went from 16-bit to N64. That was a huge jump for the industry. And we were there eight years ago at the dawn of this phase of VR, pushing through all the unknowns and challenges. There was so much early R&D with the HMDs, what you should do and what you need to avoid. Yes, we were the guys rolled up in a corner with motion sickness, rocking back and forth with our thumbs up screaming, “This is going to be epic!”.

Now the HMDs are at the point where you just focus on game development. We’re delivering gameplay and experiences that simply cannot work or fall flat outside of VR. Cutting the cords on the HMDs has opened up more opportunities for gameplay, as well as letting the players take the game wherever they want. I’d say the biggest challenge we’re facing now is narrowing down what we want to do next!

MD: I want to just give a shout-out from the whole Phaser Lock team to all our supporters and fans that have helped us during this journey. Primal Hunt has grown into something so much bigger and overall more appealing thanks to all the input and feedback from the alpha and beta testing. Without your support, we wouldn't be where we are today. The game will continue to evolve and grow with the support and input from you, the fans. Thank you so much for letting us create the world of Primal Hunt and bring these dinosaurs to life!

Ok, less talk, more action. There's dinosaurs out there!

Become the ultimate prehistoric hunter in Primal Hunt, out now on Quest 2 + Pro.