Video Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBsNaBDK0I
*Available in 720p resolution for your viewing pleasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBsNaBDK0I
*Available in 720p resolution for your viewing pleasure.
Written Review
11/5/11
By Slyther11/5/11
Gameplay
theHunter strives for realism and recreating the natural wildlife seen today and it does a darn good job in the attention to detail wether it be animal animations, environmental effects or weapon characteristics. TheHunter has a variety of options at your disposal for setting yourself up for a hunting expedition, with more gear and content to use being developed at a steady rate there is no lack of content being produced for the title. The game runs very smoothly and isn't a resource hog on your computer's hardware which is a plus, especially with the attention to detail produced. There is no player model at the moment, but that doesn't mean the player animations arn't up to scratch, which they are. Weapons handle like i would predict they would in real life and nothing stands out as out of the ordinary as awkward movement or animations for both the player or animals. AI are quite realistic and react similar to the real life counterpart. The depth of AI coding is solid and EW haven't really left a stone unturned as far as reactions and triggers for the different species. There are a few bugs i've came across as far as reaction time, but nothing major. Research has been a key factor in making sure the animals are perceived as realistic as possible and i can say they have definitely gone that extra step to making sure all the species are authentic representations.
Visual&Audio Design
Visuals are stunning to say the least, textures are bright, crisp, colourful and most of all clean! Wind effects are very believable as well as the majority of things in this sim. One of the things that standed out for me was the detail in the water effects, i dont know how they've achieved it but it blew me away the first time i saw it and still does months later. The Weather effects are also very believable with clouds that actually move!
The rain is portrayed well for the most part and looks nice, but i would of liked to see it ease in and out a little less aggressively which would add to the immersion of the hunt. Audio effects are awesome to say the least, heaps of variety in the sounds of the forest and are all believable, sometimes you even feel like your in the actual forest haha. But as a whole visual and audio design is top notch, well done guys.Content and Replay Value
Content is decent, with a good variety in animals to hunt at the moment totaling in at 9 species to date, each having unique characteristics and with that having a slightly different strategy to hunt down. 4 locations to hunt at the moment which is while being similar, all have their own little slices of paradise within the maps that make it unique to the others. From rolling hills at Loggers Point to mountainous forests at Redfeather Falls to Dense scrub at Settler's Creeks. There is also a decent amount of weapons and equipment available at your disposal for your hunting expeditions from bolt action rifles to pistols, shotguns or even bows. But i can't bag out the content really seeming it's an ongoing development for the guys at EW.
The replay value in this game is something that i think is going to only improve with time, as more content and patch's are implemented it will in turn add some more replay value. Competitions are a nice addition to extending your replay value with a ongoing set of comp's available for most species, coming in the top 3 will give you em$'s which go towards buying yourself new gear for your player via the game store, Doc's outfitters. The comp's usually run for 48hours and free to enroll in, making for some endless competition while out on your hunt and gives you the incentive to get out there amongst it and harvest the Trophy you've always wanted. Multi-player will be a big piece of content set to start development in the second half of the year and sounds very promising for theHunter's community.
Overall this game will only improve with time and with the on-going commitment from the guys at EW i have high hopes this game will strive to be the best it can be!
Thanks for reading.
P.S Share my youtube review around to all your friends if you want, The more publicity the better
