Realistic hunting: ten seconds of excitement, one hour of boredom

If you have ever been hunting, you probably know the thrill: seeing the prey, ever so silently approaching it – and taking your shot. If you have never been hunting but have wondered what it is like, this might be a game for you.

theHunter: Call of the Wild (COTW) is a hunting simulator. The elements of actual hunting are implemented well in the game. To mention some, wind direction and intensity are key aspects to think about when you’re positioning yourself or tracking prey. Hunting is more difficult during the night without proper equipment. Running is noisy and sneaking is slow. Different guns are for different animals – you cannot bring down a moose with a pistol meant for small prey. In addition to these aspects, the animals in this simulator are attentive, are hard to find, and flee easily, meaning that their senses match their real-life counterparts.

There’s a downside in that realness. If you have ever been hunting, you probably have already realized what I’m talking about. It. Is. Boring. Beautiful scenery cannot entertain you for long if you have come to hunt. Especially at the start of the game, you probably won’t have the required knowledge about animals, ammo, the loudness of your footsteps and so on. While some games can be easy to learn and hard to master, COTW is probably the opposite. After the learning curve you begin to get kills, but this curve can be quite difficult to surpass. However, when you have learned the basic skills and get the hang of it, hunting evolves into a really interesting activity. When you start to understand the animals, the guns, and the environment, you start to get trophies, which you can be proud of. At this point, the game doesn’t stop having tedious moments of walking around, but you accept them more easily.

Still, something you never learn not accept is lagging. This might be caused by your own PC because COTW is a massive game and requires a good computer. Lagging can also be caused by the game itself: I’ve had quite a few moments of missing a shot because the animal teleports ever so slightly to the left, or a strand of grass somehow blocks my barrel, or some similar annoyances. Luckily, lagging does not occur so often that the game would be unplayable because of it, but it is certainly a downside.

Then there is the downloadable content (DLC) “problem”. The base game has reserve maps from North America and Europe along with some basic rifles and other guns, but that’s it. You can play and enjoy the base game as it is, but it is made clear how much more there is to the gaming experience by buying DLCs. The DLC content is even visible in the base game, yet you cannot play them without purchasing them first. Personally, I’m not a fan of any DLC-dependent games but I have to admit that DLCs do make this game more interesting.

After my description of the learning curve, an occasional lag, and the mild pressure on buying DLCs, one would think that I do not like this game or that I wouldn’t recommend it. But the one thing about a simulator is that it simulates (often) real life, and real life can be irritating from time to times. Sometimes you succeed and feel good, sometimes you have to get better in something in order to succeed in it. Progress is crucial in life and so is accepting that annoying things happen whether you like it or not. If you can accept these facts, and you would like to try hunting without actually killing living creatures, this is the best game for just that. COTW gives you everything you would expect from hunting, and more.

 

Basic information:

Publisher: Expansive Worlds
Developer: Expansive Worlds
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, PS4
Release Date: (PC) February 16, 2017
Genres: Adventure, Simulation, Hunting, Open World
PEGI 16

Photos: Screenshots from the game theHunter: Call of the Wild (Expansive Worlds 2017), taken by the author

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