Chengzhi Zhang

theHunter: Call of the Wild - If you can't hunt, be a tourist.

I hate and love this game at the same time.

I hate it for very obvious reasons: First, 99% of the time you are just WALKING, either following tracks, or looking for a track to follow, or just traversing the ginormous map to go to a lookout or an outpost or what have you. Second, the animals are freaking clever and extremely aware of their surroundings, which means if you suck at hunting like I do, you chance of even seeing wild life is pretty minuscule, let alone actually hunting them down.

But then I also love it so much because what is said above is exactly what you do when you go hunting in real life...at least based on my very limited hunting experience. Games are usually sparsely distributed in a vast area, and the wild animals all have extremely efficient survival skills that are polished through millions of years of natural selection. So, unless you know what you are doing, you should expect to go home empty handed. So i

n this sense, this is a highly realistic hunting simulator. Nothing arcady, just you, your gun, binocular, some lure and callers, and the mother nature. You have many upgrade options for your weapons and other equipment, and you will encounter games that are more and more difficult to hunt as you progress in the game. As mentioned above, the animals have pretty good AI and are very alert to sounds, smell, and they can see you way further than you can see them, so stealth and patience is key in this. The gunshot is also quite well done. The goal is always to take one deadly shot that deals maximal damage to your target, so you need to know where the heart, the lung, and other organs are, and which bones are soft or hard, etc.

If you are a hardcore hunting enthusiast, then these should probably be sufficient already to persuade you to buy the game. But if you are absolutely sh!te at hunting, like me, then you can still get the game, and play it as "the Tourist: Call of the Camera". Yes, the game has some of the best graphics I've ever seen. I actually wonder how this is not on any of these 'best looking games' lists, because the natural scenery and landscape in this game is stunningly gorgeous. So, at some point in the game, I just gave up hunting, and started wandering about and taking pictures. As I said, the map is HUGE, and there are five of them, spreading across several continents.

So, how can I not recommend this? Whether you are a true hunter or a casual tourist like me, you'll have a good time in this game.