Deer Hunter 2004 Demo

At the crack of dawn, when the slightest breeze gives you shivers regardless of the season, the forest is alive with all sort of animals, most of which are already well on their way to finding food and water for the day. Instead of disturbing this balance and bringing an early end to the majestic wildlife roaming the hills, you can satisfy your hunter thirst in a virtual environment, which is as close to reality as it can be, short of feeling the recoil and walking the long miles in search for prey.

Deer Hunter 2004 provides you with the means to simulate an actual hunt from the comfort of your own chair, by allowing you to put your skills into practice on a massive map, crawling with many types of deer that are almost as difficult to catch as the real thing. To start a session, you first have to personalize your character, by choosing his appearance and spending the available skill points into the desired attributes, which give you certain advantages.

Thus, it is possible to improve your stealth abilities and make yourself harder to detect, which in turn allows you to get closer to your prey and take a cleaner shot. On the other hand, if your weapon skill is not high enough, the short distance may not matter too much anyway. Hence, it is much better to strike a balance between the available attributes, even if that means having to give up on being a master marksman or an incredible tracker.

Since the pride of all hunters rests with the size of their trophies, the game allows you to bag the bucks you manage to shoot and receive points depending on their size and rarity. However, you have a limit for each type of deer you are allowed to hunt, and if you happen to put down too many of one kind, the game warns you about restraining yourself and stops offering you points for any excess kills.

Moreover, the inventory contains a variety of tools and gadgets to give you the upper hand against the wildlife, since you get to use GPS devices, mating calls to fool the deer and even set up traps using food to attract them. You also get a horse at the start of each hunt, which can be used to move around quickly across the terrain, although you alert the animals of your presence by using it at the wrong times.

In the end, Deer Hunter 2004 makes a good job when it comes to the technical aspects of the game as well, including the graphic engine, sound and the AI that controls the animals. Hence, a frightened deer becomes almost impossible to shoot down, which forces you to be cautious and patient whenever you approach one.