Hunting Simulator Demo

Although hunting for sport is a pretty controversial thing nowadays, it’s difficult to argue against video games, because there is nothing wrong with virtual bullets killing virtual animals. Hence, there have been many tries to transpose the sport into a simulator over the years, sometimes quite successfully. However, the genre is always limited by the technology available at the time when it comes to graphics and AI, which is why better and better titles can always be created.

Hunting Simulator is obviously not trying very hard to cover new grounds, as it can be seen from its name, but that’s hardly relevant in the genre. Instead, the simulation aspect is what makes the gameplay worthwhile and realistic, so that’s where one must look in order to judge it. In this regard, Hunting Simulator has a bit more work to do in order to be convincing and immersive, because at the moment it is neither.

To begin with, the game packs quite a bit of content, which is split into zones and missions if you decide to jump into the campaign mode. It’s possible to hunt in the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, and even a few exotic locations, such as the savannas of Africa. However, the content is unlocked gradually as you complete missions, so this allows you to feel a sense of reward as you move on to rarer animals.

Gameplay-wise, this is basically a first-person shooter, except that you cannot sprint everywhere and spray animals with bullets from point-blank range. Instead, you must follow tracks, use specific calls, or pay really close attention to the environment in order to spot the animals. After that, getting too close is not really possible without spooking the critters, so you have to take the shots from far away.

Lastly, the controls are weirder and clunkier than in your average shooter, which is annoying to say the least. Strafing does not work as you would expect, and there is also no way to jump, which means that any kind of edge or small rock requires you to find a way around. While we all know what UE4 is capable of, Hunting Simulator features quite a few glitches and lighting issues, which makes the whole thing look like a mess sometimes.

In the end, Hunting Simulator is not a bad game per se, but it also comes with too many inconveniences and annoyances that make it difficult to enjoy yourself. Thus, the bad controls, poor visual quality and questionable AI are what you have to keep in mind when comparing Hunting Simulator to other options in the genre.