Title: theHunter: Call of the Wild
Platforms: Windows, PS4 and Xbox One
Cost: $39.99
Rating: Rated Teen for blood and violence
Success in theHunter: Call of the Wild requires much of the same skill that real-world hunting does: hours of patience.
Call of the Wild is a hunting simulator, meaning it tries to make the video-game experience as realistic as possible. In this game, you can hunt red, whitetail, blacktail, fallow and roe deer, as well as black bears, red foxes, coyotes, European bison, moose, elk and wild boar.
The game features two hunting preserves -- one set in Germany, and the other in the Pacific Northwest, with more than 50 square miles of explorable terrain.
Perhaps the best part of the game is the visuals. Call of the Wild is a beautiful re-creation of nature, complete with day/night cycles and weather patterns. The attention to detail for the sound is impressive, too.
Simulating my real- world hunting experiences a little too well, it took me hours before I bagged my first deer.
There are two main ways to hunt in this game. You can find animal footprints and track them,
methodically stalking your prey, or you can find places where animals are likely to be -- such as places they will rest, eat and drink -- and wait patiently for them to come to you, luring them closer with scents and calls.
To make it a little easier than in the real world to track animals, nearby hoof and paw prints glow. Examining a track locks you onto that particular animal, and all of its tracks will now glow a cyan color instead of the usual white. From the track, you can tell whether the animal was walking, trotting or running, and examining the occasional droppings will give you an indication of how long it has been since that animal passed by.
There's a skill and perk system as well, which increases your hunting abilities -- such as being able to tell whether hoof prints are from a bull or cow moose. An experience-points system will unlock the ability to buy better weapons and ammunition.
Successful hunts are rewarded with in-game cash (scrip), which can be used to buy new weapons, scopes, lures and more. At the game's start, you have access to a single .243 rifle with a scope, capable of taking down deer with one shot, properly placed; but for other game, such as moose or black bears, you'll need to earn enough experience and money -- by successfully harvesting trophy game -- to buy the appropriate tools for the task.
I tried just following tracks at first, but it was difficult, especially at the beginning of the game. You can crouch and move slowly, not making much noise, but if the animal is on the move, it's going to get farther and farther away. Walking or running is faster, but animals will hear you and be on alert, ready to run the moment they spot you. Underbrush and bushes provide cover, but moving through them, just as in the real world, makes more noise than walking in a more open area.
My first kill involved traveling to a small lake, where it was indicated that animals would drink water during certain times of day, and then I set up a camouflaged blind -- and waited. A whole herd of roe deer showed up, and I took the one closest to me.
Shooting a deer works much like real hunting. If it's a great shot, through the head, spine or heart, the animal will drop on the spot. If shot in a vital area, as through the lungs, it will run a short distance and collapse. Wounded animals leave a blood trail to follow in addition to tracks, but if the shot wasn't a fatal one, it will eventually stop bleeding. I chased one wounded deer for more than an hour without being able to catch up to it.
In the end my abilities as a hunter were definitely novice. According to statistics the game keeps, I took a total of 21 shots, and of those, 12 were hits. I bagged a total of five deer. One deer I shot twice, so that means I wounded six deer that I was not able to kill. Even though they weren't real animals, I felt bad, because real animals would have suffered.
I also scared off almost 1,000 animals as I tramped through the woods, although I only saw a tiny fraction of those.
If shooting animals isn't your thing, you can also channel your inner Ansel Adams and take photographs of the scenery and animals. There's also a multiplayer option for Call of the Wild, with up to eight players, so you can compete against friends to see who is the best hunter.
Clash swords with Jason at
jbennett@arkansasonline.com
ActiveStyle on 10/16/2017