theHunter: Call of the Wild

started this game thinking “haha deer simulator” and 20 minutes later i was crawling through a bush at 0.3 km/h because i sneezed and scared away an elk from another postcode. graphics are so realistic i started apologising to animals before shooting them. half the gameplay is: walking hearing a noise panicking accidentally equipping the wrong item getting attacked by a moose built like a tank the animals somehow hear me blink from 8 kilometres away but my character can sprint through the forest sounding like a shopping trolley falling down stairs. 10/10 game though. never knew sitting in silence staring at virtual dirt could be this stressful.

I’ve been playing this game for 7.5 years, and I can confirm that if you’re not a fan of grinding and extensive progression systems. This game will likely not be for you unless you really appreciate hunting. It is also has somewhat of an arcade feel. I wouldn’t neccesarily call it “unrealistic”. However, if you get better at the game, you can get a lot done in 1-3 hours. The introduction of Great One species which are incredibly rare, has added a lot of “grinding” for players, which can definitely draw people away from the game. This game also takes a long time to progress. It took me almost a whole year to get to the maximum level of 60. And I played for over 300 hours in that year. Across all platforms, multiple lost steam accounts, I have spent well over 7,000 hours in the game. Starting up a new save file can and will always feel slow. And you don’t get access to a lot of the weapons quickly, unless you pay extra for the DLC. Speaking of dlcs, the game is $20, there are several dlcs that add new firearms, which are free to buy in game. Most of those dlcs are around $4. The game is very reliant on paid dlcs, at least if you want to experience everything. There are 18+ reserves, the base game gives you access to just 2. And a very minimal amount of weapons. I suppose you could get away with the base game, but it’s incredibly unideal. The game is well over 100gb, and you need quite a beefy pc to run high graphics. For reference, my PC, can run Far Cry Primal on high perfectly, running this game on Low graphics, gives me about 45-50fps. So be aware of that. The game is super fun, and there’s a reason i’ve played it for so long, but it’s very unbeginner friendly. You will likely have to be very dedicated, and or appreciative of hunting as a whole to progress in this game. It’s not for everyone, however I would encourage anybody who is a fan of hunting, to try out this game. You can get a lot of content with the dlcs. I would recommend the Smokin’ Barrels Weapon pack, the AR pack, and a few maps, just to get you started. However you can play reserves you don’t own in multiplayer. But one person in the server must own the reserve dlc, or else the game will end in either 10 or 15 minutes (one of the two, i forgot which). You cannot host a multiplayer game on a reserve you do not own. I would highly recommend this game, and I’m sad that not many of my friends have the will to get into it anymore, but if you do, it is quite possibly the best hunting game out there.