Hunting Simulator 2
Nacon
Hunting simulators are becoming increasingly popular these days just as more and more people are taking an interest in hunting in real life (some for reasons of mitigating potential food scarcity in the future). There are a growing number of folks who are curious about hunting, but don’t know where to start. Therefore, games such as Hunter: Call of the Wild, Big Game Hunter, and Hunting Simulator can help to clue people in on what it entails.
Nacon’s Hunting Simulator 2 succeeds the latter title, offering the same addictive gameplay, but this time with a lot more bells and whistles (along with some extremely nice Unreal 4 visuals). As the game’s Steam description says:
“With your hunting dog by your side, explore the Texan desert and forests of Colorado and Europe as you track down 33 animal species. Choose your gear from over 160 official weapons, accessories and clothing items (including Browning, Winchester and Bushnell).”
That’s a lot of content any way you slice it. The three main areas mentioned above are further split into 2 unique zones each. Each zone is huge on its own and offer their own forms of indigenous animal species to hunt.
But first you’ll have to plan everything out at the main hub within the game: The lodge. Here, you can consult a highly detailed encyclopedia that helps you to determine all kinds of things, such as what sorts of ammunition you’ll have to utilize in order to shoot specific types of prey. And you have to be careful here; if you choose a caliber of ammo that is too large for some of the smaller animals, you’ll get fined a lot of money since that’s considered unethical (you don’t want to do this, trust me).
There are tons and tons of rifles, shotguns, and other gear that you can outfit your hunter with. Fortunately, you can try out all of these weapons (and their attachments) at Hunting Simulator 2’s convenient shooting range, and practice your aim at close, medium, and long range targets. You can also purchase the licensees that are required to hunt different types of animals. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into the hunt before you even step outside of the lodge.
Perhaps the most exciting new addition to the franchise, are the new hunting companions you can purchase in the form of hunting dogs. Hunting Simulator 2 lets you pick from three different types of doggies. While all three can help you track down prey, each type have unique capabilities that are true to life.
For example, Pointers will alert to you the presence of nearby animals (hence, pointing, get it?). Retrievers will go run out and fetch smaller animals that you’ve already shot. And lastly, hounds will do their best to protect you by barking loudly at any predators in the vicinity that are getting a little too close to comfort.
What’s also cool about hunting dogs is that you’ll gradually bond with them the more you take them out with you on your hunts. The more you encourage and pet them, the more cheerful they’ll become. You’ll also find that they’ll become more efficient in obeying your commands (after all, they’re man’s best friend).
Hunting Simulator 2 features some easy-to-learn controls that are accessible to people new to the genre. The game will teach you that one of the most fundamental elements of hunting is how to approach each of your targets.
Obviously, stealth plays a crucial role in hunting because if you come barreling through some trees at a deer, for instance, it’ll easily hear you and bolt off before you even get a chance to engage it. Therefore, you’ll always want to crouch down and approach animals where you’re not in their line-of-sight, unless of course you’re at longer distances or perched up on an elevated position.
In all, Hunting Simulator 2 is a super-fun and addictive hunting game that teaches you the fundamental concepts and practices of hunting, and then some. I would have preferred a multiplayer option, but the addition of hunting dog companions was a great game design choice that mostly mitigates that. I’d say give Hunting Simulator 2 a shot (pun intended).
SCORE: 87%
Hunting Simulator 2 has some pretty good looking graphics that make its hunting gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:
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