iPhone Game Review : Deer Hunter 3D by Glu Mobile.
From the development studio that brought us, Glyder. In Deer Hunter 3D, you play an unnamed player, who can hunt in three areas, using six different weapons, not to mention the four different difficulties. Between the intense game play and the cool “How did I actually kill this animal?” feature, this game is worth the $4.99.Deer Hunter 3D, to sum up what the game is; Deer Hunter 3D is a simulation hunter game without the gore. In the game you choose from three locations, American midwest, Northern Europe, or Western Russia. You then pick the difficulty, and weapon. Certain weapons carry a bonus, so you get the amount of points for the kill plus the bonus of the weapon and these bonuses range from 0-1000. Then, the hunt begins and you are dropped into a map, with throw backs to Google maps.
I truly wonder how many people will realize the pure genius behind the GPS system, on the surface it is a bare looking system that you find your prey with. However once you get into the depth behind it, it’s quite intense. You have your location, and you tap to go to another location, so your dot will travel, and you have 17 hours to complete your hunt. Where you touch, the game places a marker, which is the GPS estimation icon from the google maps app, and the animals appear on the map as a set of paws. You run into a set of paws and it tells you what animal you have found and it’s weight, and sometimes the weight is unknown and you find out when you enter the area.
When you enter the area, you get a nice cinematic showing you what the area looks like. It also reminds you of something very important, “Pick your shots carefully,” and this is a huge thing. One missed shot and you scare all the animals in the beautiful hidden area. Once you kill your target it brings up what you’ve killed and points in the bottom of the screen. You then return to the GPS screen, if you have killed the animal, if puts down a pin from the google maps app. If you have not killed the animal, the animal paws become red, and continue to walk around.
Something the game does really well is the intuitive touch controls. You touch and drag anywhere on the screen to move the reticle, and tap anywhere on the screen to fire a shot. The cool thing about the reticle is that it is constantly moving and you get one breath to steady the aim. Also for most weapons you can unlock a scope, which appears as a button in the bottom left of the screen. When you tap on it, it takes you into a new view, that shades all of the screen except for a circle in the center of the screen. You have the ability to zoom in using the scope, you touch the metal ring and spin clockwise to zoom in, and counter-clockwise to zoom out.
The game has some cool features like, “How did I actually kill this animal?” which shows you a bunch of information on the kill, like location, weapon, weight. It also shows you how the animal looked before you killed it, and where the bullet entered and exited. You also have the ability to upgrade your character’s accuracy, reflexes, endurance, and tracking. The first two help you ‘upgrade’ your weapon, and the last two upgrade your speed on the GPS and the size that the GPS encompasses.
Some gripes about the game, is sometimes I got a headshot, however the animal looked stunned as hell, and ran away because the game only called it a hit. Another thing that isn’t huge but is sorta weird, is that the game during menus had an “X” button and a “Done” button however they both do the same thing so I feel that the “X” isn’t really necessary in those cases. Another thing is the game is sorta short for a $4.99 price tag, but still worth every cent. As you notice I don’t have a lot to say negatively about the game because it feels quite polished.
But let’s end on a good note. The graphics of the game are a notable mention because they are done very well, the game has rain, trees, leaves, and bushes. Not to mention the animals that react to the environment and act pretty real. Another thing to say is quite well done is the trophy/”How did I actually kill that animal?”, I freaking love the way this is done. I loved finishing killing 4/5 trophies for the hunt and then going back and looking at how I killed them. I am sorta glad that the game didn’t include gore, because I don’t think I would have enjoyed as much as I did. The only blood I wish was included is if I shot and didn’t kill the animal, then I wish I could see a visual, I have shot you before.
Loved the game, and think that anyone who wants a good game should check out.
~Nick McGuire
