theHunter product reviews

As this is my first review I thought it appropriate that I review a type of game I've never played before namely a hunting simulator. I first came across TheHunter when I was trawling through Steam looking for Free to Play games. Now I'm not averse to paying for my games but I've found some great games through the Free to Play section on Steam and as it turns out TheHunter is no exception.

At first the fact that the free version of the game was limited to one weapon and a license to hunt only two animals (one of which requires a different weapon) made me wonder at the term Free to Play. There are multiple ways to pay for the game including 3, 6 or 12 month memberships. While this sort of payment model is a bit of a sticking point for me I decided to give it a go anyway. I'm glad I did.

This game is exactly what it appears to be. The player is a hunter in a very large open world environment with amazing vistas. There is a range of animals in the initial hunting area known as "Loggers Point" and while they can't all be hunted in the free version it can be a challenge to track them. The AI used for the animals is extremely effective and the visual effects are little short of stunning. There is a short tutorial which teaches the basics of stalking and harvesting prey after which the player is set loose on the hunting reserve. Once payment has been made the game opens right up and all seven areas can be hunted in. As well as the first two animals there are an additional seventeen animals and a multitude of weapons. Depending on the membership purchased the player receives a number of weapons and equipment.

As well as the weapons and equipment included in the memberships there are other weapons and equipment that can be purchased with in game currency some of which can be won (gm$) and some of which must be purchased with real world money (em$). Almost all of the weapons require em$ to purchase whereas much of the equipment can be purchased with gm$.

There are also missions to be completed and online competitions to enter. These are the only way of winning in game currency. The missions let the player win gm$ and the competitions offer the very slim chance of winning em$. The payment model they've chosen to use is something I find quite offensive and while I admit that this is an extremely well made and entertaining game, it is only just enough to stop me avoiding the game by principle.

Overall I would recommend this game but advise anyone thinking of subscribing to go in with their eyes open.