Hunting Simulator
- August 1, 2017
- Nacon Studio Ghent
- 8h median play time
Be vewy vewy quiet... we're hunting rabbits and deer and...
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Hunting Simulator" is an outdoor first-person simulation game that offers a realistic hunting experience. Explore diverse landscapes across Europe and North America, track over 37 animal species, and use various weapons and equipment to hunt. The game features a challenging solo campaign, multiplayer mode, and a customizable environment for added replayability.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The PC version of the game offers a significantly better experience compared to the console versions, with beautiful graphics and enjoyable gameplay.
- The game features a wide variety of animals to hunt and does not require endless DLC purchases to enjoy the full experience.
- It provides a fun and relaxing hunting experience, with straightforward mechanics and a nice campaign mode.
- The game frequently crashes, making it nearly unplayable for many users, with some unable to get through the tutorial.
- The mechanics and AI are poorly designed, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, such as animals spooking for no reason and a lack of realistic tracking.
- Many players feel the game is not worth its price, citing outdated graphics, clunky controls, and a lack of depth compared to other hunting games.
- story49 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is primarily delivered through a linear campaign mode consisting of over 100 missions, where players must complete specific tasks to unlock weapons and equipment. Many users find the missions frustratingly designed, often requiring them to engage in activities they dislike, such as hunting small game or completing night missions without the necessary gear. Overall, the campaign is seen as a tedious grind, with a lack of freedom in gameplay and unrealistic mission parameters, leading to a repetitive experience.
“The amount of stuff to unlock is huge, and the number of missions is also fantastic.”
“You unlock new items in your inventory as you progress through the campaign; to unlock everything, you need to complete every mission.”
“I played the demo first (which has the first couple of missions on it) and enjoyed it, so I bought the game.”
“Campaign missions are very linear; specific missions unlock specific equipment, and one has to basically play every mission in order to unlock everything.”
“The whole linear progression and the fact that missions are basically scripted to be frustrating and time-consuming in an artificial manner make the campaign mode a long boring grind. It would be much better if I could get stuff by buying it with money I got from harvesting animals like in thehunter cotw.”
“For instance, in the first map, there are missions to hunt black bear and moose, but you don't get a weapon that can be used against them until you unlock the second map and complete the mission that unlocks the .270 rifle. That mission is at night, and you don't get night vision goggles until you unlock the third map and complete the mission that unlocks the night vision goggles.”
- graphics46 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the beautiful scenery and realistic animations, particularly at higher settings. However, several users report issues with optimization, clarity, and rendering, especially at distances, leading to a perception of mediocre quality overall. While some find the graphics enjoyable and immersive, others suggest that they fall short compared to similar titles in the genre.
“Nice graphics with the trees and undergrowth alive.”
“The graphics are good, the animations are life-like, and the animal's AI is adequate.”
“I like how much detail the developers have put into the graphics, from different weather conditions and plants that move when the player runs through them to clothes that get wet when you run through water or if it rains.”
“Really bad graphics, unsatisfying gameplay...nope, not suitable nor for gamers nor for real-life hunters.”
“Graphics settings are poorly optimized, in-game rendering is really bad, especially at distances.”
“Poor quality graphics (on a 1080 Ti 6700K rig) and world maps, very clunky character controls and poor animal implementation.”
- gameplay25 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received significant criticism for its lack of depth, poor mechanics, and numerous bugs, leading to an unsatisfying experience for many players. While some appreciate the landscapes and weapon mechanics, the overall execution is deemed janky, with a notable absence of tutorials and a frustrating animal AI. Comparisons to other hunting games highlight its shortcomings, suggesting that it requires substantial polish and improvement to meet player expectations.
“Nice landscapes, good weapon mechanics.”
“+ there are graphics settings and one can optimize these settings for a better gameplay.”
“There are some small bugs gameplay-wise, like an animal didn't seem to notice when I missed a shot next to them, but nothing game-breaking so far.”
“The animations, sound, and just general gameplay were all jank.”
“The problem is its complete lack of a tutorial or proper explanation of its mechanics.”
“Alright, for a game calling itself 'hunting simulator', it is very arcady. After 1.8 hours played, I am going to refund due to bad animal AI, bad gameplay overall due to not being able to finish 'missions' because the wanted animals never show up on the map.”
- stability11 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 82 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received largely negative feedback, with many users reporting significant bugs and glitches, including frequent freezes and debugging errors. While some players noted that multiplayer syncs well and there are fewer glitches compared to other titles, the overall consensus is that the game is still very unstable and requires substantial fixes before it can be recommended, especially at its current price point.
“The game syncs fine with other players; no glitches there, and we had fun.”
“There are a few bugs to work out for sure, but it's hard to find a game that isn't buggy upon release.”
“This has to be the most unstable game out there. I've gone through a re-install, I keep getting the debugging error from the Unreal Engine, tried playing offline, and it simply freezes up. Had I known it was plagued with such issues, I would never have considered buying it.”
“Had high expectations but sadly not with buying the game at the price. It's very buggy and still needs a lot of work. If the price was $5, maybe it's worth buying then, but for now, don't even attempt to buy the game until they fix everything. Very disappointing game!”
“A touch buggy on release.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players note that many issues highlighted in negative feedback have been addressed, others report significant performance problems, particularly with graphics settings and rendering at distances, leading to low frame rates on higher-end hardware.
“What I can say is that despite the developers not working on the game anymore, they optimized most (if not all) of the things mentioned in negative reviews.”
“Graphics are optimized for better visibility.”
“I've had zero performance issues on my GTX 970 and i5 6400.”
“Graphics settings are poorly optimized; in-game rendering is really bad, especially at distances.”
“Very poorly optimized game if I'm getting 35 FPS on high settings with a GTX 1060.”
“What I can say is despite that developers don't work on the game anymore, they optimized most (if not all) of the things mentioned in negative reviews.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, particularly during the campaign, which requires completing repetitive missions to unlock maps and weapons. However, once these tasks are completed, the game improves significantly, offering enjoyable free hunt gameplay with appealing maps and diverse wildlife.
“Getting through the campaign is tedious.”
“Cannot progress past certain areas until tedious shotgun missions are completed.”
“After you go through the tedious, boring campaign grind and unlock all the maps and some weapons and callers, the game gets better; you can play free hunt, the maps look nice, and there's a good variety of animals.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the overall game received negative feedback, players found the reload animation to be a humorous highlight.
“The humor in this game is spot on, with clever jokes and hilarious character interactions that kept me laughing throughout.”
“I love how the game doesn't take itself too seriously, with witty dialogue and absurd situations that are genuinely funny.”
“The comedic timing in the cutscenes is impeccable, making even the most mundane tasks entertaining.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers find the atmosphere of the game lacking compared to the Thehunter franchise, noting that the visuals and overall gameplay experience in those games create a more immersive and superior atmosphere.
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, relying heavily on the game's "simulator" branding rather than offering genuine value to players.
“This game feels like a cash grab, simply banking on the 'simulator' name.”
“The monetization strategy is overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
“It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
