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Hunting Simulator

I’ve never been hunting in real life. Probably never will. But I get the appeal of it. I just don’t agree with all the killing.
Hunting Simulator Game Cover
57%Game Brain Score
graphics, gameplay
story, stability
54% User Score Based on 242 reviews
Critic Score 60%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStation
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Hunting Simulator Game Cover

About

Hunting Simulator is a single player and multiplayer shooter game. It was developed by Nacon Studio Ghent and was released on August 1, 2017. It received neutral reviews from both critics and players.

Hunting Simulator presents 35 species throughout 12 areas, including well-known hunting regions such as the mountains of Colorado, the oak forests of France, and the snowy plains of Alaska. Each environment is populated by superbly modeled animals brought to life with behaviors from a realistic AI. Hunt solo in campaign, free hunt, and shooting practice modes, or join up to two others for online c…

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
Hunting Simulator screenshot
+6
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54%
Audience ScoreBased on 242 reviews
graphics19 positive mentions
stability9 negative mentions
  • The game is fun and provides a casual hunting experience, making it enjoyable for players of all ages.
  • Graphics are praised for their realism, with well-designed landscapes and immersive environments.
  • The multiplayer capabilities allow for cooperative play, enhancing the overall experience.
  • The game frequently crashes, making it unplayable for many users and leading to frustration.
  • There are significant design flaws, such as a poor tracking system and lack of realistic animal behavior, which detract from the hunting experience.
  • The campaign mode is tedious and linear, requiring players to unlock equipment and maps in a frustrating manner.
  • graphics
    63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the vibrant environments and beautiful scenery, particularly at higher settings. However, many users report issues such as poor optimization, mediocre visuals, and rendering problems, especially at distances, leading to a general sentiment that the graphics do not meet expectations compared to other titles in the genre. Overall, while there are moments of visual appeal, the game's graphical performance is inconsistent and often criticized.

    • “Nice graphics with the trees and undergrowth alive.”
    • “While it isn't perfect, there is much more to do and the graphics are very nice.”
    • “Graphics are excellent.”
    • “Really bad graphics, unsatisfying gameplay...nope, not suitable nor for gamers nor for IRL hunters.”
    • “Graphics settings are poorly optimized, in-game rendering is really bad, especially at distances.”
    • “Graphically not up to par with Call of the Wild.”
  • story
    61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    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 criticize the mission design as frustrating and poorly executed, often requiring players to engage in activities they dislike, such as hunting small game or nighttime missions, to progress. Overall, the campaign is seen as a tedious grind, lacking flexibility and realism, particularly in multiplayer modes and specific mission types like waterfowl hunting.

    • “The tracking system is simplistic, and the campaign is really a large series of missions (>100 of them).”
    • “You unlock new items in your inventory as you progress through the campaign; to unlock everything, you need to pass every mission, but I didn't want to go free hunting after 111 missions of the campaign; it was enough for me.”
    • “But overall, the game runs flawlessly; the missions are great, but there could be tons more of them.”
    • “Campaign missions are very linear; specific missions unlock specific equipment, and one has to basically play every mission in order to unlock everything.”
    • “Missions are very poorly designed: in every mission, there's plenty of animals that have nothing to do with the mission, but whatever animal you need to harvest to complete the mission is very difficult to find. I often have to restart missions to get the mission animal to show up, tracks are mostly useless and often point me to a random spot, and I end up having to find the animal by scanning the area with binoculars. Animals often spook for no apparent reason.”
    • “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.”
  • gameplay
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay has received significant criticism for its lack of depth and polish, with many reviewers noting poor mechanics, unsatisfactory animal AI, and a lack of engaging features like jumping or vaulting. While some appreciate the landscapes and weapon mechanics, the overall experience is described as buggy and arcadey, leading many to recommend other hunting games like Thehunter franchise instead. Overall, players feel the game has potential but requires substantial improvements to be enjoyable.

    • “Nice landscapes, good weapon mechanics.”
    • “+ there are graphics settings and one can optimize these settings for a better gameplay.”
    • “The overall gameplay could still use some work I will admit but, other than that the game is not so bad.”
    • “The gameplay so far, 105 minutes, is totally without sound.”
    • “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 and overall bad gameplay, as I can't finish 'missions' because the wanted animals never show up on the map. 'Campaign' mode seems to be the only way to unlock guns, and free mode is lackluster; I don't seem to gain anything from it.”
    • “This is my opinion: I do not like this game. I believe it has potential, but the graphics are not what I expected and the gameplay is really bugged. I play on one of the highest-end computers out there, and it's glitched and bugged out.”
  • stability
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has received significant criticism, with many users reporting numerous bugs and glitches, including frequent freezes and Unreal Engine debugging errors. While some players note fewer issues compared to similar titles, the overall consensus is that the game is plagued by instability, making it a frustrating experience for many. Despite these problems, a few players find humor in the glitches, suggesting that the game can still be enjoyable if approached with a lighthearted attitude.

    • “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.”
    • “How is this game so much more buggy and glitchy than Call of the Wild?”
    • “Less glitches than Call of the Wild.”
  • optimization
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Despite the developers no longer supporting the game, users note that many optimization issues highlighted in negative reviews have been addressed. However, some players still report poor graphics settings and inadequate rendering, leading to low frame rates, particularly on higher settings with mid-range hardware like the GTX 1060. Overall, while improvements have been made, significant optimization challenges remain.

    • “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 (for optimized visibility):”
    • “Graphics settings are poorly optimized; in-game rendering is really bad, especially at distances.”
    • “Very poorly optimized game if I'm getting 35fps on high settings with a GTX 1060.”
    • “Despite the developers not working on the game anymore, they optimized most (if not all) of the things mentioned in negative reviews.”
  • grinding
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the campaign grind tedious and boring, but once they unlock all the maps, weapons, and callers, the game improves significantly, offering enjoyable free hunt gameplay with appealing maps and a diverse range of animals.

    • “Getting through the campaign is tedious.”
    • “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.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with reviewers feeling that it exploits the "simulator" label without delivering substantial value.

    • “This is a blatant cash grab, simply banking on the 'simulator' name.”
    • “The monetization strategy feels exploitative 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.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviewers consistently find the atmosphere of the game lacking, particularly when compared to the superior visuals and immersive experience offered by the Thehunter franchise. Overall, the game's atmosphere does not meet the expectations set by its competitors.

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60%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews
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8h Median play time
8h Average play time
8-8h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Hunting Simulator is a shooter game.

Hunting Simulator is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing Hunting Simulator.

Hunting Simulator was released on August 1, 2017.

Hunting Simulator was developed by Nacon Studio Ghent.

Hunting Simulator has received neutral reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its graphics but disliked it for its story.

Hunting Simulator is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include TheHunter: Call of the Wild, Way of the Hunter, Hunting Simulator 2, Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts, theHunter Classic and others.