After several years without any hunting games to speak of –
despite having tons during the PS3 / 360 generation – 2017 brought not one but
two serious hunting sims to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. We’ve played Hunting
Simulator and theHunter: Call of the Wild extensively and will share our final
verdict on which game hunting fans should buy right here.
First off, please read our full reviews of both titles for
more in-depth info on each game –
Hunting Simulator review - Buy the game at Amazon.com
TheHunter: Call of the Wild review - Buy the game at Amazon.com
Content
In terms of content, both games feature plenty of stuff to
do to justify their $40 price tags. You can spend dozens of hours playing both
of them, so $40 seems perfectly reasonable to me. As far as which one has the
better content, well, let’s see.
Hunting Simulator features 12 different environments
spanning arctic tundra, deserts, steep mountains, rolling hills, dense forests,
and more. There are 37 species of animals, including birds, along with tons of
different firearms and items to choose from.
TheHunter: Call of the Wild doesn’t have as much “stuff” –
12 animal species (no birds and no varmints lower the count quite a bit) and
less equipment to choose from – and only features two maps – one in Europe and
one in the Pacific Northwest in the USA. Most importantly, the big game trophy
animals are all represented and while there are only two maps, they are
absolutely huge. The two maps add up to 50-square miles of diverse open terrain
that feature several different biomes and types of terrain in each.
As far as content goes, I honestly consider the two games to
be fairly even. Hunting Simulator boasts bigger numbers of maps / species /
etc., but it is buoyed by a lot of “fluff” that doesn’t really matter. When you
look at key species and key environments, both games will provide hunting fans
with exactly what you’re looking for.
It also has to be noted that both games also feature the
same annoying grind to actually accessing all of the content – you have to
unlock all of the weapons and equipment by playing for hours and hours – and it
is equally obnoxious in both. TheHunter pulls out a slight edge here since both
of its maps are available from the start while you have to unlock the 12 areas
in Hunting Simulator one by one.
Winner: Draw
Gameplay
Both theHunter: Call of the Wild and Hunting Simulators are
first-person open world games where you can go where you want and hunt any
species you want and kind of do whatever. Likewise, both games require you to
be mindful of the wind and the noise you make and both have onscreen indicators
for tracks and animal sounds to point you in the right direction of where you
should be able to find something to shoot at. And both games start off fairly
slowly where you have weaker guns and poor equipment and every shot you
successfully take is a miracle until you level up your skills and have some
better equipment.
I do think theHunter: Call of the Wild has some distinct
advantages here, though. I think the hunting and tracking aspects are more
realistic in theHunter than they are in Hunting Simulator and actually finding
animals feels a lot more satisfying because of it. TheHunter also lets you
drive a four-wheeler to get around the massive areas faster, which is much
appreciated. Animal behavior is more realistic in theHunter as well as they
don’t just walk in a straight line (and poop every 15-yards to leave a nice
trail for you to follow) and spooked animals don’t run away for 100-yards and
then turn around and walk straight back at you like they do in Hunting
Simulator. I don’t like the fact that the guns seem way underpowered in
theHunter – so even little deer don’t go down in one shot a lot of the time –
so you spend a lot of time following blood trails through the woods, which isn’t
really realistic (which I can say from experience using the same .243 rifle in
real life that is your first gun in the game). Eventually you get better guns,
though, and theHunter’s other strengths help it separate from Hunting Simulator
even further.
Winner: theHunter: Call of the Wild
Presentation
Presentation-wise, this comparison really isn’t very close.
TheHunter: Call of the Wild is stunningly good looking with lush vegetation and
great lighting and weather effects. And, unlike Hunting Simulator, it has a
draw distance further out than 20-yards in front of you so you don’t see the
game world literally building itself before your eyes as you walk. Looking
through a scope or binoculars in Hunting Simulator is also just painful as the
loss of detail past 50-yards or so is extreme and makes the game look downright
ugly. There is also loss of detail at range in theHunter, but it isn’t nearly
as severe. There is little question that theHunter looks a lot better visually
than Hunting Simulator.
As far as the sound goes, theHunter edges out a victory here
as well. The animal sounds in both games are solid – unrealistically loud and
frequent, but solid – but theHunter: Call of the Wild has far better ambient
environmental sound effects. Multiple species of birds and the wind rustling
through the trees and a ton of other natural sound effects really make you feel
like you’re standing out in nature while playing theHunter.
Winner: theHunter: Call of the Wild
Bottom Line
Overall I have to declare theHunter: Call of the Wild as the
ultimate winner and the game that I would recommend hunting fans to purchase.
Both games have somewhat unsatisfying shooting and having to unlock everything
is a drag, but theHunter: Call of the Wild’s superior gameplay and presentation
make it a much better experience overall.
Overall Winner: theHunter: Call of the Wild
Disclosure: Review codes for both games were provided by their respective publishers.
