Melon
Banned
Initial Release Date: 2017
Developer: Expansive Worlds
Publisher: Expansive Worlds, Avalanche Studios
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Price: $19.99 (base game; goes on sale a lot)
theHunter: Call of the Wild is a hunting simulator for PC and console that lets you experience the thrill of the hunt in a fun and realistic way. Currently, including DLCs, it contains the option to choose between nine reserves to play on: Hirschfelden Hunting Reserve (based on German farmlands), Layton Lake District (based on the Pacific Northwest), Medved-Taiga National Park (based on the Siberian taiga), Vurhonga Savanna Reserve (based on the African savannah), Parque Fernando (based on South America), Yukon Valley (based on the Yukon territory in Alaska), Cuatro Colinas Game Reserve (based on Spain), Silver Ridge Peaks (based on the Rocky Mountains), and Te Awaroa National Park (based on New Zealand). In the current version of the game, there are over 50 species to hunt from (counting DLCs), including animals such as deer, bears, ducks, wolves, and so much more (listed here)! There is also a wide variety of weapons to choose from including rifles, shotguns, pistols, and bows. With such a vast selection, the hunter has to choose their weapons carefully according to the hunted animal in order to get the highest score possible on the animal (more on that later). Shooting isn't the only possibility, though, as every hunter is provided with a camera in order to make the most of your hunts!
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theHunter Beginner Guide
The Mechanics
The game is focused on tracking, stalking, and harvesting animals with the weapons the player either starts out with or has earned over time. Animals can be tracked via their footprints, droppings, vocal calls, and eating or other "need zones" such as drinking and bedding areas. Night hunting is also possible in-game and can be essential in tracking down certain species of animals effectively. Players may use natural vegetation as a visual cover when stalking an animal, but be warned, moving through brush also increases the noise you make. Hunters must also be aware of the wind direction and speed. Many species have a keen sense of smell; this can make getting close to animals difficult even for experienced hunters. Players can get around this by either coming at the animal from a different direction or purchasing a scent eliminator.
How Scoring/Rating Works
The Trophy Rating is an evaluation of an animal's trophy, such as antlers or horns. If a species features no distinct trophy, then weight is used to determine its Trophy Rating. Trophy Ratings are only comparable within the same species.
Trophy Rating generally determines the medal you get when harvesting an animal:
- if the animal has no trophy organ (for example female deer species), then the medal is NONE
- if the Trophy Rating is lower than 20% of the animal's maximum TR, then the medal is BRONZE
- if the Trophy Rating is between 20% and below 60% of the animal's maximum TR, then the medal is SILVER
- if the Trophy Rating is between 60% and below 90% of the animal's maximum TR, then the medal is GOLD
- if the Trophy Rating is 90% of the animal's maximum TR or higher, then the medal is DIAMOND
Something that also helps determine your animal's final TR (Trophy Rating) is harvest checks. Harvest checks determine whether the animal was downed ethically and effectively. If the harvest check is failed, your animal's final medal score will be lowered by one level (so potential Diamonds become Gold, potential Golds become Silver, and so on).
To pass the harvest check, you need to meet these four conditions:
- correct ammo and weapon class must be used: every animal in the game falls into a specific class -- for example, a rabbit is class 1, a blacktail deer is class 4, and so on. Every weapon can be used on a number of classes, so for example, a .243 can be used on classes 2-6; that means you can use a .243 to down a blacktail (class 4) but not a rabbit (class 1).
- animals must be downed with 1 or 2 shots -- you can't shoot the animal 8 times and expect to get a high score, so make sure to aim for vital organs.
- animal's trophy organs must be intact - trophy organs are typically antlers, horns, or its skull entirely, so avoid going for those brain shots.
- hit a vital organ - this is to ensure the shots are ethical and the animal dies as quickly as possible. Aim for the heart, lungs, liver, or neck (too risky tho imo) to pass this check. Spinal cord shots are considered unethical, even though in-game they die very quickly to spine shots, so avoid doing those. This check is passed automatically when shooting small game such as rabbits and birds.
Difficulty
The difficulty of an animal reflects how "big" the animal is in terms of Trophy Rating as well as how aware the animal is of its surroundings. This means that at a higher difficulty level, the animal will pose a bigger challenge to hunt and will require more skill to call and stalk. The Minimum Difficulty for all Species is 1 - Trivial and the Maximum Difficulty can vary depending on the species. Every difficulty has a range of Trophy Rating values. The ratings go as follows:
1 - Trivial
2 - Minor
3 - Very easy
4 - Easy
5 - Medium
6 - Hard
7 - Very hard
8 - Mythical
9 - Legendary
10 - Fabled (Reserved for Great Ones only)
Multiplayer
Multiplayer allows players to play with one another online. A game can either be hosted or joined via the Multiplayer tab in the main menu. If the host of the game owns DLCs other players do not own, the players are still able to play and use the content so long as the host is still online. Players are also able to join games on the DLC maps without owning them.
A multiplayer session is different from a singleplayer session in these ways:
- the mission system is disabled, meaning no mission can be finished while playing on multiplayer
- Instead of missions, the host can activate challenges for the players, which are usually about the amount of harvested animals or a specific killing method. However, completing a challenge does not yield a reward
- All players have an indicator on the map as well as in-game (which will show their name and distance)
- Spotting an animal will make it visible for all players in an appropriate proximity
- If a player harvests an animal shot by another player, the cash and experience points will be rewarded to the player that actually shot the animal. However, the animal will be registered in the hunting log of the harvesting player
Miscellaneous Useful Links:
List of all the weapons in the game
List of all the maps in the game
The game's Steam page
The game's Twitter page
Beginner Guide Video
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Now that (most of) the basics are out of the way for those that aren't familiar with the game or just starting out, I will talk about my own experiences with the game! I personally absolutely adore this game and find it a lot of fun. It definitely has some bugs and fixes that need to be made, but overall, I think it's very solid. I will say, though, that this type of game isn't for everyone. It is pretty DLC heavy, however, it isn't pay-to-win or anything like that. You can play and get by just fine on the base game, the DLCs just provide more entertainment. Hunting isn't easy either, especially when you are just starting out. Sometimes it may be over an hour before you successfully down something, and not everyone is up for that. But honestly, that's why I like the game. It's challenging when it wants to be, and it also can be tons of fun and relaxing. Not to mention the landscapes are absolutely gorgeous! And with all that said, I'm gonna post some of my favorite animals I have downed while playing. (Some photos were taken in my lodge ((DLC)), and others on the scoring screen).
Also, if you have any questions or would like me to add some things to the OP, please let me know as this is my very first gaming OT! I'm a pretty huge fan of this game and am really hoping to run into some other fellow COTW nerds that want to rant about how fucking hard it is to find diamonds in this game.
