When I first started playing this game I honestly thought very little of it. A free to play hunting game just didn't sound fun to me. I was dead wrong. The moment you get your first kill is the moment you learn to love this game. It's a game that requires patience. You have to be mindful of the noise you make, how visible you are and even the wind direction, as animals can easily smell you if you're not careful. You have to listen out for calls, track them by marks and droppings, and then when you find it, you need to get a clean, painless kill. The game doesn't punish you for not killing the animal in a single shot outright, but if you wound the target instead of killing it, you can expect a few minutes of having to track a panicked animal, instead of being able to harvest it immediately and move on.

The selection of weapons as you begin the game is terribly limited. A single rifle, which can be upgrated with a subscription to a basic shotgun and a revolver handgun. But as you play, and if you're willing to put a bit of money into it (and support the devs, they're nice folk!), your options grow vastly. Several varieties of rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows/crossbows and muzzle loaders can be bought, along with a huge variety of ammunitions. Shotguns can have buckshot, birdshot or slugs, for an example.

Not only that, but the gear and equipment you can get is fantastic as well. A variety of different outfits with different stats that'll help you against different prey. Urine spreys and lures to attract prey. Wind indicators and ground blinds. Camping gear, climbing gear, first aid kits. There's a lot of selection in regards to what you can bring along with you. It helps too that the game is gorgeous. It's not 'next gen', but it's pretty. The maps are huge. You can wander around for literally hours stalking prey and constantly be seeing new and interesting terrain. The land makes such a huge difference to how you hunt as well, how you approach your prey and whether or not you get seen or not.

The only downside is that, well, it's "free to play". Sort of. The game has a mix of subscription fees and micropayments, and some may find that distasteful. There are those that want one or the other; if you're buying stuff for micropayments, then you shouldn't need a monthly payment. If you're paying monthly, then you shouldn't need micropayments. The subscription does give you a few items and the basic guns you need to hunt every animal in the game, mind you, but if you want variety in your weapons or looks, you'll likely need to pull out the credit card; again. And yet, I don't really personally mind. This is a niche title and the developer needs to be funded if the game is to survive. A nice way (or at least an optimistic way) of thinking of it is to look at it like a sort of kickstarter. You fund the game, and you get rewarded.

Still, like I said, I can easily recommend this game. I'm not a hunter. I'm primarily an RPG / strategy / Dota 2 player. Yet I just absolutely adore this game. Every hunt is so satisfying, and it has these really nice ups and downs, where you go from tensely stalking your prey, to just relaxing and wandering the woods seeking the next. Plus. It's free to check out! What've you got to lose? :)

When I first started playing this game I honestly thought very little of it. A free to play hunting game just didn't sound fun to me. I was dead wrong. The moment you get your first kill is the moment you learn to love this game. It's a game that requires patience. You have to be mindful of the noise you make, how visible you are and even the wind direction, as animals can easily smell you if you're not careful. You have to listen out for calls, track them by marks and droppings, and then when you find it, you need to get a clean, painless kill. The game doesn't punish you for not killing the animal in a single shot outright, but if you wound the target instead of killing it, you can expect a few minutes of having to track a panicked animal, instead of being able to harvest it immediately and move on. The selection of weapons as you begin the game is terribly limited. A single rifle, which can be upgrated with a subscription to a basic shotgun and a revolver handgun. But as you play, and if you're willing to put a bit of money into it (and support the devs, they're nice folk!), your options grow vastly. Several varieties of rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows/crossbows and muzzle loaders can be bought, along with a huge variety of ammunitions. Shotguns can have buckshot, birdshot or slugs, for an example. Not only that, but the gear and equipment you can get is fantastic as well. A variety of different outfits with different stats that'll help you against different prey. Urine spreys and lures to attract prey. Wind indicators and ground blinds. Camping gear, climbing gear, first aid kits. There's a lot of selection in regards to what you can bring along with you. It helps too that the game is gorgeous. It's not 'next gen', but it's pretty. The maps are huge. You can wander around for literally hours stalking prey and constantly be seeing new and interesting terrain. The land makes such a huge difference to how you hunt as well, how you approach your prey and whether or not you get seen or not. The only downside is that, well, it's "free to play". Sort of. The game has a mix of subscription fees and micropayments, and some may find that distasteful. There are those that want one or the other; if you're buying stuff for micropayments, then you shouldn't need a monthly payment. If you're paying monthly, then you shouldn't need micropayments. The subscription does give you a few items and the basic guns you need to hunt every animal in the game, mind you, but if you want variety in your weapons or looks, you'll likely need to pull out the credit card; again. And yet, I don't really personally mind. This is a niche title and the developer needs to be funded if the game is to survive. A nice way (or at least an optimistic way) of thinking of it is to look at it like a sort of kickstarter. You fund the game, and you get rewarded. Still, like I said, I can easily recommend this game. I'm not a hunter. I'm primarily an RPG / strategy / Dota 2 player. Yet I just absolutely adore this game. Every hunt is so satisfying, and it has these really nice ups and downs, where you go from tensely stalking your prey, to just relaxing and wandering the woods seeking the next. Plus. It's free to check out! What've you got to lose? :)