Dangerous Hunts Series likes and dislikes(long read)

[General Iffy]

I've played every game in the Dangerous Hunts series. There are certain elements to each game that I like and dislike. Every game in the Dangerous Hunts series is different than the last.

Dangerous Hunts 1(PS2)

This game was far more like a Big Game Hunter title than future incarnations. I liked the weapon selections and the challenge missions in this game. Its the only game in the dangerous hunts series that offers different ammo grains(weights). The challenges were nice but sometimes made difficult by the various flaws of the game. The animals were easily spooked and could see you through solid terrain. The terrain was rather linear and prevented you from climbing up and getting to a higher vantage point. Scopes were rendered useless at times due to the draw distance of the engine and the limitations of the PS2 hardware. Grass tended to pop up right infront of you and rocks made movement difficult.

The Action Zone was pretty sweet. It provided 12 missions where animals would attack you and you had to defend yourself. It was similar in some respects to maneater mode.

The game also had a quick hunt mode and a charter hunt mode where you could earn extra money to buy weapons and ammo. The game even allowed you to select from a limited number of hunters to play as including female hunters. I would love to be able to select my character in a future dangerous hunts title.

I didn't like the buying and selling mode. If you bought a gun you should be able to store it somewhere like you can in big game hunter 2005. The predator attack camera and bullet camera were a nice touch. I hated that knockback thing that would happen everytime you got hit by a predator. It made melee attacks and close range shots extremely difficult.

Dangerous Hunts 2(PS2)

This game was a story driven fps and a major departure from the typical Cabela game. The gun selection was limited but the game was challenging. Animals like lions, leopards and other predators were deadly and could tackle you. Even the hippo and buffalo could dole out serious damage. The story was moderatly interesting and the boss fights were an interesting inclusion.

Finding and shooting the hidden tree stumps on levels unlocked cheats and also unlocked three bonus survival stages. These stages forced you to fight of waves of attacking animals and proved a challenge at times. This game didn't feature purchacable items and healing was automatic.

Overall the game was ok but again was limited by the PS2 hardware. I am sure the draw distance is better on the PC version. The graphics were pretty good for a PS2 title and the gameplay was fun. I figure the same is true in both cases for the PC version of Dangerous Hunts 1.

Dangerous Hunts 2009(Xbox 360)

Yet another major departure. This one featured unlockable and upgradable weapons but no money was earned for trophies. It was the first and only game in the series to feature quick time events which it use a little to much. If attacked by a pack of wolves the qte would prompt and you could dispatch them all with the butt of your rifle.

There were several hilarious quick time events in dangerous hunts 2009 like the bear hug attack and the crocodile attack in Peru. I would love to see quick time eventsmake a return but in a limited capacity. No midair knifings of pounching lions even though that was pretty effing cool.

Weapon upgrades were made using points earned by beating missions, action zone missions and bonus missions.

Dangerous Hunts 2011(Xbox 360)

A story driven game and yet another major departure. This game was by far the best in the series at least in my opinion. It featured a great story mode, multiple difficulties, medkits instead of magic healing, enemies could really do some damage and the limited number guns, limited quality of these guns and lack of SIGNIFICANT numbers of medkits made surviving diffucult. It also had the best boss battles of the dangerous hunts series.

I never really liked the lack of gun models in this game or the fact that the protagonist had unlimited pistol ammo. I have always felt that melee attacks with a knife or machete should be the last resort whne out of ammo. I also felt that the guns were tooled specifically for that gun peripheral and this at times made playing with an xbox controller difficult.

The QTE's were taken away, replaced by 'quick shot' events that happened randomly. I liked the fact that low health triggered special events like the wolves and lions tackling the protagonist and the protagonist shooting them off. This seemed more likely if mobbed by wild animals. I also liked how the leopards ambushed you by jumping down on you from the trees.

This game also introduced an arcade rail shooter challenge that was coop and could be played with up to four people. I have always felt that this mode could have been better if the difficulty curve had been reduced for people playing with an xbox controller. This game mode was tailor made for the top shot elite. This mode proved to be way too difficult for a single player.

Dangerous Hunts 2013(PC and Xbox 360)

A story driven game with quite a bit in common with Dangerous Hunts 2011. This time the 'quick shot' events can be triggered. They also gave 'boss' animals the the ability to tackle the protagonist at which point the protagonist has to shoot them off. This I felt should have been a qte. You shouldn't be able to shoot them off with a pistol when your pistol is at your side and you are pinned to the ground. The animals don't do enough damage and there are waaaaaay too many medkits and ammo pickups in each level. This game needed a higher difficulty setting like its predecessor. The main missions are fun and they brought back the arcade rail shooter mode. This mode is now easier but it features fewer levels than Dangerous Hunts 2011.

I love the addition of the new Maneater Mode that has offline coop. I feel that it could have been more fun with a limited online mode expecially on xbox live. This was the first game in the Dangerous Hunts series to feature downloadable content. The dlc added were an additional three Maneater maps. These maps were free if you had the game on the Playstation 3 but on Xbox it cost 2 dollars per map. These maps should have also been free for people who owned the PC version of Dangerous Hunts 2013. Why are these levels not included in the PC version?

The guns were ok but I really wish they would allow one to buy/unlock and upgrade new weapons. I am not a fan of the pistol having unlimited ammo. I feel that at close range a qte should trigger a close range melee kill or one should be able to defend onself with a knife or a machette melee style like in dangerous hunts 1 and 2. I also think that the advanced preadtory ai should gang up on and attack the player(s) when they get tackled or incapacitated. Whats the point of having a pack\pride when they don't either help or stand guard. I always felt that in two player coop the animals should surround downed players and provide a bullet shield of sorts while attacking the downed player.

Edit: Also, I forgot to add that I didn't like the blur and red effect you get in Dangerous Hunts 2013. In some games where you don't have a health bar that is the only way to tell your helth is low or getting low. i had a health bar so there was no need for that blur/bloody screen effect. It must be some artistic effect thats popular with video games right now. Its not really necessary unless you have no idea how much health you have left.

Final

If Cabela ever decides to make a game in the future with qte events I would like to see the leopards jump on the backs of players like the mountain lions do in Assassins Creed 3. Even though this is super unlikely I would love to have a map/hunt editor of some sort or a custom quick hunt mode where you can choose the location and predators/prey and numbers of predators and prey. I was thinking along the lines of far cry 3 map editor or the mission creator from the hunting unlimited franchise.

Having predators and prey interact more often would be nice as would be some sort of single player campaign coop mode where I can play through the campaign with a friend.

Well. That took longer to write than I expected. I love this franchise. Its a nice change in pace from the typical shooters I play. People compare this to call of duty modern warfare with animals however I would compair it to dino crisis 2 but with modern animals instead of dinosaurs and its a FPS survival horror with limited third person elements whereas dino crisis is a crazy camera angle survivor horror.

[McDonald's All New McChungus]

Dangerous Hunts 1 is very finnicky on modern PCs (along with Big Game Hunter 2004 Season), and Dangerous Hunts 2 does have a bit more draw distance from what I know (though won't work on Windows 10). Dangerous Hunts 2009 used SIXAXIS motion control for QTE's, Dangerous Hunts 2011 never shut up about Playstation Move, and Dangerous Hunts 2013 works fine. Just hope to see another Cabela's game to return to its roots though like Pro Hunts did.

[[KR-X] Tarbtano]

Lovely, well made reviews here

[Dog]

dude, i remember playing the ♥♥♥♥ out of dangerous hunts 1, 2 and alaskan adventures on the ps2 as a kid.

Alaskan adventures never really grabbed my attention as dangerous hunts did. 2 was fun for a playthrough or twobut didnt have the in-depth that 1 had.

I loved dangerous hunts 1, need to dig through my draw of old ps2 games, i may still have it or alaskan adventures