A new hunting simulator published by Friv2Online has attracted attention thanks to its colorful trailers. It remains to figure out what happened in practice.

The classic hunting genre is not very dynamic, and for five years it has been single-handedly ruled by theHunter: Call of the Wild. Great simulator with a lot of features. But someone is already fed up with it, and someone is not happy with the policy of the developers who have stretched the friv game over a long list of paid add-ons, and not always of high quality. Against this background, Way of the Hunter looked like a contender for giving the genre that same breath of fresh air.

The story of a 29-year-old hunting enthusiast named River begins with the arrival of his beloved grandfather, who is now in the hospital , at the hunting estate . He has a beautiful house, equipped with everything you need, including a laptop and car parking. Through the laptop, basically, we will interact with the world, accepting tasks, buying weapons, and so on.

The main character has a lot in common with the Nez Perce Valley, where he arrived, including a happy childhood. And here lies one of the main features of the Way of the Hunter. The friv game pays great attention to the plot and deepens into psychologism, revealing the characters of the characters and displaying universal human problems. It's interesting to see the drama in a hunting simulator. The developers came up with stories for a whole range of characters and even added animated comics that Rivera's grandfather draws.

Each hunting estate (of which there are many) is someone's story that players will encounter. Accordingly, some tasks will not be related to hunting at all, but still the main part, of course, is devoted to orders for the extraction of the desired animals . For example, for restaurants . Missions are divided into plot and not, which the developers warn about at the very beginning: we can either strictly follow the plot, or forget about the main thing for a while.

The first impression was blurry. Even in the opening video, I saw terrible ripples covering the entire monitor area and especially noticeable on the grass. It turned out that this is not a defective video, but FXAA anti-aliasing destroys the picture. More advanced anti-aliasing solved the problem.

The world as a whole looks nice. It is divided here into two parts - the Nez Perce Valley, this is the USA , and European Transylvania, which I liked much more in color and landscapes. The friv game is very bright, but it is better not to peer into some details. Sometimes the textures are too terrible up close, and far too blurry and lose detail (on ultra). Subjectively, The Way of The Hunter visually seemed somewhat toy, simple. Perhaps there is a lack of a more diverse range and modern technologies that make forests photorealistic.

Both locations are huge and will take a long time to explore. I liked the idea of ​​​​reserves in Call of the Wild more. They are smaller in area, but since these are completely different territories, there is more than enough climatic, visual and any kind of diversity.

A big problem is moving around the territory of hunting farms. The developers endowed River with an advanced SUV, reminiscent of a Jeep Wrangler, in which they put a motor from a washing machine. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain why the car practically does not pick up speed even on a straight line, when driving uphill it “suffocates” under a slight degree, and only rolling down, you begin to feel at least some semblance of speed.

The car definitely needs to be fixed, the eminent fellow in the genre, when riding an ATV , already at 30-40 km / h, the speed and suspension are clearly felt. In addition, the jeep is not integrated into nature. For example, when trying to storm the stones, he either "stumbles" on them, and the game lags, or the objects are not perceived. So, bushes, instead of being crushed, pass through the body like a knife through butter. But you can shoot down animals!

It's time to move on to the most important thing. Tracking of animals goes mainly through either tracks and needs zones, or through Q, which includes hunting instincts. The vignette is activated and we begin to react to animal sounds. If the animal makes sounds in relative proximity, it displays what kind of animal it is, the distance from us and the emotional state of the potential victim: “Calm”, “Alarmed”, “Ready”.

Models of representatives of the fauna are made at an average level. Sometimes low poly is striking. There are frequent cases when animals fall into a stupor (the badger in the screenshot will not let you lie). And if you look through binoculars, sometimes they move discretely, in jerks. Birds can hover in the air. But we are talking about special cases, I would not say that bugs interfere with the friv game.

There are fewer weapons than we would like, it makes no sense to compare with Call of the Wild. Few. Maybe later in the DLC. For me, the feeling of shooting became a disappointment. Having used several rifles, including the most expensive ones, I came to the conclusion that I don’t feel weapons. There is no pleasure in shooting and even hitting. The visual and diverse statistics that are displayed after the delivery of the animal (you can sell it or make a stuffed animal) did not save the situation.

It was impossible to do without a guide in a hunting simulator, and there is one. Teaches the basics of the friv game, introduces the characters and helps to understand when the animal sleeps, eats, and rests. And where. But first you need to find the zones of need and hunt for information to open up. So it is with the map, we lay it ourselves when moving. The navigator of the car, apparently, is helpless, so we get to know the area on foot or when moving by car.

There are storage sheds scattered around the map, climbing which you can track down animals from there, especially if there is any need nearby, be it a resting place or a watering hole. We'll have to wait, but it's much more offensive to scare away the beast, carelessly crawling through the bushes. Hunting is very difficult. Difficulty level is configurable.

Way of the Hunter didn't evoke the excitement of the hunt, although the time spent in the game wasn't unpleasant. Given the existence of Call of the Wild, the project is difficult to recommend. However, there is a chance that over time the novelty will change, yet it is a pleasant game that should be given a chance. I hope the creators will try to improve and expand.