Its been a long time.
Early btis year, they released a new hunting game, named Call of the Wild, on PC. It made use of their new and most fomridable Apex graphics engine, an inhouse development. The result was a dramatically improved rendering of the envuironment and nature, used to depict an American and a German hunting reserve of together 128 km2. The game plays partly different, has not as many microtransactions needed, just one or two DLCs, and hunter explore the wild, get ingame money by whcih they ust live to pay for consumables, other equipment, all the kind of stuff that in Classic The Hunter costed real money. Big improvemnt. However, when I watched youtube videos, what I saw was plenty of arcade-like action, adifferent interface, features that appeared to be gimmick-like, and so I was kept away.
However. I noticed that the game has been brought to xbox and playstation 4 meanwhile. And suddenly it all fell into a matching place, the interfce, the gimmick stuff, the lack of real money icrotransactions. The game on PC probbaly was just a test ballon to see how it runs and whether the conepot worsk. I think they had consoles on mind from beginning on. And you know what? I play it on PS4 since tw days, and it works mindblowingly well!
Its a different experience than Classic Hunter, but then, also surprisingly similiar in other ways. The beaut of the word that is laid out before your eyes, is amongst the best looking I have ever seen in any computer generated playworld. The concept to let the player all alone on the wild, playing through full day and night cycle and managing his resources, goals, rest, is right up to my taste, an open sandbox world like I want it, with the flair and fascination of the rough wild to be seen in a film like Stalker. I cannot comment on "realism", since I have not had much oppotunity to assess the behaviour of animals and wepaons, but I mut say the fast-paced action to be seen in video son the PC version earlier this year, simply is not tkaing place for me. The game is not really "playing", its an experience. You. The wild. Time passing. And sometimes you may see an animal, though stly you hear them (in surprisingly high numbers...). Though I really know how to play The Hunter, after so many hundreds and hundres of hours, I still have not killed my first prey.
Games like this are not for everybody, and tis hunting game does not comoare to any other around, whcih all are more action-oriented. But if you have a taste for this kind of thing, try this, and try the console version. It works really well, and the interface with the gamepad also works very well while playing. The menu handling cann be a bit fiddly, I admit, but nothin that really must stop you, or m, from enjoying this to play. Truth is, althogh I do not make money so far becasue I do not mamabge to shoot anything
, I enjoy to simply wander around. Whats new: you wonder at night as well, with or without a torchlight.
The consoles versions have the two DLCs that have been there on PC, included, namely the terrain scooter. They work well, but I question the wisdom of using them, due to their noise.
A third reserve, Taiga, is coming this month, it also will hit the consoles later on. See trailer, its utmost beautiful.
If somebody knows where on PS4 photos shot n the game get stored, let me know please. I do not mean the playstation screenshot function by pressing the Share button, i mean the dedicated virtual camera in the game. I can take photos there, but I have no clue where they get stored. Google does not help me at this.
I'm happy. I did not expect this.
P.S.
Different than claimed by some, the save function does work as designed and intended. It autosaves. It sends you back into the game next time at the closest "lodge" or tent of your last playing position.
And again, the console version, different form the upcoming third reserve, has no real money microtransaction. The base package comes with everything aboard, and uses a system of virtual money that you must earn by completing missions (like shooting a photo with two different bears on it), or harvesting prey).