Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts features an all new storyline that allows would be hunters to learn to track and hunt all types of animals across the United States. The game immediately introduces players to real life professional hunters Wade Middleton, Jim Shockey, Ralph Cianciarulo and Vicki Cianciarulo. After meeting the team and completing a short tutorial mission, players will set off across the Southeast United States in search of deer, boar and other game before moving on to new areas and more dangerous animals. The game has numerous cutscenes to help move along the action, and the introduction of real hunters as characters in the game definitely gives the title a sense of immersiveness and authenticity that has been lacking in some of the more arcade like releases to come from the Cabela's game series recently.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is a first-person shooter game that allows gamers to nearly experience exactly what it's like to hunt in real life. The game does a good job of using all of the various techniques used by hunters to keep out of the sight of animals and to not be sniffed out by their future trophies. Players will have access to a very helpful GPS in-game that helps players locate animal hotspots, tree stands to get better vantage points and other important areas. Once a player is in range, it's time to hold in a deep breath and pull the trigger. The game then goes into a slow motion event that is a really cool innovation for the series before showing where the bullet landed, which organs it hit and other neat statistics about the shot. Players can then assess the damage and quickly choose whether to take another shot or let the animal run away and attempt to track its blood trail.
Once the tutorial mission has been completed, players unlock plenty of missions for the first area of the game. There are three different types of hunting missions included in the campaign for Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts. Regular Hunts are just that; players will be given a type of game to hunt down and be set on their way to capture the trophy in any way they choose. Pro Hunts are similar, but the missions will often have more requirements including the use of certain tools or guns to perform the hunt. These missions are issued by the professional hunters in the game to the player, and completing Pro Hunts reaps much greater rewards for players to use to get better unlocks. Finally, Open Hunt allows players to simply drop in a location and hunt whatever they choose with no time limit and other restrictions. The mode is way more relaxing and a good way to sit back and enjoy the game with friends or family. The three modes are diverse, but mission objectives aren't quite as unique, so missions do seem to repeat similar hunts often times.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is available across a wide range of systems. The Steam version is likely the worst if players choose to play with keyboard and mouse, since aiming becomes incredibly simplistic. A controller can be used to play the game though, and the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions do support the new Top Shot Fearmaster gun controller. The controller works well and will remind any gamer of paying quarters and tokens in the arcade to play similar shooting games, only Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts a full game and storyline to play instead. The gun aims accurately and seems pretty precise for a peripheral that is thrown in for no extra cost to gamers.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is probably the best looking game the franchise has ever seen. That's not to say that the game's environments and character models will blow gamers away, but they look good and definitely deserve some praise. It's worth noting the game looks best when played on PC when compared to Xbox 360 and other platforms, but it performs well across all systems regardless. There is also some good sound designs in the game that really captures sound effects and animal noises perfectly. The game is also fairly easy to control no matter what input method is used, though we preferred the slight challenge of using a normal controller to play the game over the other options available.
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is a fun game even when the game's missions begin getting a bit repetitive. The game has a good sense of progression that helps alleviate any other problems and keep players excited to earn the currency needed to purchase a new unlock. There is a good variety of animals in the game including wolves and rabbits in the late game to also help mix up the action, and there are enough missions to last players until they get much more than their money's worth out of the new release. Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is a change from the arcade style games of the past, and it's a good change that could mean big things are on the way for the series. Fans should hunt down their own copy of Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts today!
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is now available from all major retailers for the MSRP of $29.99 and can be purchased for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U & PC. Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts is rated T by the ESRB for Blood & Violence. For more information on Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Pro Hunts, check out the official Cabela's website.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- Hunt 4 Different Ways and Show Off Trophies to Friends
- Top Shots Fearmaster Controller Support
- Online Leaderboards
- Trophy/Achievement Support
Game Information:
Developer: Cauldron
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (reviewed), Nintendo Wii U & PC
Release Date: March 25, 2014
