Cabela's Dangerous Hunts

 PlayStation 2
Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
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  1. Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
    50
    It's very fast paced and probably about as close as a hunting game will ever get to mimicking a typical first-person shooter. [Jan 2004, p.114]
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  2. PSM Magazine
    60
    Controls are too sensitive even at the lowest setting, animal AI is set to "charge!" constantly, and collision detection is rugged. [Jan 2004, p.48]
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  3. Game Informer
    48
    The only danger in this game is that you might get electrocuted while smashing your TV for showing you this ugly, tedious crap. [Jan 2004, p.135]
  5. GameZone
    80
    A solid title, sporting great graphics and intensive action. The new features are certainly welcome but do take this game away from the purist hunting title that it was.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 40
  3. Negative: 5 out of 40
  1. MaxSteelRocks
    Aug 2, 2021
    10
    I played this game all the time as a kid and it brought me great memories. Having a diverse map and animals to hunt it was fun predictingI played this game all the time as a kid and it brought me great memories. Having a diverse map and animals to hunt it was fun predicting where they would show up on the map.… Full Review »
  2. EGMONEYGAMING
    Nov 17, 2018
    4
    Fun story: I was at goodwill one time (I don’t remember why) and I saw this game being sold for a dollar. I figured “hey why not” so I boughtFun story: I was at goodwill one time (I don’t remember why) and I saw this game being sold for a dollar. I figured “hey why not” so I bought it. When I first tried it on my PS2, the game actually started up just fine, so it seemed to already be off to a good start. I then went to the hunter select screen. There weren’t that many different options, but I figured all right, that’s not what is important. I then selected out all my gear, reading up on the hard-to-read descriptions about the different items, and finally got ready for the hunting experience of a lifetime. I don’t hunt, since I hate waking up early and sitting, doing nothing for eight or ten hours straight. I figured, “This game must take the experience of hunting and make it more exciting, right?”

    It doesn’t.

    This game is loaded with issues. The biggest problem is how tedious it is. The cardinal rule of making a video game is NEVER, EVER make a game boring. Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts is the type of game that sounds fun when you read the box art, but then you play it and you realize it’s not very glorious. What makes this game so tedious is that there seems to be only one or two of an animal throughout the ENTIRE map, so finding anything is ridiculously difficult. I understand that they wouldn’t want to have too many animals on the map to make it too easy, but adding a couple more throughout would have made the game a lot better. It’s even worse when something else gets the kill (like a wolf killing a deer) before you get the chance. You have to restart the mission and go through all the boredom again. This game is such a chore to sit through. While I give it credit for having many different types of species available, most of the game ends up feeling the same. You can only play a couple missions at the beginning, and the rest have to be unlocked. It doesn’t even feel good to get a kill, since you feel like it was just luck that you ended up near the animal. It can also be a problem the other way around, where a bear will be chasing you, but they are miles behind and the game won’t let you use certain items like tripods or ground blinds. This is extremely irritating. It can be difficult to control the game, even if you play around with the settings. The navigation is also a pain, with many hills that are too steep to climb, as well as invisible walls. However, there is one item that makes the game a little less tedious. The GPS item is definitely one of the most useful. It will show your current location and even help find animals easier. I give them a lot of credit for adding this, and at only forty dollars it’s a really good deal.

    There is also a system where you can set your stats to your liking, such as making your character move faster, moving more quietly or have more steadiness when holding the firearm. Unfortunately, this system is very flawed. You set the stats when you create your profile, but if you go into the game and find that you don’t like how you set it up, well that’s just too bad! You will have to delete your profile and create a new one. It would have been better if you started out with lower stats and slowly got to build up by progressing through the game. Even as is, I don’t notice much of a stat difference. No matter how high you set the agility, it takes way too long to recharge and runs out way too quickly. In the Winter, you might run out and have to catch your breath after only five seconds! The best way to get around this would be to wear warmer clothing. However, this is a good example of how fun gameplay can be more important than realism. You will constantly need to sell guns, buy new guns, even buy more ammo, buy new clothing depending on the season, food, water, and buy different calls. I understand they implemented this so the game would have more strategy, but it just makes it more annoying. I will also give them credit that selling something gives you your full money back, so you never feel like it’s being wasted or you are running out too fast.

    I would just like to make note that Most of what I played is the career mode, on medium difficulty. However, i have played custom hunts before. They still share most of the same issues, but you can choose which animals to hunt for. In this mode, you have to buy specific tags, so if you go in the game to find an animal you don’t have a tag for, you can’t shoot it. This is irritating because it might be one of the only animals you see all game. The game does manage to capture the tediom of hunting, but it still doesn’t change the fact that its main goal isn’t something to be proud of.

    If you’re a hunting fan and you have a lot of patience, maybe give this game a try. However if you aren’t into the hunting life, this won’t do you any favors. I haven’t played any of the later installments, but from what I’ve heard, they aren’t really much better.    … Full Review »
  3. Duke_Nukem
    Sep 23, 2015
    6
    This game is not a hunting simulation, which is a good thing coz that would be boring. Being attacked by hordes of wild animals sounds likeThis game is not a hunting simulation, which is a good thing coz that would be boring. Being attacked by hordes of wild animals sounds like way more fun than walking around in a forest for hours trying to find a deer, which will run away as soon as you come in smelling distance! Unfortunately this game is not as fun at it should have been.

    First of all your character has a total lack of stamina. You can only walk like 5 feet before you're out of stamina and start huffing and puffing like an old man who suffers from asthma. This unfortunate handicap seems to be present in all Cabela's hunting games and should be left out in my opinion.

    It can also get a bit frustrating if your character gets stuck in the scenery, more than once did i couldn't get passed a bush or dead tree trunk. Also the paths on which you walk can be very narrow, left and right of you there are hills that look like you can get over them (but nope, you can't) and everywhere around the map there are borders of plants and water that you can't cross. You character may be a hunter but he/she can't swim or walk through a small bush.

    Luckily there is the Action Zone game mode in which the wild animals will come running at you, so you wont have to walk very far to get into some fierce action. After you kill the required amount of animals a portal will open on a timer to get to the next round. It can get very confusing when you are being attacked from all sides by wild predators, especially if you get low on ammo.

    There is also a the usual career mode called Career Hunt and also a Quick Hunt mode in which you can chose a male or female character, a hunting region and hunting season. You have to chose a hunting tag for the animal you want to kill. If you shoot another animal you will be reprimanded.

    All in all this game can be pretty fun for a little while, but it could have been so much better! More open areas would be nice and it's a pitty that there was never a good sequel to this game ,eventhough it has so much potential.    … Full Review »
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