theHunter: Call of the Wild

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 54
  3. Negative: 14 out of 54
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  1. Doeboy1
    Feb 13, 2020
    4
    Let me start with the fact that I see hardly any wildlife in any of the maps and the fact that I'm on a mission offline and got to harvest a moose from a hunting stand and cant where I am at all your hunting stands are in the wrong place I use to like the game but now I'm giving low rating and I'm not gonna change my mind you need more animals in all reserves and also turkeys I'd ratherLet me start with the fact that I see hardly any wildlife in any of the maps and the fact that I'm on a mission offline and got to harvest a moose from a hunting stand and cant where I am at all your hunting stands are in the wrong place I use to like the game but now I'm giving low rating and I'm not gonna change my mind you need more animals in all reserves and also turkeys I'd rather go back to playing cabella big game if if… Expand
  2. kubabooba
    Jun 7, 2019
    4
    This game sucks hard. At first glance the graphics are nice and the environmental sounds are immersive but the gameplay design choices for this game are horrible. You start off with a garbage character with useless equipment. The XP system in this game really bogs down the experience. You have to level up your character to unlock new equipment even if you have the money to buy it. SoThis game sucks hard. At first glance the graphics are nice and the environmental sounds are immersive but the gameplay design choices for this game are horrible. You start off with a garbage character with useless equipment. The XP system in this game really bogs down the experience. You have to level up your character to unlock new equipment even if you have the money to buy it. So you might want to go out and hunt some bears but that gun and callers that you want are locked until you level up. You also unlock perks like being able to walk more quietly, steady aim, getting more information about an animal from its footprints, being harder to detect in rain and foggy weather, being able to pin point footsteps more accurately and so on. This basically means that when you start the game, your character is useless until you level up which makes this game difficult and frustrating to play. The game only gives you information about how old poo is but not about the footsteps. So you never have a clear idea of how far away the animal is from you based on the footsteps. Prepare to crouch and crawl while tracking because if you make too much noise, you'll scare the animals away.

    The maps are huge but they feel too big because of how **** it is to find animals in this game. They aren't just randomly scattered around the map. You might head out to that lake or the river or just head out into the forest and you can walk and walk and walk and you won't find a single footprint or hear a call from an animal. Some of the areas just feel empty. So some parts of the map just feel useless. You'll want to find the higher difficulty level animals which are mostly males but feel so rare to find in this game. I mostly found trivial female animals that give about 150XP and this sucked hard because finding a track and following it to find the animal can take up to 20min.

    You can't just go where you want because most of the time there aren't any animals and it feels that the game is playing you. This game just feels like a total slog to play and really lacks any feeling of freedom. Probably the best way to play this game is doing boring missions and waiting around need zones until the animals arrive. You can't just head out your own way and find something worth shooting.

    When starting a map, you have to head out to the lookout points to survey the land to find the outpost that you have to go to and unlock as a fast travel point. This sucks hard because this is supposed to be a hunting game and instead you'll be driving around. I don't understand why fast travel outposts aren't available from the get go? You can travel around with a tent, pitch it and use it as a fast travel point. This is probably the best way to play the game because you can just fast travel back to an outpost, load up on ammo or buy better gear then fast travel back to where you left off. The thing is when you pitch a tent it scares the animals away.

    You have tree stands and tree tripods and these suck because they also scare animals away. You can't lure animals in your direction then place a tree stand above you, climb up and wait for the animals to show up because they get scared away.

    The animal animations are lame. They don't show any weight in their movements. When you shoot they seem to just randomly run around in a circle then run in a random direction. They react to your smell and react to you when they get too close. They make warning and mating sounds which gives you an indicator of about where they are. Of course you can put points in a perk that make the sound indicators from the animals more accurate. But until then, it's vague.

    Overall I got sick and tired of shooting trivial female animals and finding anything better, well, the payoff wasn't worth the time. It's a real shame. This game has great hunting and shooting mechanics, the maps look great but the gameplay design just makes this tough and disappointing to play. It's a total slog to play. If it had more animals scattered around all over the map then this game would be fantastic. It'd feel great to just head out to the lake or to the open fields and be able to find something there. But this game just feels like a huge walkathon.    … Expand
  3. SoloSkyJedi
    Apr 22, 2020
    1
    After playing for over 120 hours, this is my review:
    Terrible performance issues dropping frame-rate as low as 15 FPS at times.
    Terrible UI design that is so clunky it feels like it was made in the late 90s. Awful progression system that locks guns so that even if you earn the in-game cash to purchase them: you still need to level up that weapon skill first. So if you want a new rifle:    After playing for over 120 hours, this is my review:
    Terrible performance issues dropping frame-rate as low as 15 FPS at times.
    Terrible UI design that is so clunky it feels like it was made in the late 90s.
    Awful progression system that locks guns so that even if you earn the in-game cash to purchase them: you still need to level up that weapon skill first. So if you want a new rifle: go hunt a couple dozen or more animals with the rifle you have unlocked first. You know how they always ask to see your Hunter Card when you go to purchase a new hunting rifle at the shop IRL? Yeah me either... cause they DON'T DO THAT. It is ABSURD. Can you imagine the clerk telling you "Oh sorry sir, you don't have the Rifle score for this .45-70. Can I interest you in this nice .223 instead?" ... seriously?!?!?! I did manage to unlock all the rifles in my 100+ hours, but didn't earn any xp for my Shotguns, Pistols, or Bows. The only reason I can think of for this is to arbitrarily draw out the progression so that it takes you longer. In the end I realized I would play for hundreds of hours (literally) before I got to the point where I could just "go on a hunt". Not go out to level up so I could purchase equipment that I wanted to use, or hunt something specific (possibly with a specific gun, in a specific area), or "discover"/unlock all the outposts and viewpoints... I am tired of doing all that. I just wanted to go hunt, the way I wanted to do it.
    Clearly they are enthusiastic about making an "immersive environment", but they don't know how to make "a fun game". There will be many times where the game has given you absolutely zero indication that there is an animal near you. Then you will suddenly hear it flee, while you are sitting still crouched in a bush 10 meters away. Since there was no visual indication, and it made no sound (even though it was clearly moving through the forest), so there was ZERO chance for me to detect it since it was off screen. Turn to the right slowly... then it sees you just as you see it and it is gone just as you realize you just missed an opportunity. BAD GAME DESIGN.
    Playing a mission to hunt a Moose? You'll spot a dozen Coyote around. On a mission for a Coyote? You will go to their need zones and never see one. They are everywhere... until you are on a mission for one. Same with every animal except the unique mission-only animals. You can find them all over, until you need to.
    I wanted to love this game. I tried to for 100+ hours playing it. I just don't because they make bad design choices at almost every turn.
    If you can get past the many, *many*, faults: this can be enjoyable. Also you can't just "start playing and hunt". In this "game" (under the lazy excuse of what they deem to be "immersion") you will wander for a good while before getting to "do anything". Sometimes I play for 2-3 hours and never even spot an animal once. They consider that "immersion", but I just consider that a waste of my time. Games usually try to be respectful of a player's time, being understanding that most people can't sit down and play a game for 4 hours straight. Most games understand not everyone has perfect hearing, or perfect vision: so they offer aids to the player to help with this, where CotW just leaves you in the dark... again in the name of "immersion". So if you have a life outside of gaming, and only game for 2-3 hours at a time: I also do not suggest this game.
    TL;DR - Don't waste your money on this bug-ridden, progression dragging, underdeveloped game. They aren't going to fix it. They are just going to put out new DLC that will break it even further.    … Expand
  4. NeedleBanger
    Jun 2, 2020
    3
    The only reason I'm giving this game a 3 is because of the amazing scenic nature & vast selection of realistic wildlife. The audio/visual is amazing on my 82" 4k 7.1 setup If this game had more funding and they had more time to fix the problems then this game could be one of the great titles of this generation. When this game was first released it was a steaming pile of unplayable trashThe only reason I'm giving this game a 3 is because of the amazing scenic nature & vast selection of realistic wildlife. The audio/visual is amazing on my 82" 4k 7.1 setup If this game had more funding and they had more time to fix the problems then this game could be one of the great titles of this generation. When this game was first released it was a steaming pile of unplayable trash due to all the glitches, and things are still far from perfect.… Expand
  5. wailmer
    Jul 27, 2021
    3
    This game looks nice but is just boring there are not enough animals, I don't want to slowly follow tracks for an hour to maybe shoot a deer.
  6. Redfloda
    Feb 17, 2023
    3
    Buggy and very boring. Animations are poor and animals are annoying and boring. I almost fell asleep. Every step you make sounds like an elephant running what puts you very much in trouble.lol. If you like slow games and if you got plenty of time to waste, then this is the right game for you
  7. Quazder
    Aug 22, 2023
    0
    If you like this game you passed Boomer test. literally one of the most boring games ever

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. DarkStation
    Nov 27, 2017
    70
    While it suffers from seriously botched progression and a smattering of poor design choices, theHunter: Call of the Wild consistently provides a deep and satisfying hunting experience. Not only is it a dramatic departure from the mindless schlock we've been conditioned to seeing; it brings hunting to a height of simulation and strategy that I've never seen before. The game holds a special reverence not just for hunting, but for the spirit of the outdoors in general, making it a relevant testament to our natural landscapes in the modern era. If you're going into theHunter expecting to navigate smooth menus and unlock things at a steady pace, you're in for disappointment. If you're looking for an immersive and dignified hunting experience, you'll be absolutely hooked for hours on end. Falling into both camps, I know that the latter sensation ultimately prevails over the former. I'll be playing this one for a long time going forward, and not just because it takes forever to get new gear.
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  2. GamePro Germany
    Oct 9, 2017
    75
    Quotation forthcoming.
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  3. PlayStation Universe
    Oct 9, 2017
    75
    A mixture of realistic hunting simulation and literal walking simulator with a fairly gentle introduction, The Hunter: Call of the Wild is certainly not a game for the impatient. It's beautiful vistas and sedate pace make it a very chilled out experience for the most part, full of relaxing exploration, but to engage in the hunt itself is a tremendously time-consuming act.
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