Continuing our coverage of Expansive Worlds beautiful woodlands simulator that I’ll be wandering through soon, we have a new trailer highlighting the Layton Lake district of the reserve. The hunting simulator which promises to be very immersive and detailed will feature a huge landscape for gamers to explore. Obviously the main goal is to track animals for sport, however the scenery is just too wondrous to ignore.
Built on the engine used in Just Cause 3, theHunter: Call Of The Wild boasts some very impressive visuals. Especially for an open world game. We’re eager to dive into the actual gameplay aspects but it’s hard to ignore the subtle things from this trailer. Even the nod to multiplayer at the end shows the group of hunters flattening out tall grass as they progress through it. Is this just cosmetic? It’s a nice touch.
With less than a week until launch, theHunter: Call Of The Wild is promising to be an ambitious title!
Sport hunting titles seem like they’ve been around forever. I remember back in the 90s playing Deer Hunting simulators that felt like DOOM mods. It’s a genre that has quite a history. Even GTA 5 had deer hunting, let alone the entire hunting section in Yakuza 5. That long lineage makes it difficult to create something new. theHunter: Call Of The Wild is a game that has been in development for a decade, with much of it’s development cycle coming from Expansive Worlds free to play version of theHunter.
One thing I find to be a wonderful addition about theHunter series that will hopefully carry over into this new release is that you are also armed with a camera. It may sound silly to mention with a game that is geared towards hunting very specifically, but it is a way to open up this amazing terrain to a wider audience. I don’t think there is any reward per say for photographing the wildlife and beautiful surroundings, but it’s such a large and lush environment that it is a wonderful option to give players.
The game boasts 50 square miles of varied terrain to explore. It sounds like this title is even rendered in the same engine as Just Cause 3! That’s a lot of natural splendor to take in. Anyone who knows me knows I just want to wander off and explore this vast wilderness. Just look at the trailer below! That’s all in engine content!
Naturally it’s not all exploring the forest and potential photography. This is a selection of rifles, handguns and even bows to use in the game that can be customized with scopes and various ammunition types. Your character can also unlock new skills and equipment along the way. As usual, the game allows you to track animals as well or even use scents and callers to lure them out. I haven’t experienced the hunting stealth aspects of the game yet but we do hope to get some hands on time soon to see how theHunter: Call Of The Wild plays.
The release date for Steam has been set for February 16th, 2017.
Is Mountain a form of modernism or a screensaver? On one hand, Mountain offers a serene landscape and a breathtaking view of a mountain. On the other hand, it ages and becomes its own identity. Mountain lets you look at all sides and the more you look, the more it grows. What sets this mountain apart from other games? A game that offers no control of the outcome, but draws you in.
Mountain was created by David O’Reilly and is a relaxing simulator where its art is defined as not just art, but art horror. Why is it considered art horror? The art is understandable but why horror? We will go into that a little later. If you are a fan of the movie Her, then you might have seen David O’Reilly’s work. The game’s the main protagonist plays are a collection of his works. Unfortunately, those games you cannot play. So instead, David O’Reilly gives us Mountain, a small taste of what he has stored up in his head.
When we think about games we think of a range of things: full controller support, saving, music and sound effects, progression, character design, story, begin and end, protagonist and antagonist, etc.. While this game has some of those elements, it boasts a whole new mindset to instill into the player.
Upon entering the game you are greeted with a very lush and green hill top. Sound effects in the background of blowing wind or chirping birds may come up and clouds blowing past. You spin this hunk of land and you see nothing but a normal looking mountain . You look underneath this massive landmark and you see gravel and foundation. This mountain is floating in space and is surrounded by an aura to keep in the atmosphere.
Overtime, it may rain or snow, but you soon realize that is just a common thing that happens naturally. This is everything you see in the first minutes of game play.
Once you realize that you can’t do anything but look at this monument, you leave it on in the background thinking you might have just bought a screensaver.
Suddenly, a thought pops up in the upper left-hand corner. Some omnipresent being is having a thought while observing.
As the time passes and music cues in, you start to realize things that were not there before. Your mountain starts growing new things and evolving into its own identity.
This is one of the game’s unique features. Once you start the game, you cannot start it over. Each mountain is unique to the gamer. As it slowly spins, more things show up on it. The longer you have the program running the older the mountain becomes.
My mountain is in its infancy, so there is a giant toy block to represent its age. At night, little pixies dance in the trees. It has an adorable look to it. If the day is clear, then the omnipresent voice might type how it wishes to share this with somebody. When the day is rainy and dreary, the voice might express matching emotions, which gives you mixed feelings of who this lonely person is.
After every new dawn, you are greeted to a chime and the game saves for you making sure you did not lose any progress as you leave the game open. Thus, the cycle continues.
What makes this game different from other simulation type games. I think it has something to do with an underlining story and you are the audience watching it unfold. Instead of naturally progressing the game yourself, you are reading this story as it is happening, almost like raising a child.
I think that is where the horror comes in. For new parents, it is a crazy ride and you don’t know what to expect. The danger and fear around every corner and not knowing what will happen next. You may have limited control, but you just have to take it day by day. The messages you get are an inner monologue and interpretation of what a child may be thinking as it sees the world through its eyes. The mountain grows as it ages, like a child would and if you stop watching for a moment something amazing might happen. Art is supposed to be interpreted several hundred ways and this is what I see.
For a game that is only $0.99, I recommend giving it a shot. See what bundle of joy you can create and leave a snapshot in the comments below!
