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Deer Hunt Challenge is a hunting game that offer dozens of ways to hunt trophy bucks. Large 3D environments offer miles and miles of whitetail, blacktail and mule deer to be stalked, tracked, and still hunted. The hunters can use tree stands, blinds, calls, scents, decoys, rifles, bows, shotguns and more to hunt deer. The game is broken into two basic sections, Hunting Trip and Challenge Mode. Hunting trip plops you down in one of six hunting areas: Cap Rock Canyon, TX; Huron National Forest, MI; Medicine Creek, NE; Russell Wildlife Area, MT; Rathburn Resevoir, IA; and White River, OR; oddly, the East Coast and Deep South aren't represented. Each of these areas is huge—plenty of places to hunt in. However, what space they have in the horizontal dimension is strangely lacking in the vertical: the areas are surprisingly flat, with only the gentlest of rises and no dramatic views like you get in Deer Hunter II's Pacific Northwest area. You can chose the time of day, the general temperature, the period of the season (pre-rut, rut, and post-rut), and the weather conditions (clear, cloudy, rain, and fog). Sometimes the time of day settings border on illegally low light levels, and "rain" always seems to mean "thunderstorm"—not exactly the wisest time to be carrying a metal tube around. In Challenge Mode you're, well, challenged to work your way through some 40 levels, each with a very specific goal. The hunting areas are small, and the terrain is generally based on the style seen in the six Hunting Trip areas (although the locale names are different). You are usually plopped right into the "action," with your targets close at hand. You must complete one level before advancing to the next and a score is kept along the way—completing all the levels with a perfect score will be a challenge indeed. The selection of weapons is quite nice. You have bolt, lever, and semi-automatic rifles (with 4X scope or without) in a variety of calibers; pump, semi-auto, over/under, or side-by-side shotguns in 12, 16, or 20 gauge; and 35lb longbows, 55lb recurve bows, or 65lb compound bows. You definitely notice bullet drift in high winds, but it's harder to gauge drop over distance as almost all shots you'll take (or even can try to take) are at fairly short ranges. A Special Edition was included in the 2000 release of Ultimate Hunt Challenge that adds a target range (though you can't sight in weapons in it), a fine-tuned graphics engine, and seamless multiplayer support for Internet play . |
