| Carnivores 2 | Action Forms / WizardWorks | 1999 | |
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Scarcely one year after Carnivores came out, came this second part. The play system was revised. One gets this time 100 points at the start, in order to buy weapons and select the prey for the hunt. At the beginning there are herbivores, only later are the more dangerous carnivores added. They are more expensive and substantially more difficult to hunt, since they have interest in the meat of the hunter and are extremely speedy as well. If one shoots the animal or even other animals, one receives points which one can convert into better weapons and go after larger prey (and/or more dangerous). This time there are only 5 hunt environments, but they are substantially larger than in the first part. As weapons, the pistol, the double-barreled shotgun and the rifle were added. Also there are more dinosaurs to hunt; but a lot that populate the levels are insignificant ones, which are only there to add more life to the game. They can be shot, but bring no points and since the ammunition on the hunting trips is scarce, it's better to let them live. There are different times you can play in: at night, and at dawn you can see with a night-vision device while on the hunt. It is important to keep always the wind direction in mind, because the dinos if they smell you coming from downwind, will run off very fast and a new victim must be looked for and you will have to go on a lengthy (and not always promising) pursuit again. The maps are very large and to find particularly the larger dinos, it may take awhile. Even in the smallest levels surely it can take 5 minutes from one end to the other. But with the range of vision, it does not give the dinos too many places to keep themselves far from the player. Carnivores 2 is graphically well done, and also the sound is stimulating. Particularly the dino animations are excellent. If one shoots one of the reuired animals, a glider comes and transports it off to the trophy room. To make the hunt easier you can also make use of further aids. On the one hand double ammunition is very recommended, a radar is essential, otherwise dinos will evade you - however a few % of points will be taken off) and camouflage clothes (likewise point redeuction when used). On most islands there are places to discover also. In the first and smallest level, there's an abandoned radar station and in the following a fort which was flattened by a T-Rex (despite enormous fences); in a later level there's an excavation system, etc. Unfortunately everything is without any enriched gameplay value. It remains just to move around and to collect points by killing the correct dinos. There are no subtasks and the only "reward" after some hours of playing is that you'll be able to hunt the T-Rex. It can only be taken down with a shot between the eyes (I tried for 10 minutes and couldn't do it and then gave up). The animal is terribly fast (100 meters in little more than 2-3 seconds) and to shoot it between the eyes is very difficult... (or maybe one must shoot exactly in the eye?) particularly since the landscapes are always quite unclear and the T-Rex doesn't run straight at you to offer a simple target. In the long run, Carnivores 2 didn't rise to its full potential. Because the dinos have a good sense of smell, for players with a want of instant action it can get frustrating somewhat but for those who would rather have a hunting sim and to hone their skills to eventually get the reward of hunting the T-Rex may like it. But better luck to you than I had in doing so. | ||
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