Hunting Simulator 2

TLDR - there are better hunting games out there, only buy this for £5 or less. Do not pay full price. I've played theHunter, COTW and WOTH enough to know my way round a hunting game. Antorius has posted a very detailed review here on Steam; I suggest you read it, I will just be adding a few points. This game hasn't been updated maybe since 2021. In some ways, it's a game I like as it's very bare bones. No ATVs, tripods, bait barrels, tree stands, tents to buy or place. It's you, your rifle and your free dog on foot with a bit of fast travel once you have found all five tents on each reserve. Yes - you get a free Beagle, and looking back, this was the best part of the game for me. It is a useful animal, and training it is cool. Animals - they look good close up once you have shot them, otherwise the animated models show their age, and antlers look too thick. They wander the maps, come to calls far too easily, and appear in singles and pairs - no herds or packs. You are also not allowed to shoot females. This is silly. Weapons and scopes - at first you'll go "wow! so many rifles" but it's actually reskinning of some core models a few times over. You do get to buy a certain model in a number of different calibres which is good. The rifle scopes - dumpster fire. The max magnification is a fixed x 6, and basically you can choose from a few different reticles and fixed magnifications. No zoom scopes. I went for the x6 and the reticle is simply a magnified version of the base model, and is twice too big for the view, very thick posts. Ironically, the scope body seen in game is a variable zoom with maybe max of x10 or x12. Ballistics - none. Your bullet goes where you aim it, no windage, no elevation adjustment. Terminal ballistics - unknown mechanism, main internal organs seem to be modelled in an approximate way but no bullet cam like WOTH or COTW. It feels very random. NB - you can belt two rounds into your target with no penalty, but the third or more hit will get you fined as unethical. Animals can bleed and keep bleeding and not die - I had two very long tracks to find this out. I'm stopping here - I was going to add about tracking, map interface and animal spooking, but the game is dead. It's a shame as there are some good features, let's see if HS3 emerges as a better game. Quick addition to Antorius' tips: - two reserves are flattish and wide open, allowing you to spot animals a long way off, and follow them if they don't drop quickly. Pawnee and Chihuahua are the ones. Pick either of these for your starting reserve. The heavily wooded ones are a PITA. - get a rifle in .338 as soon as you can afford it. The .270 I got with the infinite Moose license didn't quite do the job. Ammo is free and there's no penalties for using a too powerful round on smaller animals until you get down to rabbits pheasants etc where it has to be archery or shotgun. - the callers are very effective and worth the money - get a rucksack, you can then carry all the callers you're going to need, and a second weapon if you wish.

love the graphics

kill