Fox Hunt Review

If you didn't know Fox Hunt existed, don't be surprised. Originally released for the PC (it bombed so badly the explosion could be heard on Jupiter), Fox Hunt touts itself as a "comedy spy thriller." And it's about as funny as a double homicide and about as thrilling as a presidential debate.

Fox Hunt throws three gameplay segments at you: Explore modes, where you walk around and pick up items; Fight modes, where you battle opponents in hand-to-hand combat (of the Three Stooges variety); and Maze/Tunnel modes, where you steer a vehicle through a confusing series of paths. All of this is shown with jumpy, blurry full-motion video clips (the footage might very well have been shot on 16mm, but that doesn't mean anything when it's mangled by a terrible compression algorithm). The clips try to be funny, via an endless barrage of 1970s TV parodies, but they wouldn't make you laugh even if you were on nitrous oxide.

The cast of unknowns and has-beens, including Timothy Bottoms and George "Worst James Bond Ever" Lazenby, provides a classic case study in overacting. It's simply horrible. The original musical score (co-written by Devo alumni Mark Mothersbaugh) is OK, but sounds as though it was written for a blue movie.

If nothing else, Fox Hunt proves why companies like Digital Pictures went bankrupt. Simply, players don't want to "play" cheesy movies from Spielberg-wannabe "designers." Game players want to play GAMES, and Fox Hunt is neither a movie nor a game.