Deer Hunter 2005 is a good game, but it's definitely not for everyone.
Gameplay: 8/10
- You gotta have patience. LOTS of it. This isn't your regular shooter where you haven't got a silent moment, in Deer Hunter, it's rare *not* to have a silent moment. When you first start the game, you create your hunter and you can assign skill points to him/her, much like in RPGs. The skill points affect things like how well you can use weapons, how silent you are, how well you can blend into the environment and how well you can spot animal tracks. You get additional skill points when you collect trophies (6 in total), and that takes a LOT of time. Anyway, then you choose your equipment. You have many different weapons, like rifles, shotguns, bows/crossbows and even a pistol and a musket if you want challenge... and frustration. Ok, here's the first complaint: It's too damn hard to hit anything with bows and crossbows! Especially with bows. I don't know if it's just me, but I can't hit any deer with my bow, no matter how much I practice. But, then you get to choose additional equipment, like different lures, a map/gps and binoculars. You can also have a vehicle; A horse or an ATV, but they are useless since they make so much noise that you'll gonna scare every deer in the area. After you've chosen your equipment, you choose the are where you want to hunt. There are... 5 or 6 different areas, and the terrain varies adequately. You get dry plains, northern forests etc. Even though there could've been more different areas, they are sufficient enough. After you've chosen all that, you get to the actual gameplay! Which consists of either 1) running around, hoping that you see the deer before it sees you, or 2) Finding a place with a good view and wait until a deer shows up, then try to lure it closer and... shoot it! Then you do it again. That's pretty much it, the whole game. BUT, it's surprisingly addictive. The feeling when you've stalked your prey for a while, then you've successfully shot it and you're going to collect the corpse is just great. Especially in online matches. Oh, and there's online game as well. There aren't that many public servers these days, but it's more fun to play with people you know.
Controls: 7/10
- The controls are fine, but I really miss the option for jumping. Since almost all games have jumping these days, it's kind of disappointing to me every time I see a game where you can't jump. I know what you're thinking, "Why would you want to jump anyway, it's a HUNTING GAME?!" But jumping would've actually been useful, since you can get stuck in obstacles like tree trunks. Now you just have to go around if something in your way is taller than half a meter. It breaks immersion...
Atmosphere & Immersion: 10/10
- I've never been hunting, but since I've been to a forest and I can say that this game has the most realistic forests in any game yet. They are full of grass, rocks, trees and everything. Now if you have a low-end machine, do yourself a favor and at least max out the amount of grass and trees and stuff, since it's so much more better that way.
Graphics: 9/10
- For 2004, the graphics are absolutely awesome. I'd find them quite good even if this would've been released in late 2007. The graphics are realistic and add to the immersion. Not much else to say.
Sound: 10/10
- Absolutely perfect. Everything from deer footsteps to gun sounds. The forests are full of ambient sounds, and they all sound so realistic that I (really!) sometimes forget I'm playing a game. You HAVE to have a good sound system to enjoy this game! Seriously. Do yourself a favor and get a pair of Sennheiser/AKG headphones if you haven't already.
Physics: 8/10
- Well, the deer have a ragdoll when they die. It's semi-realistic and highly comical. But the reason I give this a 8 is because the grass and the bushes actually *react* to you and other animals. I haven't seen that even in most 2008 games. I mean, come on! How hard is that to make?! Oblivion for example (and MANY other games) would've been much more immersive if they'd just programmed physics for vegetation. But noooooo, let's focus on graphics (HDR!!!oneone1eleven) instead!!! Pfft.
Replay value: 7/10
- Well, it helps that no encounter with a deer is ever similar. The game is also one of the most non-linear games I've seen in a while. As long as you don't get bored to waiting/running around and shooting occasional deer as they show up, you're gonna enjoy this game for many, many months.
Value for money: 8.5/10
- This is probably sold for really cheap now. I've seen many "Deer Hunter Gold Pack" or whatever they're called in stores, which give you both Deer Hunter 2004 and Deer Hunter 2005, so it's a good deal.
Bugs, Stability & Performance: 8/10
- No big bugs, it rarely or never crashes and it performs reasonably well on modern systems. Older systems can have a bit of lag, but luckily the game's video settings can be customized a lot. Oh, and it sometimes has troubles connecting to online games and I can't host one "due to my firewall" which is actually probably due to my router.
Will this game be remembered by old school gamers as a classic after 10 years?:
- Probably not. Not that many gamers like hunting games.
Who would I recommend to buy the game?:
- Anyone who enjoys hunting in real life, or anyone who has the patience for this game. If you only like fast-paced games, this one's not for you.
Final score (not necessarily an average): 8.0/10