Welcome to our review of Hunting Simulator 2, the follow-up to a game that I was surprised to like so much, but does this one do the trick for me too?
It’s open season! In stunning natural environments, choose your gear from the best official weapons and accessories and set off with your dog in search of a variety of animal species in this hunting simulation.
Explore the plains of Colorado, the Texan desert and the forests of Europe in vast open worlds. Track down 33 animal species in their natural environment by using the best hunting techniques. Kit yourself out with over 160 weapons, accessories and clothing items from the best brands, including Browning, Winchester, Bushnell, Kryptek and Verney-Carron.
Use your hunting dog to track your prey. Labrador Retriever, German Shorthaired Pointer and Beagle, each dog has its specific hunting attributes. Hunt animals with realistic behaviors and advanced artificial intelligence.
Admittedly, I am a fan of the first game, more than I would probably think. Having played 20+ hours on Switch, I felt like this game was well made and at no point too realistic to think I was actually killing any animals. If anything, it was quite relaxing because I was able to slowly search for my prey, get my gun out, aim and hopefully get my targets so the next level would become available.
When the second game got announced, I actually put the date in my calendar. I wanted to see, feel, and compare the first game with the second and there are some differences to be told. But first, I would like to make clear that I did play several other hunting games since this one, but not a single one ever felt as good as this one did.
The lack of realism to a certain extent is what makes it easy to remember that this is a game and not real life. While I do not go hunting in real life and am possibly the best cat dad out there, I do enjoy this game series. Probably because the first game pleasantly surprised me by its simplicity and great realistic mechanics. This is where the game has the one up on series like Cabela, who never seem to fully capture that sense of greatness that stems from Hunting Simulator.
So let us start how this game begins, really easy by learning how to find tracks of animals. Sounds normal right? Well, this is something where you do not even have a hunting license yet nor any type of gun. After you find your tracks and analyzed them, you can go back to the hut and get those 2 needed items. Everything is properly paced and while that tutorial does keep your hand-guided, I personally switch the first-person view to a third person as I found that to be more pleasant. I clearly remember this from the first game and in Hunting Simulator 2 this sentiment had not changed.
After leaving the lodge, you are on your way with your trusty dog and time to hunt some animals. Well, you’d think so, but in reality, this game is nothing more than a slow hunt for prey. I personally find it amazing and just love it enough to keep playing.
I let my dog find tracks, it rather quickly found a bear and after prowling around for a while, I finally had it in my sights. I missed like a real noob and scared it off, but the joy was still there. I went off for more prey and after a long search, I bagged myself a trophy kill.
What I really like about this game, is that it keeps me relaxed. Despite the possible stigma of this being a killing animal game, I never felt the game was so realistic that it made me want to do this in real life.
The only real thing that I truly noticed is that everything in this game is pretty much taking the previous game to the next level and despite not supporting actual hunting, I do like this game a lot.
In conclusion, Hunting Simulator 2 is a mechanical improvement over the previous game and it keeps me relaxed! I like it a lot!
