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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Hunting Developer: Activision Publisher: Activision |
For those gamers that are looking for a fun hunting simulation experience on the Xbox 360, the wait will have to continue because
“Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures” doesn’t deliver much. The latest Cabela’s game doesn’t work as an arcade style hunting game and
steers clear of the main focus, fun. The game needs a large amount of work done in just about every area that it presents, even the
hunting and fishing fans should think carefully before considering this as an off season fill in.
into a small tutorial before they arrive at the first of four outposts. Each outpost is used as a central hub for launching hunts. At the
outposts players are able to purchase tags for upcoming hunts, decoys and other gear that they may need, along with a wide variety of
guns and bows. The area around each outpost has several paths leading to several hunting grounds as well as boards that allow
players to enter tournaments in dog sledding, duck hunting and fishing.
Players will get frustrated with the long load times that go along with the game and the terrible frame rate. Walking into an outpost,
which is basically a menu screen, requires a long load time, along with every time the player enters are new area, no matter how large
or small it is. The load times could be expected if the areas had great graphics, but they don’t. Other than some nice water graphics,
the rest fall short. Those who have played the series in the past will notice that very little was done for the switch to the Xbox 360.
The annoyances continue while actually hunting. The stamina bar makes a return and continues to lessen the hunting experience. All
of the hunters in the game are unable to walk across a field without having to pause to regain some stamina, running makes things
even worse. What makes the stamina bar even worse is the fact that setting up a camp and using decoys or lures to draw in animals
doesn’t work. Although wandering around in the woods, making a lot of noise often spooks animals within one hundred yards, this isn’
t the case for “Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures.” Nearly every animal in the game will try to attack players as soon as they see players, all
the way down to the smallest of predators. Rather than trying to shoot animals when they least expect it, it is easiest to shoot them as
they are charging to attack. Each animal seems to have two different types of AI, run in circles or attack.
There are three different levels of difficulty for players to try in “Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures.” One the lowest setting, players will be
able to get a hunter’s sense that will let them know when animals are in the near vicinity with a flashing icon, bullet time to properly aim
their shots and a radar that will lead players directly to the spots that the animals like to go to. By turning the difficulty up to the hardest
setting, these helpful additions are removed and make the player’s calls and decoys less effective against the animals. No matter what
setting players play on, players will be able to see the areas in which the animals gather, which is the same general area for each hunt.
They will then move to that area and wait for something to attack or begins to run in circles. It is at this time that players will take down
the target.
The side adventures of fishing, duck hunting and dog sledding are probably the worst parts of the entire game. Like the hunting part of
the game, fishing isn’t even close to being realistic, such as letting a spoon float motionless in the water until a fish finally decides to
bite. They also aren’t any fun by any means. Fishing, duck hunting and dog sledding races have all been done before in several other
games, but this time around the game has proven that it has yet to properly take these elements and include them into a game in a fun
and functional way.
The sound effects in the game are very lacking, with heavy breathing being the most common sound effect players will hear in the
game. Other than some background nature sounds, such as birds sing their songs, there isn’t much for players to listen to. Animals
rarely make any noise, but the trader at the outpost will have plenty to say no matter what the players does. Luckily for the player, they
can turn off the voice in the sound options when the small amount of jokes gets to be a little too old to listen to anymore.
“Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures” needed to get a complete overhaul before being moved to the Xbox 360, but instead players will find an
Xbox game on a next generation system. The way that hunting and fishing are presented in the game it falls very short of simulation or
arcade game play. The presentation, graphics and sound are very lacking in the game and is indicated in the budget price of the
game. It is clear that with proper design, an excellent hunting and fishing game could be made, unfortunately Cabela’s has missed the
mark.
“Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures” doesn’t deliver much. The latest Cabela’s game doesn’t work as an arcade style hunting game and
steers clear of the main focus, fun. The game needs a large amount of work done in just about every area that it presents, even the
hunting and fishing fans should think carefully before considering this as an off season fill in.
into a small tutorial before they arrive at the first of four outposts. Each outpost is used as a central hub for launching hunts. At the
outposts players are able to purchase tags for upcoming hunts, decoys and other gear that they may need, along with a wide variety of
guns and bows. The area around each outpost has several paths leading to several hunting grounds as well as boards that allow
players to enter tournaments in dog sledding, duck hunting and fishing.
Players will get frustrated with the long load times that go along with the game and the terrible frame rate. Walking into an outpost,
which is basically a menu screen, requires a long load time, along with every time the player enters are new area, no matter how large
or small it is. The load times could be expected if the areas had great graphics, but they don’t. Other than some nice water graphics,
the rest fall short. Those who have played the series in the past will notice that very little was done for the switch to the Xbox 360.
The annoyances continue while actually hunting. The stamina bar makes a return and continues to lessen the hunting experience. All
of the hunters in the game are unable to walk across a field without having to pause to regain some stamina, running makes things
even worse. What makes the stamina bar even worse is the fact that setting up a camp and using decoys or lures to draw in animals
doesn’t work. Although wandering around in the woods, making a lot of noise often spooks animals within one hundred yards, this isn’
t the case for “Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures.” Nearly every animal in the game will try to attack players as soon as they see players, all
the way down to the smallest of predators. Rather than trying to shoot animals when they least expect it, it is easiest to shoot them as
they are charging to attack. Each animal seems to have two different types of AI, run in circles or attack.
There are three different levels of difficulty for players to try in “Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures.” One the lowest setting, players will be
able to get a hunter’s sense that will let them know when animals are in the near vicinity with a flashing icon, bullet time to properly aim
their shots and a radar that will lead players directly to the spots that the animals like to go to. By turning the difficulty up to the hardest
setting, these helpful additions are removed and make the player’s calls and decoys less effective against the animals. No matter what
setting players play on, players will be able to see the areas in which the animals gather, which is the same general area for each hunt.
They will then move to that area and wait for something to attack or begins to run in circles. It is at this time that players will take down
the target.
The side adventures of fishing, duck hunting and dog sledding are probably the worst parts of the entire game. Like the hunting part of
the game, fishing isn’t even close to being realistic, such as letting a spoon float motionless in the water until a fish finally decides to
bite. They also aren’t any fun by any means. Fishing, duck hunting and dog sledding races have all been done before in several other
games, but this time around the game has proven that it has yet to properly take these elements and include them into a game in a fun
and functional way.
The sound effects in the game are very lacking, with heavy breathing being the most common sound effect players will hear in the
game. Other than some background nature sounds, such as birds sing their songs, there isn’t much for players to listen to. Animals
rarely make any noise, but the trader at the outpost will have plenty to say no matter what the players does. Luckily for the player, they
can turn off the voice in the sound options when the small amount of jokes gets to be a little too old to listen to anymore.
“Cabela’s Alaskan Adventures” needed to get a complete overhaul before being moved to the Xbox 360, but instead players will find an
Xbox game on a next generation system. The way that hunting and fishing are presented in the game it falls very short of simulation or
arcade game play. The presentation, graphics and sound are very lacking in the game and is indicated in the budget price of the
game. It is clear that with proper design, an excellent hunting and fishing game could be made, unfortunately Cabela’s has missed the
mark.
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