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Platform: Xbox Genre: Action Publisher: Interplay Developer: Digital Eclipse / High Voltage ESRB: M (Mature) Released: Q2 2002
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Hunter: The Reckoning
Score: 8.6 / 10 |
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Pros: -
Fills the Xbox’s Resident Evil-style game void -
Good fun as a single-player game, GREAT gaming entertainment as a multiplayer
frolic - Ability to shoot in direction other than where you are running (a la Robotron) can help get you out of sticky situations
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Cons: -
Hella-hard difficulty at times, especially in multiplayer mode -
Can lose track of your character in large battles, particularly in
multiplayer games - Too few power-ups and extra weapons on levels lead to “every man for himself” breakdown of teamwork gameplay |
Related Links: Review: Hunter: The Reckoning (Gamecube)
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"Creatures of the night walk amongst us in everyday life, and only those that undergo an imbuing, known as Hunters, can see these creatures and destroy them."
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As an Xbox-only console gamer, I’ll admit to being a little envious of GameCube owners having exclusive access to Resident Evil (RE). The original RE on the PlayStation was one of the greatest, creepiest gaming experiences I have ever had, and I have been waiting for a similar title to come to the Xbox. Well, if you own an Xbox and have been looking for a RE-style title like I have, wait no more, because Hunter: The Reckoning (H:TR) is that game. Obviously inspired by both the RE and Gauntlet series of games, this crossbreed of third-person action-adventure (most evident in multiplayer mode) and survivor horror genres is a bloody good game. Don’t only take my word for it. H:TR has been selling at a fast and furious clip since its release. (The most recent Electronics Boutique sales figures show H:TR as the top-selling console title on ANY system for the company.)
H:TR is based on the White Wolf Publishing pen & paper role-playing World of Darkness Hunter cosmos. The gothic storyline of the hack & slash game chronicles the grisly happenings following the electrocution execution of murderer Nathaniel Arkady in the prison town of Ashcroft. Unknown to the townspeople, the penitentiary has been secretly run by vampires since the 1920s, who have used the prisoners for feeding and ghastly experiments. Creatures of the night walk amongst us in everyday life, and only those that undergo an imbuing, known as Hunters, can see these creatures and destroy them.
When the execution goes down, the vengeful souls of all the prisoners who had died there lash out, killing many of the living who were in the prison at the time. The four main characters you can select from are Avenger (Spenser “Deuce” Wyatt),Defender (Samantha Alexander), Martyr (Kassandra Cheyung), and Judge (Father Esteban Cortez).
All
witnesses to Arkady’s execution, they find out that they themselves
are Hunters and are just barely able to escape by defeating hordes of
undead and seal up the prison. One year later, a rave at the prison
again frees the incorporeal beings (by the severity of their vicious and
deadly behavior, those ghastly ghouls sure hate rave music) and once
more the Hunters get the call to duty. That’s where you come in.
Battling your way through 23 levels of horror, it’s your mission to
rescue the town of Ashcroft and the innocents who populate it and send
the hellish creatures back to the world of the dead where they belong.
Don't let a plausible plot deter you, though. If it's mindless killing
of huge numbers of evil enemies that you desire, H:TR is right up your
alley.
Choosing
your character for single-player gaming involves some thought. I found
that the best-suited solo hero is Defender, whose speed helps her escape
tough situations until she gets stronger as a fighter. Generally, faster
moving characters (Defender, Martyr) tend to be weaker fighters
initially and conversely less speedy characters (Avenger, Judge) tend to
be much stronger until they gain some experience points that build their
individual statistics up enough to balance out any weaknesses. At your
disposal in your battle against the supernatural is a selection of
weapons (Some are restricted to a particular character) such as swords,
pistols, axes, varieties of shotguns and machine guns, rocket launchers,
chainsaws and flame-throwers. Also part of the Hunter armory is the
magical attacks known as Edges, (again some are restricted to a
particular character) which can be strengthened with experience and is
tracked along with your health (which can be restored with the red orbs
left after defeating an enemy). If you have enough magic energy
(restored with the blue orbs), you can use the Edges for their
particular purpose. Rejuvenate, one of the best Edges, can refill your
health meter. Others such as Cleave temporarily charge up a weapon,
while still others like Smite, are damaging energy bursts.
Visually,
the game is definitely dark and gothic and extremely bloody as you would
expect (although those with squeamish stomachs can turn off the blood
spouting if they need to). H:TR’s creatures and characters have a
high-quality and gruesomely wonderful definition to them. However, you
sense that they could have been even sharper with the power of the Xbox
hardware behind them. Many of the enemies you battle are huge, too,
especially the “boss” characters. Check out the giant killer
stuffing-puking Teddy Bear (yeah, that’s right, I said a Teddy Bear,
one of the scariest kid’s-toy-turned-into- possessed-killing-creatures
I’ve ever seen) and Arkady in his werewolf form, both dwarf your
Hunter character in comparison which adds to the highly tense sensation
of danger you can’t help but feel. One graphical feature that does get
the power of the Xbox behind it is the lighting effects, everywhere from
weapons fire (fiery flame-throwers) to the scant amount of working
electrical lights scattered throughout Ashcroft and the prison. This
sweet effect is most evident in the electric-blue ghostly apparitions
that you run into in the game’s latter stages. One unfortunate aspect
of the gothic darkness that envelopes most of H:TR’s levels is that it
is too inky in areas, which may cause you to miss seeing innocents that
need rescuing or extra weapons. Two places that this becomes frustrating
in is a level that you need to free the spirits of skeletal remains, and
in the final battle of the game, where it is difficult to navigate
because it's too damn dark!
Control
schematics of H:TR are for the most part comfortably executed,
particularly when it comes to shooting enemies with Robotron-style
options. That is, you can shoot in a different direction than where you
may be running. So, you can shoot pursuing enemies while fleeing in the
exact opposite way. The ease of jumping, which comes in handy as an
escape strategy, also allows for some smooth fighting techniques. But
the collision detection of H:TR could have used more work. One example
that immediately comes to mind is in the church, where the game can seem
to construct an invisible barrier wall around certain points, like the
steps leading to the organ that you would logically THINK you could
climb (and you eventually can after moving around like a madman to find
the right spot) but regularly cannot, giving the killer Teddy Bear
another unnecessary advantage over your Hunter.
The
above-all worst feature of H:TR is the camera that follows the game
action, which is atrocious and unforgivable on occasion. What’s worse
is that you cannot change from the default camera at all, although you
can zoom in and out on the fly if you so desire. There are instances
when you will be fighting enemies where the camera doesn’t compensate
for your character being placed in a non-viewable location, such as
behind the mausoleums in the cemetery. It can lead to some unneeded hero
casualties. The most absolutely awful camera functioning takes place in
the last level of the game as you attempt to annihilate the head
vampire, the former prison warden. The camera provides enough
frustration at points that you’ll want to hurl your controller at the
TV (the only restraint I had from tossing my Xbox controller was
realizing is would cost $40 bucks to replace it).
Creepy
crawly sounds that fill H:TR can absolutely send shivers down your
spine. Repulsive and frightening groans can be heard coming from
somewhere in the not-too-distant confines, and the climatic
techno-sounding tunage that blasts when you hit a large jackpot of
attacking enemies raises H:TR’s fright-meter to the max. There are
some good RE-style scare moments during the game. Many times you’ll
get an unexpected “introduction” to frightening enemies like the
gargoyles who pounce down from the sky, or the tough vampirettes that
attack in the same manner, which rivals the mutated dogs bursting
through the window in the original RE. A seemingly endless wave of
vampires, zombies, ghosts, mutated abominations, werewolves and other
undead creatures of the night keep your trigger finger very happy. It
feels like you were dropped in the middle of a Night of the Living
Dead movie. There are times when it literally appears that 30
individual enemies are on-screen at once, which sometimes leads to
losing track of where your character is in relation to everybody else,
definitely not a good situation to be in if you want to survive. (This
happens more often during multiplayer.)
This
game is HARD, especially in multiplayer mode, which you would think
would be much easier with up to three additional teammates. But actually
it’s the exact opposite. Even though H:TR's gameplay really shines
brightest in its multiplayer, the game can almost be a downright
impossible challenge when you partake in a group mission. I guess the
developers figured they would pump up the game’s AI and difficulty to
compensate for the additional players, but they went a tad overboard.
One minor problem is when multiplayer characters get separated on
opposite sides of the on-screen map. While one or more characters are
fighting on one side of the screen, others could be impeded from going
either forward or backward because they need the other characters to
move first before they can continue. At times off-screen enemies can be
pummeling you because you are unable to move due to the above-mentioned
problem. It also doesn’t help that there are too few power-ups and
extra weapons lying around to restock your individual arsenal. This all
too often leads to a “Lord of the Flies”
every-man-or-woman-for-themselves mentality when teamwork is a necessity
to wipe out the evil creatures that oppose your forces. One extra that
adds to the collective fortunes of all players is the additional reserve
lives that can be attained by rescuing the town’s innocents trapped in
and around the prison. No matter who “saves” the innocent, it adds
to the team total of extra lives, and can be used by any expired
teammates until they are exhausted.
Due
to the customarily slow industry-wide late spring dearth of available
new releases, Xbox owners don’t have many high-quality titles to
choose from besides H:TR and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to fill
their gaming jones. Fortunately, both games are excellent. Maybe RPG’s
aren’t your thing and you’re feeling jealous of the GameCube
exclusivity of RE. Then go out and pick up a copy of H:TR, which despite
some issues, remains a solid Xbox gaming selection. If its good
single-player action doesn’t get you addicted, then the excellent
multiplayer romp definitely will.
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Lee Cieniawa (June 24, 2002)
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