Deer Hunter 3D for iPad. Virtual Hunting Never Looked So Good (Game Review)

Deer Hunter 3D for iPad

Deer Hunter 3D for iPad [rating: 4.5/5]

One of the best hunting games on the iPhone/iPod touch has now ported its way over to the iPad in the form of Deer Hunter 3D for the iPad and it works even better on the iPad than on it’s smaller predecessor.

The first thing you’ll probably notice is the price tag which is a significant increase on the version for the iPads version. The iPhone/iPod touch versions are currently available for 99 cents while the iPad version will cost you a whopping $9.99.

That’s ok though as surly for that price extra features will have been included to take advantage of the iPads extra real estate. Well, that would be a legitimate thought but unfortunately it’s not the case as the only difference are the slightly enhanced graphics.

For those of you that haven’t played Deer Hunter 3D before the premise is pretty simple, as you’ll find yourself immersed in a realistic hunting sim through different 3D environments across 4 different countries.

The four different environments are beautifully drawn and represent their respective areas perfectly. You’ll start in the American Midwest and successfully completing those hunts will move you onto Northern Europe. From there you’ll move onto Western Russia and finally Northern Mexico.

The animals across the 4 locations a predominately the same with deer, moose, bear and turkey often presenting themselves to be shot by your range of guns. Each level, weapon and difficulty level is unlocked based on your success in the earlier levels but in addition you can also buy various equipment packs in the weapon store via in app purchases.

These additional items include laser sites, skill increases and an elephant gun but while these additional items can make the game easier and add features to the game they are necessary to complete the game.

Playing the game is relatively simple. You are initially provided with a GPS view of the hunting landscape and you can move around the map by dragging and dropping your location marker. As you move around the map you will either stumble across animals or their tracks will and you can head towards them.

When you do find a suitable target you will then be transferred to a 3D view of the location with the cross hairs of your selected weapon in the center of the screen and the sometimes multiple animals wanderering happily arround the scene.

Moving your sights is as simple as dragging your finger across the screen and as the scene extends beyond the iPads screen when you move towards the edge of the screen the view will pan arround accordingly.

Deer Hunter 3D for iPad

With your sights set on your target of choice you can zoom in on your target, presuming that you have unlocked the scope and that you have a weapon that can use it. Clicking the scope button on the edge of the screen will enable it and you can then set your level of zoom by rotating it directly on the scene.

All this is very intuitive which it needs to be as if you take too long the animals will sense your presence and make a run for it, just as the other animals will after you’ve taken your first shot.

To complete each level you have to accumulate a given number of points and these are awarded based on the size of the animal you kill and you accuracy so while you may be excited to shoot a turkey it’s not going to award you many points so it may be worth while moving to a different location for a larger target.

In addition to the main story mode there is a Quick Game mode where you are thrown into a hunting scene with the aim of simple killing as many animals as possible. All of your successes are also tracked via your profile and your best kills are also added to your trophy room where not only can you see the details of the kill but also where the bullet entered and exited the animal!

The only things missing are the ability to compare your best scores online and no multi-player options which would have made an already great game even better!

The attention to detail in Deer Hunter 3D for iPad sets this title a part from other hunting titles and will provide many hours of entertainment. The one down side especially for those that already have the title for the iPhone/iPod Touch is whether or not it’s worth $9.99, that decision is up to you.

Pros

  • Great looking graphics
  • Lots of additions to make each hunting trip unique
  • No online or multi-player options

Cons

  • No additional features over the iPhone version

Price: $9.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released: Jul 08, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0.0
1.0.0 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
Size: 113 MB
Language: English
Seller: Glu Games Inc
© 2010 Glu Mobile Inc
Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

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