Hunter: The Reckoning

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There are few titles that are designed from the ground up specifically for four-player action. While there are some titles that have a little multi-player as a side option, which usually is split-screen, you don't have too many games that focus primarily on cooperative action. Interplay is breaking that tradition with their new title, Hunter: The Reckoning. All the glory comes from having some friends over, and just having a blast killing the evil walkers of the night.

Overview:

Based on the immensely popular pen and paper role-playing game from White Wolf, Hunter: The Reckoning gives fans a chance to live out their zombie-slashing fantasies in a pacemaker-exploding Xbox game.

The plot revolves around the idea that monsters are all around us, all the time, but the public is unaware of their existence. Werewolf attacks are explained away as rogue bears in parks and a vampire's next feed is merely a statistic on the missing person's list.

There are certain members from all aspects of society who are blessed (or cursed) to see through the deception.  These few lonely souls are known as Hunters. Their responsibility, to keep the rest of humanity safe from the dangers they cannot see.

Four players can fight side-by-side simultaneously through 23 different environments, including a derelict prison, a graveyard and a gothic church. The carnage really picks up when up to 30 monsters and zombies wreak havoc on the screen at once.

Features:

-Single or multiplayer madness. Up to four Hunters can join forces to battle evil simultaneously.

-Non-stop action through 23 heart-stopping environments, including a cemetery, gothic church, train station and prison.

-Unload both barrels on 20 types of monsters from zombies to werewolves to vampires, including 7 boss characters.

-Deal out the damage with over 20 melee, ranged and spell weapons including axes, shotguns, swords and flame-throwers.

-Characters skills and stats improve throughout the game to make them even more deadly.

-Take apart your enemy piece-by-piece by dismembering heads, arms and legs.

Gameplay:

Gamers can choose from four characters, each representing a different creed or type of Hunter. Each has unique moves, magic abilities, and weapons. To
start off, all players have their own melee weapon and ranged weapon with unlimited ammo. The ranged weapons are a little weak, though it is still has
its advantages (especially when fighting bosses). The four different characters are:

Deuce Wyatt: Avenger
Samantha Alexander: Defender
Father Esteban Cortez: Judge
Kassandra Cheyung: Martyr

Each character has their own attributes, and cause for different strategies you have to use with them. While playing as Deuce, you will want to be like white on rice while fighting your enemies, as he is the strongest out of the four. Kassandra on the other hand isn't to powerful, but is very quick, so you will want to flat out run circles around your enemies while using her double-handed pistols. Swords and guns are not the only thing you will be using, your Hunter will have Edges, which are your magic. While Deuce doesn't have a very good Edge, Father Esteban does, as he relies on them more than his other weapons.

You gain experience as you kill baddies, and use weapons and edge powers. As you progress through the game, you'll be able to acquire better weaponry
based on your experience, as well as gain new and more powerful edges. One important thing to note is that players gain experience individually. So, if
you have been playing the game as Father Esteban the whole time and then decide to switch to Samantha Alexander half way through, Alexander will have
no experience at all, and therefore have weaker attacks and edges. This isn't a problem if you play through the whole game with a group of friends, because you will all be gaining experience. But should you play it alone for a while and then want to bring in a friend or two, they will have to jump in as weaker characters.

There are a variety of weapons at your disposal, such as a chainsaw, flame-thrower, machine gun, shotgun, and rocket launcher. Weapons are spread
throughout each level and are often hidden off the main road, rewarding players who fully explore each environment. Some of these weapons such as the chainsaw have a time limit on them so they can only be used for a certain amount of time before they disappear. This adds a bit of strategy to the game because you must decide when is the best time to use your weapons.

Other weapons you pick up throughout the game have limited ammunition. Not only that, but also most weapons take clips, which must be reloaded. For
example, at the start of the game, the standard shotgun you pick up can only hold two shots at a time, and must be reloaded frequently. Not all weapons
can hurt all creatures, so while the game is mostly a slaughterfest, you will have to learn what weapons hurt which beasties.

Killing zombies has never been more fun than in Hunter: The Reckoning. The game has auto targeting, so the worry isn't in hitting or missing zombies, it's in taking them down as fast as possible. The start of the game eases you into zombie killing, but you will quickly find that it's easy to have the entire screen packed with bad guys. There's never a lull in the action and never a moment to rest. The control scheme is perfect for the constant action.

Left trigger = Jump
Right trigger = Fires whatever weapon you currently have equipped
Left thumbstick = Move character
Right thumbstick = Aim
A = Reload your weapon or activates switches
X = Cycle through default weapons
Y = Cycle through edge powers
B = Cycle through pickup weapons

Of course, what makes things even better is that these aren't your standard undead. These guys can fire machine guns, pistols, and even flame-throwers.
And the vampire girls are incredibly fast and nimble, able to do flips and crazy kicks.

While anywhere from one to four players can get in on a game of Hunter, it's really meant for four. Alone or with three friends, you'll face the same number of monsters with the same amount of weapons and ammo available. The difference comes in the difficulty with defeating monsters. With fewer players, the undead are a little easier to kill and do a little less damage. That's not to say the game is easy, because it's not. The main limitation of multiplayer is that you are limited in movement. No one can stray off the screen, so you may want to run, but your buddy will be busy trying to go the other way to get more shotgun ammo. The result is a lot of yelling and screaming, which mixes in nicely with the laughter and shouts of triumph.

Lives are pooled with multiple players, so it's important to keep your friends alive. That can be hard when you switch on the "friendly fire" option. With it off, you can swing and fire with impunity. But when the option is on, you have to be careful where you point your flame-thrower or you will see your buddy catch fire and flail like a spastic fool.

Hunter's only failing is in its length. Unlike Gauntlet, there are not seemingly limitless levels to trudge through. Instead, there is a definite ending, one you can reach in less than ten hours. For those playing alone, the game certainly has replay value as you'll want to take each character through the game at least once to see their different cut scenes and to earn all of their various edge powers. The real replay comes from fraggin zombies with your buddies, a task that can take a long period of time to complete.

Graphics:

Hunter has a variety of different environments, from subways to a church to sewers to a haunted prison. Each environment is unique and has its own feel.
Some of the monsters vary between environments, but not to too great of a degree. There are some destructible objects, including cars and gas tanks
that can be blown up to kill a good number of nearby enemies. Deaths are sweet, with zombies taking head and gut shots, getting decapitated, quartered, and disintegrated.

The environments have good textures, with floating mist in the graveyard and slimy sewage in the sewer. It's easy to overlook the graphics, but the level of detail throughout the game should be noted.  Because the view is pulled back and the action so furious, the miniature details on each character and zombie might be missed. But on closer view, it's easy to see a lot of work went into differentiating the zombies and beasts. What I love most, though, is returning to an area to find the blood splatters of a previous battle still staining the ground. Not only is it a cool thing to witness, but it's a great way to mark where you've been.

Your enemies are truly creepy in this game. There are some great designs here, like the ghosts of hanged men, floating around; nooses still tied around their necks. They let out wails of pain that damage those in its  path.Then there are the true monstrosities--ten-foot tall creatures with extra eyes and arms, just out looking for a bite to eat. The variety of baddies is one of the best I've seen from a zombie game. Plus, possibly one of the scariest parts to the game is that one of the bosses is a giant evil teddy bear (insert evil laugh here).

Sound:

You won't have to worry about wetting your pants with fear. The music reflects the action aspect of the game, with some great, pumping tracks that
do a fine job of kicking up the adrenaline.

A lot of the sounds in the game are done very well, such as the rap of gunfire and the boom of explosions. The center channel is used well, as is
the subwoofer. The tap of footsteps is clean and realistic, and you can hear the Hunter pulling out a weapon, reloading, and grunting as they're damaged. But the soundtrack and zombie noises are so loud that they drown out the smaller touches (like the footsteps). A little more atmospheric sound would have been nice.

Overall Score: 8.9

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