First off, a note about
Hunting Unlimited: it may be a first person shooter, but this is by no means an action game. If you didn't catch on from the title, this is a hunting game, and hunting isn't known for its fast paced action. You can expect to spend a typical mission crawling around and waiting for an animal to get close enough for you to shoot instead of running around the level with guns-a-blazing. This isn't to say it's a bad game, oh no, on the contrary, this game is actually quite fun and, dare I say, addictive. There's nothing quite like shooting your first moose, only to have him take off into the wilderness and forcing you to follow his bloody trail. It's quite an experience.
From the beginning of the game, you get to choose between 6 different campaigns; 5 different animal campaigns and 1 tutorial campaign. Easy enough. Each campaign is separated into 8 different episodes with 5 missions per episode. I don't have to do the math for you. As you can see, there is plenty of replay value here.
Though there may be a lot of levels, the memorable ones are few and far between. Most levels start you off a hundred or so yards from your quarry and only require you to put the sights on the target and pull the trigger. Yet there is the occasional mission that requires a bit of stealth and a little cunning. The game tries not to recreate the boring aspect of hunting (waiting for hours in the woods with a thermos full of coffee) and concentrates more on the killing, which is good.
If you're worried about poor weapon design plaguing this game, fear not. There is a deluge of weapons (12 to be exact) and they each act accordingly to their real life counterparts. Yes, these are real weapons, and you have to fire them like real weapons. No Quake II rail guns here boys and girls, you're going to have to compensate for wind and distance, and each weapon acts differently.
If you've ever wondered what real hunters use to lure in their unsuspecting victims, look no further. Apart from the weapons in HU, there is a multitude of items you can use. Most missions equip you with a pair of binoculars and a map, along with a few other items including animal callers, your very own hunting stand, and sometimes bait when you have to use the animals' stomach against them. These items aren't superficial. There are missions where victory is determined on how well you can implement these various items.
The enemy AI is unexceptional at best. Yes, I said enemy. More than once was I killed by a rampaging moose. At times the AI seems to fluctuate between super smart animals and animals that seem to be suffering from brain damage. On one such mission, I started off about 50 yards from a group of deer. Two seconds into it, they scattered like kids in a toy store. Another such mission ended when I casually strolled up to an elk and shot him in the side of the head from almost point blank range. Go figure.