Review: Carnivores Dinosaur Hunter

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter is a dynamic hunting simulation game which lets players explore huge non-linear locations as they attempt to track down a variety of dinosaurs that are armed with advanced AI – these are dangerous creatures that are able to see, hear and sense the hunter. If you’re not careful, it’s very easy for the hunter to become the hunted.

Pros:

• Controls while awkward at first grow on you and actually work very well
• Interactive trophy room, allowing you to see your kills including statistics like size
• Big wide open areas for you to explore and hunt in
• Good selection of weapons from a pistol to a crossbow up to a high power sniper rifle
• Simply select a dinosaur to hunt, pick your gear and off you go
• You earn points from your kills, which you spend on equipment, weapons, levels and dinosaur hunting permit
• First area is free to play as is using the pistol and a few dinosaurs, so treat this as your training area
• Good selection of Equipment to use, from hiding your scent to new camo to dino calling devices
• The game allows you to play it as you want with a high risk reward mentality attached
• Relocate is an option in-game that randomly places you in another part of the map, really handy when you get lost or want to go elsewhere
• Map is good and has all the info you could want
• The manual included in-game is one of the best released with a download title. Loads of detail and helpful hints for a successful hunt
• Use your binoculars to identify your hunt, even gives you the dinosaurs distance read out
• Levels look great and the dinosaur character models are brilliant

Cons:

• Could do with an actual tutorial to help you in learning the game as not everyone likes reading manuals
• Aiming up a shot can get quite tricky, especially if you let your guard down and you have a meat eater chasing you
• Messing up a shot or failing to kill a dinosaur will see you having to chase down the wounded dino until it stops for a rest
• The later levels really are difficult and could easily frustrate the more un prepared hunter
• The controls could do with an overhaul for play on PS3, maybe taking advantage of the right analog stick

In summary, the game offers a lot of game time for your money. Many would say this is a poor mans Cabelas game but that would be unfair, for this game gives us the ability to hunt dinosaurs and do it in a different way. If anything it deserves to stand alongside the acclaimed series. It plays really well on the handheld despite the control issues. Any keen gamer who wants to try their hand at hunting may well want to pick this up as an introduction to the genre.