Simply could of been better
No longer are you wandering alone at your own pace through massive reserves hunting that elusive Caribou or in some cases Polar Bear, now every level is restricted to a 2 minute timer and a trying to gain a certain amount of points, done through trying to eliminate all the animals in the nearby vacinity. In many levels movement is restriced through invisible barriers, dodgy movement over terrain, especially while running, and in some cases simply not allowed, resulting in a stammering, stuttering pace over any terrain with random stops for no apparent reason. While hunting is a waiting game, there needs to be an element of that primal hunt instinct. This is absent in BGH 2008.
The game does have decent points, such as the use of a hunting dog which is sent out to rustle up birds, but compared to older games, the restricted reserves and time limit detract severely from the gameplay and put you under constant pressure to try and kill everything in sight. The bullets seemingly have no bullet drop and a rifle meant for varmint hunting can seemingly drop a deer at an excessively long range with a mere body hit. In fact the guns seem almost overpowered, reducing the skill needed to make a successful 1 shot kill. There is little satisfaction gained in the wholesale killing in arcade mode, it becomes more tiresome to kill everything that comes past in pre-programmed line after pre-programmed line after every session of hunting the same turkey or deer.
This game is a decent time waster, but no-where near the level of hunting simulation offered by previous games. It has almost been reduced to a mere arcade style shoot-em-up of birds and deer. I would suggest getting an older game from the series, such as 2005, if you want a better hunting simulation.
Hawk