Hunter: The Reckoning Wayward Is A Nice Game With Some Annoying Content. Has A Good Co Op.
Hunter the Reckoning: Wayward
Hunter the Reckoning is based on a PnP RPG from White Wolf. This game world has been used as the basis of 3 hack n slash console games to date. Originally released in May ‘02 Hunter the Reckoning first appeared on the X-Box and later (November) on the Game Cube. This spawned a follow up in September ’03 for the PS2 HtR : Wayward and October ’03 of HtR : Redeemer for the X-Box. I’ve only played Wayward so I can’t comment on the others. Hunter greatly resembles Baldur’s Gate : Dark Alliance 1 in presentation although the look and tone of the game is quite different being set in the modern era with gothic fantasy elements alongside sound of automatic weapons fire.
It’s a hack and slash that allows you (and 1 friend if you like) to do just that. You can play as one of four (initial) and three (unlock able) hunters each of whom has his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. Combat is divided into ranged and melee, and each hunter has a melee weapon and a primary ranged weapon. They can also equip supplemental weapons picked up throughout the game. The majority of these are ranged weapons, making them more useful for some hunters than others. Ammo is limited for the ranged weapons and clip size becomes a factor when facing multiple enemies. The game also uses magic, called Edges, to spice things up and make the different hunters more unique. Both Edges and health can be replenished by picking up red (health) and blue (edge) spheres dropped by enemies and by items hidden through out the game.
You do not have to stick with the same hunter from level to level, and all hunters level up even when you are not using them, although hunters get more experience for killing enemies than otherwise. Depending on your preference, you can trudge through levels hewing down all opposition with a gigantic flaming battle axe, using magic to enhance your attacks, dash through a level shooting everything in sight and playing hit and run in boss battles, or use Edges to vaporize the opposition and keep your health at max.
The environments are somewhat interactive and destructible, but not as much as you might expect. This will become apparent in your first level as you search for a very few breakable tombstones to bash in a large cemetery full of the non-breakable kind.
Levels are accessed from a hub, in the first instance a hotel room, and later on… well that would be telling. The hub provides you with access to the map where you select your mission, hunter and supplemental weapon and a computer where you can look at background data and messages from other hunters who are providing advice from outside of Ashcroft. You also have access audio and video goodies that you have picked up along the way, including hunter and monster models, song tracks and cut scenes, and the trophy room where you keep the trophies obtained for defeating bosses and completing quests. These function as cheat switches on repeated plays of the game. There are two hubs, which give you access to about two dozen mission areas in total. Some of these areas are optional and some are reused for a second time with different objectives.
Melee combat consists of using weapons for simple, combination and sweeping attacks all triggered in the default configuration by the R1 button. A single press will provide a simple single attack animation, a press and hold will charge up a sweeping area clearing attack useful when you are mobbed by fodder, and multiple presses will generate a combo string of up to 5 moves depending on hunter. These combos can be enhanced by the use of the jump button, L2, to incorporate an escape move into your attack combo, and can be steered to some degree by using the right stick. This becomes important because there is no lock on function and you can spend a fair amount of time slicing away at thin air until you become proficient in using the right stick to aim your attacks. The right stick is also used in conjunction with the left stick and the jump button to provide a quick side dodge move. There are also at least two jumping attacks available for each hunter and one of the supplemental weapons can be used as a melee weapon, the ever popular chain saw.
Ranged combat uses R2 to fire, square to reload, circle to cycle through the available ranged weapons the right stick for aiming, and the right stick to aim ala the Roboton configuration in Gauntlet : Dark Legacy. Each hunter has a primary ranged weapon, mostly handguns with the occasional crossbow and rifle thrown in for variety. The supplemental weapons basically break down into shotguns, machine guns, and exotica including flame throwers, grenade launchers and of course the chain saw.
Finally there are Edges. Edges are the magic of the Hunter Universe. Each hunter has four edges with three levels of proficiency. They cost conviction to use and become more powerful and cost more conviction as they level up. You cycle through your four available edges using the triangle button and cast with L1. Edges can be split into direct attack magic, support magic (defense and attack enhancement) and healing. Different hunters have different edges and vary widely in the amount of conviction (total mp) they have. As with most magic systems, some edges are more useful than others, and I found that I routinely used only two of each hunter’s edges with the other two being more eye candy than magically delicious.
Gameplay : The controls are well mapped and easy to use, although as is true in many games they could have been a bit tighter, especially given the lack of a lock-on in melee combat. The combos animate well, but are not as useful as might be wished and I and my partner ended up relying on the primary ranged weapons for slaying single zombies and charge up attacks and magic to clear out large groups. Ranged attacks work fairly well especially with the strafe available using the left and right sticks and an automatic targeting system, but we ended up shooting buildings and boxes more than was necessary. Ammo limits in terms of both clip size and overall carrying capacity tend to lessen the utility of the supplemental weapons, but the game would have been much less interesting if you could simply walk around machine gunning everything to death, bosses included. The game difficulty is also a bit uneven, with bosses and even some fodder presenting a much higher challenge then would be expected based on the difficulty selected at game start. Cooperative play can also be much harder than single player on some boards than solo, detracting from an otherwise enjoyable experience.
Hunter has a workable setup that would have benefited from a bit more depth and polish.
It is a hack n slash, so the story is pretty much there just to provide a skeleton for the combat set pieces to hang off of. This said it isn’t bad. The hunters all have distinct personalities that come through in the cut scenes and in game dialogue, and after the first play through I was disappointed that there was no more story to be unveiled in the subsequent plays.
I really liked the glimpse that I got into the world of Hunter the Reckoning, I just wish there had been more.
Graphics And Sound : The game isn’t spectacular, but it isn’t hard to look at. Although the graphics aren’t cutting edge, the character design is nice and both hunters and minions of evil (large and small) are animated well. There are some areas of slow down especially in 2 player mode when the screen is mobbed by fodder, but it never gets in the way of gameplay. You can alter the screen brightness directly through the options menu, a nice touch in a dark game. The in game sounds are good and add to the overall experience with monsters sounding appropriately creepy and combat sounding appropriately violent. The voice acting is good, but like the story there is not very much of it. The music isn’t memorable, but it’s not annoying and some of the unlockable combat tunes are enjoyable to listen to while wandering around in the hub, reading surfing on the computer.
It’s not beautiful, but it looks right and sounds good.
Expect to be able to play through in around ten hours on the first play.
You get the entire story out of the way in the first play. After that it’s just a matter of collecting goodies like unlockable hunters, music tracks, alternate costumes, character and monster models and trophies aka cheats. There’s also the fun to be had in 2 player monster bashing and playing around with various hunters that you may have not used in the first game.
Not incredibly addicting, but worth at least a second run through for fun. I’d recommend renting, but since it’s available used for less than $15 just buy it.
If you like the setting and like games like Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, Kouldelka, and Fatal Frame, you can’t go wrong. Wayward isn’t the most polished game I’ve ever played, but I enjoyed it and look forward to another installment.