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Kokopeli brings us In the Hunt for the PlayStation, a submarine-based shooter, and while it doesn't sport anything unique in terms of game play, it isn't half bad, although a few things could have tweaked to make it more enjoyable. In the Hunt puts the player in control of an Attack Sub, armed with an array of weapons, sent to the Antarctic Sea to destroy the underwater enemy base of the Dark Anarchy Society (D.A.S.). With their advanced weaponry, the menace's goal is to completely take over the world, and with half the world already in their clutches, they aren't far off. The control of the worlds civilization is in your crew's hands. You destroy the enemy. It sounds exciting, but the game play itself is simply dodge rounds of ammunition and shoot. I didn't find nearly as much strategy in this one when compared to other shooters. Being underwater, your sub is often slow, and your shots don't fire quickly enough -- something that shooter fans will find a problem. The two types of firing attacks, launch tubes (which fly straight ahead) and launch hatch (fires above and below you) add a small degree of strategy to the game, as you can fire in all directions but behind. When your sub emerges at the surface of the water, the rounds of ammunition fire into the skies destroying airborne enemies. When your sub is not at the surface, however, the rounds fly toward the surface, creating a blast of water when they finally reach it. So depending on whether you are deep under the surface or emerging out of the water, your vertical weaponry do different things. The weapon that falls toward the bed of the ocean travels slowly, but is somewhat powerful when it strikes. Since they don't destroy enemies quickly, it's best to just constantly fire them and hope that they help. These three weapons aren't nearly as unique or useful as those in other shooters I've played in the past. It was unfortunate to see that there was no sort of "large bomb" -- a bomb that destroys everyone with the touch of a button. The player is stuck with regular weapons. In the Hunt adequately delivers in the graphics department, but don't expect the usual 32-bit flashiness -- it makes no appearance. In fact, I'm convinced that the game could be done on a 16-bit machine. Darius Twin on the SNES was far more impressive than In the Hunt, and it was a first generation Super NES title! The explosions throughout In the Hunt lack detail, color, and the necessary animation frames to leave the player in a state of awe, as most shooters accomplish, and with numerous explosions appearing on the screen at once, the player is left with a bland aftertaste. In the Hunt is unbalanced in the category of graphics, however. For example, the backgrounds and amount of detail in some parts of the game are done very well, but others (like explosions and enemy design) lack what it takes to make the game visually appealing. I wouldn't put all that much emphasis on graphics if the game play was fabulous, but it only manages to reach the mediocre mark in my book. The graphics weren't entirely bad. During some parts of the game you must shoot down buildings and bridges in your path. In the Hunt's soundtrack is quite catchy, but sounds rather "8 or 16-bitish." It is still, however, somewhat tolerable. Who chose and composed the sound effects though? They're downright annoying. Turn on the radio instead... Options? Well, they don't save the game, but there are a few, most notably four levels of difficulty, a selectable number of lives, a sound mode choice (PlayStation or Arcade), a rapid fire option (on/off), and a sound test. I didn't notice a difference in the difficulty when I changed the appropriate setting, though. The most important thing that could have been done to improve In the Hunt would be the excitement level. It's just not exciting -- the game play, visuals, or uniqueness. In my final conclusion, In the Hunt is only average at best. I would advise shooter fans to give it a try, however, as I've heard mixed opinions on this game. |
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