Way of the Hunter – Review
I’ve been keeping an eye out for Way of the Hunter by Nine Rocks Games ever since I heard about it. My favourite types of hunting games have an open world. A gameplay loop that rewards patience and thoughtfulness, and stunning environments teeming with wildlife that beg to be explored. I was impressed and frustrated by what I found in Way of the Hunter when I finally got to read it.
In Way of the Hunter, players take on the role of River, a young man who travels to the Nez Perce Valley of the Pacific Northwest to assist his ailing grandfather on the family ranch, Bear Den. Grandpa River is a seasoned hunter who used to fill orders from local restaurants with game he had killed. The grandfather, however, is currently hospitalised and unable to manage the company; consequently, his grandson will have to take over. River faces a difficult challenge because the local livestock may be a source of a disease that could spread to humans.
When players first arrive at the Ranch, they will be taken through a short tutorial that explains the fundamentals of the game. You’ll get to see the ranch itself, find out where to go to stock up on weapons and armour, and spend some time at the Bear Den Range to pick up some shooting fundamentals. At last, you’ll be sent to a hunting stand beyond the ranch’s fence to cull the badger population. Now is the time to practise using your Hunter Sense, a vital system. With Hunter Sense, players can zero in on specific environmental cues such as animal calls, tracks, need zones, and blood trails. In addition, it can give you important details about the target animal before you fire your gun.
The first hunt I went on after the badger massacre behind the ranch was great, right up until I had to track down the mule deer I had shot. Having located the deer with the help of Hunter Sense, I quietly crept up to a distance of 150 metres to take a shot. The animals in Way of the Hunter are so beautiful that I often find myself stopping to admire them while they refuel at watering holes. With the crosswind, my scent wouldn’t be carried to the animal, so I confidently aimed for the lung and fired (it was). The deer reacted realistically to the bullet’s impact, jumping back as it was fired, which surprised me in a video game. After the herd broke up and my deer started running, I went to where I had shot it.
Initially, I had no trouble locating the initial blood spatter; however, following the trail back to the carcass took me 11 minutes, despite the fact that it was likely no more than 50 metres away. Due to my colour blindness, I was unable to notice the blood trail on the ground, regardless of whether or not I activated the Hunter Sense. There are no options to change the colour of tracks, droppings, need zones, or blood, so I hurried into the game’s menus to make the necessary adjustments. Because I wanted to try out the co-op mode, I recruited a coworker to play, and they had just as much trouble following blood trails as I did.
The hunt summary screen in Way of the Hunter is fantastic, so my mood improved once I found my animal. You can see the location of your shot, the amount of force it landed with, the type of weapon you used, the direction and strength of the wind, and the distance you shot it from. All of that is on the Bullet Camera’s initial screen. Other details about the animal, such as its age, weight, trophy rating, and asking price, are also available for your perusal. It’s a great way for players to figure out what went wrong and how to do better on future hunts because it provides a detailed account of how the hunt went. At any time, you can access this information by navigating to the game’s menus, where you’ll find a list of your recent hunts and the specifics of each one.
Actually, the more I learned about the ecology of the animals in Way of the Hunter, the more impressed I became. Your hunting methods will have an effect on the population as a whole due to the design of the system. Cutting down on the population of trophy animals is a real possibility if hunters focus solely on killing prime males. The population can be reduced by eliminating the females. However, the quality of the animals in the area will rise if you target only the low-quality males in your hunting. You have to weigh whether you want to go after high-quality animals for your trophy room right now, or whether you’d rather go after lower-quality males to increase your chances of bagging a trophy animal in the future.
With up to four players on public or private servers, Way of the Hunter offers a cooperative gameplay experience. Anything you do in multiplayer mode, such as visiting a location and unlocking a fast travel point, will be carried over to your single-player game. However, there is no character customization available in co-op mode. This effectively shuts the door on anyone who does not identify as a white, bearded man. You can’t alter the server’s settings in the middle of a game, or even the most fundamental ones, like the map and difficulty level, unless you host the server yourself. Unless you’re both near a valid fast travel point, you won’t be able to teleport to each other. After spending several hours under the false impression that there was no such feature, I discovered the auto-walk option. Sadly, the build I was given did not include a comprehensive list of PC keybindings to inform me in advance. However, the list continues for co-op, as problems with tracks, droppings, and blood trails not synchronising between players somewhat undermines the ability to hunt as a cohesive team.
Even when not playing with others, the ability to quickly travel between locations seems underutilised. You can recall your car if you’re near a parking garage, but you can’t use a fast travel system to get there. When you go on a hunt and end up far into the mountains or woods, you won’t have any place to rest or pass the time once night falls. It is essential that Way of the Hunter include the option to set up camp anywhere, so that players can rest for the night and continue their journey after waking up in the same spot.
Unfortunately, Way of the Hunter has a lot of problems in its actual gameplay. Although it is a gorgeous game that players will enjoy capturing with the in-game photo mode, PC users are left with few graphical customization options, including no way to expand the game’s default view distance. Despite the fact that my RTX 3080 Ti and i9-11900K completely destroy the suggested settings, I was usually limited to under 60 frames per second at 2560 by 1440. Yes, I was able to get passable frame rates on my PC, but I fear for players who have mid-range computers or who play on console. You might need to do more reading up on the subject before making a purchase.
Although both the Nez Perce Valley and Transylvania are visually stunning with their verdant forests, undulating hills, and breathtaking vistas, the same cannot be said for the audio design. The voice acting, music, and the majority of the in-game sound effects are all fine with me, but the ambient sound occasionally falls flat. When I got close to a small, still body of water, I’d often get hit in the face with the sound of a raging river full of frogs. In one instance, I spent thirty minutes actually sitting in a tree stand, listening to a sound file that looped the same noises over and over again, obscuring any potential wildlife calls. Aside from the frogs, I didn’t hear any other wildlife. Now, I can still hear them, like a song that won’t leave my head.
Sadly, the failures of Way of the Hunter do not end there. Both the open world and the quests presented me with bugs. One of my goals required me to bring a book to a remote cabin. I got in the car, grabbed the book, and drove out there, but when I got there, I couldn’t set the thing down where it said to. Thanks to the fast travel feature, I can quickly return to the cabin and try again each time I play, but I’ve yet to be able to return the book to its rightful owner.
I’ve gotten hung up on so many trees while hunting in the wild that I’ve lost count. I’m stuck in a spot where the tree won’t let me move, and the only way to get out is to jump, go prone, and wriggle. While I was fumbling around trying to overcome my colour blindness, I’ve witnessed blood trails simply disappear. Not that you’d try to shoot a running badger from a hundred metres or further, but small, moving animals you spot through your binoculars often only partially render and skip across the map, making any shot at them impossible. I’ve experienced desktop crashes that were quite severe and extreme audio stuttering while driving. Never the whole picture, but always a piece.
Way of the Hunter is a game I should enjoy; despite its many flaws, it contains interesting concepts and a promising setting that deserves more time and care from developer Nine Rocks Games. But it hasn’t quite arrived yet. I’m not talking about the quantity of available content when I say that it’s nowhere near adequate. There is an abundance of game available. The major flaw of Way of the Hunter is that it lacks a sense of completion and polish throughout. There are problems with performance, bugs, accessibility, and, in many cases, the overall quality of the game’s systems. I have a feeling that things will get better with time, but for now, Way of the Hunter falls far short of my hopes.
