Developer: High Voltage Software
Publisher: Interplay
Rated: M for Mature
Released: May 21, 2002
Completed: September 17, 2017
Hack and slash games are a dime a dozen, and I typically like most of them. There's something about mindless monster slaughter that's cathartic. Hunter the Reckoning, based on White Wolf's pen-and-paper RPG of the same name, is among the better games in the genre. It offers a fun mixture of melee and ranged combat against hordes of zombies (or "rots," as they're called in the World of Darkness), vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and these goddamn little spider-like things called Skitters that are the most annoying enemies ever, GOD I HATE THEM SO MUCH...
Ahem
Getting back on track: Hunter the Reckoning premiered on the original Xbox and Gamecube. Oddly enough, the sequel, Wayward, was a PS2 exclusive, while the third and final game in the series, Redeemer, would only grace the Xbox. With such strange marketing choices, it's no wonder the series faded into obscurity. It's a shame, too, because all three Hunter games are a blast to play, especially with friends.
Like most hack and slashers before it, Hunter offers a choice of four characters and supports four player co-op. Each of the game's titular Hunters are human beings imbued with special supernatural powers that aid them in their quest to eradicate the undead. The characters follow the genre archetypes pretty closely - the burly warrior, the well-rounded character, the nimble but weak one, and the one that excels at magic - which means the game's difficulty can be drastically affected by your choice of Hunter. I had originally beaten this game with Deuce, the slow and powerful Avenger, but I found I had a much easier time playing as Samantha, the Valkyrie-like Defender. Her quick movement speed and health restoring magic spells allow you to stand back and thin out the herds of enemies with her Magnum.
The plot is kind of silly. A bunch of stupid teenagers hold a rave at an abandoned prison, disturbing the tortured souls of those who had been executed. Vengeful spirits flood into our world and only the Hunters can stop them. It's kind of ludicrous, but in fairness if you've ever lived in an apartment, you know how annoying it can be when the person upstairs plays their music too loud.
The locales are mostly dank urban environments - city streets, the prison, the requisite sewer level. Even the more unique stages, such as the mansion or the hospital, look a little barren and bland. The levels lack detail and offer few opportunities for exploration. I suppose this was done to compensate for the pretty impressive amount of enemies the game crams on screen, but going back and playing it today, I was definitely less impressed by the visuals than I remembered being when the game came out.
The more memorable aspects of the game are its boss fights. While the majority of the game is spent cutting down innumerable rots and avoiding those rat-bastard Skitters, there are a handful of truly epic boss fights. They still boil down to shoot or slash it till it's dead, but the larger, quicker enemies offer much greater challenge. An early fight against a giant, demonic teddy bear is one of the game's standout moments, as is the fight against the mysterious Carpenter, a creepy antagonist wrapped in bandages who never really reveals himself to be friend or foe.
Each Hunter has their own unique melee and ranged weapon, but you're able to collect limited use armaments as well. The machine gun is effective against large hordes of enemies, and especially faster ones like vampires. The shotgun does massive damage if you're close enough to use it, and the rocket launcher is a must for the boss fights.
Though lots of enemies will mob the player, most of them drop health or magic orbs when killed, and continues are easy to come by. You earn the latter for rescuing innocent civilians in the stages, and even though the game depicts them being attacked by monsters, I don't think they can actually die. As I said before, the game's challenge partly boils down to which Hunter you pick, but there's a thin layer of strategy in the combat where taking risks and engaging in melee combat will yield more health and mana before it starts to dissipate, or you can stand back and blast away at enemies until they eventually stop spawning, but the drops may disappear before you can reach them.
Throughout the game, your Hunter's skills will improve. The game automatically upgrades you at certain points, increasing your damage output, accuracy, or granting you new spells (called Edges), and while it does a good job doling out the points, I would have preferred to have more control over my character's progression like in, say, Gauntlet Legends.
As previously stated, the graphics aren't particularly noteworthy. Some of the character and monster designs look OK, but the levels themselves are just kind of drab and boring to look at. The story is told through pre-rendered cutscenes that are heavily compressed, creating a very blurry, blocky look. On the plus side, the animation is pretty smooth. Your character looks a little funny while aiming, as they spin their arms around wildly like they're possessed, but most actions are pretty fluid. The game does often force your animation to play out, however, so you will frequently get stuck hacking at thin air while monsters get in some free hits on your backside.
The audio does a much better job than the visuals. The distinct noises of rots spawning in get louder the closer they are to you, helping your gauge where your enemies are coming from and how far away they are. You'll quickly learn to hate the sound of Skitters clicking across the ground, but the game generally does a good job of alerting you to an enemy's presence so you can take a second to whip out your weapon of choice.
Control is a mixed bag, however. The shoulder buttons attack and jump, and it's not ideal in a game where you have to constantly hammer the attack button. The Xbox's analog shoulder buttons weren't built for that sort of rapid use, and my fingers did get tired after a while. Jumping is practically useless in the game, and I really only found myself using it just for the hell of it. The face buttons are reserved for switching between your default and special weapons, and selecting and using your spells. There's also a taunt button that does absolutely nothing and could have been dropped altogether.
Unfortunately, there's not really a better control option as the right analog stick aims your attacks. The game operates like a twin-stick shooter, and as such you couldn't really use the face buttons to attack or else you'd have to take your thumb off the right analog stick. Such as it is, it works, but it can definitely be tiring over time.
Hunter the Reckoning is one of those games that I have fond memories of. It's what got me into White Wolf's World of Darkness universe, and led me to the mostly enjoyable Hunter novels (of which there are seven). Going back and playing it today, the graphics haven't aged very well, but the gameplay is still a mindless good time. It's a shame the series didn't get more recognition, despite having two sequels, because this is the kind of game that would've been great online. Though it was surpassed by the later entries, the original Hunter the Reckoning is still one of the Xbox's best hidden gems.
Hunter the Reckoning was completed on an original Xbox with no cheats.
I remember playing this for hours at a time with friends.
Posted by: Outbreak | January 24, 2018 at 05:25 PM