Hunter: The Reckoning

"Finally a zombie hack n' slash done right!"

Hunter: The Reckoning is a hack and slash game for Nintendo Gamecube which is also on Microsoft's Xbox. In this game you control one of the four types of characters (Judge, Avenger, Defender, Martyr) each having their own special talents and abilities. You can team up with 3 other people and try to take this game on. And I mean ''try'', the more people that play the harder the game gets mostly because you all share the same lives and movement limitations. (ex: someone gets stuck behind something, surrounded etc.. you can't move either until you backtrack to them) It plays similar to Gauntlet in that it's not split screen in multiplayer and it's like I said all hack n' slash. Now on with the scoring!

Graphics: 9
The graphics on this game may not be considered the best of the best but there is almost always a ridiculous amount of bad guys on the screen at the same time. (Without slowdown might I add.) The character models all look very detailed and everything looks like a lot of work was put into it. The only bad guys I think look sorta lame are the gun holding zombies.. they look like something out of Sega's Zombie Revenge.

Sound: 7
Music... yeah, well there is none. Actually, there is music but only when there is a ton of monsters chasing after you. It sounds like it would be bad but it's really not. It's very helpful to know when enemy numbers are getting high, it adds to the strategy. ''Should I use my magic? should I use my gun? Oh music, looks like this calls for magic.'' See what I'm saying? The sound effects are pretty good. Arrows whoosh, swords swish, etc. Standard fair.

Game Play: 9
The game play is great in this game! You can use the c-stick to point in the direction you want to shoot in and the joystick to move your character. So for example if you want to run away from a mob of zombies, you can run backwards while shooting at them. Which is great compared to Gauntlets stand still and pivot in the direction you want to shoot.

There is also a mass amount of team work required to play this game. You all must stay pretty close together and communicate on what to take out first, what to simply avoid, and what to trash if you can. You need to be very co-operative with the people you are playing with to get anywhere in this game. Item sharing is a must, someone just can't hog stuff otherwise it's your demise. The only thing I didn't like is that the camera isn't forgiving, it never will zoom in or out the least bit if someone walks out of the area you see. It works the same way one player as it does 2 - 4. It's an unnecessary hardship that could have been fixed.

Replay Value: 6
Replay all depends on if you have people to play with you. I personally found it really fun when I played by myself when I first got it, then my friends came over and I never wanted to play one player again. Multiplayer is the main aspect of this game, without it, the game gets boring and lonely. Also, there is only 23 levels thus making it less than half the size of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (also for Gamecube). The fact you can't replay levels and you lose your stats after you beat the game also hurts the replay value. Only buy this game if you have people to play with you or really really like hack and slash type games.

PRO'S:
+ Requires lots of strategy.
+ Multiplayer is awesome.
+ Great controls
+ High difficulty mulitplayer
+ Finally a zombie hack n' slash done right. (*gives Zombie Revenge the evil eye*)

CON'S:
- Single player gets boring fast.
- That unforgiving camera.
- Not able to replay levels.
- Don't keep stats after the end of game.

Buy or Rent? Rent first, then decide if you want to get it. It's a really good game, but only with 2 or more people.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/03, Updated 01/03/03