Hunter: The Reckoning

"Well, it looked fun...."

Welcome to yet another game review with the straightest shooter on GameFaqs, me, Johnny Danger. Previously I've talked about the major dissapointments, Godzilla:DAMM for GameCube and WMX8, also for GameCube, and now I'm checking in with my second X-Box review, Hunter: The Reckoning.

Story: Basically, someone is executed in a prison somewhere but when that happens, he's possessed by a demon that opens up a gate between the land of the living and that of the dead, and the dead swarm through to attack the living. The catch is that the living don't see them for what they are, zombie killings just look like gang murders to everyone else, etc. The only ones that can see these things are four chosen Hunters. They stop the evil that day, or so they think, but exactly one year later it returns with a vengeance.

Well, its decent enough, but, I HATE the part about regular people not being able to see these things...so, how else do they perceive a giant glowing gargoyle walking around, huh?

6/10

Characters: The four playable characters (assuming there are only four, I have the feeling some can be unlocked later but I haven't beat the game yet, and listing them would be spoilers anyway) are pretty stereotypical...so here we go. First up is a tough guy with a stupid name, the seven foot tall biker Mean Mark Callo-...oh wait, no, I mean Spenser ''Deuce'' Wyatt. Shaking in your boots yet? Oh well, he's probably my favorite character as he's got a wicked powerful axe and rifle. I like to pretend he's the main biker from the bar scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Now moving on. Then we have Samantha Alexander, a big breasted black police woman wielding a katana. Right. Next up is Kassandara Cheyung, the obligatory five foot two asian chick with knives and a stupid hat. Rounding off the foursome is Father Esteban Cortez, the pissed off mexican priest. He'd be much cooler with a catch phrase or two, so I like to rattle some off as I cut through swarms of the undead. Enemy characters are decent enough, but there's not enough variety between the basic enemies in the first few levels. You've got a few different looking zombies that shamble about in various stages of decay. You've got zombies wielding guns. You've got these REALLY ANNOYING spider things that explode upon contact with you and take over half your health. You've GOT ANNOYING B@#&*% CHICKS FROM HELL WIELDING MACHINE GUNS whose ninja kicks hurt you worse than your gunshots do them. And the bosses, well....they range from an elderly vampire with a phallic arm to a possessed teddy bear. Uh huh. A GIANT possessed teddy bear that vomits feces. Go figure.

5/10

Control: Yeah, here's where we REALLY GO DOWNHILL. ANY GAME who's option menu only lets you choose from pre constructed control layouts, not customize your own, has already lost some points in my eyes...but ESPECIALLY when the layouts are as bad as they are here. Why the HELL cant I select any button except the R or L button? Thats total crap and after 10 minutes your hands will be sore. Very sore.

3/10

Sound: No. No no NO. There is hardly any music, the only time it plays is when you're being overrun by zombies and the second you get rid of them it cuts off again. Its a very cool concept, to me, but its just not done right. Plus the music chosen, mostly generic metal/techno, isn't very good. This game could have benefitted from some good liscensed music from the likes of Rob Zombie, the Misfits or someone in that vein. Sound effects are alright but a wider range of roars and moans would be nice. Gunshots are good. You'll learn to HATE the sounds of the aforementioned chicks with guns.

5/10

Graphics: Well we've got a few different enviornments to wander around in, all pretty cliched from video game standpoints these days...you've got your demolished city streets, you've got the sewers, and, get this, in a horror game, one of the levels is an old mansion!!! Lets hope the RESIDENTs inside aren't of the EVIL variety! Oh well. The monsters are FAR too generic, as literally SWARMS of the exact same zombie with the exact same pants and shirt stalk you relentlessly. Bosses are nice and big, there's no real slowdown with all the enemies on screen which is nice. Its always fun blowing arms, heads and torsos off, but some more control over the decapitation would be nice..ah well.

6/10

Gameplay: Oy vey. First of all, before you even think about playing this game....you better be good at video games, or have a friend who is. I bought this mainly to play with my girlfriend....by the time we got to the prison (I think the third or fourth level), we only had like three continues left. And you've got to share. Well, I started a single game, and got there with 18 continues left. Uh huh. Here's the main reason why. This game, while designed for multi player, does NOT HANDLE IT VERY WELL! The biggest problem is if you're trying to battle enemies on both sides of the screen, it wont scroll out anymore and you'll both end up dying. REALLY annoying when someone is pelting you with bullets from offscreen but you can't do a damn thing about it because your moron partner is standing too far away from you. There are only a few different attacks available to you....slashing your weapon, a running slash, a jumping attack, your Edge (lame magic attacks) and the various guns you find, which range from three different levels of shotguns and machine guns, to flamethrowers and rocket launchers and the good ol' Evil Dead standby...the chainsaw. There just aren't enough things to do, there's no real puzzles to solve or mini games of any kind....its all just run and slash and shoot. But the real problem here is the computer enemies, which will be discussed in my next section.

6/10

Now for the final catagory...

The..

GODDAMN THIS CHEATING GAME Factor: Can be high at times. The game loves to constantly respawn enemies, sometimes right on top of you so there's no way to avoid damage. Enemies do an INSANE amount of damage to you, whatever those damn chicks with machine guns are, they are insanely unfair on the difficulty level...loads and loads and loads of enemies coming at you at all times can be fun, but, according to the storyline, all the monsters are the convincts who have been killed in a single prison since 1931....well....I'm not an expert on the criminal justice system, BUT...I kind of doubt that THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of criminals are killed in this one prison. Oh well.

Cheating factor: 5/10 single player, 7/10 co-op.

In conclusion, I'm hesitant to recommend this game. I picked it up for $19.99 so I'm happy, but, I'd encourage a rental rather than purchase. Its a fun game that should be experienced, but perhaps not bought as maybe you could accomplish anything you wanted to with this game in one week's time.

Final Score: 6/10.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/03, Updated 01/10/03