Cabela's African Safari

"It's better than Alaskan Adventure at least"

My first adventure into this series was Alaskan Adventure on the 360. I have now played African Safari and while it isn't the best game ever, it does improve upon Alaskan Adventure. For those who liked the new features and first person view of Alaskan, than maybe this isn't for you because this is actually a watered down version, in terms of features that is.

Graphic wise the game is pretty good. Animals look good but not amazing. The landscapes are rather small and kind of bland but if you've seen Africa then you know it isn't overly exciting with colors and such. The game does seem a bit choppy at times though and these don't look like next gen graphics to me.

Sound wise I must say this game is better. I don't remember much music being in the game but what there was wasn't too bad. Not sure if there was any voice acting but I don't think. The gun sound effects are nice and they sound pretty close to what they are supposed to.

Well, I guess the biggest plus is that the control is much easier to use. X reloads your gun, B is crouch, R is shoot and R nub is Matrix slow-mo. Pretty simple and it was very easy to aim, zoom in and all of that. No problems at all.

I had a number of problems with Alaskan Adventure. This time around things have been watered down and to be honest it just solved many of the problems. You no longer have a run meter and get tired. The game is a third person shooter now and there is a little sight that is always on the screen and it makes bird hunting easier. Instead of the town and different locations you have a base camp and you talk to one person to go on the different hunts that day. This works much better and makes everything run smoother.

One thing I really like is that you start with all of the guns and they are with your during each and every hunt. Some annoying things still remain like not being allowed to kill anything unless it's your target for the mission. I found it hard to actually find the animal sometimes and the goals do have a time limit, but a fair time limit and it always give you enough time.

The game does feature a number of different modes. You have Hunt which is the story mode without the story. You can do random creature hunts, customized hunts and I think there were two more options. As of this review the game only had one downloadable thing, which was a new animal. Not the best thing ever but it's at least something. The game isn't too long but the brief time I spent with the game was fun.

Fans will love this title over Alaskan Adventure. It's much smoother game play wise and doesn't feel as tedious. This is more of a pick up and play title, which makes it a perfect rental and one for a rainy day. I personally would never buy this game but I could see some buying it. It does have some flaws like not being able to find the beast and being penalized for shooting the wrong animals. Besides that it's an alright game. I think the biggest problem is that the game play itself isn't overly exciting either. Kind of bland in general but fans will enjoy the title for what it is. Score is based on a non-fan look at it all. Fans should add another point to my final score.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 6/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/07