Cabela's Alaskan Adventure

"Hunting for a Bargain Bin game"

I don't know about you, but when I first popped Cabela's Alaskan Adventure into my Xbox 360, I didn't really have high hopes for it. The only reason I even bothered to look at it and play it is because of the awesome picture of the bear on the cover, and the fact that hunting games are stupid fun. STUPID fun.

Graphics: 4/10

Wow, I have to admit...there are some lackluster graphics in CAA. The whole game looks like it was an early Xbox 1 title, except for the few rare occasions when you're close up with an animal. But all in all, the graphics in this game are pretty shoddy, but to be honest, it's VERY Cabela.

Sound: 6/10

I have to give the sound props, because it FITS the game. The music is, by my standards, "contemporary hillbilly". The sound effects are actually pretty good, especially the grunting sounds of animals as they slowly die of bullets to their hind quarters being very realistic. Only gripe is that there's no sound while on the hunt, just that stupid John guy yelling at me for "killing illegal game for the fourth and final time". The sound's good.

Gameplay: 5/10

It just wouldn't be a hunting game without mediocre gameplay. The main story in CAA is that you are a hunter in Alaska, and you have to kill animals in different regions, while, uh, competing in fishing and dogsledding challenges? Okay then sounds like a blast right?....eh sort of. The game is set in a first person view, so you're running around with a rifle, shotgun etc like you're Master Chief. Except your deadly foe is....2 snowshoe hares and 2 Arctic foxes! (It's SO hard to review this game without sounding conceited.) This game would get a higher score in the gameplay department if it fixed a few annoyances. Your character, after running for a grand total of two minutes, loses his "energy" and starts to breathe like he's passing a kidney stone. I mean really, how are you going to track an elusive Musk Ox if you can't even keep up with it? All in all, the gameplay is fair, with a few bugs here and there.

Fun Factor: 5/10

You don't rent or even buy a Cabela game because you think it looks like a compelling and interesting game: you buy it because you ran out of buckshot and want to kill something BAD. Bottom line is, if you're playing this game, you're liking it.

Final Score: 6/10

Well when you average all my scores together it comes out to...less than 6. But hey, I'll give it the measly 6 because I shot a wolf in the ass and it flipped over and did a headstand on a tree. You can't BUY entertainment like that anymore.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/07