Predator hunting Ground review

I well remember my first viewing of the original “Predator”. How smoothly we were introduced to the Dutch squad, how the unknown hunter first appeared in the film, how his brutal atrocities were shown. The tape still delights me, even 33 years after the release. And how beautiful was the final battle between Schwarzenegger and the alien – can not be described in words! The predator saw in Dutch a worthy rival who needed to be torn with his bare hands and not shot from a blaster, laid bare his true face and rushed into battle.

Then I thought: “Damn, I wish they made a game on this film!”. And now, after 33 years, this one appeared – Predator: Hunting Grounds. But, unfortunately, it largely falls short even of an old movie, not to mention modern action games in the cinema or game industry.

The original film was largely inspired by the authors

The authors really took a lot from the original tape. This can be seen both in the basics of gameplay and in the many visual details. Entourage – a classic jungle. Cast: four fighters of the Vudu-1 strike squad and Predator in person. All the characters arrive at the location with specific tasks: the strike squad must comply with the decree from the authorities, destroying a small regiment of mercenaries along the way, and the Predator – collect as many trophies as possible.

From the first seconds of the match, familiar, disturbing music begins to play. It is worth leaving the starting helicopter – and you seem to be in the original film. The complete silence around, the mass of greenery, and only a lonely marker indicating the target. If you go a little ahead, a small military base will open in front of you, and the leader of the group will begin to broadcast through the radio: “Perform the task.”

A few moments before the detachment disembarks, the Predator appears on the map, seriously determined to replenish the collection of trophies. The game for an alien corresponds to what we saw in the film. The thermal imager and invisibility look exactly the same as in the tape, and even make the same sounds. The branded shoulder gun with a triple laser sight also did not disappear. And if the Predator is injured, then it can be healed with the help of an injection syringe familiar to everyone – accompanied by wild cries that can be heard in every corner of the jungle.

Describing Predator: Hunting Grounds is much more interesting than playing it.

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The gameplay of the novelty is very similar to other titles with asynchronous multiplayer like Evolve or Dead by Daylight. If you played them or at least watched gameplay videos, you can imagine what is going on in a regular Predator: Hunting Grounds match.

The gameplay for the strike squad is similar to some middle-class shooter straight from 2010-2011. Shooting completely does not stand comparison with modern games. Yes, shots from a machine gun or a shotgun make pleasant sounds, but the animations and the complete lack of recoil still suggest that the soldier is holding some kind of toy, but not a deadly weapon.

Another negative note in the shootings is made by the artificial intelligence of local opponents. Sometimes it seems that they generally do not have the same AI, or at least hearing. You can calmly shoot a sniper on a tower from an assault rifle without a silencer, and no one will even take his eyes. There are also questions for the combat training of mercenaries: during the shootings, they either aimlessly run forward in a straight line, or, on the contrary, stand still and try to get into the players. At the same time, they can absorb the whole horn from the machine before falling to the ground with a dead weight, which is also not the most fun part of the game.

The same problems exist in the system of movement. The characters walk slowly and clumsily, they can’t even climb into the ledge! You have to either jump it according to the precepts of the quakers, or bypass in a roundabout way. All this takes an unhealthy amount of time – the endurance strip when running ends very quickly.

The tasks that the squad receives do not sparkle with originality. All of them can be adapted to a specific pattern: first you need to run to a specific location, then activate some object (or several) or kill the enemy (or several). Then it remains only to wait until the fixed action on the part of the leadership is completed, for example, hacking, and run to the point of evacuation in order to fly into the sunset.

Predator is the only reason to buy a game

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How unpleasant it is to play for ordinary people, it is just as cool to try on the role of the Predator. The gameplay for the alien is almost perfect. It takes into account all the key chips and mechanics that fans of the film loved. The invisibility familiar to everyone, a thermal imager, a triple laser shoulder gun, a throwing disc, a spear – the Predator’s arsenal is very large and fully complies with the canon.

Play as a Predator with a third-person view. The alien moves much faster, can jump high and easily climb trees. Thanks to several types of weapons, it is possible to fight for it both at long and short range. For example, first shoot at the players several times from the shoulder blaster, and then jump from a height and finish with retractable blades.

By the way, at the beta test stage, the Predator for some reason made deaf and very loud sounds while moving. Fortunately, this has been fixed in the release version. The question remains, why did such a chip initially appear in the game. However, now the sounds of the Predator’s running and jumping are quite quiet, and it can only be issued by unsuccessful activation of the disguise (at the start it squeaks loudly) or its signature crackling of the jaws – this, alas, is impossible to control.

During the collision of the Predator and people, not tactics are important, but accuracy of execution and calculation

Unlike the strike squad, the Predator arrives at the location with the simplest task – to destroy all players. If in the process of its implementation it turns out to tear out someone’s skull with a spine, then the post-match reward will be higher, but more on that later.

Although the Predator appears on the other side of the map at the beginning of the match, finding people for him is not difficult. It is enough to climb the tree branches and run forward, listening to the sounds and wielding a thermal imager. Soon you will definitely hear chaotic shooting or the buzz of sirens. As soon as the Predator manages to get to the strike squad, the most interesting part of the game begins.

Contrary to my opinion, from the Predator: Hunting Grounds closed beta review, killing a Predator is quite easy, but only if all four players shoot accurately and carefully monitor the situation on the battlefield. Someone can see the alien on the way, someone can hear the crackling of his jaws, and someone can run into him when entering a random house. At this second, the latter will have only a few moments to escape – in a close fight with the Predator, not a single member of the shock detachment will survive even three seconds.

But if the Predator is in an open area and two or three fighters see him at once, then he will have problems – under a focused fire the alien “ends” in just a few seconds. In such situations, he can only forget about pride and escape in order to repeat the attack after some time. I note: you need to run away! Several times, the squad members managed to find me right in the middle of the delicate treatment process.

The ideal tactic for the Predator is to catch the moment when the players split up and attack them one at a time. If you are lucky, in this way you can kill two, or even three fighters at once – this is possible if the players could not concentrate the fire on the alien in time. If the unit manages to turn the battle over, the soldiers will be able to revive the fallen comrades. To deprive them of such an opportunity, the Predator can carry out the finishing move – the animation of the blow takes a very long time, but upon its completion the unfortunate one will remain on the ground without a head.

From the experience of my matches, I’ll say that in many moments it’s even easier to play for people than for a hunter. Despite all the technical bells and whistles, it can be easily detected: the alien’s camouflage glare in the sun, and the laser sight is visible from afar.

Having received deadly damage, the Predator can activate the self-destruction mode and start laughing – just like in a movie. At this moment, the detachment should neutralize it as quickly as possible: run to the body and play a small mini-game. If you do not have time, you will have to flee in a panic from a large explosion zone.

Customization system in the game is useless

After each match, all participants receive a reward of experience and some local currency called “credentials”. To increase the reward, you need to have time to complete as many tasks on the map as possible. Both sides have different ways to earn extra money. Members of the strike squad must damage the Predator and kill mercenaries, and can also collect beliefs at the levels – it lies in small purple heaps on tables or barrels. You can still smear in the mud – for this you will get 15 experience points and for a short while you can ignore the Predator’s thermal imager. Again, everything is like in the movie. It is enough for the predator to kill everyone in a row and execute the members of the shock detachment in order to gain more experience.

For velitalia, you can buy skins for heroes and weapons, as well as buy lootboxes. The same boxes are issued for raising the level. Of these, only cosmetic content falls, but for some reason the authors did not block the loss of duplicates. If you open the boxes often, then sometimes you can get three identical skins at once.

Why is the system useless? Yes, because there is simply no time to admire the skins in the match. When playing for people, you can consider a character only during the starting landing from a helicopter, after which you will only see partners. And skins for weapons are similar to each other and generally do not have any chips.

The Predator is a little better with this. He can change the shape of the mask, change the floor or even choose a pattern under the armor. The problem, however, is the same – only those who play for the Predator will admire all this. Other players simply do not have time to consider the alien, since he can kill them in a couple of seconds.

In addition to the appearance, the fighters of the shock detachment can change one of four classes, choose the main and additional weapons, three types of additional equipment like grenades and first-aid kits, and also configure perks. There are several types of weapons in the game, but they differ only visually – the characteristics practically do not change.

The Predator with the settings, again, is more interesting. Among the available classes are the middle ground, a brisk scout with an increased speed of movement, but a small margin of health, as well as a berserker – a heavy fighter who moves slowly, but can withstand more damage.

Predator: Hunting Grounds will appeal only to fans of the film and the Predator itself. It may not go to the rest, and alas, there are many reasons for this: weak shooting, useless progression system, mediocre technical part.