Review: Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter

Developer: Beatshapers Publisher: Beatshapers If you've seen Jurassic Park, you know the thrill that hunting (or being hunted by) dinosaurs can bring. The velociraptor hunting-be-hunted scene was particularly nerve-wracking and was one of the many personal highlights of that movie. So when Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter came around onto the PlayStation minis service, I was hopeful that it may bring back a few nostalgic moments of my insides squirming with fear. You play as a multi-billionaire in the distant future who has paid the "Dinohunt" corporation for the privilege to hunt on a planet untouched by man and full to the brink of dinosaurs. And that's it. Despite the simple premise, C:DH hides a lot of depth. You start with a basic pistol, a basic landscape and a small choice of dinosaurs to hunt. Your choices cost points and cost more the more complex or difficult your landscape/weapon/prey is. Earning points will unlock better guns, better terrains and more dangerous dinosaurs to make extinct. Again. You earn points by killing these dinosaurs and the more you kill on each haul, the more points you'll end up with to unlock more things to then kill more things on each haul. These dinosaurs have 3 varying stats: hearing, scent and sight. These are countered by applying certain "boosters", if you will. Scent is countered by applying "Cover Scent", sight is covered by "Camouflage" and hearing is countered by good old fashioned walking slowly. While the former two are useful, they will cost you a percentage of the points you gain from that haul. Additional boosters come in the shape of a radar which will show all the dinosaurs as green specs on your vast map, and being able to put tranquiliser rounds into your gun, gaining 25% more of your earnings. However, any dinosaurs you do hunt with the tranquiliser will not go into your trophy room. While the statistical side of things is very deep and compelling, the actual gameplay isn't. You use the face buttons of your PSP to control your character and the analog stick to control your aim. Aiming in particular is a problem as you cannot adjust your sensitivity. Instead, you're stuck with a sluggish aim speed that even a three-legged Stegosaurus could outrun. This causes problems should you accidentally run into one of the lightning-quick, one-hit-kill predators, as you can't turn around quick enough as you hear their rumbling footsteps behind you. The actual hunting of dinosaurs without the radar is horrible too. You can deploy a dinosaur call to hear if there any dinosaurs nearby. However, unless you're wearing a surround sound headset, you won't know where the sound came from. You'll then pretty much run around like a headless chicken, mashing the "Dinosaur Call" button over and over until you eventually get to it. Or just give up. This can potentially be very rewarding, providing you have the patience, but if you are expecting short, sharp doses of intensity from a minis title, that's something a radar-less C:DH doesn't deliver on. Graphically, the game doesn't deliver much either, with low-resolution textures in places and blocky scenery. Providing you can stick with the game past the "I'm fighting dinosaurs with a measly pistol" phase and build up some points, the depth and fun in C:DH will make itself clear. Despite this, the game doesn't particularly provide much in the way of fun, but more a calm, paced form of gameplay fun that will cater to those who like to not have enemies blasting them with bullets every second like most other first person shooters. Pros: Huge areas to explore. Game gets more interesting after ranged weapons unlock. Cons: Graphics are poor. Hard to locate your prey. Poor controls. [nggallery id=12]