izigame.me

Fantastic map design, but poor polishing hurts this DLC quite a lot. Visually it's one of the best looking maps out there. It's a mix between the base game Layton Lake map and Medved Taiga. There are many breathtaking spots to gaze upon. The lookout points offer some of the best views ever made for this game.
The problem is that this map is really scarce in pretty much everything else, from need zones to blinds or actual trails to go from one place to the other efficiently. I feel like they made this DLC map like this on purpose, because it's a trend I've noticed in the recent DLC maps. There's less and less things on them. You need to travel great distances between blinds or outposts, more than most earlier maps. The blinds themselves are not always in the best spots. You will often encounter areas that would appear much more prolific, but without blinds, so you need to use the portable ones you need to buy, if you have any. This all leads me to think that they want to force us to buy the ATV, blinds and caller DLCs more than ever before. This is a big issue with this DLC, as it was with the last big map, Sundarpatan. I really don't like this pattern that I'm seeing.
The solo story is similar to the main intrigue in the great TV series "Yellowstone". Rich people are trying to build a resort and you're trying to find ways to keep them from doing that. Of course, it's not LIKE Yellowstone hehe, but it's a pretty realistic scenario that happened in the past and happens now. I like it. For once, I feel like they truly nailed it in the story. The voice actors who speak to you overinflate the "Canadian-ness" of their accent a little bit too much for my liking and you even get a "eh?" in the introduction, but it's not too stereotypical either. Just a light tongue in cheek kinda thing. I have Métis ancestry and I found the addition of that part of Canadian history really cool. A lot of Canadians should learn about the Métis people and how badly they were treated by their own government. However, I feel like french is a bit overexposed. Of course, I don't have anything against it, but it makes me fear that they are not going to make a Québec DLC because of this, which is a bummer.
The beaver is a pretty sad addition, to be honest, and it's pretty much the only true addition ( as usual, the rest are either copy/pastes of previous maps or reskins with the same AI ). I feel like they're running out of ideas. Personally I find beaver killing even more lame than the addition, and I always judged people who kill beavers in real life severely. It's not even a sport to hunt a beaver. I feel like they're lacking butter for the COTW toast and it's spreading thin now. Maybe it's time to wrap things up and make a sequel, this time with endangered species or even cryptids?
With all due respect to Albertans, I feel like they could've made a DLC in other Canadian provinces. British Columbia has some really great scenery and a great array of wild animals. I don't understand why it's so neglected by the devs. Québec ( Gaspésie or Northern Québec would be sweet ) could've been great too, with power line areas offering wide open ranges as well as educational content on hydro power for the missions, a bit of history on the colonization of the country, etc.. They could've made a replica of l'Île d'Anticosti, which is one of the most prized hunting locations in North America in real life.
What ultimately makes me give the DLC a thumbs down is the current state of the AI for the animals. It's bad. Wolves will surround you and attack you, but their behavior is absolutely abnormal. You can shoot many of them point blank and the others just stay there and are animation locked to attack you still. If you shoot one wolf in real life in a similar situation, you are guaranteed that the rest of the pack will run away. This leads to farming wolves very easily for money and experience points. I don't like it.
Another issue I personally had is that I found a whole herd of different animals ( a deer, elks, etc. ) on the spot in which I had to deal with a beaver dam in the solo missions. They just stood there even if I was very close, as if I hacked the game like they do in multiplayer ( a real plague this is ) and put them there... But I am no hacker and this was in solo gameplay... This DLC needs work, and for the price right now, it's not worth it. I suggest letting it cook a few months. Until they fix their stuff I'm going to give this a red thumb.