izigame.me

What makes this game great when you start playing is the anticipation. Animals will not jump out of every bush, they will not always be where you expect them and you may walk a long time before you find the right spot. But when those things do happen, it's awesome. Patience is tested sometimes, just like in real life hunting, but the kill is usually extremely rewarding when it happens. It makes every prey a trophy no matter the size. The dosage between waiting/walking and shooting/harvesting is optimal.
It's also a very beautiful game that still looks really good to this day. The light effects are top tier and there are many observation points with breathtaking sceneries. Those who were involved with the creation of those maps are without a doubt the most gifted of the dev team. They are true artists.
The sound effects ( gun shots being very realistic with sounds coming depending on the caliber and distance ), occasional music and atmosphere are other key elements that help make this game good.
However this game is also crippled with issues, some of them indicating that the developers lack the hunting knowledge necessary to replicate certain details. There are also gameplay and AI issues.
A little example is the ground blind. My bro tried it in real life and it makes a lot of noise when it gets windy. Animals see it from afar and since it doesn't look like anything natural, they are afraid of it. In this game however the sound of the wind on your blind has no effect at all on the animals and they may very well just casually walk next to it if you call them from within.
There are many missing lures. In this game, you pretty much have one lure for each animal. In real life, there are many lures for them, each with varying efficiency depending on various things. Some lures have more effects on males, others work better with females. In COTW there is no difference. I also think the lack of salt cubes/buckets or meat lure is a big missed opportunity that could've helped players lure many animals ( deer, moose, bear, wolves, etc. ) in player-chosen specific spots.
The devs have repeatedly released DLC that you must download even if you don't want to buy them, resulting in COTW being one of the heaviest game on your hard drive.
There are persistent issues with animals they have yet to fix. It doesn't look like they're going to fix them. While playing online in Yukon Valley, wolves will stand still unless the host comes nearby and triggers their AI. Hares in Vurhonga Savannah don't make noise when thumping.
When you have played long enough, you realize the game has quirks and you kinda end up exploiting those even when you don't want to. The gameplay is simplified to this: you go near an animal, it gives a "warning call" and waits for your next move. If you are skilled enough, you can lure them. Nowadays I just do that because I have unlocked many stealth skills. It becomes very easy to lure animals that way. Too easy. In real life, most animals will not issue a "warning call". Those may be heard if the animal is really in despair or hurt.
There is also an issue I have with zones having specific activity times. For example a drinking zone will always contain animals from hour X to hour Y. All you gotta do is to unlock that zone's info and it's on your map forever. The animals will always be there around that time every day, making it too easy to find them at some point. This causes most experienced players to simply fast travel to one spot to the other according to the game time. This does not happen in real hunting scenarios where although there's more activity at certain hours, you are never guaranteed to find game every day at that spot. I wish we could have a bit of a randomized element here with animals not always respecting those activity times.
There are many animals we could hunt ( the elephant being on top of course ), but the devs don't want to create new animations and AI so they just recycle animals like ducks, deer and foxes, simply giving them new skins. They try to find an excuse in doing so by making your character a conscious hunter with a humane approach. That's total BS. If I play a hunting game, I want to hunt. Those animals are computer generated, no one is getting hurt. But like I said, that's just the lame excuse, don't be fooled. They're just lazy.
When you buy a DLC you pay for the map, a few items and reskinned animals. Some DLCs are better than others. I recommend Yukon Valley ( despite the bugged wolves ), Vurhonga Savannah ( despite the lack of elephants and lions being way too passive ), Medved-Taiga ( beautiful map ) and Silverridge Peaks. Avoid Parque Fernando, it's the most boring map in my opinion.
Overall I'd say it's an enjoyable game, I still play it, but since it has many flaws and the dev team doesn't want to fix them, instead going for weak DLCs with new animal skins with the same behavior, I can't give it a thumbs up. I think it's only worth it during a Steam sale. I also believe it's worth buying as a bundle with all the DLCs even if there are a few that don't deserve it.