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The excellent titles just keep on coming from the resurrected Activision, this time in the form of an epic multi-vehicle arcade adventure.
I’ve always kept myself to myself, hardly any chums at school (no-one seemed particularly interested in my collection of washing machine barings 1955-75) and my best friend's a gerbil. They even abolished telephone chatlines shortly after I started ringing they up. That made me an ideal candidate to join the secret service. I'd be able to sneak behind enemy lines completely unchallenged, and I wouldn't be missed at home for months on end. My first mission was a bit of a failure, though. The beautiful blonde spy I was supposed to be seducing didn't take too kindly to meeting Conan (my Gerbil, who'd gone along for the ride) and did a runner. They didn't ask me back.

HE’S A MAN WITH A MISSION
Hunter gives you the chance to slip into the shoes of a man with a mission. And that mission is to make life as tough as possible for the enemy who, for unspecified reasons, have taken control of most of the map.

A quick perusal of the screenshots will reveal that the chap in question (he's the one in green) is a blocky, 3D sort of character. As well as walking about he can also swim, although his talents as an all-round, secret agent sort of guy aren't realised until he comes across some 'wheels' (or, indeed, 'rotors') (or a 'hull'). The place is littered with cars, lorries, tanks, boats, helicopters and all sorts of other forms of transport, all of which he's perfectly capable of driving. Handy, that, when you consider the distances concerned and that fact that the map consists of lots of little islands with water between them.

So we've got some fairly corking 3D graphics, a huge map and plenty of ways of exploring it. What next? Well, there's a selection of missions to be tackled, so the best thing to do is pick one and go on it. The exact nature of the mission depends, really. There's the main one, which is an all-singing, all dancing action adventure in which you'll have to apply your brain cells as well as your trigger finger, and then there are a series of subsidiary ones (practice missions if you like) which will be of more appeal to military minds.

Whichever you choose, taking the right equipment is a must. Happily, all the essentials, like a map, a radar unit, a clock and a range of weaponry, can be found fairly close to the HQ where you start, while your supply of ammo can be topped up from the stores before you leave. You've a formidable range of kit at your disposal, including a hand gun, grenades, a bazooka and some timed explosives (which you can fix to things and run away). If all that's not enough, climbing aboard a tank or helicopter will give you access to even more.


MAKING (NOT SO) SOCIAL CALLS
If you begin to run low on anything you'd better start sticking your head round a few doorways. The landscape is packed with buildings of all descriptions: houses, power stations, lighthouses, hangers, you name it. If you're lucky you might hit upon a stash of enemy equipment, or perhaps someone with something useful to tell you (although you might have to bribe them first).
Opposition comes in the form of everything from foot-soldiers (who are best squashed) to tanks and helicopters, backed up by anti-aircraft guns and missiles. Some pretty heated battles can ensue with, for example you taking out a fuel dump with a helicopter, getting shot down, crash-landing, leaping into a nearby armoured car and nipping off with a couple of tanks in hot pursuit.

And then there's the puzzle solving/strategy side of things. For starters there are puzzles of the information collecting type. Then there are other things - wearing an enemy uniform will let you sneak about much more safely. A transport is always a concern. For example, your boat is running low on fuel, and you haven't got any spare. Do you risk going in search of more, or abandon the boat in favour of a helicopter? The trouble then is that you might get shot down and stranded somewhere, facing the very daunting prospect of a long and slow swim home.

And all this time the clock's ticking away. There's a real sense of urgency to some of the missions, and they might take quite a few tries to complete within the deadline, possibly with only seconds to spare. Another thing to watch out for is nightfall. Once the sun's set it's a lot harder to find your way around, unless you either launch flares, which provide a few seconds' respite, or turn the brightness on the telly up a bit.

DOING THINGS NAPOLEON SOLO
I know this has been a bit of a factual review, but Hunter's a game that's hard to fault. (And, believe me, I've tried.) It's not quite top notch, but has no serious failings. The only pinpointable thing I noticed (and even this is a bit vague) is that it has a weird sort of 'lonely' feel to it, especially considering the battlefield conditions the action's supposed to be taking place under. You're almost grateful to see a bull charging towards you out of the distance at times, and verbal interaction with other characters is limited to them saying something and you, well, just listening.

Apart from that everything is just as it appears, rendered in fast, smooth 3D graphics. There's masses to do and heaps of things to discover. Be prepared for a slight feeling of anti-climax when you've explored everywhere and tried everything out, but things should pick up again once you start tackling the puzzles. In case you're in any doubt, then, it gets a thumbs up from me. Well worth buying.
Jonathan Davies

Amiga Power, Issue 4, August 1991, p.28
Game: Hunter
Publisher: Activision
Authors: Paul Holmes, Martin Walker (sound)
Price: £25.99
Release: September
UPPERS
Quite good 3D graphics. Lots to discover, lots of challenging missions to go on, lots of everything, really. A cunning blend of shooting, adventuring and strategying. And when you think about it, most of it hasn't been done before..
DOWNERS
The occasional graphical glitch, and things don't appear on the screen until they're pretty close to you. There's a slightly strange atmosphere to the whole thing, too (or perhaps that's just me).

THE BOTTOM LINE
Hunter is a real all-rounder. There's something for everyone in there, all wrapped up in a believable 3D world you can get lost in for hours.



85


P E R C E N T

Ever sat down to watch a blood'n'bullets movie and found yourself screaming at the hero to single-handedly take on the combined might of the enemy forces with his pop gun, wipe out their impregnable installations with a single grenade, free the hostages, and save the day? Hunter, the long-awaited 3D epic from Activision, puts you in this one-man-behind-enemy-lines cliché and allows you to run riot where Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Chuck Norris fear to tread.

The Hunters of the title are an elite band of troops who make Lee Marvin's Dirty Dozen look like a bunch of wimps. A Hunter's job entails going deep behind enemy lines, blowing up strategic installations, assassinating key military figures, and causing general mayhem. As one of these super-troopers your mission is to take on a powerful invading force, single-handed by using whatever equipment you can get your hands on.

Each mission starts off at HQ, where you're given your orders. After this it's off to your hut to collect a map, a log book to keep track of mission targets, and a couple of Aerial Observation units. When activated, the latter zoom a couple of hundred feet into the air and beam back a map of the surrounding area including positions of vehicles, buildings and people. Most buildings are civilian bungalows which contain little of importance. Hangers, on the other hand, often contain vehicles and assorted supplies. And, as with the real thing, powered transport requires fuel, and without a couple of cans of four star you could find yourself without a ride.

Enemy vehicles are often the most convenient way to attack a target, especially the tanks which have large 80mm guns which can destroy anything with just three shots. Naturally, the enemy are wise to your appropriation of their equipment and many islands are littered with tank traps, land mines and computer-controlled rocket batteries. Even your helicopters aren't immune to enemy defenses, and tracer guns blast hundreds of bullets into the air every minute whilst the deadly SAM batteries are always active. Control of land vehicles is very simple, using the forward and back directions of the stick to accelerate and brake, and the respective directions turning the vehicles. What is lacking, though, is a reverse gear, which would be very useful for faster evasive action. Also, control over the choppers is made slightly harder with a combination of forward and fire increasing lift, and a reduction in thrust needed before the beast can start moving and killing. Points are recorded in the form of credits, and every time an enemy soldier, vehicle, or installation is blown up you get paid for it. However, if you blow up civilians, their property, or wildlife (yes there's flora and fauna in the shape of flowers, bulls, rabbits and birds), a fee is deducted from your account.
The graphics are consistently good throughout. They're colorful, contain a nice amount of detail and don't slow down when the screen becomes cluttered. A few more frames of animation would have been nice for the main character and some of the animals, but this probably only noticeable to haggard old computer journos.

Throughout the game your ears are assaulted with a barrage of sampled explosions, growls and the odd seagull squawk, which is easily silenced by well-aimed helicopter rotor blades. Apart from being big, Hunter is also incredibly absorbing. Although the missions have time-limits there are no constraints as to how you must complete them, and this flexibility is severely lacking in past attempts at accessible 3D games. If this had to be categorized, I suppose I'd call it a thinking persons 3D shoot 'em up. Whatever it is it's good and you should definitely check it out.
Mark Patterson

CU Amiga, August 1991, pp.97-98
MOTOR-VATION
There's nothing stopping our hero from walking everywhere (apart from on the occasional river) but its time consuming and very tedious to watch. To speed things up, a variety of vehicles are included. Cars, jeeps, lorries and ambulances are all fast and you can roll down the window to take pot shots at enemy troops. Guaranteed to deal with traffic jams are tanks, which come in two varieties. Also, if you can't be bothered to change from boat to wheels when you hit dry land you could try finding a hovercraft, which can go over any terrain. Finally, fly bouts can try helicopters while environment freaks can settle for push bikes and windsurfers.


DON'T PUSH ME!
Do you ever get the urge to strip down to your boxer shirts, smear your body with animal droppings and take on the entire army of some third world country? No? Well, some people must judging by the success of action films such as Rambo, Commando and Missing In Action. The Rambo films were written by, and starred, Sylvester Stallone. The first had him up against corrupt cops in America's deep south, in the sequel he took on the entire Vietnamese army for breakfast and rescued American PoWs in his lunch hour. The final film saw Stallone, his bazooka and baby oil taking on the might of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger was rescuing fair maidens in Latin America (Commando) and battling alien creatures on his days off (Predator). Veteran crumbly Chuck Norris ran riot in 'Nam (in his attempts to rescue PoWs that Rambo forgot) in a film which grossed $26,000,000 but never made him a megastar. It just goes to show that you don't need an army – just a hero with more muscle than brain, no conscience and 500 extras who don't mind labeled 'gooks' and taking dives to make Mr Muscle look good.



ACTIVISION £29.99
One of the best twists within the 3D genre.

GRAPHICS
SOUND
LASTABILITY
PLAYABILITY
89%
84%
89%
90%

OVERALL 89%

Title Hunter
Game Type 3D Combat Sim
Publisher Activision
Author Paul Holmes
Players 1
Compatibility Not AGA but AGA/HD-patch: from Bert Jahn's WHDLoad page
HD Installable No
Submission Alec Stevens

Review
Well, the time had to come. The new machines were out on the market and a
puny little A500+ wasn't enough for my megalomanic needs...so I purchaced
an A1200. What a fool I was! My favourite game, "Hunter" always seemed to
crash within the first 10 seconds of playing it (sob!). I can't belive I
parted with £400 pounds for this...

Well, I ended up buying a (dirty word...) PC in the end anyway. But I
still remember my Amiga (and still use it too) for my 2 favourite games in
the whole wide world, "Frontier: Elite II" and the above mentioned. Sniff.

But I'm here to talk about Hunter, THE greatest game in the whole wide
world, so here we go...

You are placed in a war between the North and South of a country and you
always take the side of the South, actually it's more like a community of
small islands than a country. Lots of people described it as being similar
to 'Midwinter' but there was actually a man you controlled who you could
see. You are placed in this vast 3D environment having to take on three
different 'games'. There was: Adventure, Missions and Action (I think).

Adventure was the...well...adventure game and consisted of you wandering
around the landscape talking to people and picking up objects in order to
find the General of the enemy (who was at a secret location), killing him
and taking his head back to Headquarters, hehehehehe! (sorry) On arival,
if the mission was completed in the required time, you were promoted and
awarded a Grade 8 medal!

Missions, consisted of completing various assignments around the landscape
such as killing, destroying and running over rabbits. In turn you were
promoted and awarded the medals Grade 1 to 6!

And finally, Action was one whole mission where you ran (sorry, walked)
around completing various missions, once completed you were awarded a
Grade 7 medal and promoted!

The game ended when you were promoted to Colonel and all the missions were
used up.

The best thing about the game was the feedom it gave you, not as much a
"Frontier" gives you, but you could bribe people and get (nearly) an
independent answer all the time! You could don an enemy Jacket and pretend
to be one of them, slaughter innocent washing machines and chairs (those
civilians don't seem to mind one bit!).

There was a huge range of vehicles such as, cars, trucks, 2 types of tank,
2 types of helicopter, hovercraft, bicycle, rowing boat, etc. Your weapons
consisted of a pistol, bazoka, grenade, 3 SAM missles, mines, timed
explosives and some other stuff.

There was strange things to be discovered as well. On the Action or
Missions options, there was an island to the left of the map which was
occupied by 2 enemy soliders and a 'Sun Goddess'!!! If you talked to her
she repiled with some flirty message, give her food and she teases you with
sexual favours in the crypt! On the same game option, I discovered that
when you die, when the screen goes red, if you fired radar and flares in
the air you occupy the nearest moving object, if its an occupied tank, you
posses the body of the tank driver...if you get out, you are him! Enemy
uniform and everything! You even got to possess birds and rabbits! This was
no bug though, if you went to the crypt and talked to the grim reaper
inside, he usually said nothing, but on this occasion he gives you the X Y
co-ordinates for your grave! Go there and if you walked up to it (RIP
tombstone) in the message window at the bottom a message appears..."You
have repressed your sins." Spooky.

All in all a fantastic game, I did read once in Amiga Power's top 100 games
(this was a long time ago) a sequel was mentioned yet it was never meant to
be. I think I'm going to cry now.

Still the comrade answering the call of nature somewhere SW in 'Adventure'
mission raised a chuckle...