Deer Hunter: Not quite a rumble in the jungle

The game arcade has often been under glare for promoting violence and dehumanising people. Yet, despite the violent content, the thrill of surviving tough conditions and emerging unscathed, with sophisticated military weapons and bags of virtual gold coins has a universal appeal.

Deer Hunter 2014, developed by Glu Mobile, is one of those hunting games which has a full understanding of this and has been designed for gamers to enjoy on a lazy weekend afternoon. It banks on the idea of the silent, pleasing thrill one might feel in the royal and age-old sport of hunting.

Available for free on all Android devices, Deer Hunter 2014 is primarily a shooting game with excellent graphics and nearly realistic hunting locations. The hunt is not about entering into a wide space and locating and chasing animals. It's purely about aiming and shooting wild species appearing on the screen at a certain distance, which includes deer, wolves and ducks, some of them being endangered, adding some excitement and value to the hunt. The player uses powerful weapons of a certain capacity and infrared ability to enter a level. Having the correct weapon is important to fulfil the target of each mission, which ranges from shooting certain number of beasts to taking a head, heart or lungs shot using X-ray mode. With each mission, you earn Hunter Bucks needed for customising and upgrading one's weapon kit and buying more guns to proceed to the next mission. In case you don't earn enough of these bucks, the game offers other kinds of hunts, like the Hunting Series, Contract Hunt and Trophy Hunts that unlocks new hunting zones. Each allows you to earn cash to enhance the rifle's scope and stock and go back to hunting at higher levels.

The game gets very engaging and strategic at higher levels, focusing on taking the right aim from the right angle, with accuracy to gun down multiple targets. Maintaining the timing and using appropriate weapons become immensely important to keep up to the challenges. The animation, sound effects and watching the bullet being shot as it hits the target accentuates the 'wow' factor. However, the hunter's area of vision is limited, and the shooting is majorly executed while being rooted to the spot. The missions demand energy, replenished rather slowly at the rate of one point in 10 minutes. It becomes less of a hunting game, and more a pick-up-and-shoot one, with defenceless animals standing, waiting to be killed. A few animals do attack, but its merely a terribly slow plunge, giving the hunter ample time to shoot it. The animation and gameplay get repetitive and the initial charm fizzles. The hunting interface is also not too neat and difficult to navigate. The co-op Club Hunt mode is ridiculous as the multi-player hunt requires you to file permits. It becomes tedious.

One cannot expect a game to offer the nuances of a real hunt in the wild in all its depth. However, Deer Hunt 2014 gives it a decent shot. For those who might protest about the game being anti-wildlife conservation, one can argue that it's only virtual.

• Pros: High-quality animation; upgradeable weapons; strategically appealing; does not allow you to be stuck at any point
   
• Cons: Slow-energy replenishment; repetitive; not challenging enough, slow gameplay