Review for Predator: Hunting Grounds. Game for PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 24/04/2020
A new video game dedicated to the famous Predator sci-fi franchise arrives, but this time entirely focused on an asymmetrical competitive multiplayer. Developed by Illfonic and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Predator: Hunting Grounds brings users to a game system that pits a team of four mercenaries and an alien from the Yautja race.. Let's start first from the point of view of one of the most famous predators in the film world.
Cacciatore
In Predator Hunting Grounds, in the role of the Predator the goal will basically be to eliminate (or hunt, to be more precise) the team of mercenary soldiers entered our hunting grounds. This possibly also trying to recover the "hunting trophy" from dead or landed players. To do this our warrior Yautja will be equipped with a colorful arsenal of weapons, also made famous by the various films. Our basic instruments will consist of the classic wrist blades and the fixed Plasma Caster on our shoulder. To these will then be added a good number of unlockable weapons only by gaining experience and leveling up; precisely for this reason, unfortunately, the gameplay during the first levels turns out to be too poor in possibilities.
This additional equipment (of which we will be able to take a maximum of two pieces with us) is the one most able to expand and make various possibilities during the hunt. We are talking about tools that can simplify and make our melee attacks more effective, otherwise too slow with the Wrist Blades, useful to create havoc among prey or to temporarily immobilize them and up to considerable improvements for ranged combat. Although the game offers a fair number of weapons, we hope that with the next updates these can increase even more, so as to also increase the variety of approach to combat.
In Arco, Net Gun, Smart Disc and Combat sword is also added the so-called equipment. It is about useful equipment to simplify our hunting and, also in this case, all unlockable with level progression. In this case we will be able to bring with us a maximum of three of these objects (simple choice since there are four in total) ranging from the essential medical kit up to the sound lure and bear traps. It is important to point out that, to cure ourselves, the only alternative to the medical kit will be to feed on the bodies of wild boars: we can kill them ourselves or hope that they will annoy the squad of soldiers too much so that they do the work done for us and make us find a nice boar ready for lunch.
Last in the vast arsenal of Predator Hunting Grounds, but not least, we find two essential items for every Predator: it is in fact the Wrist Terminal and the Mask. Both will require filling a bar of energy to be used, and while the first will be essential to use the shielding that makes our hunter invisible, the Mask, in addition to being an element of aesthetic customization, has been made a much more active gameplay element than one might expect.
Basically it will allow us to exploit the thermal vision to quickly highlight NPC players or soldiers in the bush; it will also allow us to identify sounds (basically the firing of soldiers) and roughly evaluate the position of the players when far away (or follow them with a tracker when near). However, the Mask is also our weak point since, after having suffered a certain number of hits, it will be destroyed and rendered unusable; in these conditions it will not be impossible at all to lose sight of the team of mercenaries who could thus gain precious minutes to organize their offensive.
The most variable allocation, however, is represented by the advantages. It is useful modifiers to create real builds and able to provide additional help by increasing, for example, the damage inflicted in close combat rather than the uses of our equipment or even increase the amount of experience gained. This time around, the number of possibilities and combinations in Predator Hunting Grounds is much more conspicuous, especially since a maximum of three of these skills can be equipped.
What sets the Predator apart most during the game is above all its excellent agility. It is precisely this, used in unison with any other object, that makes this creature so fearful. It will indeed be possible to perform huge leaps to quickly change position or use the so-called PredKour to climb trees and from here to move quickly from one branch to another to chase our prey or to look for points of advantage. All this is also essential because the Yautja is strong, but far from being immortal ... always remember that "if it bleeds, it can be killed!" and, little consolation once defeated, we can still try to take some players away with us by activating self-destruction.
We conclude with the customization of our hunter in Predator Hunting Grounds. First of all they are present three different classes of Predator to choose from (and all unlockable by leveling up): the basic and balanced version in terms of agility and health, one focused more on ranged combat, with its low health and high agility, and the last one dedicated to close combat, with maximum health and poor range of motion.
To this is added, finally, a high (but not too much) possibility of aesthetic customization to change the color and pattern of the skin, the “Predlocks” and so on. The latter elements can only be obtained through specific "loot boxes" that can be purchased with credits, in the form of Veritanio, received from games or found in the role of mercenaries.
Teach
In Predator Hunting Grounds, the game as mercenaries is, unfortunately, the least particular for gameplay purposes. It is about a game mode created in typical shooter style and adapted with customization possibilities very similar to those of the hunter. In fact, we will have to team up with three other players to complete different objectives for each mission, ranging from defending an object to freeing an outpost or eliminating a target, and which will basically be able to face groups of soldiers controlled by the AI. Once the missions assigned to us have been completed (within the time limit of the game) we will have to reach the extraction point and escape with the helicopter.
The alternative will be to defeat the Predator and in that case we will have several options at our disposal. Once his health is zeroed he will end up on his knees and we will have time to give him the final blow before he can activate self-destruction. If we manage to do this, a new objective will be activated that will force us to abandon the current mission to protect the alien's body from enemies and have it recovered by a helicopter (thus achieving victory). In the opposite case, however, we can try to defuse the bomb (returning to the previous point) or simply escape from the area of the explosion in order not to be killed; also in this circumstance the mission will be completed directly.
Predator Hunting Grounds also delivers in this case two firearm slots to take with us but, in addition, we will also find a slot for the melee weapon for which only one knife is currently available. The guns at our disposal have been divided into assault rifles, sniper rifles and "special weapons" for the first slot; pistols, shotguns, machine guns and "special weapons" are dedicated to the second slot; with the increase of our level we will get access to new weapons to use, but which basically have variable statistics compared to those of the standard equipment. This is a significant difference compared to the Predator as it is not necessary to obtain new tools to be more efficient in battle.
This difference is precisely the reason why, above all In the early stages of Predator Hunting Grounds, it is easier to play and win as a mercenary; this slight imbalance could also make the game as the alien frustrating (although we remind you that it is a problem substantially linked to the first levels of the game). To the fact that a well organized team can paradoxically end up chasing the hunter is also added the fact that Mercenaries can request reinforcements by making comrades who have died in battle reappear.
Equipment and benefits were used in a substantially similar manner than the Yautja with the ability to use healing, grenades, experience bonuses, bullet resistance and much more. In addition, we will also have an extra chance to counter the endowment of our "executioner", that is sprinkle our body with mud to become invisible to its thermal visor. We also find here too different classes of mercenaries with some interesting passive skills, customization elements for our avatar and weapon skins.
Technical sector
Unfortunately this is the most sore point of Predator Hunting Grounds and that is not limited to the simple level of technical detail. The game features, in fact, a fairly dated graphic level mainly due to environmental textures and not excellent npc, as well as models of npc certainly improved and a viewing distance not very high. All accompanied by a framerate which, unfortunately, cannot remain stable even on the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Another obvious problem is the artificial intelligence of enemy soldiers (which will essentially limit themselves to running towards you) who, with the aggravating circumstance given by the low amount of damage they can cause to the players, they end up being just as dangerous as standard MOBA mobs. The fact that they are not a real danger especially for mercenaries ends up making the imbalance between them and the Predator even more evident (since in the end, not being a danger to their health, they end up simply reducing the ammunition available to them, which can be easily fixed).
Unfortunately, the game is also plagued by another problem, albeit a less technical one. We are talking about the time needed in queue to be able to play as Predator rather than as a mercenary. In the first case, the times often and willingly end up exceeding 3 minutes (without then, once the lobby is found, to be sure that it is full); in the second case, on the other hand, we are talking about much more moderate times which amount to about 30-40 seconds. This is probably due to the higher demand for the game as the alien, which could be traced back to the poor characterization of the human game that ends up being identical to any shooter.
Fortunately, nothing serious to report from the point of view of bugs, and above all the audio sector is saved with sound effects perfectly identical to those of the original film and able to create an excellent level atmosphere. In the same way, the work done in terms of level design must be highlighted which, in the three different and large playable maps, manages to offer a good environmental variety and above all many possibilities of action (exploited to a greater extent by the hunter). Last note of merit is the presence of Cross-play with PC, which allows for a greater number of players available, even if there is a lack of friendship and invitations between players on the two platforms.
With Predator Hunting Grounds we are faced with a game that is certainly successful overall, extremely fun to play and which could be enriched even more in terms of contents and possibilities with future updates; unfortunately the title is plagued by a technical sector that ends up undermining the overall success of the game, especially due to the unstable framerate and the enemy AI that makes it not very dangerous. For the rest, these are overall flaws that can be easily overcome, given what the game has to offer.
► Predator: Hunting Grounds is a Shooter type game developed by Illfonic and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PC and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 24/04/2020
