"Ultimate Duck Hunting" Review (PC)

Pros:

• Online Multiplayer
• Multiple hunting locations
• Earn points to upgrade your dog's attributes

Cons:

• Some graphical glitches
• Does not follow some hunting laws
• Cannot pick location of duck blind

• Choice of hunting equipment (gun, # of decoys, dog, camouflage)
• 6 Locations from across United States
• Dogs must be trained in basic commands and become tired.
• Dogs retrieve wild ducks.
• Online multi-player option.
• Earn points based on which duck you shot, number of ducks, and time.

"Ultimate Duck Hunting" Review

One of my first memories of gaming was playing "Duck Hunt" for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). When I read about "Ultimate Duck Hunting," I knew I had to play it. The packaging touted "Ultimate Duck Hunting" has realistic and everything you could want in a duck hunting game. Does it meet those lofty expectations? Almost.

What does "Ultimate Duck Hunting" involve? You got it - a lot of aiming and trying to shoot down ducks. Afterwards, you send your hunting dog after the ducks. There are two playing modes, a quick game and career mode. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play the quick game.

Your Dog
In career mode you cannot earn points towards improving your dog. The dog retrieves the ducks with your help. Retrieving the ducks is a game in itself, especially when the dog has very few obedience points. It can take just as long to collect the ducks as it does to shoot them. The more you play, the more points you earn to upgrade your dog's skills (stamina, speed, sense, obedience). There is a noticeable difference in the dog's performance after upgrades.

Location! Location! Location!
Hunting takes place your choice of one of six locations (Alaska, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia, and Arkansas). The scenery changes appropriately for each state. Sometimes it's raining or snowing. Generally though, there wasn't much of a difference between each one. The ducks seemed to fly over just as quick in each one, perhaps too quick and too often.

The Hunt & The Guns
Hunting down the ducks is not difficult once you get a feel for when to fire the gun. There are three guns to choose from, automatic, over/under, and pump action. The time difference of reloading and firing each of these weapons were almost the same. I don't think there was a big enough difference between how long it took to reload. This brings up another issue; the gun allows you to have 5 shells. In the real world, the law permits only 3 at the most.

Multiplayer Games
"Ultimate Duck Hunting" has multiplayer action. You take your dog and try to outwit the others you are playing against by getting the most ducks. You can only shoot six ducks, that doesn't have to stop you have retrieving ducks others shot down. I didn't try this part out. If you can find a group of people to play, I imagine this could be one of the best parts of the game.

"Ultimate Duck Hunting" could use some work with the realistic aspect. The weather, duck feathers flying, having to wear the right camo, are good features to have. They should have started their realistic features with at least having only 3 shells available before reloading. This isn't to say that you should pass up on "Ultimate Duck Hunting" for those reasons alone. If you can live it not being perfectly realistic, then go for it. Hunting and retrieving the ducks is fun and doesn't take long to learn.

"Ultimate Duck Hunting" can be bought at Wal-Mart for $19.97.