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FIELD & STREAM TROPHY BUCK
Manufacturer: Sierra Sports (1998)
Genre: Deer Hunting Sim
System Requirments: Win 95/98,
P166+, 32 MB RAM, CD ROM, Modem, 3Dfx/Direct 3D compatable card.
OVERVIEW: Field & Stream Trophy Buck is possibly the most
polished looking hunting sim since....well, ever! The opening and all of the menus are
absolutely gorgeous! Even my wife thought it looked great (and that's coming from a
non-gamer). But does all of this awesome eye candy result in an equally awesome hunting
sim?
O.k., here's what you get: four types of
gameplay modes (single, multiplayer, career and tournament), the ability to customize the
hunt (i.e. deer population, hunting pressure, deer AI, weather, season, cover, etc.),
eight hunting areas (including Texas and Montana), a HUGE selection of weapons (with the
ability to actually choose grain, caliber and even sight reticule), a target range and an
excellent help/tutorial section. For all those Trophy Bass fans, Trophy Buck offers a
"deer finder" (a kind of bambi "fish finder") which is only active on
NON-CAREER and NON-TOURNAMENT hunts- so no cheating! Deer shot in games other than a
career or tournament don't grace your trophy room- it's only fair since one can use the
deer finder to "cheat" his/her way into bagging a deer.
The hunting graphics are 3D and extremely
well done- even better than "Unreal" style graphics in some cases. Yep, you have
full movement in the environment as well. The game is played in a window al la Deer Hunter
2 style. Everything you need is just a mouse click away on the tool area (which covers the
bottom and left border areas of your screen). The game is very fluid with no graphic
glitches (at least after 12 games I didn't run into any). The terrain looks great to say
the least and the sound effects are good but not trend setting. You can go to a full
screen view (with just a basic toolbar at the bottom of the screen) by pressing F8.
Now that you have heard all of the good
stuff, here's some of the things that were disappointing (mildly that is). The gear
selection is pretty limited- and there was NO TREESTAND! That really bummed me out since I
do a lot of my hunting via a stand. Otherwise you have two calls, two scents, a camera,
binoculars and antler rattles to choose from. The other thing is the appearance of the
deer. While extremely fluid in movement, the deer looked a tad on the decoy-ish side.
While they look very good I've seen better (and A LOT worse). At times it's hard to spot
deer signs (except for blood) when walking around- but you are prompted when you come
across one (if if you don't see it).
THE SCOUTING REPORT:
THE PROS:
- Excellent overall graphics and interface.
Possibly the best overall selection of weapons ever!
Good selection of hunting areas and game options.
Multi-player option.
Excellent deer AI!
Does, bucks and varying graphical sizes of deer.
THE CONS:
- No treestand!
Deer look kinda like animated decoys.
Rather basic (yet effective) selection of gear.
