There are six zones to explore, spread across three locations in Colorado, Texas, and Europe. Naturally, the Colorado environments are filled with trees and hills, while Texas is mostly desert and Europe mostly marshes. They’re generally diverse in their layouts, and, while character and animal models are sometimes dated, the environments go easy enough on the eyes. The animal selections do vary slightly between hunting zones. Deer and Elk are more common in the forests, while ducks are rampant around water and coyotes roam the desert, though each environment has a variety of animals of all sizes.

"There are some limitations to your hunting. You have to buy and manage licenses to hunt in each of the three main locations."

There are some limitations to your hunting. You have to buy and manage licenses to hunt in each of the three main locations. If you don’t have a license to hunt a particular animal, you’ll be fined if you kill them. The same goes for if you use too many bullets or use an incorrect caliber gun. Frustratingly, almost all of the information regarding the limitations on hunting is left in your lodge, so if you happen to forget which animal can be killed by which gun, you’ll either have to make the trek back to the lodge or take a chance and hope the game doesn’t scold you when you finally have the animal in your sights.

The journey to find animals is generally the most monotonous part of Hunting Simulator 2. While the environments are expansive and diverse, they’re usually not filled with enough animals to make you think they’d become a designated hunting zone. More often than not I would spend long periods of time looking for virtually any sign of any animal, regardless of my ability to hunt them. In some cases, these sequences have a relaxing meditative quality to them, especially given their almost complete lack of music. In others, though, these sequences become boring because if you don’t have an animal on your radar, you really have nothing else to do.

There are hunting towers, blinds, and fast travel camps scattered around each environment, but they’re much less useful when you’re struggling to find anything to hunt. Even with the various animal whistles, having animals come to you is much less common than finding and tracking them on your own, and waiting for them to pop out becomes a tedious waiting game. To help you in your search on the ground, you have a dog companion by your side who can search for tracks and more easily follow the trail of other animals. While useful to locate hard-to-find clues, your dog’s abilities are inconsistent at best, and it has a tendency to pick up signs unrelated to an animal you’re currently tracking, throwing you off the pace more often than leading you there faster.

"The journey to find animals is generally the most monotonous part of Hunting Simulator 2. While the environments are expansive and diverse, they’re usually not filled with enough animals to make you think they’d become a designated hunting zone."

Even if you do find a sign of an animal, though, the game barely picks up. If you’re following tracks, you’re told which species left them and whether they’re new or old, though any combination of these is hit or miss on whether the animal is nearby. Sometimes fresh tracks lead you on a literal wild goose chase, while old tracks can lead you to the animal almost instantly. What commonly helps you find the animals is an icon that pops up intermittently when they’re within a certain radius of you. While these don’t appear for long, they help you locate the animals and speed up the tracking process.

The problem here is that this ultimately undermines any reason to track animals the way the game encourages. Being rewarded for aimlessly wandering an area by being shown the exact location of nearby animals renders any traditional searching and following tracks moot. While I did find myself glacially getting better at tracking and finding animals over time, this came as a result of personal discipline in forcing myself to do so, as the game didn’t encourage quietly tracking and hunting enough to offset the benefits from running around and hoping for icons. For people who want to use the traditional hunting formula, it will ultimately work, but the icons make the game feel like it’s holding your hand instead of allowing for the purest simulation experience and rewarding playing the intended way.

When you finally get an animal in your sights is when Hunting Simulator 2 truly peaks. While the journey to get there can be slow and sometimes painful, finally finding the animal you’ve been tracking can make the journey worth it, especially when you can silently take them out in a single shot. Getting the red hit marker, signaling that you cleanly killed the target, is exhilarating and relieving, especially given how long it likely took to find the animal. Even if you don’t kill an animal on the first hit, you’ll often be able to follow its blood trail and catch up to it, assuming it couldn’t run away quickly enough. The game is clearly aiming for you to find an animal’s tracks, follow it for just long enough, and smoothly kill it, because sequences like that are the most satisfying and enjoyable in the entire experience, though they don’t happen often enough.

"Being rewarded for aimlessly wandering an area by being shown the exact location of nearby animals renders any traditional searching and following tracks moot."

Ultimately, the biggest problem I found with Hunting Simulator 2 is that its gameplay doesn’t make up for its lack of progression. From the outset, you’re given enough credits to buy guns of almost any caliber and licenses for any animal. It doesn’t set out a path for you to start with small and easy targets, like ducks or foxes, and organically improve to more difficult targets like bears or cougars. There’s no final goal because everything is available from the start. In this sense, it’s true to form as a simulation because you’re given the freedom to do anything you want, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is too slow and inconsistent to make up for it. The only gameplay loop is selling animals for credits to buy different guns and licenses, but because I was given enough credits to buy serviceable guns and most licenses from the start, I didn’t find the act of hunting to be consistently satisfying or substantial enough to make me want to keep playing and collect everything from the store, nor did it entice me with the potential of hunting bigger and better enemies the more I played.

Throughout my time playing Hunting Simulator 2, specific moments that stick out in my head are few and far between. The majority of my time was spent almost insubstantially, wandering around empty environments hoping for an icon to pop up or for my dog to call me over to see an old pair of tracks. When I finally came across an animal and successfully hunted it the old-fashioned way, I was ecstatic to see the fruits of my labor, but too often I was made to feel like I was wasting my time, especially because I didn’t have anything to work toward and could have gotten the same reward from running around and hoping for an animal to pop up randomly. For all of its positive instances, there are long stretches of tedium and monotony that make Hunting Simulator 2 a tough sell, even to experienced hunters.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

With the world in the state that it is right now, sometimes you just want to kind of relax. Maybe you even want to go do some hunting to steady your mind. But maybe you don’t want to go outside, or maybe the thought of killing a real animal makes you a tad uncomfortable. Don’t worry, Hunting Simulator 2 has got you covered.

The game will come later this month for consoles, and next month for PC, via a press release from publisher Nacon. We also got a look at a new video that details the various equipment you’ll have access to in your virtual hunt. The game will have over 70 models of weapons of various different calibers and brands, challenging you to kind the best fit for your prey. Something too small won’t be able to take out some larger animals for instance, but something too big will destroy your trophy for smaller critters. There is also over 90 articles of clothing and accessories, from real-life brands such as Bushnell, Kryptek, SJK, Ligne Verney-Carron, Browning and Beretta. Check it out below.

Hunting Simulator 2 will release June 30th on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, July 16th for PC, and at a later date for the Switch. Those who pre-order on the Xbox One will also get access to an exclusive Beretta 486 shotgun.

The Last of Us Part 2

The biggest release of next month bar none, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 will finally release next month. The tale centers on Ellie as she embarks on a quest for vengeance that spans several seasons and cities. Coming off of the latest gameplay reveal – which showcased combat, exploration, stealth and Hotline Miami music, of all things – Naughty Dog’s magnum opus is looking pretty fun to play. Touted as the developer’s biggest game yet, we’re excited at the prospect of running through the story, agonizing over every plot twist and then replaying it again to see what was missed. The Last of Us Part 2 is out on June 19^th for PS4.

Valorant

Riot Games, known for its popular MOBA League of Legends, takes a different path with Valorant. It’s a free to play first-person shooter that emphasizes teamwork with realistic guns and objective play. You’ll compete in a best of 24 rounds match against an enemy team, buying weapons and other equipment to come out on top. Sprinkle in some Overwatch-esque hero abilities and Ultimates and you’ve got an intriguing mix of action. It’s clearly catered towards esports but can it make a dent in the more mainstream market? We’ll find out when Valorant launches on June 2^nd for PC.

Desperados 3

Bounty hunter John Cooper makes his long-awaited return in Desperados 3, a tactical strategy title set in the Wild West. Set before the first game in the series, the story sees Cooper teaming with the likes of hitman Doc McCoy. Players will utilize their various talents to complete missions, using stealth and violence in equal measure (like hypnotizing guards or dropping boulders on them). You’ll even be caught off guard at times and have to outwit opponents during ambushes in Showdown Mode. Out on June 16^th, Desperados 3 will be available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Disintegration

Disintegration comes from V1 Interactive, a new studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto. It takes place in the future where humans have undergone Integration and place their minds inside robots. You play a Gravcycle pilot named Romer rebelling against the militaristic Rayonne that wants the remaining humans to undergo Integration at any cost. What is Romer’s role in all of this and will his Outlaws get their humanity back? Don’t let the sci-fi setting fool you – this is an FPS meets RTS title where you fight from above as a pilot while your merry band of soldiers battles on the ground. It’s intriguing but we’ll see how the final product – especially the multiplayer – plays when Disintegration launches on June 16^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Phantom: Covert Ops

Phantom: Covert Ops is the latest tile from nDreams, better known for its adventure title The Assembly. You’ll traverse stealthily through environments as a Phantom, investigate the plans of antagonist General Zhurov and sometimes gun down foes with impunity. Plus you have David Hayter, the former voice of Solid Snake, voicing Zhurov. What’s not to like, aside from the admittedly sharp looking visuals and combat? Phantom: Covert Ops releases on June 25^th for Oculus Quest and Rift.

Warborn

Like Fire Emblem but with a lot more mechs, Raredrop Games’ Warborn offers four factions to control – each with their own unique abilities – in a 40 mission campaign with 90s style anime presentation. You’ll take advantage of different terrain, capture resources and battle foes in turn-based combat. Skirmish mode is available for custom matches with the AI but you can also go online to 1v1 other players (with cross-play supported at launch) and design your own maps with the editor. Warborn releases on June 12^th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Command and Conquer Remastered Collection

Wary of strategy remasters after Blizzard’s shoddy Warcraft 3: Reforged? Command and Conquer Remastered Collection should fix that when it releases on June 5^th for PC. Comprising the first game and Red Alert with their respective expansions, this collection offers revamped visuals with 4K resolution support, a revamped UI and multiplayer, and redone FMV cutscenes (including some unreleased footage and much more). That’s not including mod support, a map editor, remastered music and the ability to switch between the old and new graphics. Developed by former Westwood Studios devs in collaboration with the community, Command and Conquer Remastered Collection promises to revive the series with a bang.

Tour de France 2020

The real Tour de France may have been postponed but it can be experienced in video game form when Tour de France 2020 releases on June 4^th for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It offers all 21 official stages with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race making its debut along with a better racing interface and improved time trials. There’s even a first person camera to fully immerse yourself in the race. It’s an overall unorthodox racing game but one that fans of the genre may get into. And of course, if you need your fill of pro cycling, then Tour de France 2020 is well worth looking into.

Waking

Jason Oda’s Waking starts with a dire premise – the player character is in a coma, endlessly dreaming. You’ll journey through memories, making choices and remembering loved ones while battling against dark foes to try and wake up. Promising a “new type of experience” that blurs fantasy and reality, Waking combines exploration and action across an unconventional dreamscape. Nothing too crazy but we’ll see for ourselves just how far the rabbit hole goes when it releases on June 18^th for PC and Xbox One.

Hunting Simulator 2

Among the various titles on this list, Neopica’s Hunting Simulator 2 casts no illusions as to what you can expect. This is a hunting title. Nothing more, nothing less. You travel through locations like Colorado, Texas and Europe, tracking down over 30 different animals (which boast “realistic” behaviour) and hunt them down. Hunting Simulator 2 is out on June 25^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC and if nothing else, should help to determine who’s really a good boy.