Star Cruiser: A Dramatic Turn of Events

Red boxes are apparently where VOID are

Mercury, my destination, is travelable by just flying to it from Ganymede/Jupiter, but that would take a while. Instead I can use the warp function, which opens up a map. This map is fairly useful, telling me where all the enemy bases are in addition to the expected things. Saturn is free of VOID's influence, whatever that means in the grand scheme of things.

I dig the vintage scifi presentation, even if its not especially exciting otherwise

As soon as I travel there, things happen quickly. Freddy tells me its hot on Mercury and I should get inside the protective dome quickly. I don't even get the choice of traveling around the damn planet, I'm just sent directly into it. Was I supposed to travel slightly off it? No matter, just a quick drive from the planet start to the dome, and I'm safe.

The game is generous enough with keys that this is practically never a problem

Once inside there's the usual opening of doors with keys. Seems pointless when there's no other obstacle, but what do I know? Then, two doors, side-by-side. Is this a puzzle? No, I get an item from one door, a Heat Shield that increases my capabilities of surviving under higher temperatures. On the other, a control system that opens something. Strange, I didn't see anything.

I was looking for that...yeah, definitely

And there is nothing, so I guess I opened something outside? I can actually travel out there now, so I guess this is it? Travel to another dome/section of dome? This seems to be a proper level now, albeit now the design isn't linear. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

One way leads to another control system. Freddy tells me this is what Daigo told me about. What? I wrote down materials, I don't know anything about this. Translation issues or I wrote it down wrong? No matter, I can't do anything with it now.
So I clear out the rest of the base, until I take out a big tank and reach a door that needs to be opened elsewhere. Now what? I just forgot the trend that all FPSes from the '80s need to make things more complex than they need to. In this case I needed to use the console, then put the card I got from Daigo in it. Serves me right for not remembering everything some grumpy old man said after whining that I saved his bacon. Now I'm inside the VOID base...this was all to just enter the place.

Showing first-person shooting for my FPS blog

Now, I should point out by this point that I'm constantly draining energy. This is not necessarily a problem, even though I use it by the simple act of existing, and repairing damage drains it even more, I haven't been in danger of running out. The game, so far, is providing ample resupplying opportunities in the form of pick-ups, sort of like how SeeNa did it. Even though that makes sense, its a weird comparison. Are the Japanese the only people who made this kind of first-person game? Hmm...
This also doesn't really feel like a RPG so far. Not even in the mocking "JRPGs aren't RPGs, lolololol" sense. Like I guess if I feel like RPGs exist that don't allow any kind of character improvement or creation, then this is just a valid JRPG interpretation of those, but this seems more like a Metroidvania so far.

The actual game is almost completely uneventful. Combat has become suspiciously easy, so only story beats are important, and that's not great. I can examine some cabinets...I guess I'm supposed to use my imagination? I don't really get what anything is supposed to be, its far too simple. In the next room over I find some higher quality homing missiles in a trash container. I have a limit of each kind, but I don't feel in a hurry to burn them off on any enemies.

Won't this cause you to die too?

Outside of control issues there's not really much to talk about. Lot of doors that require a use of a switch elsewhere, and the game is generous enough with the gate keys so doors aren't much of a problem. Eventually, I find and kill two enemies that look very much like my own ship. These guys are somewhat of a problem, even killing me once, but just compared to the ease I've killed everything else.
Not far from the second are the repair parts I needed. Now I just need the blueprints. Incidentally, you can screw yourself by walking out before getting these items, which causes the base to explode. Aided by this map being confusing as hell to navigate.

After finding the blueprint, I find out why the base was going to explode. Its a trap to kill whoever arrives. Once properly dealing with the countdown, its one of those really fast ones, the previously blocked doors open and I get out fairly quickly.

Good, less jib

Back on Ganymede, I'm told I need to wait for the ship to be upgraded. Fine. I go to the restaurant, but it isn't open. There's nothing I can do. Am I just supposed to come back? No, I'm supposed to head to my ship, then I go to the restaurant.

Are you? Am I?

Its here I meet Masashi Clark, another hunter like me. You can tell he's cool, because he's wearing sunglasses. He wants me to lend him my Star Cruiser. Hahahahaha. No. Then he says he's joking. Interesting, because my character isn't allowed to speak, the waiter asks what he's really on about.
VOID, lacking warp capabilities, has captured Gravity Catapult, something used to deliver heavy cargo. Clark then tells me its directed to the Alpha Centauri System, where I think aliens are supposed to be. This, the waiter tells me, would cause the solar system to become isolated like the Barnard System. I thought this was only in-system space opera? Huh.
Then Clark tells me they're planning on attacking at the same time...so I guess they're just going to capture the Gravity Catapult...? He then says goodbye because he has matters to attend to. Then Daigo phones to tell me he upgraded the Star Cruiser. Not quite sure my new capabilities, but I now have a string beam...whatever that does.

How could they do this to my cherished friend?

Before I can take off to defend the Gravity Catapult, Gibson phones and tells me to head to Earth ASAP. He's in cyberspace and has found out something interesting about VOID. Finally, the plot of the game! Only, enemy forces found him. Curiously, I don't have a beacon, or warp point for Earth, so Daigo gives me one. Except that I can't just head to Earth, no, I need to head to The Colony to get there.

Aren't tanks supposed to be able to handle that sort of thing?

Once there, Freddy informs me that the road is in really bad shape...ah, just like Earth. I have to walk. All this means is I can't use missiles. The only oddities are a recharging station and a pair of teleporters, one of which teleports to the start of the level with a set of respawned enemies.

Choices, choices

The other one leads to a teleporter maze, because of course it does. Its not the worst thing I've ever seen, but its doing this game no favors.

Someone's more overconfident than me for once

Eventually I run into...someone. Who I have to fight. After blowing up his tank he says I can rob him. Who is he? Maximilion Gaddis, who thought I was a space pirate. I'm more shocked that there are space pirates in this game than someone confusing me for someone else. He's a student at a Mars University. Now I can enter his humble adobe.

Seems kind of a crap course if the professor is back on Earth

Oh, wow, it really is his humble adobe. After showing him the amulet I got from Daigo...I got it from Daigo? I know I used an amulet on a console somewhere here. Max's teacher is apparently Daigo's son...er...daughter? Daigo's daughter is currently on Earth, and Max gives me the beacon for there. He also gives me a card for her. That's it for this place...I guess I'm going to go to Earth now. Which I do so after taking out some enemy fighters. There seems to be just no in-between in difficulty between a joke and difficult.

I like the pixel sky boxes, but wish they were in a better game

Earth is not a battleground, but a proper town, good-looking too. The repair shop also resupplies my missiles for me, hopefully not a one-time deal. The nearby spaceport tells me where Yoko is, but know nothing about Gibson. Guess my path forward is clear. But first I take in each building as I advance through the town. The most important piece of information I discover is not related to my near and dear friend, but rather to the game's basic plot, apparently I'm a member of the Federal Patrol, or at least on very friendly terms with them.

This looks suspiciously like her student's house

Ah, yes, the professor's daughter is attractive, or at least I think that was the intention. She doesn't know anything, but after giving her Max's card she tells me to ask her students. The student tells me that Gibson just disappeared at the Information Centre in cyberspace, and he'll take me there.

I'm getting some juvenile amusement by taking a screenshot out of context

Once inside it turns into the ground shooter section again, where I have to take out a bunch of enemies to advance. This time the game is going really hard on the keys, but otherwise its not terribly interesting. I have to decipher a message from various cut up pieces of it. Basically just telling me that someone named Jack told out Gibson. Everything else I need a cancellation program for. Then the game tells me to go somewhere else, and as I'm going through an old area I get blindsided by newly spawned enemies.
Upon returning, I get the cancellation program, but cannot reenter cyberspace from here. I have to enter from the Information Center building. Why did we have to do all this? I dunno. After getting some quick repairs, I find it pretty quickly. Something funny is going on, but we sneak into cyberspace anyway.

Ponder the nature of the human soul?

After dealing with more respawned enemies, I'm back at the information area. Only, someone destryoed the central processor. Something that wasn't supposed to be done. Not that this affects anything, mind you. There are three new files I can take, info on VOID, their strategy plan, and seemingly unrelated genetic information. Oh, good, there's going to be a human conspiracy against aliens we have to take down...because...reasons I guess. Also, Freddy throws away the cancellation program, because we are smart people. Now what?

Maybe if there was a way to change the model of it to something else

Well, for no reason at all, we give the data I just got to the student. What is it? Why, its the data of a human! Probably Gibson. Okay...Uh...guess I should talk to Yuko? Even though the only reason why I should is because she's related to someone who is begrudgingly helping me.

Like father, like daughter

And I feel vindicated the second I walk in. Why should I trust someone I just met when the second I return she thinks I'm responsible for the destroyed computer at a local building. For what? To bring the data to her father. On my way back I note that I can warp in combat without any penalty. Its not like there's experience or anything.
On Ganymede there's the usual song and dance. "Gibson is in data!?" What do I have to get now? Hydrogen, in the form of 10 blue meteorites. I'm not going to repeat what I said, but it was an expression of disbelief. Ah, to be the first FPS game to have the generic collection quest...what an honor. He gives me a tractor beam and tells me to go to some asteroid belt. This seems like a good a place as any to stop.
I guess I'll be continuing forward on this game, but man, I'm not feeling motivated here. This feels like a really generic game where a simple AI could just play the game for me. If I was in any way talented at coding, I suspect I would do that. Even the story feelings like its throwing everything it can at a wall hoping it will stick.

This Session: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 Minutes

Evolution

Name:Evolution
Number:128
Year:1989
Publisher:System Sacom
Developer:System Sacom
Genre:Rail Shooter
Difficulty:3/5
Time:30 minutes

Evolution is just another FM Towns game by System Sacom, which is something I would normally gloss over, except I haven't explained what the FM Towns or System Sacom is before. System Sacom was a Japanese company, focused on the computer systems, before moving into consoles like the Sega Saturn. I.E., nothing westerners will have ever played. Their big contribution to gaming is creating the Novelware series, which were the first visual novels. Which is not the best contribution to have made.
The FM Towns, on the other hand, is a CD-based Japanese computer. Having never used a real one, I believe its sort of like an Amiga, but without a harddrive. If you've heard of it, you probably know it for the high quality versions of some graphical adventure games. Its basically known in the west for having nicer versions of western games, and its hard to disprove that when most of the titles that are listed online are, well, visual novels.

This is a lot of words for a game that amounts to a crude first-person shooter that I doubt anyone played even in its country of origin. Not even that, a rail shooter. Shoot at a bunch of things that are slowly approaching you and just don't die. Breaking up the monotony is your ability to get out of the way of enemies and avoiding running into walls, aided by a break button. The third stage changes things up by presenting you with choices in which direction you can go in, except that the choices are a lie. One way hurts you and the other doesn't. You have seemingly unlimited firepower, and must restore your slowly draining health by shooting enemies.

All the screenshots for this game look the same

It is not very interesting. It looks like an unfinished Doom level, or perhaps an very amateurish one. The music is very repetitive, and you can listen to it here. Not really going to go to the trouble of uploading it to Youtube for something I didn't really enjoy. I didn't get music, this might because the last time I tried using the emulator was one OS ago with many changes, or perhaps because I was playing a Windows emulator through WINE. I could listen to it as I played, by playing the CD in my music player. The instrumentation is nice, it just lacks substance.

Even discounting my distaste of the rail shooter genre, this seems poorly put together. Shots and enemies seem to ignore the walls, which I swear in motion look like something out of Outrun. There is just nothing much to talk about. There is no variation in anything, enemy sprites change between levels, but they're all the same in-level. I just expect more from one of the fancier systems like this one.

Weapons:
Generic weapon. 1/10

Enemies:
Generic enemies. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
Endless flat areas. 0/10

Player Agency:
Sluggish, and the GUI is not very informative. 2/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
There's a very strange, underwater tone to the game, curious, but nothing impressive. 1/10

Graphics:
Everything is nice-looking, there just isn't much here. 2/10

Story:
None.

Sound/Music:
Nice instrumentation, but nothing of substance. Sound is generic. 2/10

That's 9.

Is it worth the $9000 dollars you'd have to spent to get it? Hmm, that is a tough one, but I'm going to have to lean on the negative here.

Its the sort of thing that while I didn't care for it, it was enough of a non-entity that I'm not upset that I played it. Perfect for something opposite Star Cruiser. We'll see how far I can get across 1989 in the coming weeks alongside that game.

Star Cruiser: Intro

We've seen quite a few RPGs in the years leading up to Doom. Some proper FPS/RPG hybrids, others just your standard RPG, and a few their RPG status is something of an informed attribute. The best ones so far have been uncomplex dungeon crawlers. Attempts at more complex games have been noble efforts, but ultimately awful. But so far the complex titles have all been from western developers. While there are definite differences in ethos between British and American games, those are hardly distinguishable compared to the differences between western and Japanese ethos.

Enter Star Cruiser, a title much beloved in Japan, alleged first FPS/RPG and even beat Ultima Underworld in a few firsts. I see no reason to challenge any of these claims. Star Cruiser was developed by Arsys Software, who did Wibarm, that bizarre...uh...action game I covered just before this. Why haven't you heard of this? Well, while it got a console port, it didn't get translated until 2016. Not for a lack of trying, it was supposed to get an official translation back in the day, but why that never appeared, is a mystery to me.

Glorious dithering up the wazoo

The game opens with a nice, but not really sci-fi tune. From here its straight to the main menu, which is new game, continue game, and options. The last is your usual console options. After selecting my name, the game begins.

That went well

One hardly gets the chance to get used to anything before coming under attack. And boy, they don't make it easy. The enemy is a brutal one, with powerful rapid fire attacks, meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out how to attack. Its Wolfenstein rules, sidestepping is done by holding down A and its all untextured polygons. Seems like I have no visibility either. I quickly get killed...and its a simulation.
 

Its a pretty crappy move of a game to throw one into these kinds of situations straight away, without any idea of how it plays

In a cutscene right after the battle, we are introduced to two characters. Gibson, a kind of tech guru, and Freddy, a robot who seems like he's supposed to be a kid sidekick. That won't get annoying if my characterization is correct. Apparently Freddy has been my companion for 5 years, and has mastered human speech fairly well.

VOID must be aliens to name their spaceships so simply

Then a senior officer chews me out for thinking about stealing a VOID Star Cruiser. Or he isn't...? Uhm, I don't know if this is a wonky translation or if its always this bad. Anyway, I should meet Gibson at Big Red Spot restaurant. And with nary a chance to do anything else, I'm sent out on the street.

This is practically all of Ganymede

And, oh, my god, this is crap. There's a noticeable delay in turning frames, you can see around corners in a way you're not supposed to, and it all seems just so wrong.

I can't help but look at this, and think that most artists could do this

The second place I enter turns out to be the Big Red Spot, and so far everyone knows my name, but I don't know theirs. I dislike the game letting me name my character if he has an immovable stone of a personality, even if its nothing. Anyway, this is where the actual story of the game is explained. We're in a low-tech space opera, just around our solar system. Currently, I am on Ganymede. My current objective is to steal the Star Cruiser from a nearby VOID fortress. This would normally be impossible, owing to their shields, but we have a Shield Buster. And of course, I, Immortal Morpheus...really? At which point an attack happens. Everyone at Jupiter Branch, the place I was at a few moments ago, is dead.

Came out of the planet so hard it split in two!

Now I have to navigate...somewhere. Everything is blocked off, either because of the attack or because it needs a key. Eventually I find some ships I can use, and me and Gibson launch our plans immediately.

Wing Commander this isn't

This leads to a space fighter section. Its awful. The game starts you off in a dead stop, which I didn't even notice the first couple of times. And when you do speed up, you are right in front of their fortress, which you can't enter for unexplained reasons, despite using the Shield Buster. And this causes a lot of damage to my ship. Okay, maybe I need to take out the enemies first. So I do so. Finding enemies in the middle of combat is a pain in the ass. They move pretty fast, and your methods of tracking them down are hardly any help. The radar at the bottom works...barely. You get green arrows in the middle of the screen, which tell you where they are, but is of little help in the thick of combat.

The space station

Eventually, I win...somehow. Except that after this I get sent directly to the planet and I don't realize it. Okay, I just head to the repair shop and then return. I get sent back to the planet immediately. Uh...what? Turns out through some broken aspect of the game my speed isn't getting reset after landing and returning to space. BUT YOU COULD SET IT TO ZERO BEFORE COMBAT! Yes, I am frustrated with this, because while its been a long time since I last played a proper space simulation, I just know it was better than this.

The Japanese were apparently quite fond of skyboxes like this, as I've seen a few future titles do the same thing

Then, trying to enter the space station now still causes me damage and oh, I get it, I crash land inside. You mean I didn't need to fight off those ships? This game is getting on my nerves and I've just started playing it. I get a key for a door right in front of me, no doubt a check that I understand how the game works. Press start and open a gate while you have a key.

I feel like this would be pretty scummy if I were playing this way in Doom

Now, ground combat, properly, still awful. The laser weapon is trash in a fair fight, you just can't move around well enough for it to be viable. Which means you have to use the missiles. Of which there are a limited number. So how do you use the laser weapon properly? Why, you run into weapons range, shoot a bunch of times, then run back. You can't move in more than one direction at a time, even for turning so...holy crap, I'm not making it through this game, am I?

One of the bigger enemies, perhaps even a boss

As I make my way through the complex, my techy friend Gibson tells me that the Star Cruiser isn't so far away and I should grab it while he covers me, and even the enemies get in on saying that their defenses are breaking down. I even fight what seems to be a boss, and things go well. I can fix minor damage, so long as there are no enemies around, with the fix option in the menu.

Now its a definite article...or inconsistent translation?

A little while longer and I have the Star Cruiser, Gibson says he'll meet me back at the Big Red Spot, and this all just feels so convenient. The VOID fortress blows up as I escape and I can safely fly back to Ganymede. The supply shop doesn't refill my missiles, which is bad, but does refill my energy. I can't help but wonder what anything that has just happened is supposed to be. I wrote it, sure, but I don't understand the plot yet, just the rough gameplay loop.
Once back at the restaurant, I'm told my ship is broken and I should go to the VOID base at Callisto to repair it. (Gibson also left to Earth) Why must I do this game? What is my motivation? You're just telling me to go and shoot these people, and this isn't the kind of game where you can get away with this. I even have to kidnap someone called Daigo Sakai to fix my new ship.
 

What, I'm in the military, I can just ask for it?

I can't use my ship to do this...guess that makes sense. But how am I going to get to Callisto? Why, by taking a shuttle. I couldn't do that before because VOID attacked and prevented off-world transport, they still are, but now I just really need to go there. For some reason the game is implying that Ganymede and Callisto have a path between them...?

Are we traveling across the ring...?

They give me a key to a disused path, which was what I needed the key for. How kind of them to just give it to me, the Immortal Morpheus. The path has two things inside, a Secret Shield and then a path to a place where my air starts running out.

The portraits look nice at least

After successfully navigating through the area I'm at the second VOID base. This time its a cakewalk through the level. I'm grateful for that, since if it wasn't this game would be a nightmare. Enemies continue to talk to me as I slaughter my way through their base. Its more annoying than anything else.

Now its a plural?

Oh, good, they were kidnapped and I'm just rescuing them. Whew. Interestingly, there seems to be some strategy to the game. Switching to the missiles requires some use of side-stepping to not get slaughtered in the time it takes them to lock-on to a target. Though fighting the boss with this method requires a bit of luck.

Am I Gibson's friend?

Daigo was apparently known by Gibson as a star ship repairer before. I feel like that was some important information to tell me, but we're not going down that route, are we game? One bit of praise, Daigo's line advance noise is lower than the other ones I've seen. I like hearing that, people don't do that enough. Now all I have to do is take him back to my ship.

No, its not, I just wanted you to look at my sweet new ride

He's shocked that I have the Star Cruiser, and reluctantly repairs it. Because he's always helping people for free. GEE, IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD SAVED YOU FROM CERTAIN DOOM. Gibson then calls us up to tell us he's on Earth and will tell me if there's something important. Thanks...Anyway, Daigo wants me to take out a VOID base on Mercury so we can take some raw materials. The game offers me a choice, like I have one.

I'm going to stop here for now. This game gives me the distinct feeling that I'm not going to finish it, and every moment I do play it is going to be a pain and a half. A lot of games have the "go here and kill some dudes" plot, but this game is making the pretense of having an actual plot in it and not going beyond Doom-level motivations. There's a reason why a lot of indie devs writer their games where you're secretly the bad guy all along when your motivation is little more than KILL THE ENEMY.

This Session: 30 minutes

Deer Hunter

Name:Deer Hunter
Number:126
Year:1997
Publisher:WizardWorks
Developer:Sunstorm Interactive
Genre:Hunting
Difficulty:3/5
Time:1 hour

Let's try something a little bit different. In the '90s, back when FPS titles first took off, many companies made semi-official and unofficial add-ons to the more popular ones. These ranged from CDs with a thousand levels slapped on from the internet to actual expansions. WizardWorks was the most notable of these publishers, and Sunstorm was the company who developed all their Build Engine expansions. These were successful enough that some of the employees had enough spare time to work on a side project; Deer Hunter, a side project that would end up being a really big thing around the turn of the century. Not bad for a company that most people couldn't name today.

Now, I don't quite remember what the earliest hunting game I've played before was, but I have played something this early. If you're unaware, in the early days hunting games were static, no tracking down animals or anything. Just sit down, and wait for deer. I'm not actually sure what went on, but I distinctly remember not taking out any animals.
I should point out that this is surprisingly easy to get working in WINE, but it isn't exactly plug and play. You need to play it in a window, and you need to play it in Windows 98 compatibility. Then it just works. I'm playing the game with both of the add-ons, for as little as that will change

The map screen, if there's something in the right box that supposedly means there's deer nearby

Once the game is running its less than 30 seconds before selecting your equipment and then entering the game. The game has a small selection of weapons, all generic, a rifle, shotgun, bow and black powder rifle. The final added with the expansion. And then whether or not to use a blind or scents. Choices that later titles in this genre would change into items or pre-place them on the map.

What 95% of this game is about

Starting with the first map, set in autumnal Arkansas, I can freely navigate across a map. This is what constitutes movement in this game. Give them credit, they were usually working with games where the AI was hardly complex enough to not get stuck on walls. Moving from that into an effective form of stealth is tricky. You can switch to a screen where you can actually see everything by pressing hunt, which takes you to a screen where you can see and shoot everything around you, but no moving around. Like a turret or a shooting gallery.

The rifle is the only weapon that allows you to zoom in on targets, everything else functions with weird iron sights

Although, that said, I kill my first deer quite easily with the generic rifle. Huh. The trophy screen just shows black, but I can go back to the main menu by pressing the esc key. Guess I should try the shotgun? Well, it takes a trip to the range and a stroke of luck, but once I figure out where to aim the damn thing I take another one down. This is where the game's difficulty becomes...weird.

A lucky encounter with a deer

Actually hunting animals seems to be a crapshoot. The first few animals just appeared, and then I just couldn't find a single animal. This leads into the big problem the game has, on a fundamental level, the actual hunting is a finicky thing. This isn't an actual hunting game where you can track animals carefully and even find ones you already hit once. No, once an animal is gone, its gone. The manual claims you can follow one, but that didn't work out for me at any time. You can't track animals on the overmap, it just tells you if there's poo or a deer den there, which implies that they should be there. What seems to be the most rewarding method of movement is by taking incremental steps until you see an animal. Its this lack of a proper tracking mechanic that truly breaks this game.

You have to take into account the distance, unfortunately, the iron sights are no help

That's not to say the rest of the game is flawless, but the game having an awkward control scheme is less important than not being able to play the game. I could talk about how looking around is kind of crap and you should have your weapon raised whenever you do so, simply because that way it works well, but discussing the specifics of it seems pointless when there isn't a solid gameplay loop to the game. Or how there are only deer and the weapons don't really feel different. Its one of those games where all the small flaws are unimportant because there's one massive flaw overwhelming everything else.

Weapons:
The four different weapons work out as a subtle method of difficulty. Each lower tier weapon is harder and harder to use effectively. 2/10

Enemies:
Just deer. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
There are six of them, and they seem different. Even if I tried playing this as serious as possible, they don't really feel that different. And if for some reason you couldn't get enough of this, there's a map editor. 1/10

Player Agency:
Everything is done via the mouse, which works, but there are a bunch of little issues. Because everything is on the mouse, you can't do two things at once, like turning and doing a deer call. Turning requires putting one's mouse cursor at the edges of the screen, unless one is wielding a gun, which apparently causes you to have a worse chance of hitting the longer you have it up. 3/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
Despite the overall cheap nature of the game, this feels a lot more like being out in the wilderness than most games would accomplish, though it does feel more limiting compared to those titles. 4/10

Graphics:
Despite the trees being very obvious bitmaps, everything looks decent. Not great, but it does its job well enough. 3/10

Story:
None, like a hunting game should have.

Sound/Music:
Some stock sound effects, the protagonist is voiced, telling us if we hit or if there aren't any deer. The real prize effective background noise. Does a good job of sounding like the a hunting ground. 4/10

That's 18. Very much so a game that aged poorly, though you could easily fix this by implementing a decent tracking system and adding some hotkeys for every function.