The graphics and presentation are pretty bad as well. It’s not like we’re talking PS1 level stuff here, but everything is extremely weak for a current generation console. The character models are passable but don’t synch up at all with their speech. The scenery is the most annoying thing, however. There are no clear boundaries of where the map ends, which had me on several occasions running into the invisible wall in a futile effort to explore more of the wilderness. Fallen trees and rocks are other obstacles that trip up your movement and vary between impassable and scalable. I was unable to figure out how to know which was which and instead opted for the “charge straight ahead” approach until forward progress was rendered moot. It felt like the clipping detection of objects didn’t allow a more natural feel of movement. The landscape looks decent from a distance, but when zoomed in the warts of the graphics rear their ugly head again.

That said, the most frustrating thing I experienced was having the game glitch out and freeze during a mission. It was another case of running into an invisible wall and somehow trudging my way through it, unsure if I was not supposed to go here or if the aforementioned environmental obstacles were just being moody in not letting me pass. About the time I came to the realization that I should turn around, the game froze the PS3, requiring it to be reset by flipping the switch in back for a hard reboot… extremely annoying and unacceptable for a finished game.

There is a multiplayer component where you can connect for four player hunting mayhem… should you be able to find enough people that fit the mysterious crossover audience Activision is shooting for, no pun intended. Lag issues are a big hindrance, though after playing the single player game that should hardly be surprising.

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So who is the intended audience for Cabela’s North American Adventures? Not gamers, whether hardcore or casual, that’s for sure. This would be a game for someone like my dad, an outdoorsman who doesn’t play games. Someone like that will have significantly lower expectations and could be simply looking for a game to scratch their hunting itch during the offseason. Unfortunately for them, there’s a fair number of hurdles and annoyances to overcome. Maybe if they are the patient type, it’ll be worth it. But the fact of the matter is, most of the people I know who fit the profile of non-gamer outdoorsman don’t have the slightest inclination to take up “fake hunting” on a game console. If you are the rare breed that fits that mold, or more likely have a relative that does, perhaps this game would be worth the purchase. But I doubt it.

By Caleb Newby
CCC Freelance Writer