The story of IllFonic it affirms itself in 2017, when the software house produces the somewhat discussed Friday the 13th: The Game, a game that has been as much appreciated as it has been criticized for some choices made upstream and for various problems that have plagued the production in recent years. Following the same trend, the developer has decided to rely on a new important brand for its subsequent production, namely the iconic Predator. In this way Predator: Hunting Grounds has begun to come to life, in an in-depth initial beta within our preview, and in a complete release now finalized thanks to the publishing of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The work was presented at a slightly budget price on the PlayStation Store and on the Epic Games Store for PC, proposing his undoubtedly original ideas and offering full support to the cross-play already from day one. The genre ofasymmetrical horror - which has now become a trend in recent years thanks to Dead by Daylight - is revised from the ground up and completely reimagined to bring the Predator concept to the best in a playful sauce. Consequently, what was Predator: Hunting Grounds able to offer us? We tried the game in both of its currently available versions, let's find out together how it turned out!
Hunters and prey
The concept of Predator: Hunting Grounds remains extremely fascinating as in the beta tested initially. The players, once an online game has started - which is theonly mode available - are asked to choose whether to play as Predator or as Fireteam, or they can accept both roles to get on the court faster. Soldiers must carry out extremely uninspired missions, generally fighting criminals in a jungle full of pitfalls and dangers.
The Predator: Hunting Grounds experience offers sensations never explored so thoroughly in the gaming field
It is specifically the presence of a Predator, of which the Fireteam does not even imagine the existence. This is controlled by a player, whose goal is to prevent soldiers from pursuing their purpose, by interrupting and killing them, thus making the game experience atypical and unpredictable. Although the world of asymmetrical horror has been fully explored, in this case we are faced with sensations never experienced before. The Predator is not a killer with few possibilities of movement, but a real beast armed to the teeth with unrivaled mobility but at the same time capable of proving to be a lethal and elusive killer: elusiveness is its key to being able to pierce the possibilities of the enemies.
Whoever plays the role of the Fireteam is perpetually in danger, feeling prey and at the same time predator. In addition to fulfilling their assigned mission, the soldiers can end the life of the Predator with a crossfire and a winning tactic, guaranteeing victory in any case. Once the goal has been pursued, it is possible to escape by letting the body detonate, or break the monster's mask and start a rather adrenaline-fueled defusing process, during which the anxiety of exploding at any moment is unimaginable.
This is exactly what Predator: Hunting Grounds plays on, on giving players emotions rarely experienced in a video game, bringing them to the nth degree where these are quite common. We can assure you that from this point of view, the multiplayer experience is fully successful. Adrenaline, fun and fast, the foundations of the new IllFonic title are extremely solid and already in this very first version offer an experience undoubtedly recommended for lovers of the genre, as well as for those who want to experience the possibilities of this universe.
The dangers of the jungle
As the Fireteam you will find yourself in a cooperative first person shooter, while with the Predator the camera will end up behind you, revolutionizing the gameplay and offering a formula that is not at all common. The playing field is a somewhat repetitive jungle in the 3 proposed maps, which is however well made and full of pitfalls designed to limit visibility due to the thick and realistic vegetation. By leveling up, just by playing, you can get several upgrades for both classes, such as new weapons and tools, essential to progress in the experience and to revolutionize the gameplay as the hours spent in-game increase. There is also a loot-box system, also available in this case simply by playing, which further expands the customization menu to say the least complete in terms of clothing and details, but completely sparse for the character editor.
A balancing work is undoubtedly necessary, but the gameplay of the two classes is in any case well thought out
On the playful level, the game is far from free from defects and problems, which make the experience less successful under several factors. Let's start with a balancing not exactly successful, which sees in the figure of the Predator less chance of victory in the event that the one who masters it is not extremely experienced, as it offers too technical and complex gameplay. At the same time, in the event that the player impersonating the beast is unable to put enough pressure on the Fireteam, matches become extremely flat and monotonous for the team, and missions end up offering very little other than simple boredom. . To improve the situation a classification system is needed, rank-based or simply skill-based, which matches players with the same possibilities and similar equipment, along with a complete reimagining of the PVE component.
In fact, the enemies present aaberrant artificial intelligence, ridiculous at all times, which creates serious problems for the player only in the event that he is surrounded by many opponents, or is hunted by the Predator while pursuing some firefight. The latter factor was instead taken care of with extreme attention, and is one of the most successful parts on a technical level. The gunplay is great for lovers of pad-to-hand shooters while appearing superlative for those who interface the game with a mouse and keyboard. The feedback of the weapons is very successful and conveys the right sensations to the other side of the screen, although the recoils should be revised for many guns. Even the playful part of the Predator can provide many satisfactions if well exploited, since it is necessary to assassinate isolated enemies to avoid being riddled with shots, inevitably dying given the reduced defense that the monster presents.
Predator's Road: Hunting Grounds
While improving on PC and PS4 Pro, the graphics component of the game needs to be definitely revised, along with necessary post-launch support
Unfortunately the problems also advance on the technical side of Predator: Hunting Grounds, for both versions tested. On PS4 the game has a fixed 30 frames per second, but the graphics sector is far from satisfactory, in some cases to the point of creating problems on the gameplay front. On PS4 Pro the situation improves dramatically, and maintaining a stable framerate of 30 frames per second the experience becomes much more optimized. The PC version, on the other hand, requires an unmotivated amount of resources and while offering an excellent graphics sector, even if worse than what was seen in the beta, it forces the less performing configurations to quickly compromise. Fortunately, we have not had to deal with any particular bugs, except for some small things in terms of graphics.
To decree the success of Predator: Hunting Grounds there will not only be the necessary improvements and the resolution of the problems involved, but a post-launch support needed. Although by leveling up the possibilities of approach increase exponentially, given the greater range of builds proposed, the game is somewhat lackluster in terms of content and it is necessary that the developer undertakes to expand it precisely on this front, inserting new possibilities or modes, such as a pleasant single-player mode that would more easily justify a currently rather high price.
