Advanced AI, My Foot

I’ve been pretty familiar with GT Interactive’s First Person Shooter (FPS) titles for some time. My personal favorite was the original Duke Nukem 3D (“Come get some!”). Let’s face it: using the urinals to regain health was downright funny. That was the first reason for me to buy Carnivores.

I’m also a dinosaur nut. Yep I’ve got dino books written for readers age five to age fifty. Robert Bakker was always a role model for me. That was another reason for me to buy Carnivores. The third and most important reason for me to buy this game is because it was dirt cheap. You can usually pick up a copy at Wal-Mart for ten smackaroos. I, however, bought it at a computer show for $4.

At first I thought this was an attempt to rival Dreamworks Interactive’s Trespasser, a PC game sequel to The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a hunting sim. That genre bores me to death. But if hunting sims aren’t your cup of tea, don’t leave this review yet. Hunting sims usually deal with deer, right? Not in Carnivores. In this game, you hunt dinosaurs. If I could just say one sentence about Carnivores, this would be it: “A game where you hunt dinosaurs beats any Deer Hunter game any day.” This is one of few hunting sims that any casual gamer can get into.

The plot is rather... Well, I’ve seen better. Basically, a planet with an Earth-like climate has been found. On this planet live the creatures everybody loves: dinosaurs. After the planet’s discovery, a company bought it out and turned it into a prehistoric hunting preserve where your Average Joe can bring down the greatest animals to ever live.

In all, there is a total of ten species, seven of which you can keep in your trophy room. The other three (Dimorphodon, Gallimimus, and Maschops) are just background animals, added to give things that Mesozoic feel. At first, you hunt very easy game, mostly herbivores. For each animal you kill, you are awarded a certain amount of points. The more aggressive the animal, the more points you receive. As you gain more points, you’ll unlock the ability to hunt more challenging game, such as the Velociraptor, and more levels are unlocked. After reaching the expert status, you’ll be able to stalk the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex.

You may want to try your hand at hunting the “extras” (the three background animals that don’t earn you points) at first. This way, you’ll familiarize yourself with the weapons. If the animals you choose to hunt prove difficult, the developers added a neat Observation Mode to check out the behavior of your prey. I found this useless, however, because every species in this mode wanders around aimlessly in the hunting areas, ignoring anything and everything except for environmental obstacles such as water or steep hills.

You can also add handicaps, some of which detract points from your kills. An example of such is the radar tracking system. Others, such as dinosaur calls, are freebies and should be taken advantage of. You can also use tranquilizer rounds with your weapons (how a shotgun blow can tranquilize is beyond me). This will add to the score of your kills, but you will not be able to keep the animals you shoot in your Trophy Room display. For those of you new to the hunting sim genre, the Trophy Room is simply a small area where you can keep the stuffed bodies of your kills and show them off to your friends.

This game’s dinosaurs supposedly have an advanced AI, but I seriously doubt it. Here’s what it says on the box: “From the elusive Stegosaurus to the cunning Velociraptor, each dinosaur possesses its own intellect and behavior.” Now that I’ve been fair and given GT Interactive their say about it, here’s a run-down of beasts’ behaviors:

“Extras” -- eat or scratch in the dirt until a direct approach by you or a predator call made by you scares them away. Exception: Dimorphodons fly aimlessly around with no variance in activity.

Herbivores -- wander around aimlessly; approaches in response to appropriate call; runs away upon sensing you. Exception: Triceratops trample all over you upon sensing you.

Carnivores -- wander around aimlessly; approaches in response to appropriate call; runs to you at top speed and kills you upon sensing you.

Now, I’d expect something more. I’d like some artificial intelligence, here. The carnivores will pass right by defenseless Gallimimus as if they weren’t even there, yet they tear after you like crazy at the slightest scent of you. I wish I was joking, but the AI in Pac-Man was smarter. I’m not kidding.

The herbivores aren’t organized in herds, either. I understand that studies aren’t positive of herd organization among dinos, or that Raptors hunted in packs, but that is the common theory. Dinosaurs were most likely very social creatures. I just don’t see why a stampede of angry Stegosaurs would drag the game’s quality down.

It is this absence of true behavior which makes the game dull. There’s nothing unique to see. It may be exciting for its genre, but there just isn’t anything to it. It’s just animal call, survey the horizon, and shoot for the head. The strategies involved in complex behavior, such as staking out a major water source, are nonexistent.

Furthermore, there’s not much variety within a species. You always run into adults. If this were a true Mesozoic environment, there would be dino infants and juveniles. Of course, a true Mesozoic environment would not mix Jurassic-period Allosaurs with Cretaceous-period Parasaurs. Maybe I’m just being picky, but the former problem strikes me as a biggie.

The environments themselves are rather plain. I was expecting the jungle level to be covered in a dense rainforest, but it’s just as plain and dull and simple as the first level is. I must praise the last level, though. I think you’ll find it a treat.

The graphics are so-so. Up close, everything is rather pixilated, but it all moves with such fluidity that it’s a tolerable tradeoff. The sounds are pretty nice. I can be content with all the animal calls with the exception of the Triceratops, which sounds like someone cutting the cheese, if you know what I mean. The weapon sounds are all very realistic. I particularly like the X-Bow, the silent crossbow. It produces a nice mechanical whir as it reloads.

As far as suitability for different age levels, I think the ESRB “Teen” rating given to this game is appropriate, because the carnivores will undoubtedly scare the pants off young children. Take the T-rex, for example. You have to hit the Rex in the eye. If you miss and hit his neck, he will immediately turn straight in your direction and charge at an impossible seventy miles per hour. You can’t out run him with cheats even. The first time I hunted one, I was on top of a high mountain slope where the animal could not reach me. I missed the first shot, and the thing ran back and forth at the base of the hill. It couldn’t get to me, but I had to leave. So I crossed over the top of the hill to the other side. I thought I was safe. Unfortunately, the Rex is so tenacious, he’ll follow you to Hades and back. I never even saw it coming. It whooshed from behind a nearby rise and gobbled me up like a hot dog. It scared the living daylights out of me. If I was that scared, little kids ought to end up wetting their pants.

In summary, Carnivores is an average game. It was a nice idea, but it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. If you like Hunting Sims, you’ll like this game. If you’re at all interested in dinosaurs, you’ll enjoy this game to some degree. If you fall under neither category, Carnivores will bore you to death. I’d recommend getting the sequel, Carnivores 2, more. I’ve heard the AI is much better, and there’s more species. Carnivores is great if you want to try a fun game that will take you no longer than a day to complete. Hmmm... now what’s the fear of raging Tyrannosaurids with Terminator-like obstinacy? Tyrannophobia? I’ll have to find out.