Ultimate Duck Hunting

Genre: Sports
Publisher: Mid Carolina Media
Developer: Mid Carolina Media
Release Date: May 29, 2006

Ultimate Duck Hunting appears to be a game created by hunters for hunters. If you like to shoot real ducks, and the thought of getting your hands on "the ultimate 3D waterfowl hunting simulation" excites you, then you may actually enjoy this title, because for all I (a non- duck-hunter) know, this is the ultimate 3D waterfowl hunting simulation. The rest of us will scratch our heads about why anybody would want to waste their time with this incredibly boring offering.

The retail box provides abundant fodder for mockery. "The most realistic 3D multiplayer hunting game ever made!" Okay, but how many other 3D multiplayer hunting games are on the market? (If this game is the most realistic of them, then I shudder to think of the wretchedness that must be the graphics in those games, for the visuals in Ultimate Duck Hunting are about as inspired as, well, sitting in a swamp in Arkansas). Actually, the inside of the front flap answers that question, by announcing this title is "the first 3D hunting game for casual and hard-core gamers!"

Did I say "multiplayer?" Yes, you can actually host a giant duck-hunting match with all of your buddies connected over a LAN or the Internet. Good luck persuading your friends to play this game with you. Who wants to get together to shoot tiny, pixelated ducks when you could be shooting high-res aliens or terrorists in an online shooter? If hunters could shoot each other or go on some kind of deranged "human hunt," then perhaps multiplayer mode would have some appeal, but you can't, so it doesn't.

I thought I would give it a try anyway. Alas, I was unable to find a server with any players on it. (Surprise!)

The box promises that you "choose your dog, train him and then you're off into the wilderness!" What does this entail? Well, to choose your dog, pick a color. To train him, complete the training mission, which takes about 60 seconds and consists of pressing the arrow keys and space bar when prompted. With that excitement out of the way, your dog has been fully trained. The rest of the game consists of shooting ducks, and then sending your trained dog to go fetch.

Step One: place some wooden duck decoys in the lake in front of your duck blind. Step Two: press the appropriate "call duck" key to summon your feathered enemy. Step Three: when the ducks come (and they always do), shoot them! Step Four: instruct your dog to retrieve the fallen ducks. Repeat.

Although the box promises "an exciting game for the serious gamer," you will soon become bored of calling and shooting ducks and start to wonder just what else you can shoot. You may even feel tempted to shoot your dog, just to see what happens. (Answer: nothing. The dog will just stare at you).

When boredom sets in, you can crank up the fun by changing your locale to one of six locations, including such hotspots as Mississippi marshland and South Dakota bog. The different locations add very little to the gameplay. You may have to adjust your camouflage and pick a different color of dog, but you're still just going to be sitting in your blind waiting for ducks to fly overhead.

The "ultimate experience?" I don't think so. What's next? Ultimate Trout Fishing? I can only recommend this game to passionate duck hunters and those with 10-year-old PCs too feeble to run anything else. Then again, I suppose this title is the best duck-hunting game I have ever played.

Score: 4.0/10