The Hunter is a revolutionary hunting simulator that unites traditional gaming and social networking. Download the game client and you'll find a visually stunning hunting world, populated with a huge range of highly realistic animals, from small game and birds to heavy weight trophy targets like bear, deer and elk, all created by Avalanche Studios, the award winning developer of Just Cause.

Q: Will I be able to carry more than one weapon?

A: Yes, there will be a variety of weapons and equipment available in the Hunter, and when you go out hunting you will be able to pack a primary and secondary weapon.

Q: Will the Hunter be a multiplayer game?

A: This is another of those yes & no answers. The Hunter is not just a 3D client, but also an integrated social space which will allow you to interact with other players, and you will find missions that require you and a friend to compete or work together on a certain set of tasks both in the 3D and social aspects of the simulation. The hunts themselves will be single player instances, with the emphasis on realism. We would like your opinions, once you have played theHunter for a while, about multiplayer instances where you can go and hunt with friends, but our thoughts are very much that any multiplayer instances should also be realistic and therefore co-operative; there will be plenty of game to shoot in the Hunter.

Q: Will the animals be intelligent?

A: It's about hunting. One of the key skills to hunting is knowing your prey, so there has been a serious focus on trying to make the animals in the Hunter behave as they would naturally.

Q: Will I be able to craft and trade items in the Hunter?

A: Although not initially, we would like to include this option moving forward. Tell us what you like to see!

Q: It says free to play but then you talk about membership, how's that meant to work?

A: It's free to play! The free to play experience will be awesome - with your help of course. You will also be able to buy in-game items - better rifles and clothing for instance - and if you find that you do that a lot you might decide to get an even better deal by becoming a member (paying a subscription). It's up to you!

Q: Is the hunter client or browser based?

A: The hunting will take place in a state-of-the-art 3D client which you will download and install on to your PC. Emote's new Participate technology is an integrated part of the game too, though, and this utilizes web based a social networking type interface, allowing you to shop, trade, upload videos and images as well as make new friends, not just with other players but also characters from the Hunter.

Q: Will the hunter be a free roaming world with a lobby system if I just want to chat?

A: If you want to hang out and just chat with friends, swap stories, pictures and videos then the Hunter social space will be the place for you. If you're more at home in the woods then the Evergreen Hunting reserve will be the place for you, but obviously we're expecting that players will enjoy doing both!

Q: What type of animals will the player be able to hunt?

A: In the first release you will be able to hunt four animal types including Whitetailed Deer. We'll be announcing what the others are very soon. Beyond the first release there will be regular updates, meaning that you'll come across an ever increasing selection of animals. Tell us what you'd most like to see!

Q: How will the game be scored?

A: To an extent, this is up to you. What is important for you as a player; successful 'missions', better equipment or skills, trophy bucks? For the purist we will be including one or more of the major real-life scoring systems; watch out for future announcements.

The Hunter will be available on PC with console versions to follow.