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Hands on with Deer Hunter: African Safari on iPhone

The horns of Africa

Hands on with Deer Hunter: African Safari on iPhone

Deer may never come into your crosshairs, but the thrill of the hunt is just the same in the wilds of Africa - if not heightened when facing lumbering elephants and flighty zebras.

Deer Hunter: African Safari could do with a more appropriate title (Gazelle Hunter, perhaps?), though the gameplay sticks to the wildlife shooting gallery formula that made its namesake predecessor enjoyable.

African Safari does little to modify the Deer Hunter 3D approach, instead banking on a change in location to justify the excursion. The African plains, bursting with native elephants, buffalo, zebra, kudu, and giraffe are your playground, complete with an assortment of new weapons and equipment.

Hide and seek

Without any new mechanics to speak of, the focus rests fully on the setting and minding the wildlife (read: 'shoot on sight'). You're tasked with completing a series of four hunting trips apiece in Tanzania, South Africa, and Cameroon.

A top-down map of each region fills the screen with scattered animal tracks that signify the location of a potential target. Tapping near these tracks sends your avatar scurrying off to hunt down the suspect animal, with the game prompting you to start the actual hunt when you're in range.

The game shifts into 3D, presenting a first-person view of the landscape and its animals. Sliding a finger across the screen moves the camera, allowing you to select an animal. A scope icon in the lower-left corner enables more accurate targeting: once this is activated, you're able to slide the circular lens clockwise to zoom in and counter-clockwise to pull out. Tapping fires off a shot from your gun.

Fully charged

Despite the mechanics remaining consistent with Deer Hunter 3D, African Safari presented a greater challenge due to the flighty nature of its targets. Unlike the frightened deer of the former that freeze momentarily after a shot is fired, Africa's fauna bolt without hesitation. This means securing a kill is more challenging because you're essentially given one shot - miss and you're out of luck.

Skim the hide of an elephant and you could find yourself being charged by the enormous animal rather than watching it escape to the horizon. While somewhat random, charging animals are one of two new elements in the game, whereas hunting trips occurring at different times of day being the second.

The consistency of design prevent Deer Hunter: African Safari from being fresh, yet the strength of the original game is such that much tweaking is unnecessary. Minor changes to embrace the distinct behaviour of African wildlife and the new setting are interesting enough to warrant the sequel, even if it seems more like an extension than full follow up.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.