Hands on with Deer Hunter 3D on iPhone

When Glu stopped by to show us Deer Hunter 3D, we were like deer trapped in headlights. It wasn't the surprise of Atari's cult classic hunting series coming to iPhone by way of Glu that had us stunned so much as how great the game looks and plays.

Deer Hunter 3D takes you from the plains of the American mid-west to the forests of Northern European and frontier of western Russia in search of wild game.

Hunting Trip mode tracks your kills as your travel to each locale, rewarding you with new guns and equipment along the way. You're given from dusk to dawn within the game to bag a set number of animals, after which points are awarded based on your shooting skills.

You start with a standard bolt action rifle, though more powerful firearms can be acquired as you progress. Shotgun, single-shot rifle, crossbow, and even an AK-47 (spray fire is best for bagging squirrels, comrade) await unlocking.

Regardless of your weapon of choice, a steady aim and skill are going to be a must if you want to bring home the biggest and best trophies.

Each location features nine variations, the terrain laid out on an overhead GPS map display when the level starts. Tapping anywhere on the map instructs your hunter to begin tracking any game in the immediate vicinity. As soon as tracks appear, you're prompted to go in for the hunt.

A reticle pops up as you take control in the first-person. Sliding your finger moves the reticle, while a tap of the screen fires. You can steady aim by pressing a button surrounding the reticle to make targeting a bit easier.

Special equipment, such as the scope or scent blocker, help your chances of a kill. In the case of the scope, multi-touch enables you to separate two fingers to zoom in on your target.

The animals are extremely skittish - just as they are in reality - so it takes careful but quick aiming to get the kill. Every animal comes with a point value, those translating to skill points that can be used to develop four attributes: Accuracy, Reflexes, Endurance, and Tracking.

Increasing these attributes will obviously help you in the field, so it's wise to go for the largest animal in sight to nab more points for yourself.

Of course, a big catch also means an impressive trophy for your wall back home. Deer Hunter promises an assortment of achievements and a trophy room where you can view your best kills.

The trophy room is particularly cool: your top three kills are saved as a 3D render, showing you the position of the animal at its time of death and the trajectory of your bullet.

Impressively, Deer Hunter 3D pulls those renders right from the hunt. The game features lush 3D graphics with trees, grasses, bushes, streams, and waterfalls packing each vibrant level.

Ambient sound effects and the grunts of your prey hoofing it to safety complete the package. The only thing missing is the bright orange hunting camouflage, though we can probably learn to live without that when the game shoots onto the App Store later this month.