Real Deer Hunting for iPhone OS Review

Sunstorm Games developed the very first deer hunting game back in 1997.  I can remember playing the game on one of my Motorola flip phones, using the phone’s center navigation pad to move and the OK button to fire.

Times have certainly changed.  The iPhone has brought cell phone games to a whole new level.  Real Deer Hunting, Sunstorm’s latest title, is described as a game that “boasts realistic deer behavior, outstanding graphics and the most immersive hunting experience.”

Does the game’s revival live up to the iPhone experience?  Read on to find out.

Here’s what Sunstorm says about the game.

Hunt the hardwoods of snowy Indiana or the scrubby plains of rugged Texas all while being surrounded by the sounds of nature, blowing clouds, falling snow, or pouring rain! Use your hunting skills to call in doe, bucks, or elusive, non-typical monster bucks! Deer have real-life behaviors: they wander to food sources, hear your calls, and respond to your scent and movement. A spray of cover scent will keep you hidden while you spot distant deer with range-finding binoculars. Use rattling antlers and doe bleat or buck grunt calls to attract the biggest buck for your trophy.

Unlock new stands as you work toward the most prized hunting spots in the state!

The game’s main start screen features four options from which to choose from.  You can immediately start a hunt, see your previous hunts, see more game titles from Sunstorm games or edit the game’s options.

The game’s options feature a few controls which you can edit.  You can turn your device’s accelerometer based tilt on or off, adjust the speed at which your finger scrolls along the hunting grounds, move the control pad to the left or right side of the screen, toggle sounds on or off and clear you saved hunts.

If you choose to immediately go hunting you’ll have three weapons to choose from.

There’s the shotgun.

There’s the rifle.

And finally the bow.

You can also choose from two different areas of the country to hunt at.  Texas or Indiana.

Each hunting region has several hunting areas within in.  You start out with a small number available to hunt in and others can be unlocked by completing different tasks.

Check marks indicate areas where you previously hunted successfully.  Plus marks represent new areas for you to try an the x-marks indicate locked areas.

At the hunt screen you use the joy stick to scan around from left to right and back looking for prey.

There are four baits that you can use to try to lure deer towards you as well (Antlers, Grunt, Beat and Cover.)

You can use your binoculars at any time to zoom in and search or look at prey more closely.

You can also use a camera to capture and store images of deer in the field.

Once you’ve tracked down and are ready to shoot a deer you press the raise button to bring up your site.

Once steady you press fire.  If you’re successful your deer goes down.

You leave the hunting grounds and are brought to the trophy room where you can view statistics on the animal you just brought down.

From here you can choose the “brag” button which launches the mail application with a pre-configured e-mail ready to send to your friends.  The message includes a picture of the deer you shot and its statistics.

I found Real Deer Hunting to be a highly entertaining game.  It’s 99 price tag makes it an obvious choice in the hunting games category.  It has enough replay to keep you coming back multiple times and good graphics and sounds to keep you entertained when you do.

Aiming your weapon takes a little getting used to and sometimes it’s difficult to know how to lure prey to you but real hunting isn’t always easy either.

M.S.R.P. – 99¢

What I like: Inexpensive, entertaining, good replay.

What I don’t like: Hard to aim, at times unclear what is needed to do to lure animals.