Watch our review of Predator: Hunting Grounds!
Read the transcript
Hello and welcome to our review of Predator: Hunting Grounds, available for PC and PS4. We’ll give you the lowdown on everything you need to know before you play, but before I do, make sure to hit subscribe and the notification bell to make sure you don’t miss a single video.
1987’s Predator remains one of the best action movies ever. Combining the director of Die Hard, Arnold Schwarzenegger and one of the coolest alien baddies ever, it’s no surprise it’s still firmly at the forefront of nerdy pop culture.
This popularity has led to many sequels, spinoffs and cross media adaptations to… varying degrees of success. For every Alien vs. Predator Arcade game, there’s a Predator 2 for the Amiga 500, complete with no sound effects and the invisible man.
But despite this checkered past, there’s always excitement surrounding a new release among fans of the franchise, and this was definitely the case with Predator: Hunting Grounds.
Developed by IllFonic, who helmed the popular Friday 13th game, Hunting Grounds takes the PvE formula and transports it to the world of jungles, grizzled soldiers and translucent aliens. One player controls the Predator, while four others play as a team of marines on a mission to collect intel or eliminate a drug lord, all the while trying not to being picked off by one ugly motherf**cker.
It’s a really cool concept that had us very excited. But does it live up to the hype? Watch on to find out…
Let’s start with the positives. If you’re a fan of the original movie, there’s a lot to love here. Reworkings of the familiar soundtrack alongside the classic thermal vision and triangular aiming reticle all brought back waves of pleasant nostalgia.
In fact playing as the Predator is probably the best way to experience the game, as the fluid mechanics of its movement, as well as all its trademark tricks make for the most faithful simulation of Mr. P. Redator yet.
But that isn’t to say playing as the marines is bad, far from it. The game is pretty well balanced for a PvE, and it’s clear to see the developers learned a lot from their experience with Friday 13th. We’ve only played a handful of games, but we experienced wins for both the Predator and marines pretty evenly, which is an encouraging sign.
There’s also plenty of customisation options for both sides. Ranging from purely cosmetic to useful weapon mods, it offers enough granularity to make your character uniquely your own.
So that’s some of the things we liked about Predator: Hunting Grounds, now to talk about it’s pretty major let downs. It’s glitchy, really glitchy, and if you played the beta last month you’ll be disappointed to hear it seems none of the issues have been patched since then. From players clipping through the floor to game breaking freezes, it’s enough to make you want to tap on your self-destruct bracelet thing.
And all this is made infinitely worse by the fact it’s so hard to actually play the game! We reviewed it on opening weekend and my god it took ages to find a matchmaking game, something that Illfonic have openly addressed and said they’re looking into. But at time of writing, it’s a huge barrier to entry for a game that frankly needs all the help it can get.
To wrap up, there’s all the components of a good game to be found in Predator: Hunting Grounds, and if you’re a fan of the series or PvE titles in general, it’s worth a play, albeit with some trepidation. But overall it’s let down by bugs, long wait times and frankly not enough variety to excuse it. Perhaps it’ll be updated soon and all will be well, but until then, we can’t see ourselves playing it for very long.
But what did you think of Predator: Hunting Grounds? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to like, share and subscribe for more great videos every week.
While you’re here, please subscribe to Upside Down Shark on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts!
If you’d like to support us, please check out our Patreon!
