Hunter

Overview

Hunter is a 3D modern-military espionage action-adventure game developed by Paul Holmes and published by Activision for the Amiga and Atari ST in Europe in 1991.

As a lone elite soldier known as "The Hunter", players must navigate around a hostile-controlled archipelago in order to complete dangerous missions. While some of them are more action-oriented (and involve destroying enemy structures), the game's main "Hunter" mode involves using espionage to hunt down the location of the enemy general.

It is an early example of a third-person action game that is rendered in real-time polygonal 3D, as well as an early example of a sandbox-style open-world environment with a wide variety of gear to collect (including weapons, explosives, maps, medical kits, radar units, and disguises) and vehicles to drive (including trucks, boats, bicycles, tanks, helicopters, and windsurfers). It also features a day/night cycle (with an in-game clock) and procedurally-generated maps (using fractal geometry).

Along with its 3D engine and unique gameplay, it is also known for its intro music by Martin Walker.

Gameplay

Controls

As the joysticks of both Amiga and Atari ST computers only utilized a single button, the game requires not only use of the joystick (for moving the character, driving vehicles, and firing weapons), but also the mouse (for consulting the user interface) and the keyboard (for activating certain commands, such as vehicle disembarkment).

Weapons & Items

Vehicles

Land Vehicles

• Bicycles
• Cars
• Jeeps
• Trucks
• Ambulances
• Tanks
• Scanner Vans
• Armored Cars

Sea Vehicles

• Rowing Boats
• Windsurfers
• Rocket Boats
• Gunboats
• Ships
• Hovercraft

Air Vehicles

• Helicopters

Game Modes

The game includes three "games" to choose from, all of which use their own separate procedurally-generated maps. It also includes persistent stat-keeping, with players earning commendations and credits for completing each mode.

Hunter

Also known in-game as "Adventure", Hunter is the game's main quest and consists of a single mission in which players have six in-game days to hunt down and assassinate the enemy general.

Unlike the other action-oriented modes, Hunter focuses on espionage and relies around finding the whereabouts of the general by receiving clues from various informants and civilians throughout the islands (through assistance and bribery).

Missions

Rather than use the adventure game aspects of Hunter mode, Missions is a series of short action-oriented missions with a straightforward goal of destroying enemy structures (whose coordinates are given to the player from the start). These must be completed in a short time-frame and require players to return to their HQ in-between missions.

Action

A destructive test of endurance, Action is a single lengthy action-oriented mission in which players have over eight in-game days to destroy a variety of enemy targets (six Fuel Dumps, four Radar Units, four Enemy Forts, and one Enemy HQ).

This mode is also used for the game's demo sequence.