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Predator: Hunting Grounds


AndyKurosaki
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Ok, so I wasn’t sure about this one. Sure, the Predator license is ideal for a quality gaming experience. But I was a bit weary, as the team’s previous game, Friday The 13th was a mixed bag. A fun concept, let down by a toxic community, general jankiness, and lack of consistent support (though that was due to the court battle relating to the franchise).

 

So, I downloaded the demo for this last night. And it’s definitely made a good first impression. There’s no team-killing for a start, something that constantly ruined the experience for Friday. 
You have a choice of either Fireteam (4 humans), or Predator. The fireteam has to complete various objectives (hack computers, take over control points). Multiple enemy AI will try to stop you, so it’s most effective to team up, and defend objectives when you’re capturing them. It plays like pretty much any FPS, with your typical selection of weapons (Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol). Firefights can feel pretty tense, especially if an alarm gets triggered and you start getting swarmed with enemies.

 

Then....you hear THAT sound. The tell-tale clicking of the Predator. Or it’s cloaking device activating. Or worst of all, see the red beam of its laser cannon pointing directly at you. At that point, all hell breaks loose.

 

The Predator takes quite a lot of damage to take down, spraying recognisable green blood all over the place. Taking it on, one on one, is an extremely bad idea. If you get downed, there’s a chance your team can get you back up. Unless the Predator rips your spine/head off. Though that’s a gamble, as in doing that, you’re locked in place for several seconds, giving the rest of the team time to pump the Predator full of lead. 
 

Once the Predator finally dies, two things can seem to happen. If you’re quick enough to shoot it in the head after pulling it’s mask off, you can capture its body. Though you’ll get attacked by a ton of mercenaries for a few minutes, who can shoot up the body and decrease its value.

 

Or, the Predator activates it’s self-destruct mechanism. A large red circle appears on the map. Anyone left in it after it detonates, is going home in a matchbox.

 

If a member of the fireteam is killed, it’s possible to respawn them by “calling for reinforcements”. Which involves legging it to the specific radio point on the map, and defending it for a short time before your team-mate respawns. Though again that’s a gamble, because if the Predator is attacking you, you’ll have your hands full as it is. 
 

I spent last night purely as Fireteam, and had a bloody great time with it. I played as Predator for the tutorial, obviously it’s more complicated to play in comparison to Fireteam. Practice will certainly help, no doubt.

 

There’s also a decent ammount of customisation options for both sides. Some are locked behind level progression, others in lootboxes. Lootboxes are earned in game, or bought with in-game cash. The game seems quite generous with money, and duplicate items give a decent bit of cash. 
 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this. More than I thought I would to be honest. I’ll certainly sink some more time into it over the weekend. And I had that much fun playing it with Gary, that I’ve preordered the full game. Well, I’m hardly spending money on petrol travelling to work for the next few weeks.

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Had another good few hours on this last night, still really enjoyed it.    We learned that it’s actually possible to defuse the Predator’s self destruct. Don’t know how you do it, as the random in our team dashed in, while the rest of us were legging it out of the blast radius. 
 

Managed a few escapes by “running to da choppa”, which is a challenge when both the Predator and an army of enemies are rushing you.

 

We also learned it’s possible to parry the Predator’s melee attack, by hitting R3 at the right moment. Though once it’s in your face, blind panic usually sets in for me.

 

Going to have another session tonight, then that’s it til launch day.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Full game launches at midnight tonight, proper looking forward to it. It’s only 11gb, while the beta was 22gb. Which was unexpected. Still, I’m hyped to see how this will develop. And I’ve a few people to regularly play Fireteam with. So I’m happy.

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So, I’ve played this for at least 7 hours yesterday. Some people seem determined to slag this game off. Personally, I absolutely love it.

 

”It’s only got 3 maps!”, the haters cry. Well, there’s several different objectives. And each match plays differently, so I’ve not felt bored yet.

 

”The Predator is underpowered!” is another complaint. From multiple deaths, it doesn’t feel like it. Sure, it does seem you need to do some levelling up to unlock the decent weapons. But that’s true for most multiplayer games.

 

”It looks awful’. No, it genuinely doesn’t. 
 

I’ll definitely be sinking some serious time into this. While my 48 hour Double XP is active I’ll be sticking with Fireteam, once that runs out I’ll give Predator a go.

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Spent most of the day on this, and will likely have an all night session with my crew as well. It’s definitely got that addictive “one more go” quality. Though team-work really is essential. Soon as one of your team tries to lone-wolf, it rapidly goes tits up for all of you.

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Well, I’ve hammered this all weekend, and reached the level cap of 100. Had a bloody good time doing so. Last night I played some Private matches as Predator, which was a lot of fun. Some of its weapons, particularly the Blade projectile from Predator 2 do a ton of damage.

 

Not only do you still get XP in Private matches, you can also get trophies, so I might have a crack at the Platinum. I’ve done most of the Fireteam trophies, the Predator ones are quite grindy. But I may put the effort in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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