Call of the Wild: The Angler is a fishing simulator from the creators of the popular hunting simulator theHunter: Call of the Wild. And one of the main features of the game is a beautiful open world filled with winding rivers, mountain peaks, streams, and reservoirs. It can be traveled on foot, by SUV, or by boat. Each type of fish has distinctive features, while the fishing system is intuitive. The player will have a whole arsenal of reels, fishing lines, floats, hooks, lures, and baits. This is our Call of the Wild: The Angler review.
Another big feature is co-op. You can fish alone or in a company of up to 12 people. As it became known, Call of the Wild: The Angler will go on sale on August 31 this year for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store). A console release is planned for the near future. With subsequent free and paid content updates. An open-world fishing game with online co-op play can become a “father game.”
Along with a short trailer, the creators detailed the game’s “launch map” – the Golden Ridge Preserve, inspired by the scenic northwestern state of Wyoming. Considering the strategy of the cheap, DLC-heavy base game that theHunter: Call of the Wild uses, it’s no surprise that The Angler will have a similar approach when the time comes.
What’s the catch?
“Whether you’re battling the ferocious largemouth bass or the ferocious mountain whitefish, Call of the Wild: The Angler’s intuitive casting system makes fishing fun and exciting. Each species has unique behaviors and traits, and you will need to counter their movements carefully as you reel them in. Combined with a system that realistically simulates water temperature, depth, altitude, etc., the catch becomes an indelible memory.”
Yes, everything is correct here. But the game requires a lot of time, work, and love. Let’s see what’s waiting for us.
The game’s scenery is undoubtedly hard to compare to anything else, the only things that come to mind are Red Dead Redemption 2 and, of course, the game’s predecessor, TheHunter: Call of the Wild. But all the mechanics, all the things, and the gameplay leave much to be desired. As for the world, it is empty… Yes, some birds fly in the distance and small insects near the water, but there is nothing on earth that could catch the eye.
Fishing itself
The central part of the game and what this game is about is fishing and watching the float in the water. Let’s take a look at the main points. The water is not very beautiful, and it’s not something I would be ready to look at it for hours. The float is simply not visible.
And what about the main thing – fishing? As it were, everything should be clear here, but everything goes by trial and error; you come to the point and throw the bait. Is there a fish that will master your bait or not? This also applies to bait, fishing line and much more. Yes, you can upgrade all equipment, but it will take considerable time before you catch your first big fish.
Moving around the game world
What do we have next? Of course, traveling, different places for fishing, ordinary and hard to reach. And here is just a map that is quite extensive:
Let’s start with two primary vehicles – boats and cars. In boats, water passes through the boat itself as it moves. As for cars, everything is sad here too. The car can go everywhere and is controlled at the level of cars from H1Z1 (and even looks similar). And the last thing we have is walking … We can walk, but it will take a tremendous amount of time, and your patience will not be enough to look into the water for a long time and even walk. And if you consider the game world relatively empty, this is not a very entertaining activity. And yes, the game lacks any vehicle interaction animations, and you don’t even know how to swim. It’s weird to see this in a 2022 game.
Technology in the game
But do not forget that this game is not for everyone; there are no races or leaderboards, for instance. It can be said to be a calm sports game tuned to the way it is in real life, and to understand, the developers are trying to create everything as much as possible terms.
Here are some comments from the dev diaries regarding advanced systems:
“The fish spawning system takes a lot of data from all over our game world, combines it, and uses it to spawn fish suitable for a given body of water automatically.”
“Having a lot of data about our world is great, but matching it up with what our fish need is where the magic happens. Jokingly referred to as “Fish Tinder,” our system checks every spot to ensure the right conditions for each type of fish. You can find fish in this place if the rating is good and the minimum conditions are met. However, that’s not all: The higher the level, the bigger the fish that can be nearby as this area suits their specific needs very well. Better landing means bigger fish.”
In the end
The game takes time and work. And as mentioned earlier, the game is not for everyone. It’s tailor-made for people who miss fishing and would like to go to the valley of tranquility and go fishing in their free time from the working day. The release date for Call of the Wild: The Angler for PC is set for August 31, 2022 and is a must-see for any digital outdoor athlete.
A code was provided by PR.
