Predator: Hunting Grounds Review

"Thrill of the Hunt"

Multiplayer

April 27, 2020 at 8:37pm
By Jason Stettner

This is an asymmetrical multiplayer experience where a group of soldiers aims to complete missions. While they’re doing so, another player is out hunting them as the Predator. It’s an interesting concept, and one truly inspired by the studio’s previous Friday the 13th. It definitely mirrors that release in terms of style, and in performance which will be discussed under gameplay further.

The just of the experience is some players work as a squad, whereas a single other player hunts them. The groups often swap up who’s hunting who, and it goes from there basically. The main goal of the soldiers is actually not to hunt the Predator, but to complete a series of missions. There are a number of map layouts, and various objectives for the troops to go through. This includes eliminating targets since there are AI enemy troops too, destroying certain caches or capturing areas. There’s actually a solid, and varied mix of them to work through.

It’s impressive in regards of variety, and interesting to play since you’re not necessarily there to deal with this alien creature. This creates a neat three way mix as enemy AI battle both parties of players, the troops and the Predator if that individual creature is spotted. It’s a neat setup, and intriguing to see how it plays out in each situation. That’s about all the game is though, it’s this multiplayer game and it works well for replayability. For those wanting single player or offline action, this isn’t that type of game.

Gameplay

This is where the game certainly gets hit the worst. It has very bad performance, with visuals that aren’t the most pleasing. It has a nice sense of density to the forest, with great little bits of destruction such as eliminating tree branches that the Predator is perched upon. The frame rate is just not at all stable, and it’s somewhat nauseating as a soldier to play through. The AI isn’t particularly bright which makes sense, at times they’re too dumb though if you get what I mean. They just kind of stand there and take it. They’re extreme cannon fodder.

Though yes, the visuals are really ugly on a 4k display with many jagged edges. Still, I applaud the density and character designs as they’re well done. There are even a good variety of unlocks for both sides of the conflict, and just a wealth of customization that makes you feel like you’re constantly being given new tools to play with. The soldier combat does feel sort of generic when you’re not taking on the Predator. That being said, it was still rather enjoyable to play. I enjoy shooters, and this one is different since there’s a bit of a hunt to it. The real thrill here is playing as the Predator.

You get all of the iconic tools, and some fun ways to attack soldiers in order to hopefully rip their spines out. Slash with a sword, blast away at them or straight up sitting their cloaked making clicking noises all day. If they do get you down, try using a bomb as a last surprising resort. I do wish that there was more of a focus on pushing the two sides together however, as some matches we rarely ever saw a Predator and sometimes as a Predator I didn’t face off against too many human soldiers. There are dynamics at play based on skill, but I just wish there was more of a focused clash. Speedy soldiers can just whip through objectives which is interesting to see in action I suppose.

The Conclusion

Predator: Hunting Grounds is a lot of fun to play, but it does have many technical problems that really drag it down. I think with some patches, and more polishing this could be a really solid experience. The matchmaking is also a problem, but they have made improvements on that. Still, there’s a lot of work to be done on this and hopefully with additional content as well down the road this becomes a solid stable multiplayer title.

The asymmetrical style works very well, and it’s truly enjoyable. It just sucks performance wise, and visually. There are some neat elements to this, and I could see myself wasting hours on it. I certainly did with Friday the 13th, and this feels very familiar yet almost entirely different. This is right on brand with the source material as well, and it’s just thrilling to run about the forest as the mighty Predator.

They have some neat tools that you’re able to take advantage of, and it brings some exciting action when you’re playing. I think both sides are intriguing, and fresh to play as. They dynamics of combat really are interesting based on what type of soldier loadouts are brought in versus what kind of heat the big scary cloaked alien in the trees is packing. Best to wipe some mud on your character, and use stealth as the local smugglers are likely the least of your worry in this one.

Read our Hunt Showdown Review
View our Game Hubs

Predator: Hunting Grounds Review on Playstation 4
Review Code Provided by SIEC

Rating Overall: 5.8