Hunting Simulator 3 Review Summary

Beautiful atmospheric visuals, top-tier realistic hunting, fun fresh gameplay, and excellent ballistics are marred by severe optimization issues and unrealistic animal detection and behavior.

Beautiful and atmospheric visuals: Reviewers highlight the game's stunning visuals and lively ambience, noting that it looks great from a distance and captures the authentic feeling of a hunt.

Top-tier realistic hunting game: Players widely praise it as one of the best and most realistic hunting games available, offering a complete and satisfying experience that surpasses competitors in many aspects.

Fresh and fun experience: Many find the game genuinely fun and a breath of fresh air compared to repetitive hunting titles, with well-constructed gameplay that feels new.

Excellent shooting and ballistics: The gunplay and ballistics system receive consistent praise for being realistic, solid, and top-notch, enhancing the core hunting experience.

Weapons feel realistic and weighty: Players appreciate that weapons have real weight and heft, with punchy sound and feel, adding to the immersion of the hunting experience.

Severe performance and optimization issues: Players widely report poor frame rates, stuttering, and crashes even on high-end hardware. Optimization is described as terrible, with the game running far worse than comparable hunting titles.

Unrealistic animal detection and behavior: Animals detect and flee from players at extreme distances regardless of cover, wind, or terrain, and constantly spam alert calls. This breaks immersion and makes hunting frustrating rather than realistic.

Graphics and visuals feel dated: Graphics are considered inferior to competing hunting games even on ultra settings, with poor vegetation detail and cheap-looking assets. Texture flickering, LOD issues, and rendering artifacts further hurt visual quality.

AI-generated voices and content: Players strongly dislike the use of AI-generated voice lines for NPCs, especially the Ranger and Warden, citing mispronunciations and lack of quality assurance. Some also feel world design, missions, and dialogue appear AI-generated.

Game feels rushed and unfinished: Many reviewers describe the game as feeling like an alpha test with placeholder assets and incomplete mechanics. Content appears light, possibly held back for DLC, and development feels minimal.

Hunting dog companion core feature: Players consistently highlight the hunting dog that can track, retrieve, and hold wounded animals, and is customizable with breeds, gear, and commands.

Realistic animal perception and behavior: Animals detect players based on distance, wind, and cover, with alarm calls, fleeing, and varied reactions to being spooked.

Slow, methodical hunting pacing: The game emphasizes patience, stalking, and observation over run-and-gun action, with a pace comparable to theHunter Classic and requiring tracking skills.

Vehicle traversal and driving mechanics: Vehicles are an integral part of navigating large maps, with multiple models and the need to drive across terrain and bridges.

Extensive weapons and equipment customization: The game offers a wide armory with caliber switches, attachments, brand-name gear, and loadout customization including clothing and callers.

Poor optimization and performance: Many players report that the game is poorly optimized and runs badly, with complaints about performance across various setups. Some describe it as terrible or garbage, and lowering settings reportedly has little effect.

Good performance on high-end PCs: Several users with high-end hardware (e.g., RTX 5080, 4090, 5060 laptop) report smooth performance, high frame rates, and no issues. They often mention using DLSS or frame generation to achieve good results.

Graphical glitches and artifacts: Users report flickering issues, texture and shadow popping, jerky shadow loading, and AI ray tracing artifacts. TAA and DLSS may reduce but not fully eliminate flickering.

Performance is average or okay: Some players find performance acceptable, not terrible but not great. They mention average optimization or that it runs without major issues on mid-tier hardware.

Stuttering and frame drops: Players experience stuttering, frame drops, and jerky performance, sometimes triggered by specific actions like opening the mini-map or shooting an animal. Screen transitions also stutter for some.

Positive hunt simulation reception: Many reviewers recommend the game strongly to hunting enthusiasts, praising its slower, realistic pace and solid simulation feel. It is repeatedly called one of the best hunting games currently available.

Strong recommendation for genre fans: Reviewers recommend it to people who love hunting games and appreciate detail and patience, and it is seen as a must-play for hunting simulator fans. Some call it a top option against Call of the Wild and Way of the Hunter.

Relaxing scenic hunting praised: A laid-back, cozy hunting experience with beautiful natural environments is a recurring positive theme. Players suggest it as a relaxing break from intense games and a good way to unwind.

Refunds and waiting advised: Some players refunded the game or intend to buy it on another platform, and others advise waiting a few months for major patches before purchasing. Several suggest picking it up only once it is more fleshed out.

Price and value concerns: Multiple reviewers say the game is not worth its current price and recommend saving money or waiting. Some consider it worthwhile only around a lower price point such as $40.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Session length: 8.0h.

Players report a boring core experience with tedious missions and poor AI voices, while only the newcomer tutorial and future multiplayer/content plans receive positive attention.

Friction: Game described as seriously boring; AI NPC voices sound cheap in the tutorial; Find-three-areas missions are boring.

Unlock drivers: Upcoming multiplayer and additional maps/content are anticipated.

Discerning Hunting-Sim Veteran: Benchmarks against other hunting sims, scrutinizes realism and polish, and quickly rejects simplified or unfinished systems. Motivation: Finding a polished, authentic hunting simulation that can replace or compete with established genre favorites. Stance: no buy.

Patient Immersion Seeker: Plays patiently for atmosphere, realistic pacing, and immersive wildlife encounters rather than fast action. Motivation: Losing themselves in a slow, atmospheric, realistic hunting experience that feels like classic hunting sims. Stance: buy.

Active Arcade-Sim Hunter: Prefers faster, more organic hunts over hardcore simulation or pure arcade tracking. Motivation: Getting an accessible, active hunting experience that balances arcade action with light simulation. Stance: buy.

Reported performance is mostly positive in the Windows 12-15GB and 8-11GB VRAM cohorts, mixed in the Windows 16GB+ VRAM cohort, and negative in the Windows <8GB VRAM cohort.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Most sampled reviews report playable to high frame rates, though a minority cite poor optimization and performance problems.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. All sampled reviews recommend the game and report acceptable performance, with minor flicker and optimization caveats.

Windows 16GB+ VRAM: mixed. Reports are split: some high-VRAM systems run with zero issues, while others cite poor optimization or wait for performance fixes.

Favorable genre comparisons: Many reviewers compare the game favorably to other hunting titles such as Call of the Wild and Way of the Hunter, citing a stronger focus on hunting and exploration. It is often described as an upgrade or a strong contender in the hunting simulator genre.

Content and pricing value: The base game offers a large amount of content for its price, with two American maps, a wide variety of weapons, and extensive lodge customization. The $40 price tag is considered fair by several reviewers.

Graphics quality debated: Opinions on graphics are split: some call them the best in the genre, while others say they are surpassed by Call of the Wild and Way of the Hunter, with vegetation and map quality criticized. Performance is also mentioned as inferior by some.

Fusion of competing systems: The game is repeatedly described as blending systems from Call of the Wild and Way of the Hunter, including need zones, tracking, and realistic weapons. This hybrid design fills a gap between the two established titles.

DLC and monetization concerns: Reviewers worry about costly DLC, content being held back for future releases, and the game becoming a DLC machine similar to Call of the Wild. The series' history of abandoning games after DLC is also noted.