Many of you may have fond memories of playing as a character named Jack Wade in the Sega Dreamcast’s Head hunter game. With comparisons being made to Metal Gear Solid, Head hunter stood out due to its engaging and diverse nature, most noticeably the element of driving to locations with the motor bike and such. Well the Dreamcast is somewhat retro by today’s standards and so the Head Hunter series makes its debut on Xbox.

The game begins with an older Jack Wade capturing the lead role, namely Lisa X and rather than turn her in for her hacking crimes offers her the chance to join him and become one of the cities Head hunters (these are like special agents that fight crime). Lisa would rather face her chances alone but Jack has none of it and hijacks her. So the story begins in a tale of two cities, the upper, housing the rich and the lower housing the poor who also provide power to those above. Lisa X realises she has no choice and becomes a Head Hunter, it is here where players will take control and the game begins.

Gameplay:

Head Hunter is a 3rd person action game whereby players get to play as Lisa X and also the hero from the first game Jack Wade. After a little training where players will get to learn the nuances of the Iris system (an interface unit that Head Hunters use) and basic movement its onto their next objective.

Controlling the on screen characters is pretty simple and will be mastered by most within a short time. The main game play here consists of moving from area to area whilst despatching some enemies and then solving a puzzle before moving on to the next area. Gun play is handled by use of a lock on feature, while in itself not a first for video games; this lock on feature adds its own style, whereby player’s accuracy increases the longer you are locked on for. This means that some furious dodging or leaning around corners is required to get the accuracy up to maximum. While not as precise as any first person game I found the combat to be pretty engaging and enjoyable. The puzzles themselves are where the game begins to grate as the clues to your puzzle solving are to be found using the games scanner or some real lateral thinking. The scanner basically will highlight areas of interest if you point it directly at the object. Once locked on players can then scan the object which will reveal certain clues about what you can accomplish next. Whilst this reminded me of Metroid on the Gamecube, a little, I found it to actually be quite a chore. The biggest problem with the scanner is that some objects have to be scanned first before your character will acknowledge them, this means that as a player you might know what to do next but the game wont let you because you didn’t scan it first.

While I found the puzzles to provide a different mix into the game play at times overall I was left with the feeling that the puzzles where perhaps too much and detracted from the better gun play.

Graphics:

Graphically Head Hunter Looks pretty smooth, although nothing ground breaking and at times a little bland. Head hunter is yet another game which uses the soft lens focus that seems to be in a number of titles this year. Character models are a little basic looking although some rag doll physics have been used which looks good for some of the more in your face death moments.

Sound:

The sound is actually one of the game’s best features as the music is excellent and encouraging for what you are doing on screen. The voice acting used is only ok as some of the dialogue is rather cliché at times. One thing that did annoy me was the lack of speech variety with the enemies who would taunt you during combat.

Longevity:

Head hunter is purely a single player experience and perhaps one that is a single play through as well. While at times very engaging playing through a second time was not really an option for me as I’d seen and done everything I needed to the first time. There are extra difficulties for those that wish to be more challenged with their trigger fingers. While many may have a more combat based adventure due to not getting stuck with puzzles on a second play through sadly I wasn’t left with the feeling of wanting more.

Overall:

Head hunter is not a bad game as it has some moments that are quite good, however With some of the puzzles being laborious rather than fun I suggest bringing your brain along with you as well. Overall Head hunter ends up being a very average game and one that should be rented first before purchase.