Lying in bed at 5:30 this morning, wishing I was asleep, I was thinking about this game and hunting games in general.

I can kill people with gay abandon, spraying bullets into crowds, dropping chandeliers on the innocent and guilty alike, etc. So why do hunting games sometimes make me feel like I’m doing something wrong? Why are polygons in the shape of deer different from polygons in the shape of people?

I wondered if it was something to do with being out of danger and being removed from the action, but I’m quite happy to grab a sniper rifle in GTA games and take shots at people with no consequence. I wondered if I just don’t like hunting animals… and I think there’s something there. I say I don’t have a problem with other people hunting animals, that it’s just not for me – but I think that’s probably an intellectual position, not an emotional one. As a meat eater, I don’t think it makes sense, but it’s there and I’m just going to have to deal with.

And I am going to have to deal with it, because Deer Hunter 3D is an absolutely excellent game. Ignore the fact you’re hunting innocent animals and you’ve got a great shooting game. I like tramping round the map looking for animals. I like scanning the environment for them. And, yes, I like lining up a shot and killing them with a single bullet.

It’s just a bit of a problem that I hate it when I don’t kill them in one hit. The yelp of surprise, fear and pain as they buck when the bullet hits. The way they run in terror. The way the tracks on the map become red once they’ve disappeared from view. That I don’t like at all.

Yet I still play, because there’s nothing quite as rewarding as a good kill.

Does this screen shot make me feel a bit horrible?


Why, yes, it does. But, at the same time, I can admire the kill.

I bought this game last night because I couldn’t stop playing the demo. I’m glad I did. In a way, I even like the way it challenges me emotionally.

It’s not making me want to hunt for real, but, man, I want to going hunting on my iPhone again soon.