If you’ve ever spent some time huddled in a freezing cold duck stand in the middle of nowhere at 6AM being very quiet while someone makes duck calls near you, you’ll appreciate exactly why duck hunting makes such a good videogame (the answer is that you can stay inside and drink hot chocolate while you play). Nonetheless, for anyone who has that duck hunting itch well after the season is over, Ultimate Duck Hunting captures the experience very well.

At the start of the game you get to pick your gun, your dog, and your gear, and then choose from one of six authentic-looking duck hunting locations throughout the United States. Once you’ve chosen, you can set up your decoys however you like on the water (without having to wade in to do it) and the hunt begins! You have three different duck calls to use, and once you’ve lured a flock into shooting range you can stand up, take aim, and fire. If you hit one, it falls into the water and you must then give your dog whistle commands to guide him to it. This is kind of like a minigame, and you can see both your dog and the duck on the radar. Once he retrieves it, you get points for how well you did.

The coolest feature included has to be the multiplayer, though. The games makers host a weekly play session you can join in on, but you can also just play with your friends. In multiplayer, you all hunt from the same stand and compete for points. It’s a great addition and perfect for friends who live far away from each other but share a passion for hunting.

The graphics of the locations are beautiful and captured very well, and while the human and dog graphics could be better, that’s not really the focus of the game anyway. The other big problem is that the controls aren’t explained very well, so it will take you a bit of digging to learn how to play (hint: examine the key bindings on the options menu).

While this game is initially confusing if you’ve never been duck hunting, it’s easy enough to pick up that even non-hunters may find themselves intrigued and trying to bring down ducks for points. Once you learn the controls it becomes pretty fun and you’ll want to keep trying for a better shot and quicker retrieval. Try it yourself, or grab it for a Christmas gift for your family members that love hunting and just don’t “get” games. Maybe this will be the first step in sharing both of your passions, together.

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