Games: In “The Angler” the fish wriggles on the hook

Birds chirp softly, butterflies flutter beside them and globular pollen glistens in the rich light of the low sun. Gentle waves hit the shore of the large lake. With a crack, the bait lands in cold water at the end of the rod. It doesn’t take long before the first fish bites. Yes, there is a new fishing simulator in the video game pool. The creators of TheHunter: Call of the Wild are venturing into the water and want to attract fish lovers with “Call of the Wild: The Angler”.

At first glance, this works well. As with the “theHunter” parts, the game begins with a short sightseeing flight over the map and first impressions of the hunting adventure. The Golden Ridge Reserve is based in the US Yellowstone National Park, the oldest in the world. The lush green plains are replaced by steep rocky cliffs and dense forests. The landscape is crisscrossed with rivers, large lakes, and small ponds. The best thing about the diverse landscape is that everything can and should be explored. Call of the Wild: The Angler takes players into an open world.

Side quests keep you occupied in The Angler

You have to discover it in different ways. Especially when fishing of course. But Park Warden Clayton Johnson provides players with responsibilities. Sometimes we have to help him find beetle infested trees, sometimes we have to climb watchtowers and sometimes we have to find tourist attractions like dinosaur bones.

Players already know such tasks from the “Hunter”. They must create incentives to explore the generous map and lure fishermen away from their regular ponds.

A very empty world

However – and those familiar with the “Call of the Wild” world know this too – the walking distances to individual mission points are long. In the game “theHunter” you will frequently encounter deer, herds of bison, etc. on a walk through the wilderness, and players in “The Angler” will not encounter anyone out of the water.

No wild animal appeared during the test session. Of course it’s all about the catch and the fish to be caught, but at least every fisherman must have come across rabbits while waiting for their next bite. Especially since a flapping deer can be heard in the game and signs along the way call attention to a free-living bison. It was really cool that these animals at least occasionally had the appearance of a small guest in the landscape. Yet, the lovingly designed world often seems rather empty.

Pisces have their own preferences and idiosyncrasies

Fortunately for Call of the Wild: The Angler, there are plenty of tiered treasures sleeping under the water’s surface. There have been twelve different species of fish until now, ranging from blue sunfish to spotted catfish to the red fiery Kokanee salmon. They all have their own preferences, characteristics, and habitats – just like in real life outside of a computer screen.

A catfish, for example, is a night owl that likes to stay at the bottom of ponds and likes to eat bread. If players throw their rubber bait rod on the hook in the middle of a lake in the bright sun, they will not catch a catfish. This makes it more likely to catch kokanee salmon. Not only the bait and the place where the rod is thrown are important, but also the rod and the line. The startup gear loses its soul when rainbow trout jump. But the more we catch a small fish, the more coins we get, and in the end we buy better equipment from Sophia Taylor in the store.

Gradually, small fishermen can catch larger fish and thus carry out other tasks. But that’s not all: when the cash register machine rings, the fulfillment of your dream of owning your own boat is getting closer and closer. Activation requires a little patience, but does not require much effort. Especially since hunting itself is very simple and works with a few mouse clicks – in other words, if you’re expecting hardcore simulation, you’ve come to the wrong place. On the other hand, if you want to unwind after a long day at work, then you are in the right place. By the way, you can also do this with friends in a multiplayer game.

Updates to follow

All in all, Call of the Wild: The Angler is well worth a watch, although many die-hard fans of theHunter probably wish the hit hunting game could get a streak. In the coming weeks and months there will certainly be a lot more to do, as “theHunter” will always be provided with updates and additions. On the developers’ agenda, for example, is the revision of water areas, as they are visually backward. It would also be desirable to have a live animal out of the water and a memorial system that allows us to display the fish – similar to what also happens in “The Fisherman”. Until then, Hail Petri!

>>> INFO: “Call Of The Wild: The Angler”

“Call of the Wild: The Hunter”Developed and published by Expansive Worlds. It’s only released for PC at the moment, with consoles to follow. The game is available for about 30 euros and from USK from the age of six agreed.

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