Remember, Remember, The...

Gameplay - 5/10

Storyline - 8/10

Graphics - 6/10

Game Score : 19/30

Once upon a time when I was but a console gamer, I came across this game called Hunter: The Reckoning. Hunter: The Reckoning is a video game based on the role-playing game of the same name that was first released on May 21, 2002 in North America for the Xbox. Developed by High Voltage Software and published by Interplay Entertainment. The game starts off showing one year before the events of the actual game, four people are present at the execution (by electric chair) of convicted serial killer Nathaniel Arkady at Ashcroft Penitentiary: Spencer "Deuce" Wyatt, Samantha Alexander, Kassandra Cheyung, and Father Esteban Cortez. As the switch is thrown, the souls of the dead who suffered at the hands of the prison's warden and his supernatural staff rose up in vengeful rage, driven by evil to exact their vengeance upon the residents of Ashcroft. The four people who were present at Arkady's execution witnessed the uprising of the supernatural evil, and all four received a message in their minds (from benign supernatural beings called "The Messengers") to act against the vast supernatural force that threatened the entire population of Ashcroft. Choosing to heed their "Calling", the four became Imbued, and destroyed the evil inside the prison. The four Imbued locked the prison, sealing what was left of the evil inside, and left Ashcroft. Sounds like a pretty good back story huh?

Well I can honestly say this game is highly memorable for me but for all the wrong reasons, I don't think I have ever cursed as much as I did playing this and one other game, the true redeeming quality of this game is undoubtedly the storyline. This is due largely in part to the game being based on the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name. Sadly it was not enough for me to say I enjoyed playing this game; possibly I would have enjoyed watching someone play through instead of suffering through it myself. This game had a couple good ideas but executed them poorly, none greater than the fact that all four characters have to move in unison for the screen to progress and if someone gets left behind or doesn't move in order with the other three it makes game-play that much more cumbersome and difficult. Not to mention the fact that because of this limitation its much easier to engage the enemy in ranged combat even if your class isn't suited for range combat and ends up leaving you detached from the full experience of the class you chose.

The four classes (hunters) - the avenger, the martyr, the defender, and the judge are the varying types you can choose to play as:

1. The avenger, who sports the gruff outward appearance of a motorcycle gang member, is the strongest of the four characters. 
2. The young martyr is the fastest, and her attacks (which consist of dual pistols or knives) are also the quickest. 
3. The judge, who also happens to be a priest, wields a massive cruciform sword and a flimsy crossbow,
4. The defender is perhaps the most balanced of the four characters with her mixture of speed and power. She has a pretty strong pistol and sword as her default weapons, and she's the only character that has a healing spell.

I leave you with the most memorable boss fight in the game to either deter or entice you...