Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 28, 2001

When one thinks of hunting games, very specific images are conjured in the mind. We normally think of some good ‘ol boys out in a light patch of forest with trophy bucks being felled between the crosshairs of a powerful scope. The slightly more adventurous might even have a vision of wild safari’s, where the overly wealthy hunt now-endangered animals in the savannahs of Africa or the depths of South American rain forest. Possibly the last image that would come to mind for the average hunter is a picture of several scantily equipped men chasing down a group of dinosaurs for sport. WizardWorks, best known for their budget hunting titles, including the rabidly popular Deer Hunter series, released a new twist into this genre several years ago with the original Carnivores, which brought the premise of dinosaur hunting to vivid life on computer screens everywhere. Two titles and an impressive set of positive reviews later, WizardWorks has sent Carnivores: Ice Age into the eager hands of hunting enthusiasts.

Carnivores: Ice Age picks up where the previous two games in the series left off. You will take up the mantle of a brave expert hunter from the future. In an era where hunting is rendered incredibly easy by technology, you have mastered the old sport of hunting various animals on Earth. Fortunately, a major corporation has stepped up to give rich veterans like you a chance to hunt some of the largest and most dangerous animals of the Pleistocene period. Following the minor story threads from the two previous Carnivore titles, near the year 2200 mankind has begun reaching out to the stars, looking for new challenges and wonders. After a time, one exploratory company comes across a planet very similar to Earth in atmosphere and natural resources — perfect for human habitation. The one catch to this seeming paradise is the fact that it is inhabited with every species of dinosaur known to man — everything from the Jurassic period to the late Pleistocene. Evolutionary developmental principles aside, this company decides to open this paradoxical planet up to rich hunters from Earth.

Thrill-seekers who have mastered every other aspect of life back home, find themselves in need of new life-endangering activities. Thus DinoHunt Corporation is formed to equip trophy seekers for the hunt of a lifetime. The first two games in the series saw players hunting the more traditional dinosaurs from the Paleolithic and Mesozoic eras. The famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Velociraptors all made appearances in front of player’s scopes. Though the storyline states that they occupy the same planet, you will find no Stegosaurs or Dilaphosaurii in Carnivores: Ice Age. Instead you will face off against other familiar sights such as the Sabre-Toothed Tiger (also known as Smilodon), Wooly Mammoth, and even an ancient version of today’s rhinoceros. Unlike many other titles in the genre, you are not the only predatory creature wandering the boundaries of the various game maps, and as the name suggests, you will be hunting some of the most deadly beings spawned during the Ice Age. If you have any doubts as to the fortitude of your prey, take any one of the included animals and apply the theory of evolution over the past million years. Most of them have modern day equivalents, leaving the scientifically minded to believe that these species had everything it takes to survive countless years of life around glaciers and constant snowfall.

These animals are, of course, nothing more than sport for the few Thomas Crown types who are so bored with the rich lifestyle that suicidal activities seem the only method of getting the old endorphins to spike. To make the hunt a real challenge, DinoHunt Corporation forbids you to take any high-tech weaponry, and every piece of equipment you desire to take is going to cost you heavily. All of the hunting options are summed up in a credit system where you must expand your account by successfully tracking and bringing down the various creatures that inhabit the assorted arctic tundras and frozen dry-lakebeds you will visit.