It was alright
The bird hunting is so goofy and fun that there's even a wing-shooting tournament. You get a couple of minutes in each of the countries to see how many birds you can take down. This is as close to the action of a first-person shooter that I've ever seen in a hunting title, and with birds flapping everywhere and the sounds of shotguns going off, that's about as good as this game gets.
The rest of the hunting is done is a similarly light style. There's some tracking, but it's not too hard to pull off. A few missions even start out with a herd stampeding towards you or a leopard just a few yards away. Both the easy and normal difficulty levels include a radar system for the animals so it's just a matter of finding a green dot and shooting it. There's even a "hunting sense" that can be used to slow down time and fine tune the aim. The controls for targeting are the four face buttons so this is a necessary addition.
Sometimes the hunters get hunted and there are lots of animals in here that don't like being shot at (or walked near) and they'll gladly attack on a whim. For that there's the "adrenalin mode" which is a lot like the hunting sense. Time slows down and if you can point your hand cannon at the gaping maw of destiny, then you can get the kill instead and keep on going.
If there's a problem with African Safari it's that it's a little too easy. The AI for the animals is easy to predict and, all too often, it's a cinch to shoot an animal, run after it, and shoot it again. Plus, the fauna rarely run too far away before they sit right back down again and relax, making for easy pickings. Almost to compensate for this, the animals never slow down if they're shot. Even the mortally wounded ones can run away.
Closing Comments
Cabela's makes videogame hunting more fun by actually treating it like a videogame instead of a simulation. With each hunt lasting only a few minutes there's no need to stress out about blowing a long chase and having to do it all over again. For those with a short attention span and an urge to go hunting, this one's for you. It's not very serious, it's more than a little goofy, but it's fun.