The turn of the century saw the release of Midas Interactive Entertainment’s arcade action style game, B-Hunter. It was developed by the Danish programmers InterActive Vision A/S and is essentially a game of simply blasting the enemies over and over again.
B-Hunter is a futuristic cyberpunk shooter that features the user as a bounty hunter somewhere in a science fiction world. The user sails around in an attack hovercraft within a huge metropolis trying to arrest criminals and thwart the dealings of the highest ranking, supposedly incorruptible police officials.
B-Hunter features a non-linear plot since the protagonist is a bounty hunter and is not controlled by the conventions of futuristic law. He is more or less free to wander the city as he sees fit and attack and apprehend whomever looks like a viable target. Anyone who could provide a profit, or save one, is a possible target, including other bounty hunters who are moving in on the hero’s targets and the ensuing booty. The main goal of the game is to acquire money and every target is worth a different amount. The more dangerous the target is to bring in, the more money it is worth. The small, petty criminals are worth very little. If your gunfire damages the wrong
vehicles, the bounty hunter will be fined. If the fines become too great, the user will be identified as an outlaw and a bounty will be issued for his arrest, making him a target similar to those he hunts.
The money the user collects can be used to upgrade the user’s car and to purchase ammunition. There are ten different weapons available in the game, and each gun has five different variations. The available weapons include an ion gun, a lead buster, a chain gun, a magnetic plasma gun, nitro crackers, a stun ray, a heat-guided missile, a sonic blast, a TNT mine, and a rocket-mounted demolition bomb. There are two slots on the vehicle in which to equip the two weapons of your choice.
B-Hunter is a very fast-paced game. There is no break in the action, and the nonlinear plot assures that there is always something to do. There are forty plus missions to keep the user entertained, and they range from one on one dog fights to seek and destroy missions.
In summary, B-Hunter is an underrated, little known cyber punk shooter. It is very fast paced and features great game play. It comes highly recommended.
