Review: The Hunt by Harry Mass Snr.

Details
Title: The Hunt
Creator: Harry Mass Snr.
Released: 19/10/2002
Length: 10 Levels (1 Secret)
Level Format: Episodic (Episode 1)
New Story: No
Graphics: Original with some modified
Sound: Original
Special Features: Ammo clip gives 25 ammo
Dos/SDL: Dos

Initial impressions: This is very similar in layout and design to some of Harry's other releases in that it is 10 level of tight small maps with lots of small rooms. There is again a heavy use of Mutants and SS and the levels although small are very challenging.

Gameplay: The gameplay is fast and tight and players needs to be on their toes at all times. Harry has used a lot of floor codes for multiple rooms on each level so opening a door in one section can often mean guards will come running from a nearby room or other parts of the level. The maps are small and always straight forward, every room leads to each others for a purpose to lead the player to the end of the level.
Guards are always placed just inside rooms or just behind doors ready to surprise the player when they enter. It becomes fairly easy to open a door and either fire a shot or step in then straight back out of the room and wait for all the guards to come to you. There is a fair use of 'silenced' guards as well in some places so there are still some surprises in store.

Mapping: The maps are small in size and have a lot of thin passageways leading to other small rooms. There is little decoration or realism in the sprites that are used with only the same few sprites used throughout the mod, most levels are similar in the fact they the majority are made using the same basic gray wall texture. this is not what the game is about though, it's about challenging the player to be careful about turning any and every corner as Harry often hides guards in these areas and on either side of doorways.
Some level require the player to search for secret areas to exits and bosses needed to complete the levels, some of these seem to be on random levels rather than the impact of a set Boss level. health is often scarce and even more so if the player doesn't search for secret rooms. Keys are not always placed in the last room of a sequence of rooms but sometimes in unexpected places.
There is usually only a small amount of treasure placed (mostly crowns) and hardly any is placed in the open with most hidden in secret areas.

Likes: The fast challenging game play is this mods most redeeming feature and keeps the player on the go at all times. There isn't an abundance of health in the mod with the 25 health item only seemingly restricted to secret areas. This teaches the player to be more careful when planning to attack, just barging in to each room all guns blazing isn't the best plan of attack, the player just simply won't last very long if this is a usual style of play!

Dislikes: The basic grey wall texture and it's variants are used in nearly all levels and becomes quite a bit tiresome after a while. The secret levels are the only areas that really have a different wall texture. The grey wall with slime is the only other walls used with some frequency.
The exit elevators are not in an elevator room but are just placed on walls inside the final room, these look badly out of place and would have looked much better inside a constructed elevator.

Ratings
Dean's Score: 6.5/10
Difficulty: Very difficult for the uncareful player. Proceed with caution!
Best Level: 1
Worst Level: 3

Wrap-up: All in all this is a good fun mod to play for more experienced players as those with less experience in this type of mod will consistently take multiple damage and either die repeatedly or simply give up with this style of guard placement.Without any additional coding features the mod relies mostly on the mapping and heavy use of guards to set a tone that there is no safety anywhere. If the player doesn't mind playing with just the same few walls and is looking for a mod that will keep them on their toes then you would find this respectable challenge. This isn't Harry's best release but still entertaining (and short) enough to keep the player interested throughout. October 2002 Wolfenstein 3d Dome award Winner.

Where Can I get it?: You can download the mod by clicking HERE (Requires the original Wolf game to play as the audiohed file is not included) or by clicking on the screenshot at the top of this post.

Disclaimer: All reviews are only my opinion when playing the mod and are not intended to discredit anyone or the hard work they have put into creating their mod.