Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt is a first-person hunting simulator set in a prehistoric world, where players assume the role of a dinosaur hunter armed with various weapons and equipment. The game challenges players to track, stalk, and hunt a diverse range of dinosaur species—from herbivores to apex predators—while navigating expansive environments and avoiding becoming prey themselves. Emphasizing stealth, strategy, and survival, it offers a realistic hunting experience with a progression system focused on unlocking licenses for more dangerous targets.

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt: Review

Introduction

The Carnivores series has carved a niche in gaming since its 1998 debut, offering players a unique blend of tension and triumph as they hunted dinosaurs on the alien planet FMM UV-32. Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt, released in 2021, represents the latest iteration in this storied franchise—a remaster of a remaster that inherits both the series’ signature strengths and its legacy limitations. At its core, the game promises an immersive prehistoric hunting experience, where players stalk colossal beasts in beautifully hostile environments. Yet, while the concept remains compelling, the execution is marred by dated visuals and a progression system that feels plucked from a bygone era of mobile gaming. This review dissects Dinosaur Hunt within the context of its history, dissecting its narrative, mechanics, art, and reception to determine whether it honors its lineage or merely echoes its past.

Development History & Context

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt emerged from the collaborative efforts of Digital Dreams Entertainment and Tatem Games, with development led by Artem Kuryavchenko—a veteran of the original Carnivores (1998) series. The project is a complex lineage: it began as a console port of Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter Reborn (2015), which itself was a PC remaster of Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter HD (2013). This “remaster of a remaster” approach, detailed on the Carnivores Wiki, transitioned the game from its proprietary engine to Unity, enabling cross-platform support (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows). The developers’ vision was preserved: to maintain the series’ focus on realism and tension, where hunters are as vulnerable as their prey. However, technological constraints of the Unity engine and the game’s deep roots in 2010s mobile design (as seen in the iOS/Android ports of Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter) created friction. The 2021 release occurred during an era dominated by open-world behemoths like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn, making Dinosaur Hunt’s linear, mission-based structure feel antiquated. Despite this, the team retained key series veterans, including composer Rich Douglas and designer Anton Gvozdev, ensuring a faithful albeit imperfect continuation of the franchise.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt operates on an “excuse plot” familiar to series veterans: players are elite hunters in the year 2190, contracted by DinoHunt Corp. to exterminate dinosaurs on the unstable planet FMM UV-32. As summarized in the MobyGames description, the narrative is purely functional—a canvas for gameplay rather than a driving force. There are no named characters, dialogue, or evolving arcs; the player exists as a silent avatar, their sole purpose defined by corporate contracts. This minimalism serves the game’s themes, however: hubris and consequence. Hunters are warned in the manual that their arrogance could lead to extinction, both theirs and the dinosaurs’. The planet itself is a character, with ruins suggesting an extinct civilization that revered the creatures they now hunt—a nod to the TV Tropes entry on the series’ lore. Thematically, Dinosaur Hunt explores humanity’s role as a predator in an ecosystem where it is no longer apex. The absence of a story highlights the series’ core philosophy: the thrill lies not in narrative, but in the primal dance between hunter and hunted. Yet, this approach feels hollow in 2021, where even hunting simulators like theHunter: Call of the Wild weave richer environmental storytelling into their worlds.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

The gameplay loop of Dinosaur Hunt is deceptively simple: select a weapon, equipment, and hunting ground, then track, stalk, and eliminate dinosaurs. Its depth, however, lies in its simulated realism—a hallmark of the series since 1998.

• Core Loop: Players earn “gems” by successfully evacuating trophies, which unlock new weapons, equipment, and hunting licenses. This progression, detailed on the Carnivores Wiki, is the game’s Achilles’ heel. As noted in multiple reviews (WayTooManyGames, ScreenRant), rewards are pitiful (10–15 gems per kill), while upgrades cost thousands. This creates a “grind-to-grind” cycle, where players must hunt herbivores for hours to afford licenses for carnivores—a stark contrast to the titular promise.
• Combat & Stealth: Combat is tense and unforgiving. Dinosaurs react dynamically to sight, sound, and smell, with varying AI behaviors. Stegosaurus may flee, while Ceratosaurus charges. Tools like the M.I.S.T. radar, cover scent, and camouflage (each reducing trophy scores) incentivize strategy. However, limited ammo per hunt and clunky targeting (requiring precise shots to weak spots) amplify frustration.
• Innovations & Flaws: The Unity engine introduced seamless level transitions and dynamic weather, but the core mechanics, inherited from the 2010 mobile port, feel archaic. The removal of the tranquilizer (replaced by “non-lethal” mode) simplifies tactics at the cost of depth. Weapon upgrades (range, damage) are linear, and the UI, while functional, lacks the polish of contemporary titles.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt’s environments are its greatest artistic achievement. Planet FMM UV-32 is divided into distinct ecosystems: Delphaeus Hills, The Great Forest, and Basmachee Rocks, each with dusk and fog variants. These areas, as documented on the Carnivores Wiki, are meticulously crafted, featuring lava fields, ruins, and dense foliage that create a palpable sense of isolation. The art direction, however, is a double-edged sword. Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops are impressively modeled, with detailed textures and animations (new charge sequences for Ceratosaurus). Yet, the environments themselves are “sterile,” as Nindie Spotlight critiques—lacking the organic chaos of open-world games. Fog and dusk settings, intended to increase tension, instead obscure visuals, exacerbating the dated “GameCube-era” aesthetics noted by critics (WayTooManyGames).

Sound design is a masterclass in nostalgia. Composed by Rich Douglas, the soundtrack is minimalist, relying on ambient sounds that evoke the series’ origins: rustling leaves, distant roars, and the iconic N64-era weapon effects. As WayTooManyGames observes, this creates an “odd sense of nostalgia,” immersing veterans while alienating newcomers. The absence of a dynamic score heightens tension during hunts, but repetitive sound loops and a monotonous drone during exploration wear thin.

Reception & Legacy

At launch, Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt received mixed-to-negative reviews, with a Metascore of 60 based on critic scores (Metacritic). Praised for its “appealing” concept (TheXboxHub), the game was criticized for its dated visuals, grindy progression, and technical quirks. Xbox Tavern called it “unpolished,” while ScreenRant lamented that hunting felt “more like a chore.” Commercially, it struggled to stand out in a crowded genre, though its low entry price ($14.99) garnered interest from series fans.

The game’s legacy is defined by its role in the Carnivores saga. It introduced new players to the franchise while frustrating veterans with mechanics unchanged since the 2010 mobile port. Its modding community on ModDB—featuring skin packs and atmospheric reshades—kept it alive, highlighting its potential. DLC like the Cretaceous Terror Pack (adding Carnotaurus and Giganotosaurus) showed the developers’ commitment, yet failed to address core issues. As part of the broader series, Dinosaur Hunt exemplifies the challenges of remastering legacy titles: balancing nostalgia with modern expectations. It remains a cult favorite, but its flawed execution cements it as a footnote rather than a revival.

Conclusion

Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt is a time capsule wrapped in modern packaging—a testament to the endurance of a flawed but compelling concept. It captures the series’ essence: the thrill of the hunt, the terror of being prey, and the satisfaction of outwitting ancient beasts. Yet, its dated visuals, repetitive grind, and archaic progression prevent it from reaching its potential. For veterans of the original Carnivores, it offers a nostalgic return to FMM UV-32; for newcomers, it serves as a historical curiosity rather than a must-play. Ultimately, Dinosaur Hunt honors its lineage by preserving its tension, but it fails to evolve beyond its roots. In the pantheon of gaming history, it stands as a reminder that even the most iconic franchises can be undone by the weight of their own legacy. Verdict: A niche curiosity for series loyalists, but a missed opportunity for broader audiences.