It’s been quite a bit of time since its release from earlier this month, but today, I will be having a look at Dan McFox: Head Hunter for the Nintendo 3DS. This game is a variation of the 2012 smartphone game, Head Hunter Challenge. The player must act quickly and identify the faces that match the vague descriptions provided, such as suspects wearing eye patches, sticking their tongues out, having certain-colored hair, etc. It’s basically a fast-paced take on Guess Who, which…..is actually a welcome idea now that I think about it.
Graphics
Let’s get some of the weaker points out of the way; the graphics at least do fine enough when it comes to finding faces with recognizable features to analyze, although freckles and necklaces seem like the kind of things you have to squint your eyes for, but the presentation is otherwise bland. Dan himself is visually the most interesting thing in the game. Even then, I don’t feel that says much.
Audio
Other than a menu click sound effect, the only sounds the player will be hearing are cringe worthy one-liners coming from the suspects being tapped on the bottom screen. They can possibly be somewhat easy to get used to, but they are nevertheless irking in a sense.
Gameplay
While the player will essentially be just tapping his or her way through the game via the stylus, the Guess Who inspiration works wonders for touch controls. The catch with the style of play embraced here is that the faster the heads can be counted up, the higher the game will provide scores; the result actually does help the overall fun factor of the formula.
The Missions mode is this game’s equivalent to a single-player campaign, composed of a level-based format that ranks the player from one to three stars. There is not really a story to be told at all, as the mission names are only there for the sake of being mission names. The important part is just playing the game and counting heads that match McFox’s depictions, making sure the score is at least 5000 points so the next level could be accessed. The game is on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum, however, so chances are gamers may be able to breeze their way through the missions in a couple of hours. It isn’t to say it’s impossible to lose, but the worst penalty you could ever have is having to restart the level you lost.
While the Missions mode can also be repetitive, it does hold potential for replay value since it’s possible for some people to be interested in wanting to get three stars on every level. But if you really want a high score challenge, then Round-Up may be the better mode to check out. It only lasts a minute, but within those sixty seconds the player has to try and rack up as many points as possible; even better, the game has weekly online leaderboards, so the competition can add to the motivation of trying again and getting better.
Verdict
Yes, the graphics and audio can bog down the quality of the game itself if they aren’t up to snuff. The problem I have with this game is that I feel like that’s the case here. People that would like another game like Guess Who will definitely find gameplay to like in Dan McFox, but the bland visuals and corny voice acting can turn some off from wanting to play. I personally do think it’s a fun experience, but I have to inspect all aspects if I’m going to review a video game. And in that regard, this game isn’t exactly oozing with quality.
