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PHEASANTS FOREVER
review | WII
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a.k.a. Pheasants Forever: Wingshooter
Publisher: Funbox Media. Developer: High Voltage Software. Released: August 2011 (Europe). Genre: Gallery Shooter; Hunting. Posted 30th July 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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A quick perusal of the Pheasants Forever website reveals a North American conservation trust centred around the management of habitats, quail and pheasants. I say management, as rather than the dusters ‘n’ dining cloths view of British conservation, this organisation is geared towards controlling populations, showing off a range of rifles, shotguns and hunting knives that would make a serial killer proud, and any prospective dining companions nervous. Needless to say, those looking for a pheasant cultivation sim (an idea so niche, even we at The Pixel Empire have yet to encounter it) will be disappointed. Your job here is still to “look after” fowl, albeit more in the John Dillinger sense of the word, than the Steve Irwin sense of it.
I’m being somewhat glib, of course. Population control is often a necessary evil in the preservation of rural ecosystems, and it isn’t controversial to suggest that a pheasant rearing simulation wouldn’t register on many gamers’ ideas of a fun pursuit. Instead, Pheasants Forever settles on a time-honoured concept that most certainly is: a gallery shooter.
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Pheasants Forever doesn't waste much energy on presentation, instead ensuring robust gameplay mechanics and a fun challenge
There’s little new ground broken here, but if you love the idea of a hunting lightgun game, an updated Duck Hunt if you will, then you’re sure to like this. It’s a refreshingly focused experience, prioritising enjoyable, immediate gameplay that builds on a foundation of solid shooting mechanics. It’s the gaming equivalent of a Rain Mac: it’s unlikely to win any style awards style, with utility-first menus that appear austere. It’s functional to a fault, but in being centred so concertedly around what it does well, Pheasants Forever makes for a surprisingly absorbing, and consistently enjoyable, arcade hunting title.
PF comprises three modes, the most substantial of which is the Tournaments. Each of the three classes contains five locations, which task the player with shooting an array of pheasants, turkeys, quail and geese. A few plays reveal a nice mix of gallery shooter setups. You’ll be challenged to beat a predetermined points target, either within a time limit or with a capped allowance of shots you’re allowed to miss. Alternatively, you may simply be required to hit 50 targets in a race against the clock. With every five consecutive successful shots, the score per-bird increases, meaning able to hold their nerve and retain a steady aim can rack up huge points.
PF comprises three modes, the most substantial of which is the Tournaments. Each of the three classes contains five locations, which task the player with shooting an array of pheasants, turkeys, quail and geese. A few plays reveal a nice mix of gallery shooter setups. You’ll be challenged to beat a predetermined points target, either within a time limit or with a capped allowance of shots you’re allowed to miss. Alternatively, you may simply be required to hit 50 targets in a race against the clock. With every five consecutive successful shots, the score per-bird increases, meaning able to hold their nerve and retain a steady aim can rack up huge points.
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With different locations comes different challenges. Degen Farms is the easiest, tasking players to cull turkeys at close range, minding they don’t pass behind farm vehicles or hay bales. Amber Valley demands sharp eyes, as the bright white surroundings can make small birds tricky to spot, and once they’ve flown their cover, they can escape quickly. Conary Preserve forest, the game’s finale, challenges you to track targets obscured by trees and a canopy of leaves. So the game doesn’t become too fire-and-forget, there’s the added complication of a selection of non-game birds (possibly hawks or eagles, though this is difficult to verify) that are illegal to hunt. To be successful in the Westfall Wetlands, you’ll need to be able to differentiate between geese and hawks, as the two crowd the skies with similar flight paths. Shooting illegal targets results in a points deduction and, perhaps more damagingly, brings about the end of a combo. These flying trip hazards provide an unexpected means of maintaining a player’s engagement. Over time, you’ll train your eyes to spot subtly different colour flashes, flight paths and wing animations.
A gradual, robust difficulty curve lays the groundwork for some surprisingly lengthy sessions. By the final few levels, the game demands pinpoint accuracy as combos become paramount to quickly building scores, and you’ll need to have mastered the ability to rotate the field of view with the nunchuck. Though it’s easy to forget, utilising your gun dog companion is also important. During quiet spells, they can be summoned to stir up the birds, in a nice nod to Duck Hunt. The reticle tracks effectively, allowing players to make swift movements and still reliably land shots. A few power-ups enhance the basic gameplay. These include ‘hunting glasses’, which bathe the screen in an orange tint to make legal targets clearer; ‘trigger-happy’, a brief period of shooting without the need to reload; and ‘slow-motion’, not least because it’s entirely self-explanatory.
A gradual, robust difficulty curve lays the groundwork for some surprisingly lengthy sessions. By the final few levels, the game demands pinpoint accuracy as combos become paramount to quickly building scores, and you’ll need to have mastered the ability to rotate the field of view with the nunchuck. Though it’s easy to forget, utilising your gun dog companion is also important. During quiet spells, they can be summoned to stir up the birds, in a nice nod to Duck Hunt. The reticle tracks effectively, allowing players to make swift movements and still reliably land shots. A few power-ups enhance the basic gameplay. These include ‘hunting glasses’, which bathe the screen in an orange tint to make legal targets clearer; ‘trigger-happy’, a brief period of shooting without the need to reload; and ‘slow-motion’, not least because it’s entirely self-explanatory.
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Learning flight paths makes identifying potential targets a little easier
There are a small handful of dozy design lapses. Nothing major, but a few slips that could have easily been avoided. The HUD obscures part of the screen, meaning that you’re met with some unnecessary blind spots as birds disappear behind your score. On measure, Arcade mode is too similar to the Tournaments. It adds some fairly arbitrary scoreboards, removes the element of progression, and generally brings little to the table. The orange power-up icons can cause unexpected problems as they don’t scale with the birds they’re attached to, meaning for distant targets, it is seemingly possible to align the reticle with the symbol but still miss the shot.
For a game that doesn’t waste energy on frippery or style, Pheasants Forever provides a good dose of fun. The two-player mode lends the game a little extra longevity; the simultaneous Head-to-Head mode is nicely handled. A couple of additional power-ups, allowing players to jam each other’s guns or lessen their accuracy, add to the friendly competition. Granted, it can’t compete with the co-op thrills provided by Dead Space: Extraction and Ghost Squad, but if you’re willing to look beyond its unremarkable visuals and sound, you’ll find a well-crafted hunting title. Nothing world-beating, but certainly worth playing.
For a game that doesn’t waste energy on frippery or style, Pheasants Forever provides a good dose of fun. The two-player mode lends the game a little extra longevity; the simultaneous Head-to-Head mode is nicely handled. A couple of additional power-ups, allowing players to jam each other’s guns or lessen their accuracy, add to the friendly competition. Granted, it can’t compete with the co-op thrills provided by Dead Space: Extraction and Ghost Squad, but if you’re willing to look beyond its unremarkable visuals and sound, you’ll find a well-crafted hunting title. Nothing world-beating, but certainly worth playing.
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VERDICT"Look beyond its austere presentation and you'll find a surprisingly absorbing, and consistently enjoyable, arcade gallery shooter." OVERALL: 6/10 |
OTHER QUICKFIRE GALLERY SHOOTER GAMES REVIEWED
Point Blank 2 (1999, PlayStation)
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The Shoot (2010, PlayStation 3)
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