When I first downloaded predator hunting grounds to do a mini review for this months free Playstation plus games I was quickly impressed. As I said in my September article, I have been a big fan of the predator since I was a child. One of the biggest sources of Predator lore, of course, comes from the movies. There have been several comic books, novels, and video games that have added to the predator legend. I’ve played a lot of the games and have seen every Predator movie and have loved them all, for their own reasons.
Please be aware there will be plenty of spoilers about the movies and the video games in this article. You’ve been warned!
As a gamer, I’m a big fan of games that help tell deeper storylines to movies. In a movie you have an hour to an hour and a half to tell a story. In a video game you can do 30, 40, 50 hours of additional content that couldnt be put into a movie. I saw this done well with the recent Star Wars movies and games. I myself did not see the return of the emperor as being that big of a shock or out of the realm of possibility because it was an essential part of one of the video games and his clone was already working towards his final plan after the battle of Endor, But I digress.
The first Predator movie came out in 1987. It was a bloody action packed 80’s classic and kicked off a genre of sci-fi that has spanned almost 40 years! One of the coolest things about Predator: Hunting Grounds is not only is it a fun game to play but it also ties together several of the movies into one long cohesive storyline and even alludes to a potential future predator movie!!!
As you progress your way through the ranks of Hunting Grounds you have the opportunity to unlock audio recordings. There are three sets of audio recordings. The first set of audio recording are from the hero of the first movie, Dutch. Dutch was the lone survivor of a special forces unit that was sent into Val Verde to rescue a Missing cabinet minister. When Dutch defeated the Predator it set off a self destruct mechanism that nearly killed him. In the game Dutch tells how he was suffering from radiation poisoning from the blast. The second is from Isabelle, the sniper from The Predators movie who was one of two survivors of the game planet. The last set of recordings is from Shawn Keyes, son of Peter Keyes, the “agent” from Predator 2. Shawn was working with his father in LA and took up his dads work after his death in the meat packing plant at the hands of the “city hunter”.
Aside from Dutch’s poisoning and testimony, there was nothing more that could prove what had happened, however it was enough to get the attention of the government. The next Predator movie came out in 1990 and introduced us to Agent Peter Keyes. An ambitious “G-Man” who wanted to trap a Predator to learn from its technology. This Predator who was hunting in the jungle of downtown Los Angeles and is called the “City Hunter”. This predator had his arm severed by Officer Harrigan of the LAPD, before he could activate his self destruct sequence. Harrigan chased the Predator to his ship which, was buried underneath a building in downtown LA. Harrigan defeated the Predator with its own weapon. Predator Elders appeared and rewarded Harrigan for defeating the young warrior by giving him a flintlock pistol from the 1800s. This established that Predators were timeless hunters who had a code of honor and have been visiting earth for hundreds of years. This was also the scene that established the Predators had hunted the xenomorphs from the alien franchise. There’s a Xenomorph skull hanging on the trophy wall inside the Predator ship. The ship blasts off leaving a beaten but alive Harrigan alone to answer the questions of the OWLF.
The story doesn’t stop there. The son of Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), Shawn Keyes (Jake Busey) is recording his own set of audio recordings while working for his father in the top secret unit that is known as the OWLF, other worldly life form. Keyes character is seen the most on screen in “the predator” (2018) movie. Keyes comments In his recordings how the “City Hunter” left behind a lot of physical clues including his blood, severed arm, and a piece of a broken wrist computer. The DNA results from the findings proved that the Predators were hundreds of years old. The city hunter was young, 300 years old, and was probably earning his right to become a warrior.
Dutch has been recovering from the radiation sickness suffered in ‘87 and tracking Predator sightings. He was there in LA but he was too late to do anything about the City Hunter Predator. He allowed himself to be taken into custody and started to work with the OWLF to help fund his personal quest to hunt and kill as many Predators as he can.
The movie “Predators” took a different twist on the hunters coming to earth to prove himself, instead it took a group of human hunters to a game preserve planet to be hunted by a Predator hunting party. This movie began to show that not only were the predators hunters they had a social class and structure of their own, simply “Bigger Predators vs. Smaller Predators.” It also established that this world is where they view refine their technology and hunting practices. The movie ends with two survivors,Isabel and Royce, walking off into the jungle as more parachutes fall onto the planet. Their story doesn’t and there either. According to Isabelles interview recordings she made it off that planet. She says that Royce and her had hit it off while they recuperated and grew closer together. She says that the Predators “marked” Royce. They saw him as a champion being that he was the one that defeated the Hunter on the planet. Isabelle said they gave Royce predator armor that was specially made for a human to wear. She said that Royce had said that “we all secretly enjoy hunting men” which is why they were there on that planet. Royce used the armor to locate a landing platform that had a spaceship and a smaller skiff. Royce taught Isabel the basics from what they could decipher and he set off on his own to go meet the predators‘s on their home planet face-to-face. Perhaps this is the armor that we see being delivered by the rogue predator in “the predator” (2018) movie. Did Royce make it to the Predator planet? It has been established In the movies that Predators have a code of ethics when it comes to the hunt and hunting pray perhaps he was able to convince a predator to help mankind and that we were hunters worthy of help.
“The Predator” movie opens with an alien ship escaping through a worm hole. The ship has been damaged by a pursuing larger predator ship. Before the derelict ship crashed on earth it ejected a pod. A special ops team was on an assassination mission when the object nearly crashed right into them. This is when Stargazer shows up and captures a predator alive. The sniper and loan survivor of The special ops team, Quinn McKenna, had recovered the Predator technology and sent it home to his 10 year old son Who also happens to be an autistic Savant. The curious youngster opens the box to find the alien helmet as well as the gauntlet. Of course the kids going to push the button! Activating the hardware let’s both predators know where the objects are. The predator who was captured wakes up and escapes. Agent keys suffers a serious stomach wound and that’s the last we see of him on screen. We assume that he is dead but the tapes in game revealed that he actually survived his wounds and the incident. He was able to negotiate himself into the position as the director of the OWLF as long as he kept the incident from stargazer screw up a secret. Trapping a live Predator isn’t worth the risk. Stargazer had been pushing for arms trade and dealing. According to Keyes things are about to get worse. OWLF found a gauntlet that puts armor around its wearer but doesn’t stay on. They need an unknown power source to make it work.
The whole premise of the game as well as the movies after the Val Verde incident was to attempt to kill a Predator for its technology.
The game takes place after all of the movies. Isabelle is recruited into the OWLF program when she successfully lands her alien ship in Mexico.
Dutch the Immortal
Dutch continues to work with these Predator hunter groups as a consultant and the most successful Predator hunter. Dutch’s story continues on in a very interesting arch. He goes on a mission into the jungle where his team arrives in an abandoned village. In the center of the village is a single pike with a skull on it. As the team is in investigating the empty village they fall under attack by predator no one has ever seen before. Until now all the Predators have been male, this one is a female. According to Dutch she was all business and didn’t toy with her prey, eliminating his entire team in seconds and pinning him to the wall with her razor net. For an unknown reason she allowed Dutch to live. He was, however, mortally wounded and left for dying. With no other options left Dutch agreed to have alien DNA injected into him to help him live. The experiment worked and he survived his wounds but a side effect was that the alien DNA stopped his cells from aging. He is nearly 80 years old and is still fighting like a forty year-old according to his audio recordings. Agent Shawn Keyes’ last recording States that he is done dealing with the bureaucracy of the government groups and wants to break away and join Dutch on his personal mission to fight and kill Predators!
This game really has me excited as a predator franchise fan. There is talk of a 5th movie being made and the Director say that it really pays homage and is just as good as the 1987 Original movie. As a fan, the only way I can see that happening is if Dutch makes a return and goes off to fight the alien predator queen. I couldn’t find any information on the story line of the new Predator but I do look forward to any news that may be coming out in the future!
I cannot recommend predator hunting grounds enough! If you’re a fan of the predator franchise or a fan of quick intense video game first person shooter action this is definitely game you want to check out! As of the writing on this article you still have a few weeks left to download it for free if you have PlayStation plus!
Predator Hunter Weapon Tips:
The more you play the game the more you level up, and the more you level up, the more supply boxes you get. The supply boxes are the way to unlock free cosmetic items like headgear and weapon variants. Leveling up also unlocks weapons for you to use like a plasma rifle which does major damage to a predator but you have to be over level 100 to get it. As you use each weapon it gains level and unlocks attachments and improvements to that weapon up until level 10.
Predator Stalking Tips:
I love playing as a predator! You get to stalk your prey through the jungle jumping from branch to branch using an array of tools at your disposal. There are several different predator bodies available from scout, berserker, as well as subcategories that add to your abilities like doing more damage to fully scanned targets or adding a perk which makes you do more damage from ranged or melee weapons. I suggest you find a combination of Predator and gear that works best for your playing style. I myself paid a little extra money and downloaded the city hunter predator for $4.99. They also have a Viking, samurai, and the legendary Cleopatra predators.
Once you decide on the predator the best suits you, you need to remember how the Predator hunts. It stalks its prey, isolates them, and kills them. This is how I play the Predator with the most success. I scan the area and find my targets. I like to use audio decoys to distract them from where I actually am. I use my shoulder cannon to cause them damage and weaken them, get them to use their ammo. I watch them to see if they break apart or they stay together. If one of them breaks apart from the group that’s my next target and I focus doing damage on him or her. If help is too far enough away from their partners I use the long claim button by holding down square to harvest the players skull and spine giving me a bonus of XP. If I don’t have that much time I use the quick claim by tapping the square button and that just takes the players skull.
I repeat this technique until there is only one survivor. Once there’s one survivor I allow him to escape to call in reinforcements. When a player calls in reinforcements the entire team is respawned at a specific location on the map. Another benefit of being a predator is that you are notified when the player calls in reinforcements and the chopper. During this waiting time I try to make my way as close to the fire team as possible while taking down any hogs that I might come across. The reason for having dead hogs around is that it attracts other hogs which can be killed. As a predator, hogs can be consumed which replenishes your health entirely.
I try to keep an eye on both my health bar and my energy bar and I do not let them get below a quarter before I run away to hide and recuperate. If the fire team damages me too much and I go into a second wind, which is a self-defense mechanism the Predator has which sends off a blinding flash and allows the player an opportunity to escape or activate the self destruct button. You only get one second win per predator.
If the fire team successfully makes it to the chopper extraction zone I quickly make my way there and use the same technique as I do when hunting by causing damage from from distance and moving in to kill the weaker Targets first. I need to maintain enough health to take damage while claiming skulls. If the action is too heavy I wait and do damage from a distance. The only downside to this is that if all players are killed before you can claim any skulls the game ends.
Fire team tips:
Playing as the fire team is the more challenging mode of Predator hunting grounds. Just like in the movies the odds are stacked against you surviving. More than likely only one or two of you are going to survive the mission. If you keep that in mind while playing the game you’ll feel a lot less pressure when you die in the first two minutes of the round. As I stated above there is opportunity for the fire team to resurrect back into battle if they reach the reinforcement radio. Playing as of the Fire Team you also want to find the combination a player that best works for you. Just like the predators there are several options to choose from including assault, leader, scout. They all have the positives and negatives, The same goes for the weapons available.
The best way to survive as a fire team is to work as a team. Predators are weak against more than one target at a time despite their armor and strength. Calling out the predator as soon as it is seen, by pushing up on the D-Pad, places an icon on all of the teams map to let them know where the Predator is and where he’s moving to. It can only last for a few seconds but can really help keep the team alert to the present danger. Stay together but not too close! The predators weapon can cause a lot of collateral damage so if you’re standing too close to a teammate and they are hit with the cannon it can also damage you. Be aware of your surroundings because the collateral damage can cause tanks and gasoline cans to explode which can be enough to kill a weak player.
If you are lucky enough to kill a predator you have to put him down before he can activate his self destruct feature. If you put it down before he blows you have until the countdown to enter the alien code to stop it from self-destructing. This is a high risk chance to take but The reward is well worth it for the fire team. It’s a decision that every player have to make for themselves. The player has an opportunity to get clear of the blast zone if they run away fast enough. If they don’t make it out of the blast radius they are killed and the Predator gets credit for taking them down with his explosion!
Good luck….”want some candy?”
