Real hunters consider the Cabela brand the Nike of hunting, and they take their sport very, very seriously.  If you've ever played or have taken a curious glance at Cabela’s other offerings then you know they have a plethora of hunting games to their credit, and its no different this time as you take your rifles and explore the numerous species of deer and birds around North America. The “exploration” part is probably the most involving if you replace the word "explore" with “shoot everything in sight”, as it’s pretty straightforward on the surface and even more straightforward underneath in Cabela’s Monster Buck Hunter on the Wii.

First off you have Top Shot Challenge mode, which has you trekking from location to location in order to bag the most animals and topple the highest score. As you might expect, this mode plays like an arcade rail shooter where the targets are as vast as the eye can see and there are power-ups like x-ray vision and bullet time which obviously allows for swifter kills, not that it matters much since the quantity of animals is abundant enough to borderline senseless; it’s almost comical how many price deer you’ll lay to waste at times.  While certainly not the most realistic portion of the game, this mode should feel most familiar to fans of the varying Cabela arcade cabinets, if you can still find one, that is.

Bonus Career is far less substantial as the emphasis switches from mindlessly executing whatever is in your sights to a more objective-based simulation, and limits you to hunting specific prey within a specific area. It certainly has the right intention of trying to be a simulator, but the thought turns out to be a foregone conclusion as the playing areas are small and the controls don’t accommodate the feel of the game.  Still, with over 96 missions to complete you’ll probably tire of the whole thing long before that.

Thankfully the different control types range from Nunchuk style, Wii Zapper, to the unique Top Shot attachment,  the ridiculously orange 'shotgun' attachment, which I promise nobody will ever confuse for the real thing.  Each setup are about as good as the next and should provide plenty of semi-realistic blasting power.

The presentation is similar to past Cabela titles, which means the game's visuals score more on accuracy than pure graphical horsepower.  The different locations and the herds of animals you’ll be hunting are certainly detailed and don’t disappoint (especially for a Wii game) and even the sound compliments the surroundings so you can better determine where to aim next.

While it's not the penultimate hunting game many were hoping for, if you’re a dedicated fan of Cabela’s already extensive collection of games or simply like the thought of amassing large piles of wildlife prey, then Monster Buck Hunter is a suitable installment for immediate shooting enjoyment.  Dedicated hunters may scoff at the game's overall arcade-like feel and presentation, as its emphasis quantity over quality is hardly a realistic portrayal of the sport.  The amount of animals you kill will likely offend most animal right activists with ease, but the overall experience is still enjoyable; even if its a limited one.