Hunter: The first open world game ever created

In Hunter, a small but strategically important group of islands has been invaded by an army of some considerable strength. Your commanders do not want to risk a full-scale military counter-attack just yet as the casualties would be unacceptably high. So they decide that intelligence gathering, sabotage and small attacks are the way to weaken the enemy, enough before attempting further escalation. This is where you come in. You are one of a new breed of soldier, trained in undercover work and all forms of combat. Chosen to undertake the missions deep in the heart of enemy territory, you find yourself working alone behind enemy lines where you have to keep your wits about you to survive, let alone complete your mission and make it back home.

Before you start the mission you are given a briefing by your superiors in which they tell you what you have to do and how long you have to do it. One of the things which makes Hunter so damn addictive is that regardless of which mission you are on there are no restrictions, apart from time, over how you do it. You can use whatever transport or equipment you like. This sense of freedom allows exploration and experimentation over transport and equipment mixes. There’s nothing stopping our hero from walking everywhere but its time consuming and very tedious to watch. To speed things up, a variety of vehicles are included. Cars, jeeps, lorries and ambulances are all fast and you can roll down the window to take pot shots at enemy troops.

Guaranteed to deal with traffic jams are tanks, which come in two varieties. Also, if you can’t be bothered to change from boat to wheels when you hit dry land you could try finding a hovercraft, which can go over any terrain. Finally, fly bouts can try helicopters while environment freaks can settle for push bikes and windsurfers. Hunter was ahead of its time and is very addictive with tons of missions, each requiring different skills and each like a game on its own. 

news source: various sources / image source: GenerationAmiga / watch on Youtube / download Hunter Amiga & Atari