Wireframe_-_Issue_23_2019

64 / wfmag.cc

 A mutated cesspit of evil

shouldn’t look this pretty.

Review

Rated

GENRE

Battle royale/

survival horror

FORMAT

PC (tested) /

XBO / PS4

DEVELOPER

Crytek

PUBLISHER

Crytek

PRICE

£35.99

RELEASE

Out now (PC

and Xbox

One), TBA

(PS4)

Info

Review

Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans

unt: Showdown has a tough job.

In the couple of years since its

breakthrough, the battle royale

genre has lost some of its lustre,

with the tactical kill-or-be-killed

drama and chicken dinners of PUBG and its

contemporaries overtaken by promotional

events, battle passes, and stolen dances being

sold as emotes – even relative newcomers like

Apex Legends or Black Ops 4 showed signs the

genre’s popularity may already have peaked.

Hunt: Showdown breathes new life into the genre,

though, by making it trouser-fillingly terrifying.

Hunt: Showdown has most of the battle royale

trappings: an open-ended map full of people out

for blood, with the primary goal being survival

against your fellow player. On top of that all-too-

familiar foundation, however, is a big dollop of

creating-and-hunting action akin to Capcom’s

Monster Hunter, as each team takes on the role

of bounty hunters competing for jobs in a

monster-ridden, 19th century Louisiana bayou.

Setting isn’t usually the battle royale genre’s

biggest strength – it’s considered ground-breaking

when a desert map is replaced with a snowy

one – but Crytek has poured a striking amount

of personality into this &aMun-flavoured hellhole.

The enemies are intimidating, disgusting, and

fascinating in equal measure: mutated dogs,

walking hives of venomous bugs, and brutes

with armour made out of wasps’ nests stalk the

swamps, and bigger bosses look like something

straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or

John Carpenter’s The Thing. Hunt’s world is the best

the genre’s ever seen, and it’s also a massive step

up from &rytek’s usual fare of gruff supersoldiers

in skintight nanosuits. The design on offer here

could stand alongside gaming’s Gothic greats, like

Bloodborne or Legacy of Kain.

Hunt: Showdown also builds on earlier battle

royale games by introducing elements of character

progression and permadeath, which makes each

bout more than a discrete -minute affair with no

longer-term impact, as is all too common for the

genre. Progression is tracked by your ‘bloodline’,

which dictates some weapon and equipment

unlocks. Your characters can, however, be

permanently lost out in the bayou, making kitting

them out a balancing act between keeping them

strong enough to survive while also risking only the

eTuipment you can afford to lose.

Hunt: Showdown points to a bleak yet beautiful

future for the battle royale genre beyond Fortnite.

Its high price, horror elements, and emphasis on

monster-hunting may make it less of a mainstream

success. In a world full of generic clones, though,

Hunt attempts to build something new – and that

alone makes it more than worth your time.

Hunt: Showdown

H

VERDICT

Brings some much-needed

atmosphere and tension to

the battle royale genre.

75 %

Review

Rated

HIGHLIGHT

Hunt didn’t start out life as a

battle royale game, and it shows.

I can’t stress enough how much

Hunt’s aesthetic carries the

whole thing. The music, the

grotesque monsters, weapons,

sounds, and world itself all knit

together to make a Deep South

nightmare that is begging to be

expanded on in future games.

REVIEWED BY
Joe Parlock

 :hoose ʰour first hunterӗ ƹut ǁonԇt get too ƃttƃcheǁ to

themӝ ěheʰ ʥonԇt Ȣƃst Ȣongӝ