Official PlayStation Magazine - 04.2020

087

REVIEW

dealtwithonceyou’refamiliar
withtheirweaknesses.Their
functionisn’ttokillhunters
buttoactasthemap’salarm
system.Someplayersenter
alone,othersworktogether
insquadsoftwoorthree,
butyou’llrarelyknowexactly
wheretheyareorhowmany
areleft.LiketheMeathead,
you’relisteningoutforfumbles
inthedark,relyingonthe
Hive’sscreamsortherumble
ofdistantdynamiteasa crude
formofradar.Whatyoudo
withthatinformationis a
matteroftacticaltaste:you
couldambusha battle-beaten
duoastheyleavethelairofa
bossspider,takingtheirhard-
wonbounty,orcircumvent
thementirelytoinvestigatethe
whereaboutsofa differentboss
inless-disputedterritory.
Whileyourgoalsare
simpleandunchanging,those
deliciouslayersofcomplication

• theconflictingdesiresof
  self-preservationandgreed–
  ensurethatnomatchorrival

is everpredictable.Theyturn

Huntintosomethingdistinct

andunflatteringlyhuman.

Inplacesthegameis simply

toocomplicated.You’llspend

a longtimefiguringouthealth

bars,whichvaryinlengthand

numberaccordingtowhich

characteryou’replaying,and

sometimescan’tberestored

forreasonsonlyCrytek

understands.Inotherareas,

though,it’soversimplified;

theQuickplayoption,which

dropsthemonstersinfavour

ofcapturepoints,isn’t

nearlyasengrossingasthe

maingame.Butsticktothe

maineventandyou’llfinda

uniquely-pacedshooterworth

holdingoffthePringlesfor.

VERDICT

THE OPM BREAKDOWN

Right There’s
a giant spider
inside here.
Dunno how it
got through
the door.

Below Hunt
teaches you
that nothing’s
truly dead until
it’s been on fire.

Above left Did anybody see a naked hunter run this way?

A return to form for Crytek

that defies busy FPS norms.

Like its ’orrible spiders, Hunt:

Showdown is constantly shifting

and very hard to put in a box.

Get yourself online and join in

the hunting fun. Jeremy Peel

17% Knifing

those zombies

as quietly as

youcan.

2%Lining

upa shot on

another player,

then deciding

against it.

26%Fightingthe

urgetostandup

andrunstraight

fortheobjective.

5%Camping

extraction zones

tostealbounties.

WHAT YOU DO IN... HUNT: SHOWDOWN

39%

Crouching in

brackish water,

wondering if

you’ll live to be

dry again.

11% Chucking

firebombs at a

massive spider

and running away.

STAT PACK

Minutes is all

you’re given to

find a way off the

map once all

bounties have

been extracted.

Round in your

shotgun before

a lengthy reload.

And you never

know who the

noise will attract.

Players sneaking

around each

other per map.

Some will be

solo; others will

have teamed up.

10 1 512

Ranks for you

to get to grips

with the basics

before Crytek

unleashes

permadeath.

MULTIPLAYER

Few games are better

played with strangers,

but a lack of trust

between hunters only

contributes to the

sense that you’re doing

dirty work. That’s

especially true if you’re

in a three-person party,

since there are only two

bounties per boss.

HOW TO... GOUNDETECTED

1 You can muffle your footsteps by staying crouched and avoiding

water. 2 Hellhounds will make a nasty racket if you stray close to their

pound, alerting other hunters. But you can shut them up by shooting out

the lantern above their heads, coating the monsters in flame. Probably

happens all the time in the underworld. 3 Smart hunters will disconnect

their headsets when other players draw close – voice chat is proximity-

based, so you’ll be giving a running commentary on your position.

1 2 3

OD

NO

TD

IST

URB

TROPHYCABINET

DE

ADE

YE

UOL

ISI

NA

A^

FR

IE

D^ C

HIC

KEN

BRONZE

All you’ll need to do is

hide in a toilet. We’ve all

had practice – it’s the

best way through the

work day.

SILVER

The first step is to

burn 50 chicken coops.

The second is to live

with yourself

afterwards.

GOLD

Kill 100 other players

with headshots. Given

that you’ll go entire

matches without seeing

a soul, it’s a big ask.