H
unt:Showdownisallaboutchoosingyour
moment.Intheswampsof19th-century
Louisiana,multipleteamsofgun-totinghunters
attempttotrackdownandkilla powerful,otherworldly
monster,butyouchoosenowtoengagewiththehunt.
Youcouldapproachtheconceptdirectly.Takingplacein
a largechunkofswelteringLouisianaBayou,youmust
navigatethemarshlandinsearchof‘clues’,supernatural
anomaliesthathelpyouidentifythelocationofthe
monster.Onyourjourney,you’llcontendwithvarious
lessercreatures,suchaszombiesandsquid-likehorrors
lurkinginthewater.
Onceyou’vepinneddownthemonster’slocation,you
candescendintoitslairtofightit.Themonsterisrandomly
selected in each match, and includes beasts such as the
Butcher, who is basically Leatherface on steroids, or the
Spider, which is, well, a big bloody spider.
Presuming you aren’t slaughtered by the boss, once it’s
dead, you have to ‘banish’ its soul. This essentially involves
waiting for a timer to count down, but during this phase
your location is broadcast to every other hunter in the
game, and they can pop over, shoot you in the head and
steal your prize. Even if you survive banishment, you still
need to exfiltrate the map via one of several exit points,
while other Hunters can intercept you at any point during
that journey.
That’s the beauty of Hunt, because you can instead
choose to be one of those chancing hunters waiting for
someoneelsetodothedirtyworkbeforegettingthedrop
onthem.YoucanevenchoosenottoengagewiththeHunt,
andsimplygoafterlesserenemiestorackupexperience
pointsbeforequietlyexitingthemap.
Howeveryouchoosetoplay,Huntisalwaysa powder-
kegreadytoexplode.Beyondthebanishmentphase,you
neverknowwhereotherhuntersarelocated,orevenhow
manyofthemprowlthemap.Meanwhile,theenvironment
islitteredwithnoise-makingtrapsandlow-levelenemies
thattemptyouintofiringyourgun,potentiallyalerting
otherhunterstoyourlocation.Addtheslow,weightyguns
andgeneralatmosphereofdread,andHuntisoneofthe
tensest and shooters on the market.
Round by round, Hunt is great fun. However, overall it
lacks incentives to play in the long term. There are only
two available maps, a handful of monsters and the
unlockable weapon roster is relatively small. Moreover,
from level 11 onwards, Hunt employs a permadeath
mechanic – if your Hunter is killed, they’re gone for good
with all their equipment, which can quickly take the wind
out of your sails while playing.
Still, if you’re intrigued by games such as Fortnite or
PUBG, but would like a slower, more methodical
experience, Hunt fills that gap in a creative and ferociously
atmospheric way.
RICK LANE/VERDICT
With an
atmosphere like
soup and a
smart multiplayer
format, Hunt is
an innovative, if
slight, multiplayer
shooter.OVERALL SCORE
72
Hunt: Showdown
/ £30.49 inc VAT
DEVELOPER Crytek / PUBLISHER Crytek
HUNTER
+^ Clever structure
+^ Incredible
atmosphere
+^ Guns feel weightyHUNTED-^ Lacks variety
-^ Permadeath
mechanic a
step too far