Overview
Hunt Showdown is one of the most unique shooters available in the market right now. It is a battle royale-esque, monster hunting, atmospheric survival shooter. I know that description sounds vague, but I will elaborate on it later. It is an early access game, so expect some bugs that will be ironed out in due time. The question is - is this game worth buying right now?
Ready to go hunting?
Genre Defining
That is a term that I feel describes Hunt Showdown the best. What do I mean? I gave a fairly vague description of the game above, but in all honesty that is probably only way to describe the game, because it is all of those things. If you were to ask me what genre this game is, then I would find it impossible to name one particular genre. This game is so many things combined into one awesome package; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Okay, so what exactly do I do in this game?
As for what you do in this game, it’s a bit complicated. You go into a game with your character. There are also 9 other players who spawn in, including one teammate. You will spawn with four other players if you are playing solo. Your job is to try and hunt down a monster to complete your “bounty” mission. Your first step is to locate the monster by visiting various named locations around the map and finding clues, which will slowly direct you to the monster. Once you find the monster, you kill it. Then you “banish” the monster (erase its corpse), collect the loot, and extract. Simple, right? Wrong. When you are banishing, your location is revealed to the other players. You will also attract attraction from AI monsters, which are just as scary. Then you will be hunted and ambushed by other players as well as monsters, and you’ll have to fight your way to extract safely.
This can’t be a game, it looks real!
The things that immediately stand out about this game are the graphics and world design. It is a stunning game and with great ambient sounds and sound effects, does a wonderful job of making you immersed. If you choose to play in a night map, then you will get goosebumps and feel terrified as if you really were in a swamp with nightmarish monsters at night. They’ve done a terrific job in creating the atmosphere for the environment.On that note, even when traversing this gorgeous world, you have to be very careful due to the emphasis on sound in this game to pinpoint enemies. Trying to make your way through the woods? Then better make sure not to step on any branches, as they will give away your position. Walking through some ruins? Careful, if you step on some glass, then enemies will be hot on your tail. You literally have to think about your next step and that creates for tense gameplay moments, which is what makes it such a great experience!
A meaningful progression system
There is an overall account progression system in. This is something lacking in pretty much every battle royale game. Thankfully, in Hunt Showdown, you actually feel like you are doing something to progress even when you aren’t winning games all the time. You play as a “Hunter”, and gain xp throughout the game. If you your hunter dies, then you lose all of your gear as well but retain the xp. Then, you have to buy a new hunter and outfit them with new gear. As you level up your hunter, you gain perks like more health, better weapons, and better accuracy. You don’t need to win a game to gain xp, so you can just kill some AI monsters, find some clues, and extract just to level up the hunter. This makes each game slightly different. Are you low on cash? Then you better just try to get in and get out as quick as possible without attracting too much attention from other players. This adds an extra layer to the game and can also add to the suspense with high stakes.
Too good to be true?
As for the negatives, there are a few. Most of them are expected to be ironed out quickly, having been outlined in the developer’s roadmap for the game. The two main issues you may encounter are: the optimization/network issues, and the lack of content. The optimization issue is high on the devs' list and is being tackled actively. So, don’t expect it to be too much of an issue. As for the issue with content, there are only two bosses right now. While this is enough to keep you engaged for quite some time, but if you get really hooked into this game, you can burn out on it quickly. That being said, this is something the devs have mentioned on their roadmap and should be fixed in the future as well.
Summary
Hunt Showdown does a lot of things right. It has a lot to offer to a wide variety of people with different tastes. The odds are there is something in this game that will get you hooked, even if it is something like just looking at the gorgeous world. If you are planning on playing this game with a friend, then this game is definitely a must buy. For those planning on playing solo, while it is still worth it, I’d advise you to make friends in game. Playing with a teammate is where the game truly shines at and is the definitive version of this game. I’d rate the game 7.5/10 in its current state, but as the game approaches full release, with bug fixes and additional content, this game can easily be a 9+.
Reviewer: Sylla UG
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Co-op
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Multiplayer PvP
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Graphics
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Re-Playablitiy
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Good Community
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Few Bugs (Being Fixed Very Quick)
