The new update for Hunt: Showdown, 1896, is finally here and sets a new player record for the game. However, longtime veterans of the game hate one particular change.
What kind of update is this? Hunt: Showdown was offline for 48 hours and during that time it received probably the biggest update in years. In addition to a new map that offers a new setting for the first time, there are many large and small updates, including new weapons, outfits, and enemies.
However, at the heart of the update is the engine update, which is supposed to shine graphically through better lighting effects, as well as optimize performance. For players on the PS4 and Xbox One, however, it’s game over, as the game is no longer playable there.
Now that the game is available again, it immediately breaks its own player record, setting a new mark of over 60,000 players (via SteamDB). Additionally, everyone can try the game for free over the weekend, as the Free Weekend with Hunt: Showdown is currently running.
While the update has brought many interesting changes, one particular change is leaving veterans dissatisfied and is resulting in over 3,000 negative reviews on Steam.
Here you can watch the trailer for the new update:
Beautiful but impractical
What bothers the veterans? The new user interface, meaning the menus that players have to navigate through daily, is not well-received. While it may not seem important for new players at first, it is really irritating for the pros.
The developers have used large icons and artworks in many places, instead of trying to display as much information as possible on a single screen. This means that experienced players with many characters, weapons, and gear frequently have to click through the menus for minutes on end.
In the hunter selection, the game now only shows three hunters and two halves. Players then switch to the next three hunters with a click. If someone doesn’t know where their desired hunter is located, they may need to click more than ten times to find them.
Additionally, some options are duplicated. On the same page, for example, you can access the shop and the battle pass from the top of the screen, but you can also do this from the left edge of the screen with expandable icons.
The controls themselves are also criticized. In a video on YouTube, a user shows the UI and mentions that you can’t scroll properly either.
Here you can see the video with the impressions:
What do the veterans say in detail? Veterans have various opinions about the update, but the topic surrounding the user interface is responsible for many negative reviews on Steam. It is noticeable that especially players with hundreds or even thousands of hours in the game are now leaving negative feedback after the update.
Nitocris is a veteran with over 400 hours in the game. On Steam, he now gives a negative review: “No, you should be ashamed of this new UI; I just don’t believe you tested it. Why is everything so BIG, the buttons also don’t make sense. Why is it a spacebar to open my hunter menu and then enter to confirm the action, and not just another spacebar? This whole thing is a mess and was clearly made for console players, but it legitimately makes me not want to touch your game.”
Eurgh has over 2,000 hours in Hunt: Showdown and is now rating the game negatively on Steam: “God, I love this game, but as long as the new user interface stays the way it is now, this review will remain negative. Everyone said from the first videos that the new user interface looks horrible and unusable, and guess what: It does. Additionally, there’s the new marketing that causes a full-screen ad for bundles to appear when opening the game, which used to be just a small overlay in the corner of the screen. I do not recommend the game in its current state.”
The developers respond to the criticism
What do the developers say about the issue? In response to user Eurgh’s negative criticism, the developers, in the form of community manager CRY_IM, answered on Steam.
The developers first thank the players for the feedback and apologize that the user interface is not liked.
They continue writing: “Our design team has worked hard on the long-requested overhaul of the user interface, which represents a crucial improvement that has been needed for some time. We are focused on finding a balance between simplicity and functionality, which was the whole idea behind the new design. We will continue to gather player feedback and refine the user interface in the future as well.”
Under the review, six pages of comments are accumulating, expressing that they do not find the developers’ response satisfactory. The topic of simplicity appears to not be very successful for many, considering the cumbersome controls. You can find out more about the update and its contents here: Hunt: Showdown goes offline for 48 hours, resulting in the largest update in years on Steam
