I played over 700 hours of Hunt: Showdown in 2021 and that’s why you should too

A shooter from 2018 is for our author Mark Sellner the game of the year 2021. This year he spent over 700 hours in Hunt: Showdown and wants to tell you why he would recommend the game to almost everyone.

About exactly a year ago, in December 2020, I opened Hunt: Showdown for the first time since the alpha in 2018. I had only played it briefly back then and quickly put it down again. That is something I really didn’t manage with the game this year.

Since the alpha, a lot has changed in Hunt. Suddenly there was the option to play in threes, a new mode called Quickplay, a tutorial, and noob protection. And those are just the things I noticed in the first few hours.

That same evening, I spent over 5 hours in the horror shooter from Crytek. The fascination has not let go of me since then, and it took me about 700 hours this year in the swampy bayou of Hunt: Showdown. It wasn’t always fun, but still, everyone should have this experience at least once. Let me explain why.

To understand the fascination of Hunt, you need to take a step back and start with what the shooter is actually about. Because I can assure you, it plays differently than most other shooters you have touched so far. 

In the core game mode, the bounty hunt, it’s about hunting down and killing one of four different monsters. This can be done either in pairs or in threes. However, up to 10 other players on the same map have the same goal as you.

To be successful, you not only need to kill the monster but also bring the loot out from one of three random points on the map. If you die in the process, you not only lose the round but also your character and everything he was carrying.

Because Hunt: Showdown operates with a permadeath system, where your partially lovingly leveled hunter can die in just a few seconds and is lost forever. But it’s not just enemy hunters that are your problem, but also numerous NPC enemies awaiting you on the three different maps.

What sounds terribly depressing at first significantly contributes to the atmosphere of the shooter. You automatically play more cautiously, think before you start shooting, and may also prefer to avoid a fight than to die.

You cannot read how many other competitors are still alive on the map like in other battle royale titles from a UI. However, you can hear them. From the very beginning, Hunt: Showdown captures you with one of its greatest strengths: the grandiose sound design.

Sounds are your wall-hack

While you may initially feel quite lost in the bayous, you will gradually learn to read the game and its world. This is particularly supported by the brilliant sound design of Hunt Showdown.

Everything you do makes a noise that your opponents could hear. Whether you’re sneaking or running, you are never completely silent in Hunt: Showdown. Even the deep inhale when aiming with your weapon can be heard by opponents. In combination with the many wooden walls in the game, which can be easily shot through, sounds quickly become a kind of wall-hack for experienced hunters.

But even when opponents are not in your immediate vicinity, sounds are incredibly important in the shooter. Numerous sound traps on the map make it possible for you to perceive opponents from a considerable distance. You can then choose to avoid them or ambush them.

In addition to cracking branches in the forest and clinking chains inside buildings, the loudly screaming ravens are particularly dangerous. These winged creatures can not only be heard several hundred meters away but are also visible. They fly away from you and thereby reveal your position not just acoustically but also visually. So it’s best to avoid these critters.

In addition to the ambient sounds, all weapons in the game sound powerful and, above all, different. While you are still quite aimless at the beginning, after 700 hours you can relatively accurately tell where your opponent is and what weapon they are carrying with just one shot. All of this helps you optimize and adjust your tactics. 

If you hear in advance that your enemy is carrying a shotgun, it is advisable not to storm the building but perhaps see if you can get a headshot through the window. These are always fatal with any weapon in the game.

Weapons also differ in how far the guns from the 19th century can be heard. While the suppressed Winfield operates almost silently after about 100 meters, you can hear a shot from the massive Nitro Express across the entire map.

The entire sound design of Hunt: Showdown belongs to one of the best the genre has to offer. This is further underscored by the dark soundtrack of the Port Sulphur Band. If you’ve ever been looking for a reason to get good headphones, Hunt is also a great choice.

The Bayou still gives you goosebumps even after hundreds of hours

I am really not a jumpy person, have little trouble with horror games, and find most scary movies more amusing than frightening. Nevertheless, Hunt is responsible for making me jump even after 700 hours regularly. And so much so that it chills my spine.

This is mainly due to the immense atmosphere that Hunt: Showdown can create. Besides the sound design, the game also looks really good. The lighting effects are consistent, and the time of day on the maps varies. 

With particularly bad luck, you are stuck in his swamp at night and in the fog, where numerous dangers await you, you constantly hear various noises, and all of them could potentially be your death. 

This is particularly annoying when you have a hunter with you that you really don’t want to lose. You can feel your heart race when you are sneaking through a bush, and suddenly a branch cracks in the bushes next to you.

Because even if the crack doesn’t belong to an enemy hunter, it can still be dangerous for you. The NPC enemies in the world shouldn’t be taken lightly. They can still pose a threat even to professionals in difficult situations. In the world of Hunt: Showdown, there is never a moment when you feel safe, which greatly enhances the atmosphere of the shooter.

This is an experience I have not had to this extent in any other game. And one of the many Hunt experiences I want to recommend to every player.

The developers love their game and the community

At the beginning, I mentioned how much has changed between the alpha in 2018 and my re-entry into the game in 2020. Rarely have I played a game that receives so much love from its developers as Hunt: Showdown.

This goes beyond Easter eggs and small touches in many places on the map. Hunt receives content updates surprisingly often.

In 2021, the shooter received several major updates and enormous content expansions. Additionally, there are monthly new cosmetic additions and regular quality-of-life adjustments. 

Among the biggest changes that happened this year is the third map, the fourth boss, and the so-called “custom ammo,” with which you can choose different ammunition types for your weapons.

Many of these new contents are accompanied by an event release. In these, the community must complete special tasks to unlock exclusive skins. You can also regularly expect small adjustments, such as custom loadouts or new weapons, from Crytek.

Although I am generally not a patch lover who tends to react allergic to major changes even in my favorite games, I was surprised to find that: Hunt: Showdown always does updates right.

I have never been dissatisfied with an update, nor did any of the changes feel bad or inappropriate. Only rarely were new weapons too strong or too weak. 

This is partly because the developers work closely with their community. Many points on the road map have arisen from the ideas and wishes of players. And if a change should actually be inappropriate, Crytek listens and adjusts in some areas.

As a result, it feels great to be part of the Hunt community, as it is about more than cowboy hats and revolvers. In addition, the developer team regularly introduces new streamers or showcases fan art from artists within the community. 

It’s not always just fun, and that’s a good thing

A little frustration is just part of Hunt: Showdown. But that’s due to exactly the things that also make the game so good. Of course, it’s a bit frustrating to lose your hunter from a shot that seemingly comes from nowhere and ends up exactly in my head.

But if you are on the other side of that bullet, Hunt: Showdown feels incredibly rewarding. I once couldn’t stop grinning for several hours because I eliminated a complete trio with my crossbow without them having even the slightest idea where I was.

And these moments feel so good because you know what it’s like to be on the other side. When you lose all day long and end your last round by eliminating all 9 enemies and walking home with the dead boss, you just go to bed happy.

If you lose your hunter, it’s tragic, but you don’t restart completely from scratch. Whether you come out alive or dead from a round, you gain experience for your bloodline. This allows you to unlock new weapons, tools, and consumables. 

You never leave empty-handed, even if you get torn apart by a team that unfortunately spawns right next to you within a few seconds. 

However, if you win and safely extract the bounty from the bayou, you earn Hunt Dollars. With which you must pay for your hunters’ equipment. So if you have quite a sum saved up, losing your character is relatively easy to cope with.

Additionally, the title now cares for its beginners. Up to bloodline level 10, you are under beginner protection and do not lose your hunter even if you die. This gives you at least a grace period to get used to the weapons and the setting.

So you get a game that regularly receives updates and new content, bursts with atmosphere, offers brilliant sound design, and brings you a completely new shooter experience for most of you. 

And especially because Hunt: Showdown has a very steep learning curve, it is also suitable for beginners. Because in Hunt, you have to learn the whole game from scratch anyway. It is so different from other shooters that it almost doesn’t matter whether you have played shooters before or not.

This year I played 700 hours of Hunt: Showdown, and I will probably do the same next year. In doing so, I hope that some of you will spend a few hours in the bayou after this article as well. I look forward to seeing you!

Are you also eager to dive into the bayou? We have 6 weapons and loadouts for starting in Hunt: Showdown – This is how you win your first rounds.