Hunt: Showdown Quick Review

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Summary - an elevator pitch to sum up the experience

Hunt: Showdown is a perma-death cross between Resident Evil and PuBG. You enter one of two maps, search for clues and hunt a monster (such as a giant spider), collect a token and get the heck out of Dodge - all while fighting off AI zombies, dogs and other nasties, as well as other players.

Other hunters will be aligned with your level, so the better you play, the harder things get. And while this is a perma-death game, that particular stress factor doesn't come into play until you pass level 10 - which could be a good 15 hours of gameplay, depending on how well you do.



What's the best thing about Hunt: Showdown?

The atmosphere, for sure. It is pervasively heavy and stressful. A lot of this is thanks to the sound design, which creates terrifying grunts, groans and other horrific soundscapes. Walk over broken glass or tinkle hanging chains and you'll almost fill your pants. The sound of the spider boss skittering about on walls and roofs is perhaps one of the most terrifying in-game sounds I've ever heard. It caused me to run out of the barn I was hunting it in - just to catch my breath and steady my heartbeat.



Sound is incredibly important, as shots will alert other hunters, or in turn alert you of their presence and proximity. As there are no indicators of how many other hunters are in a map, or if they are alive or expired, this tension remains throughout the entirety of each round.



What's something not so good?

The gun-play takes a lot to get used to. Weapons are not modern, so they do not reload automatically, and they can take a long time to do so. This can mean the difference between life and death, so you really do need to weigh up every shot. Plus, there's not a lot of ammo to find, so it's not worth being Rambo.



Who is this game for?

Those who enjoy the stress of horror games will find a lot to enjoy here. The world feels icky and sticky, the creatures are well-designed, and every moment feels like death is just around the corner. I don't think I will ever be brave enough to risk perma-death of a character, the prospect is just too terrifying. I keep dying just against the zombies in the game, let alone taking on actual other people. Although, I guess, the unlocked weaponry can be used by other characters, and you can bring new recruits and equipment in via the Quick-play mode. There's also the option to team up with another player and play as a duo.



Which leads to the main issue here - there just aren't many people playing. Most of my games, I could tell it was just me against the environment. I wasn't racing against other players to get to the clues, nor was I worrying about watching my back while taking on (read: being slaughtered by) the level's boss creature. While I guess this helped my confidence a little, to be a good player in Hunt: Showdown, you need to run the gauntlet of PvP in order to gain the skills and reflexes to survive once you emerge from level 10 and are risking your character's very life just by playing a round.



One aspect of the game does help here - the option to choose a main and backup server to play on. If you are experiencing low population, a server switch is possible. Plus, if not many players are currently on your main option, the game then switches to your backup to try and find a populated game.

Hunt: Showdown is an atmospheric, risk-laden, gauntlet-running beast that requires a certain kind of player to master. One that is not afraid to go towards a fight, even with permanent character death riding on their shoulders. This creates a tension rarely felt in games, with both the environment and other players posing very real threats. Indeed, some players are even happy to let others go after the clues and bosses and simply survive the round, gaining XP in small increments. If you think this is you, then have at it. I wish you the best of luck - I'll be cowering in the corner with my final two bullets.

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