Hunt: Showdown is a unique first-person shooter game that seamlessly combines intense PvP with PvE combat. It also contains a deep story set in the late 1800s. Hunt: Showdown offers thrilling gameplay mechanics with an intricately woven lore to deliver a truly unique experience.

Let us explore some of Hunt: Showdown’s features to see if the game is good.

1. Story

Hunt: Showdown Wallpaper

Hunt: Showdown lore focuses on supernatural horror and folklore. You play as a bounty hunter in the late 1800s, and you are tasked with researching and eliminating certain monsters.

The storytelling in Hunt: Showdown completely relies on journal entries to form the lore of the game. You, as a player, will uncover the lore through completing challenges which unlock journal entries that contain stories and reports specific to each monster.

Additionally, Hunt: Showdown contains lore pertaining to the complex relationships between different factions and organizations. Each legendary bounty hunter you can unlock, through the use of premium currency, will have his or her or story to tell.

While the lore of Hunt: Showdown is beautifully written and presented, the story takes a backseat to the combat and multiplayer gameplay. Hunt: Showdown’s primary focus is the intense PvPvE battles, and this may often disappoint players seeking a more story-driven experience.

2. Character Design / Customization

Hunt: Showdown Sample Weapons Wallpaper

The character design in Hunt: Showdown is simply beautiful. The developers have carefully researched and designed the fashion, weaponry, and gear of that era, making the characters somewhat historically accurate. Furthermore, each unique bounty hunter created by the developers would have their own unique style which accurately reflects their lore.

Hunt: Showdown offers a robust arsenal of weapons and tools that can be equipped to suit different playstyles. Each weapon has its own distinct attributes and statistics that, although would look similar, play completely different from one another. Your playstyle directly affects your choice and usage of the arsenal of weapons and tools available in Hunt: Showdown.

Hunt: Showdown also has a perk system. As you level up your  hunter, you are able to choose from a wide range of unique perks that enhance your bounty hunter's abilities and playstyle. It must be noted that these perks provide both gameplay and aesthetic modifications. However, the modifications are all within a certain level of balancing.

However, the customization elements only serve as enhancements to the core gameplay mechanics. Players seeking extensive customization options will not be satisfied with the mechanical or visual customizations in Hunt: Showdown.

3. Combat 

Headshot! A hunter takes aim for a headshot

The core of Hunt: Showdown is the high-stakes PvPvE combat system. While playing Hunt: Showdown, you will often find yourself confronting both players and monsters at the same time. This combination creates an unpredictable combat experience that requires both skill and strategy to succeed or survive.

The gunplay in Hunt: Showdown is exceptional. Each firearm feels distinct, with its own recoil, accuracy, bullet speed, bullet penetration and handling mechanics. From powerful shotguns like the Crown and King shotgun to accurate long-range rifles like the Mosin-Nagant, the weapons are all well-balanced, giving you a multitude of options to suit your playstyle. 

What truly sets Hunt: Showdown’s combat system apart from other first-person shooters is the level of strategy and decision-making involved. Every combat situation requires quick but careful consideration of positioning, timing, and resource management. The only limit to fully utilizing the combat system of Hunt: Showdown is your own strategic knowledge and ability. In fact, a good strategy often trumps good mechanical skills in Hunt: Showdown’s combat system since a single well-placed shot is more valuable than reactive shooting.

Furthermore, the high-risk nature of Hunt: Showdown’s combat system creates an additional layer to the traditional definition of combat in first-person shooters. This additional layer is the need to decide when to engage and when to retreat. More often than not, this decision will spell your hunter’s life or death.

Hunt: Showdown also offers a wide selection of tools and consumables ranging from traps and explosives to healing items and scouting tools. These tools allow you to adapt to different situations and capitalize the environment. The game rewards you for taking the time to plan your loadout and employ clever tactics during combat encounters rather than simply going in guns blazing.

Additionally, the Hunt: Showdown's sound design plays a crucial role in every scenario, especially for combat. Every gunshot, footstep, and miscellaneous sound has directional positioning, enhancing your immersion and providing you with vital information about your enemies and your surroundings. This detail adds another layer to the combat system, making every sound cue vital for gathering and utilizing information.

Hunt: Showdown’s combat system presents a steep learning curve for newcomers. It will take time and patience to master the mechanics of Hunt: Showdown. However, your time and effort will definitely be rewarded since increasing your skill level gives you that extra satisfaction rarely found in first person shooter games..

4. Multiplayer 

Post-game mission summary

Hunt: Showdown's multiplayer system puts great emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. You have the option to team up with others in duo or trio squads. This cooperative element encourages communication and coordination which enhances your overall gameplay experience.

Hunt: Showdown's multiplayer system promotes strategic decision-making and risk assessment. You must choose when to engage in combat, when to lay low, when to gather intel, and when to extract with or without rewards.

The matchmaking system in Hunt: Showdown uses a matchmaking rating system designed to provide fair and challenging games for everyone. Players are placed in lobbies with others of similar skill levels, ranging from one star to five star skill ratings. The balanced matchmaking system maintains a competitive atmosphere by preventing overwhelming disparities between players in the same lobby. This system creates a more inclusive multiplayer environment which leaves everyone satisfied.

However, there still exists the occasional imbalance in matchmaking where connectivity is given priority over balance and players of varying skill levels are grouped up in a single lobby.

5. Balance

An Immolater unleashing its hellish flames after being struck by a sharp weapon

The uniqueness of Hunt: Showdown’s combat system strikes a satisfying balance between skill and strategy. While mechanical skills are important in gunfights, the game also rewards tactical decision-making and strategic approaches. This balance creates a unique sense of tension and excitement, where every encounter is a high-stakes battle and survival is the ultimate reward.

Hunt: Showdown’s character progression and loadout customization, contrary to the norm that customization breaks balance, promotes a balanced gameplay. As discussed earlier, customization in Hunt: Showdown is focused on enhancing your playstyle while staying within a certain level of balance. The perks that you can use to enhance gameplay will only make your playstyle smoother without changing anything directly related to combat and damage.

Gameplay balance in Hunt: Showdown is one of its greater strengths with no single weapon or loadout capable of standing head and shoulders above the rest.

6. Graphics and Visual Effects

Golden Acres, a location in the Hunt: Showdown

Hunt: Showdown’s graphics are simply breathtaking. The game features highly detailed and passionately crafted environments, ranging from vast swamps to dilapidated prisons with moving parts. Each location in Hunt: Showdown is rich with atmospheric details, showcasing the developers' passion and dedication to creating a realistic and immersive world.

The attention to detail is simply astounding. From the ray of light passing through the windows and the swaying rice fields to the rain pouring down on you as you explore the bayou, the visual effects ensure the highest level of realism.

Additionally, character and monster design is also just as amazing. The hunters are intricately modeled, with realistic animations and visual characteristics that reflect their individual personalities and backstories. The monsters you encounter are equally impressive, featuring unique designs which emphasize their characteristics.

The visual effects during combat are also realistic and immersive. Everything from the bullet flash to the explosions to the visual staggering makes you feel as if you are your hunter. Pair this with the amazing sound effects, and you will find yourself transported into the shoes of your hunter.

One minor drawback is that Hunt: Showdown's stunning visuals and atmospheric effects require a higher-end graphics card to fully appreciate. I, for one, have noticed the vast difference in quality after I switched from a GTX 1090 to a GTX 3070.

7. Updates and New Content

Hunt: Showdown's Christmas Update Event

One of the most commendable aspects of Hunt: Showdown is the developer support. Hunt: Showdown was released on 22 February 2018, more than five years ago, yet the developers are still consistently churning out updates and new content. This level of dedication and developer support is a far cry from that found in most AAA-rated first person shooter games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, where updates and new content cease after the third year from release.

Hunt: Showdown’s developers also make it a point to actively engage with the community through the official forums, discord, twitter, and other social media channels. The developers actively seek comments and opinions from the community, and they actively respond through regular updates addressing popular requests and concerns. This open dialogue approach by the developers creates a strong community built upon a sense of trust and collaboration.

The developers are also completely transparent. The developers would often release development roadmaps, patch notes, and detailed explanations of gameplay changes. This transparency builds trust and allows players to have a clear understanding of the direction the game is taking, further solidifying the Hunt: Showdown community.

The developers also actively combat cheating and hacking in Hunt: Showdown. Through the years, the developers have employed anti-cheat measures and swiftly addressed reports of suspicious behavior. Their commitment to fair play enhances the player experience in Hunt: Showdown since there are far less cheaters and hackers encountered in the game.

While it is true that the developers are passionately supporting and developing the game, it is notable that the frequency of their content updates and gameplay changes are far and wide between. However, the quality of these updates and gameplay changes far outclass its competition in the first-person shooter genre because of the extensive playtesting and review undergone in the test servers.

8. Replayability

Rays of light visibly seen shining through the windows of a communal dining area in Hunt: Showdown

Hunt: Showdown's replayability relies on its dynamic and unpredictable gameplay. Hunt: Showdown's procedurally generated maps ensure that players encounter new locations and layouts with each match. No two matches will have the exact same spawn point, extraction point, boss monster, boss lair, and wild monster spawn pattern. This element of unpredictability keeps the gameplay fresh and exciting, making each match a unique and memorable experience.

Additionally, Hunt: Showdown's matchmaking system ensures that gaining experience and increasing your skill level will result in you facing different levels of competition with players of increasing skill levels. This balanced matchmaking system keeps you challenged at every step of your life as a bounty hunter in the bayou.

Hunt: Showdown is a highly replayable multiplayer first person shooter with a steep learning curve. Hunt: Showdown requires the investment of time and practice to fully appreciate. However, the learning process itself can be immensely satisfying as you figure out and master the different aspects of the game.

9. Overall Fun Factor

The grim atmosphere of a nighttime scenario in Hunt: Showdown

One of the most significant aspects contributing to Hunt: Showdown's fun factor is its high risk, high reward gameplay. Every decision you make in Hunt: Showdown has consequences. This high risk, high reward gameplay creates an atmosphere of tension and excitement which brings about all forms of emotions ranging from happiness to anger and sadness. Every match in Hunt: Showdown is sure to evoke some form of emotion from you.

While the Hunt: Showdown is definitely a challenging and difficult game to master, the long road to mastery is enjoyable. Unlike other games where the steep learning curve is a turn-off, Hunt: Showdown ensures that you face just the right amount of challenge on your road to mastery through its balanced matchmaking. You are sure to find satisfaction or a thirst for more with every match you play.

Hunt: Showdown also presents the fun of experimenting. As you gain experience and become a better player in Hunt: Showdown, you will inevitably encounter and learn about different and unique play styles which you will enjoy experimenting with to further develop your own personal playstyle. At the end of this journey to become the best bounty hunter there is, you will surely have created that one unique playstyle that nobody else in the world but you can play.

10. Sound Effects

The particles and quality of Hunt: Showdown's design

Hunt: Showdown’s sound design is simply extraordinary. The sound design creates a sense of depth and realism that immerses you in the game. The directional audio cues accurately portray the positioning and movement of any source of sound in the game. This detail is something unique to Hunt: Showdown which allows you to rely on your sense of hearing to accurately detect threats and gather information. You can accurately pinpoint the position and distance of sounds, allowing for enhanced situational awareness and tactical decision-making.

The environmental sound effects are also impressive. The ambience for each location brings the environment to life with how realistic and immersive they are. You would clearly hear the sound of footsteps on the wooden planks of the abandoned buildings, or even the sound of movement wading through the swamps.

The weapon and combat sound effects in Hunt: Showdown are also of the highest caliber. Each gunshot, explosion, melee strike, and impact is designed to provide a realistic and satisfying audio experience with an Oomph. The distinct sound signatures of different weapons patterned after their real-life counterparts further contribute to the immersion, allowing players to identify the different firearms based on the gunshot sound effects.

You will absolutely appreciate the audio quality of Hunt: Showdown.

Verdict:

Hunt: Showdown is an outstanding game that centers around its unique combat system without compromising on any other feature. Hunt: Showdown delivers an immersive and satisfying experience for the players. Hunt: Showdown gives an all-around exceptional gameplay experience through its engaging combat system, stunning graphics, and exceptional developer support. The only drawback I could find with Hunt: Showdown is the obscurity of unlocking and accessing its otherwise well-written lore.

Hunt: Showdown is a hidden gem that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression to anyone who plays it.

You may also be interested in:

• Top 10 Hunt: Showdown Gameplay Features That Make It Fun
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• Hunt Showdown Guide For Beginners [25 Useful Tips Every Beginner Should Know]
• Hunt: Showdown Weapons Guide