What is Hunt: Showdown?

It’s one of those games that nearly everyone has heard of, but never gave a shot. To make things worse, roughly half of all players never really get into it. The learning curve is insane and you can easily spend hours playing without getting a single kill, so why would anyone want to play Crytek’s Hunt: Showdown in the first place?

Well, for starters, it’s one of the most unique games to hit the market in the last decade! Player vs. player vs. enemy (monster NPCs) is a nearly unheard-of combat genre, and several big-name attempts in the past have failed miserably. (Yes, I’m looking at you Evolve.) Set in the Louisiana Bayou, 1895, this title throws you into the boots of a bounty hunter hired to slay and banish a variety of horrific monsters. Work together with up to two other players to navigate a large, open map filled to the brim with hazards as you hunt for clues leading you to the bounty.

As if handling groups of zombies, hives, hell hounds, water devils and so much more (damned crows) wasn’t enough, the biggest threats to your life on the Bayou are rival bounty hunters. While you use dark vision to detect and investigate clues throughout the map, your opponents are roaming around with similar intentions. Will you slay your bounty and extract with it to claim a reward, or will a fellow bounty hunter take you down and claim the credit for him/herself?

In Hunt: Showdown, death really does matter. If your hunter goes down and isn’t revived, they are gone permanently, along with their items and perks. It sounds like quite a bummer (and it can be) but this is a game where starting over again with a fresh loadout and newfound determination is the norm. Every seasoned player in the Hunt community has seen hordes of hunters rise and fall, yet they always rise again to conquer the Bayou.

Despite the nearly infinite array of ways to die and the harsh repercussions for doing so, Hunt: Showdown is among the most exciting and unique games this organization has seen in years. As the latest addition to the Tactical Gaming community, Hunt is growing steadily within the Vanguard division. As always, we ask that anyone with friends who enjoy the game consider referring them to join TG.