Some games come with so much to offer that sometimes the gameplay itself ends up falling short. Hunt: Showdown by Crytek is literally the opposite of this though. While I enjoyed my time on the game and will definitely be going on more hunts, I feel like this game has so much more to offer than what is currently available. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Yes and no. Let’s dive into the details of this PvE-PvP mash-up multiplayer.

Story

There is some lore for each of the creatures, but no official story is laid out for the game. There’s room for plenty of speculation, which my theory is that the quickplay mode is a sort of cowboy’s purgatory where they need to prove their soul is worth redemption, while the Bounty Hunt mode is a way of living through an early 1900’s style purgatory.

Gameplay

It is a strictly online multiplayer game, but you can always run the tutorial levels which play out as a purely PvE match with just you and the enemy mobs. If you aren’t in the tutorial, then know that you aren’t the only player fighting your way through the variety of enemies in order to get that sweet bounty to win the match and unless you load in together, nobody is on your team.

There are only two game modes: Bounty Hunt and Quickplay. The difference in these modes are slight, but enough for them to have their own worth.

Bounty Hunt is the best mode when it comes to playing with a teammate. You can load up alone but I suggest playing with a random player or a friend in teams of 2 or 3 in order to win this mode. The goal is to find rifts and close them in order to use them as a clue to shade off a part of the map that the boss isn’t on. You can find the boss earlier than collecting the three clues that lead you straight to them, but this won’t happen often. From there the goal is to kill the boss, which will be one of three different ones (Spider, Butcher, or Assassin), banish their corpse, collect the bounty, and extract from the level with it. At any point a player can come in and kill you to take the bounty for themselves, so even after you kill the boss don’t let your guard down because a whole new wave of enemies is going to be on you.

Quickplay is a solo-only mode where you are given a random hunter with a random weapon of your style-choice for the match. You do the same thing when it comes to closing rifts to get clues, but this time you are looking for a wellspring. This mode has a time limit and will only last until the time is out. Once you find the wellspring, the goal is to keep it on you until the time is up. Even if you have the wellspring for most the game and someone kills you in the last ten seconds, the wellspring goes to them and they are the winner, so be sure to have it at the end of the match because that’s all that counts. Good thing is, when you win a Quickplay match, you get that hunter as a free recruit to use in the Bounty Hunt mode.

Your list of hunters all have their own properties to consider. Each one comes with their own weapons, but you can buy the different ones you have unlocked yourself and give it to any hunter you want, so don’t think you’re stuck with whatever they come with. Also, they can be customized in a few ways that relate to their perks. These perks give them things from ammo finding to stamina boosting to better defense and more. You can give a random set of perks to a hunter by cleansing the health bar at the cost of blood bonds, but keep in mind that when you die in a Bounty Hunt match you lose the hunter you chose to start with and everything they had.

Weapons and items range from a variety of things you would expect in the early 1900’s. Pistols, custom-made upgrades, Revolvers, single-shot Shotguns, Crossbows, and the occasional semi-auto rifle. Figure out which one you like most because your weapon will be the dire tool separating you from victory and a loss.

Graphics

Every part of the map and the characters are all beautifully done. The scenery is almost peaceful when you aren’t looking towards the destruction littered areas or undead lurking around. Even the enemies all have their own very unique design that makes them all needed to be handled in their own way.

Sounds

When you are on the menu, there is a music style used that gives off the gruff atmosphere that the game thrives on, but on the map there is little-to-no music. This was a great choice on the developer’s side because listening to your surroundings helps you both avoid enemies and find your targets. A level of stealth can be utilized thanks to the effectiveness of their sound effects-to-music ratio.

Replayability

This game has nothing but replayability! Being an online-based title with a game mode set up for teams and one for solo players, it is easy to get lost in playing round after round of this unforgiving title. There are a lot of rewards to be unlocked, daily challenges to complete, and a lot of other aspects to challenge the player to accomplish kill tasks and take wins.

What Could Be Better

Here is where I get to talk about the fact that this game should offer more. With a price tag of $39.99, it just falls short on what it should offer to match that. Two game modes, two maps, a day version and night version for the rounds, is simply not enough regardless of how many hunter and weapon varieties you include. Not to mention that the main aspect of one mode is to Bounty Hunt bosses and they only have 3 different types, of which there is a good chance you won’t even come face to face with yourself? It just doesn’t make sense why there aren’t more game modes and a solo PvE-only based setting.

I have no problems with the game itself and enjoy everything that it has to offer, but it feels like it comes short in the arena of how much it has to offer. I hope they end up adding more bosses, let us start choosing boss-specific contracts, hold events to challenge players to push harder online, and implement new modes for players to test their skills when the task at hand changes.

Conclusion

Hunt: Showdown is intensely enthralling action! There is so much you have to pay attention to and so many different ways you can approach each situation. Whether you are an aggressive or stealth-based player, this game has a way for you to attack each round how you see fit. Amazing design and concept that was appropriately implemented! It just needs to add a bit more for the players.