PC Shooter Hunt: Showdown Looks Very Different In New Gameplay Video

In a new developer diary video, the team behind Hunt: Showdown throws down the story of how the game came to be since its 2014 debut. From Austin to Frankfurt, Crytek's forthcoming competitive horror shooter wasn't always what it is today.

In the beginning, Hunt: Showdown had an entirely different name, team, and premise. It started out under Crytek USA, in Austin, as Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, a team shooter that played very similarly to Valve's Left 4 Dead. Hordes of zombies and supernatural beings came in waves, and you and your pals would take them down one by bloody one. This debuted at E3 2014 as a single level.

But, later that year, Crytek's US studio was shut down. It quite literally went from the floors at E3 in June, to moving all the way across the sea to Crytek's Frankfurt location in August. Of course, this meant Hunt could no longer be the same.

Gallery

"That was a hard decision to make, and not one we did very lightly. You have to match the project with the team," lead developer Dennis Schwarz says. "And if the team bring a certain skill set, but a project requires a different skill set, you either have to adapt to that ... or you change the project. We opted for changing the project."

In May, Crytek announced the game's reboot under a new title--Hunt: Showdown.

Today, Hunt: Showdown still maintains the grotesque, late 1800s horror vibe down in the bayous of Louisiana, but the motivation of the game and the way it plays are completely different. Now, it's about going after a target and instead of doing so with just your allies, you, and the few allies you have, are competing to get the kill, get the reward, and get out safely against another team. It's not just about taking down the baddies and flexing those gamer muscles; it's about stealth, thinking on your toes, and using the environment to your advantage.

For more on Hunt: Showdown and its origin, make sure to watch the developer diary above, or check out all of our previous coverage on the game while it was still Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age. Hunt: Showdown is expected on PC and does not yet have an official release date.