On Tuesday, August 21st, Crytek came out at GamesCom and announced that their competitive horror shooter, Hunt: Showdown, would be coming to Xbox Game Preview. As of right now, there is no release date on when the game will be coming to the Preview Program, although Crytek did say that it would hopefully hit later this year.
Currently in Early Access on PC, with a "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam, hunters all around the world are jumping into the world of Hunt: Showdown and battling for those bounties. What is Hunt: Showdown, you may ask? Hunt: Showdown is a competitive first-person shooter that throws PvP and PvE game play into the same arena. The objective of the game is to go after a demonic monstrous bounty and banish it back to hell either solo or with a friend in duos.
Set in the swamps of Louisiana, players must hunt for clues to find out where their target may be while fighting off creatures of all kinds. But the creatures of the world are not the only enemies you have to keep an eye out for--you are not the only one hunting. Other players are also spread throughout the map hunting the same bounty as you. As you run into other hunters in the world, the thrill of survival kicks into high gear, where you must decide... Do you fight and risk losing the opportunity to collect the bounty, or do you use the environment to avoid confrontation with other hunters? With an old west style approach in both the environment and the aesthetics, the characters and weapons feel as though they have come straight from an old John Wayne movie. In turn, this makes the gun play in Hunt: Showdown one of the most fun and challenging things to do. When hunters are engaged in a fire fight, it feels like an authentic and suspenseful old west shoot out. If you have made it out alive from a gun fight, you must finish finding the clues that lead you to your bounty. Once all of the clues have been acquired, the bounty's location will then be revealed on your map, and all there is left to do is to eliminate the bounty and banish it back to dark depths of hell.
When the banishing begins, all hunters around the map can use either their maps or Dark Sight ability to see exactly where the banishing is taking place. From this point on, you can be jumped by any other hunter who may want to take the bounty for themselves. After you have completed the banishing, your bounty is ready to collected. However, you must fight twice as hard to survive once you have collected it, because now players around the entire map will be hunting the new bounty-- YOU. At this point, you can be seen by any hunter around the map by using their Dark Sight ability, where the sight of lightning flashes to your location. Now, it is a race against the clock. During your travels toward extraction, other hunters can and will engage you and possibly kill you if you are not quick enough. If they manage kill you, that hunter may collect the bounty and has the opportunity to extract and collect the bounty for themselves. Did I forget to mention that deaths are permanent? If you die, the hunter you played with will no longer be accessible to you, and you must start with a new hunter and begin the grind once again. This mechanic makes for a fun and challenging hardcore experience that emphasizes high risk to high reward.
If you happen to be a part of the lucky few that are able to extract with a bounty, both you and your hunter will walk away with some goodies. At the end of your hunt, you will gain in game currency, known as gold. One of the game's most notable features is the lack of micro-transactions AKA no pay to win! Your hunter will be rewarded with experience that will depend on how hard you fought during the hunt. You will also gain experience toward your Bloodline, which stays with your account regardless of any deaths. If you happen to die, no need to fret; all experience gained will be converted into your Bloodline, regardless if it is hunter or Bloodline experience. The Bloodline differs from your hunter's experience. Hunter experience is tied to that hunter and helps make them stronger by unlocking all sorts of perks which are then able to be equipped. Bloodline experience, on the other hand, is an account based experience line that unlocks a variety of items ranging from new guns to different types of grenades and consumables. Now that you have unlocked various items through your Bloodline, you can head to the in game store to buy gear for your hunter to take on the next hunt. As mentioned previously, if a hunter dies during a hunt, you lose not only the hunter but also the equipment.
What are your thoughts of this type of game coming to Xbox One and do you think there should be more games like this out there on consoles? Let me know in the comment section below! Until next time for all your gaming news and reviews, make sure to follow me here on GameSpot and on Twitter: @AbsolutRC. To catch live streams weekly follow me on twitch.tv/AbsolutRuss
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