In 1895, a mysterious plague broke out in Louisiana, USA. A large number of residents were infected, turning them into zombies and monsters. Some said it was a curse, some said it was a disease, others said it was black magic. Regardless, the darkness has come and the state government has recruited bounty hunters from all over the United States to enter this dark-shrouded area, clean up the monsters, and then receive generous rewards. So a large number of hunters poured into this land of where there is no longer right and wrong, there are gunmen and hunters among them, and people prefer to call them "devil hunters". When the hunters set foot on this land, they discovered that there are not only monsters waiting for them but other far more dangerous and deadly entities lurking in the darkness.! This is not only a hunt for monsters, but also a duel between hunters! Today we will talk about this first-person horror shooting game full of dark and western inspired elements - Hunt and Kill!

Hunt: Showdown is a first-person shooter game produced and published by Crytek. That’s right, the creators of the infamous GPU destroyer that was Crysis. Still using the incredibly powerful CryEngine to great effect. Hunt Showdown is the latest game by Crytek with some of their previous titles being Son of Rome and Warface. The game contains a lot of PVPVE elements, similar to the gameplay of Escape From Tarkov. It’s just that compared to Tarkov, Hunt Showdown is a bit more streamlined. For example, while you still have to memorize the map just like in Tarkov, there is a much clearer mission objective and route to take. When novice players first enter the game, not only will they be amazed by the graphics but also by the setting.

When it comes to Hunt: Showdown, I have to mention the previous iteration HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age, which uses a similar setting to the current version, however there was a much greater focus of cooperative gameplay and used a third person perspective instead. PvE was the main intent for the game with PVP being limited to 2v2 battles. Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age was intended to be Free To Play but was never fully released, only a demo and some videos only exist today.

After a few years of development Crytek decided to switch to a first person perspective, which in my opinion was a wise decision. Playing in a First Person Perspective enhances the overall feel of the game and helps you feel immersed in the scenery. One of the most impressive features of the CryEngine is the outstanding detail of the vegetation and forestry. Venturing through the swamp in the game feels very realistic, giving people an almost personal experience. The feeling of the environment is exactly the same as the beginning of Resident Evil 7, isn’t it?

Hunt Showdown is a pretty intensive game even for some Modern Computers, however there are some flexible settings in the game which may compromise the graphics but will allow some lower end PCs to run the game at a smooth framerate. Thanks to many updates since the games’ release, the performance of the game has massively improved allowing more and more players to have a better experience. When playing the game, you see some of the influences from games such as Escape From Tarkov, Dead By Daylight and even PUBG. This game is a niche game in China, not because it is not fun, on the contrary, the quality of the game is very high and extremely enjoyable.

The game is divided into two game modes, namely bounty hunting and lone wolf mode. In the bounty hunting mode, the player will act as an exorcist hunter, randomly assigned within the map. Find weapons, destroy all kinds of monsters and look for clues to locate the final boss. After collecting the three clues, the player must then find the boss, defeat it and collect it’s ashes. Once you have retrieved the ashes, you just follow the evacuation point on the map to successfully evacuate. In earlier versions, this was called a random contract. There is also a bounty hunt where you can freely choose your spawn location and view the bounty target. However, the last time I played this game, this mode was no longer available.

Each monster has its own weaknesses. For example,to defeat The Sacrificer you must use a blunt weapon or use the butt of your gun.. If a gun must be used against some enemies, then you should remain at a safe distance. Against armored soldiers, you should attack them with melee weapons. You deal more damage than when using a gun. Of course bosses have their own weaknesses and finding these weaknesses is the key to success.

If you think these monsters are the worst enemy, you are very wrong. Believe me, if you play this game for a while, you will find how tame these monsters are compared to fellow hunters.

That's right, the real core competitive mechanism of this game is that hunters fight against each other. Even with bosses and monsters everywhere fighting against a group of other players brings its own uneasiness and tension.

There are a wide variety of weapons and equipment in the game, like a sniper rifle, a lever action rifle and shotgun to name a few. There are also a bunch of hidden weapons to use. Weapons can be customized to fit your personal preferences. Another interesting touch is how the weapons are still faithful to the historical background even though there are supernatural elements to the game.

One of the major features of the game is that you have to choose a hunter every time you enter the game. Once the hunter in the game dies, the weapons, equipment and consumables that your hunter carries, including the hunter character themselves, will disappear forever, giving even more incentive to survive.The longer the hunter survives, the more powerful they become thanks to the experience points they earn, this allows you to buy new skills. Therefore, I suggest that you don't necessarily grab the bounty every time. You can still collect clues and kill some zombies to earn experience points. This will also allow you to develop slowly and gradually upgrade your hunter a little at a time.

Recruiting hunters, purchasing weapons and equipment can be done by consuming hunting coins, coins can be earned through each successful evacuation. The higher the level when the hunter retires, the more generous the rewards will be. As your account level increases, you can obtain new weapon types, higher quality weapons and equipment and new hunters. After reaching the highest level, everything gets unlocked for this hunter. You can however reincarnate your hunter unlocking a new skin to use for other hunters in the game.

Lone Wolf Mode, as the name suggests, is a single bounty where 12 hunters fight for the prize. Players choose a hunter at the beginning, and search for supplies and clues when they spawn. Each clue collected can give a random item, after collecting four clues, you can redeem them. . During this time, you need to resist the attack of other hunters. Of course, your position will be exposed to other players, and it will last until you are the last surviving hunter. When you win you can take this hunter and use them in the Bounty Hunt Mode. If you die, the player who killed you will inherit your collected clues. During the redemption phase, each kill lowers the amount of time needed to survive. So it adds a risk reward element to the mode.

Of course, the shortcomings of the game are also obvious. For example, due to the small number of players, the matchmaking time is longer, the skill level is high for beginners and the weapon types are mostly antique bolt action weapons, which may be off putting for younger players. There are many old and middle-aged players, and it can be difficult to spot other players in the scenery. Added to this and having to learn a new map, it can be quite daunting for new players. Even when trying to play in a group, some players will leave if they see you are a novice player, which sadly can increase the wait time for players even more. After all, no one is willing to spend a lot of money to buy it, meaning the player base won’t grow. Therefore, before buying this game, I recommend that everyone ask one or two friends to join in on the fun and learn the game together.

Hunt