Hunt: Showdown 1896

I would have loved to recommend this game before the launch of 1896, it really was a great game with amazing audio design, lore, atmosphere and art style, gunplay, and unique weapons. Sadly ever since the 1896 update last august the game has went completely downhill for me and others. While some of the praises I mentioned still exist the others that don't and the new problems have held this game back enough for me to not recommend it. Starting off with how the gunplay has been downgraded in order to be closer to new modern shooters which hurts the authentic feel of the game. The prestige system still being awful and removal of the lore really shows the communication with Crytek has never been worse. More issues are the growing toxic community, the confusing ui, taking out 3 maps and taking 10 months to add them all back, worse weapon balance and the instaburing meta, new events being the boring same, and increase of exploiters and bugs. The developers for 10 months now have been trying to turn hunt into a more general shooter which has led to gutting very important and key aspects of the heart of this game. The most obvious example of the downgrade of hunt showdown is the current event as I'm writing this being completely taken out due to it breaking the game. I used to love this game but its fallen off from it's glory days and now the company behind the game is struggling just making the future look more bleak.

This game will not let you go! Now with "Judgement of the Fool" probably in the best state ever! Hunt is intense and extremely rewarding. YOU WILL remember your fights and places long after they have been fought. I have played now more than 2k hours and think a have never spend more time in a game. The core gameplay loop and dynamic world never gets boring. Graphics are nothing but amazing. Weapon design, handling und feedback is unique and rewarding. The only warning: - Watch tutorials on how to play and about the core mechanics. Hunt is not known to take new players by the hand - Get a decent headphone as sound is extremely important - Be ready to spend some time in the beginning, if you only want to play 1h/week then extraction shooters are not for you For everyone else: get the game NOW. The money/time spend and enjoyed is unbeatable. I will never understand people playing >1000hours and giving this game a bad review. Maybe it's this emotional attachment you get, once immersed. There is no other shooter like Hunt!

For multiple months I played this game daily with my friends, we were all at varying skill levels but still spammed 3s because I really enjoyed this game. Spent money on DLC and battle passes. I was sitting at a 6 star rating (highest sbmm indicator but still lower end of the range) and occasionally dropping to 5 star rating after strings of bad games. Although, by far the worst customer service experience I have ever dealt with, and the worst reporting system that rewards false reporting because someone is better than them. The next time I launched the game I was met with a message saying that I was permanently banned for cheating/exploits. My KD was just below 2.0 before I was banned, most likely repeated reports from disgruntled players that I killed while playing with my lower rated friends. I have never been banned before and have never used cheats or cheating programs before with 15+ years on PC gaming. You can view my account and see. I reached out to Crytek's customer service and sent emails pleading for a manual review, since there would clearly be no ban if a human actually looked at my performance in games. They responded with copy pasted lines of text saying how there is solid evidence of my cheating and that they wouldn't share how they found it or what triggered the ban. After going through every other avenue I could (discord, online forums) I decided to give up and write this review. I know that actual cheaters probably do go through some effort to get their accounts back, and that online forums aren't a reliable source of evidence of false ban recipients. I really enjoy playing this game, this is why I WOULD recommend this game, even though I am extremely disappointed in how this was handled by Crytek and the Easy anti-cheat software. I have very little issues with the game, maybe some concerns about how sweaty it is, rats hiding in bushes, somewhat janky character models. My friends still play it, although they don't play daily anymore, It is one of the very few extraction shooters that are actually worth a damn to play. My last email to Crytek was to demand my money back, for the game, dlc, and additional passes that I purchased that was taken away from me because of a false positive. They never responded, so, be better Crytek, you guys fucking suck.

This game is a detriment to my mental health, its terrible and borderline painful. 10/10 recommend it

terrible company they forgot how to make a game but they sure can make more event passes and payed DLC.

Playtime: 1200 hours TL;DR: Sadly, I can’t recommend this game to anyone right now. Pros • Atmospheric • Crisp sound design • Beautiful graphics • Unique, niche experience Cons 1. Terrible UI • Since the engine upgrade, the UI has taken a massive hit. It's clunky, unintuitive, and nowhere near what could be considered even "decent." • While it's slowly improving with each update, it's still far from acceptable. 2. Questionable balancing decisions • The game heavily rewards passive or “rat” gameplay, actively discouraging aggression. o Example: Nerfing wall penetration makes it easier for players to camp inside buildings. o Releasing and buffing silenced weapons. o Repeated buffs to traps. o Nerfs to stamina, poison resistance, and regeneration shots. 3. Performance issues • The beautiful graphics come at a cost: noticeable micro-stutters even on high-end systems. • A known issue causes VRAM not to unload properly, leading to decreasing FPS the longer you're in a session. The only fix is restarting the game. 4. Broken matchmaking • The matchmaking system is completely unbalanced. The 6-star MMR bracket is so wide that I often get matched against players with double or even triple my playtime—especially frustrating as a solo player. • No ping limit: Many 6-star lobbies are filled with Chinese and Russian players abusing high ping on EU servers. I genuinely want to recommend this game, but in its current state—I just can’t.

I genuinely love Hunt: Showdown. With over 1,600 hours invested, this game has become more than just a pastime for me. The dense atmosphere, the unique gunplay, the brilliant audio engineering, and the dark, haunting setting are still unmatched in the PvPvE genre. Hunt had the potential to be a true milestone — had being the keyword. But since the relaunch under the new name Hunt: Showdown 1896, things have taken a disappointing — at times even embarrassing — turn. Patch 2.4 (initial release: June 18, 2025) was a new low. Many players (and likely Crytek themselves) won’t forget how poorly it went. And while mistakes happen — developers are only human after all — this wasn’t the first major misstep, and it probably won’t be the last. My Main Issues with the "1896 Relaunch": - Performance & Optimization Yes, I get it — a major engine upgrade comes with higher requirements. But nearly a year later, performance is still in desperate need of optimization. Pre-1896, I was getting close to 200 FPS on high settings. Now, I barely hit 110 FPS — on the lowest settings. That's a massive downgrade, not an upgrade. - "New" Content That’s Just Old Content As a long-time Overwatch player, I’ve had to go through this before: removing content, only to reintroduce it much later and pair it with a big and exciting new event. Recycling old maps or weather effects and calling it a "big event" feels lazy and disingenuous to longterm players. - Lack of Communication Where It Matters Yes, Crytek has started communicating more — but it’s mostly dev diaries that feel irrelevant unless you’ve just started the game. What players really want are clear, honest updates about the state of the game and when we can expect long-needed changes. Crytek hasn’t meaningfully used their own Public Test Server (PTS) in recent updates — a tool that’s been around for years. If they had deployed Patch 2.4 to PTS beforehand, issues like the catastrophic live rollout—where servers crashed and Crytek had to rollback to 2.3 after a full day offline—could have been identified and fixed before hitting live servers. It’s baffling that such a safety net exists and yet isn’t properly utilized. - Server Stability Server problems have existed since I first started playing Hunt over two years ago — and while they’ve become less frequent, they’re still present and disruptive. Especially on patch days, the servers are simply unreliable. - Cheaters and Ping Abusers Cheaters are becoming more blatant — some don’t even try to hide it anymore, likely because Crytek does not seem to care. EU servers are increasingly flooded with players from regions far outside their scope, with no effective region lock in place. It’s rare to enter a lobby that isn’t at least half made up of players who clearly aren’t from the selected server region. - The Bounty Has Lost Its Value The game’s core objective — securing the bounty — has become meaningless in many higher-level lobbies. Especially in 6-star matches, most players are too afraid to make the first move, leading to drawn-out, passive standoffs where no one wants to risk anything. The thrill of the hunt is gone if no one’s really hunting. - Unreliable Matchmaking The matchmaking system, once relatively solid, has become increasingly inconsistent since the last MMR update. I personally got boosted from 4–5 stars up to 6 stars — a rank that used to be reserved for the sweatiest players or those without a job. Now, it feels like everyone is up here, including myself. The problem is, there's no real way to drop back down to your previous MMR, because the system pulls you right back up almost instantly I’m not writing this out of rage, but out of genuine disappointment and concern. Hunt used to be one of the most immersive, unique experiences on the market. Watching it lose its identity to bad decisions, lazy recycling, and technical instability is heartbreaking. I want to recommend this game. I want to see it thrive. But right now, I can’t do that in good conscience. Hopefully, someday soon, I’ll be able to change this review back to a positive one. Do I still plan on playing Hunt despite all of this? Hell yeah. I love this game way too much to quit. As frustrating as it can be, there's still nothing out there quite like it. That’s exactly why I care so much, because Hunt: Showdown is special. I just hope Crytek realizes that before it’s too late. Crytek please wake up!

Game is full of fatherless basement dwellers who don't know what the touch of a woman feels like. Imagine getting validation from cheating on the game because you've never had love from your parents. You hand your prison pocket to any youtuber who tells you what the nEw BrOkEn BuIlD is.

The sad thing is, this game is so well made. The graphics look great. The sounds are incredibly well done. The gameplay is fun. The different enemies in the map are fun and also terrifying. I really thought that I had found my new game to play for while! But after just a few games, even at my incredibly low level, I'd get paired up with people who would have hundreds of hours into the game, and just demolish me every time I'd come into contact with them. It's really discouraging being new at a game, and getting sniped by a 7th prestige guy with a crazy good loadout, when I barely know what's going on. After a few hours, I just gave up. If they can add in some proper matchmaking, I'll probably play it again. But I don't feel like playing a game for 20+ hours while not enjoying it, trying to get good enough to not die immediately when seeing someone. Which is sad, cause it's very fun otherwise.

+ great game with intense tactical fights (every fight is unique), huge loadout possibilities/playstyle variety, awesome (maybe the best) audio design, works great with 2080super - somehow toxic community (but you can mute them), updates are sometimes buggy (but get fixed), hard to learn (understood the basics after something like 100 hours)

Guys Chill out! They game is good, they made a mistake and are Working on it. We all like to play it.. if you really don't like the game its fine but stop bombing the Review because there was a fuck up!!!! We are all humans and have had Problems on our Work once! LEt them fix it and all will be good!

I used to love playing this game. The unique sound system and gunfights were very enjoyable. I didn't even mind the introduction of the battle pass. Unfortunately, the constant events every few months made the game feel like a chore. Unnecessary changes to the UI and core game mechanics also soured the game for me. The biggest gripe of all is how much the core gameplay loop has changed. Gone is the thoughtful cowboy shootout and it has been replaced by frantic, crackhead gunfights. It just stopped being fun.

The game is good, it earned its mixed review from the 2.0 update release which had a lot of tech issues. It happened again with the "judgement of the fool" update recently. Besides that, it's a great game all around with good PVP and PVE. It doesn't deserve that mixed review if you ask me. Everyone makes mistakes and at least it wasn't a monetization issue which nowadays goes a long way for live services games.

The game is alright so far, but my god this is absolute worst UI I've ever seen in a game like this. Unequipped a weapon? Good luck finding it. In fact, good luck finding anything. I don't know how this design got past basic QA; it's abysmal. I'm tempted to stop playing for the UI alone. Over 2 hours playing with it and I'm still confused. As a UI/UX designer by trade, I'm simply baffled that this is what they went with.

Use to be a great game. In an attempt to fix the UI, which did need some work, the devs managed to make most aspects of the game worse. Who doesn't love having the game you paid for taken from you and replaced with something worse. I feel like I deserve my money back. This is not the game I purchased

This was at one point, the highest quality PVP experience I had ever had. The overhaul update of 2024 absolutely tanked the player experience irreparably, and subsequent updates have continued down an ever worsening path. It has become buggier than ever, and the servers seem to be much less stable for reasons I can't explain, but worst of all the gameplay no longer feels special. Gone is the slow, weighty, methodical pace to my movements, you now move around with the floaty speed of a geriatric apex legends character reminiscing and hallucinating their glory days, and the most magical, heartpumping fire fights this game used to offer just no longer hit quite right. Don't get me wrong, there's still a really unique experience to be had in here, but its pretty much lost its edge by trying to fall in line with other games of its ilk, only to trade in what only IT can do so very exceptionally, to do what other games do quite poorly. RIP Hunt, genuinely a tragic loss for the scene

Never before have I had such a fun game so quickly ruined by such a freaking terrible online experience. The game should called "Fail: Matchmaking 1896" The first 6 hours of gameplay were incredibly fun, the engine was breathtaking, and I was craving to play. I haven't experienced a western with this satisfying and accurate with gun handling... ever. I was so excited. Then, I got a little message that said "training section over; welcome to the real game" or something to that effect when I reached level 10, and I joined a new match, played for about 2 minutes, and instantly and unexpectedly got sniped by a level 100 player, losing my character I built up and played with for the past 6 hours. I decided to try again with a level one, thinking it might have been a fluke...but no. Instant death. I tried for the next hour to see if I could muddle through the bullshit, but no...No matter how diligent the sneaking, no matter how fast my reflexes, deaths were instant and unexpected by level 100 characters. WHY DUMP LEVEL 10 PLAYERS INTO MATCHES WITH LEVEL 100!? It's obscenely retarded! I haven't been this disappointed in a very, very long time. I really wish there was an offline mode with PvE, so I could just play with friends. I know the no-life, perpetually online people out there will just say "get gud" or "play something else then", but people should allowed to enjoy a game how they want without being demeaned when they buy it. Now, I will play this game for NO more hours, they won't make any micro-transaction money, and I will talk crap about it to everyone I can, when just yesterday I was so excited that while I was working that one of my happiest thoughts was to get to explore this game more. Please save your money. Don't buy this game. Don't support poor development and lack of gameplay options.

Hunt: Showdown stands out as one of the most unique, intense, and atmospheric PvPvE FPS games available. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what makes it exceptional and why you should play it: 1. Unique & Thrilling Gameplay Concept Perfect PvPvE Balance: A brilliant mix of player-vs-player combat and PvE elements where monsters and bosses add chaos to firefights. Extraction-Based Matches: Similar to Escape from Tarkov but set in a supernatural Wild West. Every match is high-stakes—death means losing your hunter and gear. Dynamic AI & Smart Level Design: Monsters aren’t just filler; they force players to adapt and can turn PvP fights into unpredictable battles. 2. Unmatched Atmosphere & Sound Design Sound Matters More Than Graphics: Footsteps, gunshots, and creaking floorboards are crystal clear. Players can win fights just by listening carefully. Gothic-Horror Aesthetic: Dark, dusty, and dripping with tension. Flickering candlelight, fog, and dynamic lighting make every match feel cinematic. 3. Realistic & Satisfying Gunplay Authentic 19th-Century Weapons: Bolt-action rifles, revolvers, and period-accurate firearms with heavy recoil and slow reloads—making every shot count. No "Spray and Pray": Ammo is scarce, and gunfire attracts enemies, forcing tactical, deliberate play. 4. High-Risk, High-Reward Progression Permadeath Tension: Lose your hunter forever if you die (unless you use the Recruit system). Deep Unlock System: Weapons, tools, and traits unlock as you progress, rewarding mastery. 5. Strong Community & Dev Support Crytek’s Consistent Updates: Seasonal events, new maps, and weapons keep the game fresh. Balanced Matchmaking: Fair for both newcomers and veterans. Why You Should Buy & Play Hunt: Showdown ✅ For Hardcore FPS Fans – Not "noob-friendly," but incredibly rewarding to master. ✅ Unlike Any Other FPS – Blends PvP, PvE, and horror in a way no other game does. ✅ Best Atmosphere in Gaming – If you love immersive worlds, this is a must-play. ✅ Endless Replayability – No two matches play the same due to player tactics and AI unpredictability. Verdict: Hunt: Showdown is a hardcore FPS masterpiece for players who crave tension, strategy, and unmatched atmosphere. If you're tired of mindless "run-and-gun" shooters, this game delivers a fresh, heart-pounding experience. Rating: 9/10 (Could be perfect with more PvE content). 🔥 Best for: Tactical FPS fans, horror lovers, and gamers who enjoy high-stakes gameplay.

Servers go offline for 10+ hours on huge update + new event day, people buying ingame premium currency and not getting anything but losing their money, complete sh*tshow of an event launch. In the end everything gets reverted. For compensation 10K HUNT DOLLARS are handed out... insanely pathetic, many people have wasted their whole day for this, took PTO even, and this is how much the players are worth in the eyes of Crytek, 10k ingame currency, which is nothing, a worthless amount. Every battlepass costs money, every dlc costs money, and the base game also costs money, yet this is how the players are treated. P2P game with sub F2P customer experience. And this is really just a small issue compared to constant ping abuser chinese players or the virtually nonexistent anti-cheat, perhaps lets also mention the completely cluttered, new and updated visuals and the completely eye f'ing lighting in the game.

I like hunt and have been playing for years but its going down hill fast. Devs have lost sight and are out of touch with community. it's all about skins and payed cosmetics and squeezing what they can before letting it die.

First of all, I am very lucky to start this game before CrytekEngine came into the game. I remember the times when the skins in the game were diverse, the selection of Hunters was very large, you could get money for leveling up a Hunter to the maximum level, and resetting prestige was an interesting mechanic, not a useless "entertain yourself" activity. I enjoyed the game right up until the update: the gloomy southern gothic setting, heavy and difficult to control weapons, people tried to conquer Sparks, calculated tactics and time, shot at various distances, the game was balanced. The update put one big fat point on the normal state of the game. Let's start, perhaps, with the most interesting thing: the update notification policy. It was announced with calm and self-confident statements that the company is not afraid if some people fall off the game and they fully accept this sacrifice. But the update made it so that not only players with weak systems started to fall off, but with any, since the quality of the game performance and technical condition are so deplorable that the company cannot load the update on the platforms. Scattering around with overseas promises not to deal with content, but with the stability and balance of weapons, the game still stamps out the same skins for different weapon models, which look terrible for 2x price. Add to this constant game crashes, absolute imbalance in weapons, unstable servers, no hit registration and, the juicy cherry on the cake, a completely incompetent game support, which admitted to me that all it can do is send me to Google. I'm attaching a letter from support below for the ones wondering: Hello Lia_Mayer, Thanks for your reply. We did not come across this problem during our internal tests, so we don't know the reason why there are some players having this issue. Sadly, we are not specialized in technical issues as customer support, and without knowing the solution for a problem, the only thing we can do is try to troubleshoot it using general recommendations. We are sorry for not being able to meet your expectations, we will try to do our best to help you. I don't remember a single game that would die on its own in a year so that it became boring and impossible to play. Excellent, Crytek, I will be glad to join that group of people about whom you self-confidently claimed that you are not afraid if a percentage of players leave. But for some reason the same people play on your servers, the same cheaters, whom you cannot cope with, and the quality of the game is getting worse with each update. This ship is sinking and it will sail till its very near end without me.

Still can't understand why they broke a beautiful game, and put a huge amount of work (apparently) into enshittifying the product. Thanks!

This game is a scam. No support, no cheating protection, no cheaters banned and any reports are just to calm you down and bait for more purchases. I mostly played with same 3.5 players dayly, 2 of which are seasoned cheaters who I reported tens of times. Players are leaving, so am I.

First of all this is a long time coming this review. Secondly this has nothing to do with the latest shit show that was the failed update/delay in the event, honestly it didn't really affect me and for someone who doesn't like the events, I don't really have an opinion. Meh. My biggest gripe with the game currently, is the match making, 95% of my lobbies are plagued by either new 3 star smurf accounts or ones that dropped their MMR intentionally playing with their 6 star friend who wants to boost his KDA. There really is a simple fix to this, make it so the MMR of team is based on the highest rated player. Lets talk about false promises. 2D replay was mentioned in the first year of the games actual release, we've heard nothing since, something so basic, that would be good and would help reduce frustrations of other players understanding how they may have died etc. Ping restrictions, this has been an on-going topic for years, and to add salt to the wound, they've mentioned they will be bringing in restrictions MULTIPLE times, as recent as last year. Nothing is yet to change. Events are basically every 6-8 weeks and last about that time, that's not an event, thats just a feature when it lasts 2 months. That means around 50% of the time isn't just the normal game, and the only conclusion I can draw is they literally have no idea where to take the game. For some reason I believe this instils FOMO and brings back some players who for some reason then buy blood bonds for a pass just to get a skin they won't ever play with. Predatory as fuck. A year to return DeSalle to the game with some mostly minor changes? Absolute joke. Server performance has been an issue forever and its clear they're not willing to front the money to better the problem. This is more of a personal gripe and I appreciate many people won't agree with me here, Hunt "SpamDown" now has far too many fast firing guns, honestly may as well play COD at this point. Not every gun needs to have the same variants, the fact that Crown Shorty exists is god damn mind boggling (this is just the latest example).

i really wish they brought back old UI, but even with that and the failed event launch today i still think this game is very fun. its a good game if ur one of those gun nerds who likes realistic mechanics instead of just holding ur LMB and spam shooting

Every time they update they make it easier for the console players and harder for pc

i played the game for a very long time and it was one of my favorites. to watch it fall so unbelievably far is incredibly disappointing and crytek should be truly ashamed to profit off of this creation in its current state. servers are very poor operating at a noticeably low tikrate making a game that revolves around interacting with other players from around the world incredibly frustrating to add to this the current player base seems to be only interested in winning at the cost of their and everyone else's enjoyment. the game used to feel like an intense and alive world filled with a light hearted community of players that above all else wanted to enjoy this lush and horrific world with their friends. you could find yourself making friends with enemies and having comedic confrontations because everyone was "chill" and that was what the game felt like it encouraged..... it is not that anymore. it has devolved into a heartless competition.

I really love this game. Since the 2.4 update I have had more crashes since I bought it, lost more and more hunters because of it. Crytek please fix this so I can go back to enjoying your game.

I have very little time and experience in this game. Regardless I'm writing this because of something I encountered very early on. I bought the game because a friend of mine was hyping it up and convinced me to get it. After installing we all hopped on to play, but was stopped before even touching the play button because there is no cross platform invite system implemented. The game is cross play where other consoles can play against each other, but you can not be on the same team as your friend if you are on separate platforms. This comes as a surprise because I feel a lot of games have or are working on implementing cross platform invites systems in their game. Overall just a disappointing experience.

Used to love playing this game but the devs ruined it for a good part of the player base by making it so specific specs are required to play. This used to love this game but now I can no longer play it. I hate them forever.

Don't mind the bad review bombers with +2k hours (and still racking up lol). Game is amazing. Nothing like it out there.

I can't recommend the game. It's gradually becoming like Call of Duty due to the game director David Fifield whose worked on those titles before coming to this game. The games effectively become just as fast paced as it due to how easy it is to be instantly killed from full health, it's essentially a result of the game being Sniper Rifles(not literally) vs Shotguns and taking a fast fire rate weapon to supplement these. Crytek also does events constantly to the point that burnout sets in and no one really wants to play the vanilla game, while the events are also doing FOMO tactics with battlepasses where the cosmetics in them never returned.

Context: 40+ years old, casual solo player, have a family, want competitive but not hardcore play. I'm having a lot of fun playing this game. Not sure about the issues people say, I read that you cannot play this game solo which I do, and a lot of other things. I didn't buy this game because of that reviews, but I bought it on steam sale and I'm having a lot of fun. Of couse, I won't be a six start player (the best rank you can get), of course this game with friends is better (like most of the games out there), but this game is super funny and nothing like I played before. I wanted some competitive, but I'm old and casual enough to not enjoy games like CS2 where any teenager is going to kick my ass, but here? You can outsmart a lot of plays and players, and I'm failing at it but having fun because I can learn from my mistakes so everyday I play a bit better. No insane aim, just learn from playing and outsmarting. One step at a time, but this game is so much fun. Don't let other review discourage you if you want to try, for me it's super funny and I'll play it much more. For the record, I bought it with some DLCs because I liked the Hunters, but they are cosmetic, no advantage at all while playing the game, so do it if you want the looks, because they don't make any difference and you can purchase skins with in game currency and of course with real life currency at any time But, it must be said, be ready for a terrible UX in the menu. You get used to it, but makes you wonder how someone can make that.... it's just counter intuitive in some places

This Game was amazing and really fun to play with friends but ever since the 1896 Update something has just felt off with the game to me, Honestly I didn't mind the new UI too Much but it just felt like the Game's Performance Tanked after the Update, I don't think I ever had Problems with the game before but Suddenly my Bushes are now looking like Minecraft Blocks. I'm sure they've done Updates to the game to fix any performance issues the game has but I don't think I'll come back to playing this game again cause it Just doesn't feel the same while playing it anymore. {6.5/10} [9/10 Before the 1896 Update]

This game went from being one of my favorite games to play alone or with friends to being a completely different game that has taken what made the game great in the early days (the way the guns played, the pacing of combat, etc.) to a game where it feels like the devs asked themselves "How can we make this more like every other game on the market?". Their answer to that question was to add special ammo that feels like shit to play with and against, add countless weapon variants that shoot faster and border on an automatic weapon from other shooters, and running everything on servers with a tick rate that barely beats the amount of time it takes to get to the moon and back. I've been incredibly conflicted with leaving a negative review because I want this game and the devs to succeed but with the current state of the game I can't encourage people to give it a try. If they are able to walk back some of the changes and bring back the parts of Hunt that made it unique then I'm all for recommending it. Until then I'll be waiting for the game Hunger and hope it gives me the same feelings of fun and satisfaction this game used to give me before it went down the toilet.

super buggy and the developers have no clue what theyre even doing but very fun niche gothic cowboy extraction game. bounty clash go hard

Extremely fun game (most of the time), but since this recent update they absolutely DESTROYED MMR and and I am way out of my league in games now. Normal 2-4 star lobbies turned into nothing but 5-6 star lobbies and it's ruining the game for me. Fix your shit crytek

80% of my time with this game was in it's early access/first iterations. I know more people are pissed about recent changes, but i havn't even played the newest version of the game since they lost me awhile ago. This is was the last battle royale I bothered trying before really understanding they weren't for me. The reason being is that this game does a lot of things really well, atmosphere and basic pve mechanics, the sound and hide and seek mechanics are a nice strategical layer to things, the gunplay is absolutely top notch. PVP (when I played at the time) was fair and solid, and not and overwhelming mess of needing meta knowledge of ammo types and builds. Over time the game got needlessly complex. The UI wasn't updated when they started adding new currencies and tabs making it a cluttered mess to look at, much less navigate. Questionable design changes to systems that were solidly tested and enjoyed as far back as early access.. the devs just seem to have lost touch to me, and that was before this recent 1896 update. I think this game sells itself on the idea very well.. and it's a great idea, implementing the hide and seek mechanics with the gunplay in this era. The moment to moment gameplay CAN be interesting when things unfold or do come together in those rare occasions where you've tracked that team and they ran into another team and you can set up a flank and get them both with yours.... but the reality is you will usually be creeping very slowly through maps to avoid sound traps or being seen. Lots of hiding, waiting, and educated guessing. You can play faster and more carelessly but even with a lot of knowledge it can work against you. Strategies are often based on movement, usually large flanks to force a mini encirclement, or to reposition outside the enemies incoming flank, and spawn points will usually dictate the pace of your game. Spawning near another player spawn or early obj may totally change your approach to that game and put you more on "defense" than "offense" depending on how you choose to engage. Simply put, I'm fine with the difficulty and learning curve in this game but I don't like how patience in this game doesn't always pay off,(even in a way where you learn something) the matches can be long, the updates can be rocky/questionable, and there's a lot of nothing going on a majority of your play time. The game doesn't respect my time enough for me to bother with it anymore, and I havn't even touched the game in years. Add to that the harshness of the character loss system, which, if I was learning a bit more of the why's and hows (like implementing an actual kill cam which the devs say they cannot do) i'd be more okay with, but after putting so much time into a character only to have no idea where I went wrong - what sight line was I accidentally in, what was the sound I made that pulled their attention - did they just stumble into me? Things like this are never really answered so i just have to guess how to change my gameplan on the next go round with a crappier character. A game on Hunt Runs for 45 minutes, you can extract early, but an early game is still about 15-20min. 80%-90% of that time will be waiting or looking to take a shot. This "lots of nothing for a minute of something" seems to be a Royale problem inherently, which is what I meant earlier, the game does what it does very well, It's just catering more to that hardcore punishing type of royale MP gamer more over time and that's just not my speed. Something like this on a smaller map, maybe round based with lives is more my thing. Great start to the idea though.

Great update. Please keep taking the game in this direction, focusing on QOL and ironing the rough edges instead of big shiny new content, it's EXACTLY what fans want!!

Game is good, not perfect, but pretty good. There are no games like Hunt: Showdown. It's easily my favorite FPS when it comes to PVP : the gunplay, the feeling when you're the one being hunted because you're the bounty holder. The sound design... The basics of the game are easy to understand, but mastering them will take its time. Even with almost 300 hours, I still have a lot of room to improve at the game! A lot of the gripes I had, which came with the 2.0 update, are fixed, while some of them remain : like the UI, which still needs more changes, and the optimization of the title. I genuinely think that the game no longer deserves to have "Mixed" and "Mostly Positive" scores on Steam... But do not get me wrong. As I said, the game still has some flaws: the UI, the optimization, updates being a bit too slow for my taste, the monetization of the game, and my biggest gripe: the lack of new content. Man, how much I need a new boss. Hopefully, after this year (2025 was focused on fixing the game rather than adding new content), we can hope for new (good ?) stuff ! And for God’s sake, not the same event system over and over again...

This game is a little gem. I can't play any other shooter except Hunt now, everything else feels tasteless after playing Hunt.

Just cant recommend this anymore. It used to be such a blast but between the already terrible menus somehow getting much worse, cutting my hunter slots in half after the 1896 update, taking longer than promised to deliver a new map, performance tanking after the 1896 update, and giving us post malone before other promised, wanted and anticipated updates. Had some of the most intense and fun gaming moments of my life playing this game. Such a shame to see what its come to, a mere skin salesman where they take away what you've earned/payed for with its updates. I don't know if i'll ever return to this. Uninstalled after 1896 update, was looking forward to it until my hunter slots went from 12+ to like less than 8 and the horrible menus got even worse. =\ High risk, low loss. Was amazing while it lasted.

Fantastic slow paced tactical extraction shooter. Audio and positioning is important, shots count. No crafting or anything else besides the great core gameplay loop. Game gets improved over time and despite some issues like bugs, very few balancing patches during events and still missing content from pre 2.0, it is in my opinion the best shooter out there currently and will hopefully only get better over time.

The many awful design choices of this game are arguable. The fact that I can queue randomly for a gamemode that ONLY allows three player mode on my own, and get two teamates, but if I queue up with a friend, im physically blocked from queuing with a third, forcing me to be at a disadvantage for NO reason. That's arguable. But the fact that my game has now crashed twice RIGHT before I was about to win a game, making me lose both my victory, and the character I came in with which costs in game money and time to maintain and level up, then FORCIBLY VERIFIED MY FILES, and REFUSES to launch until the multiple minute process is over, despite the fact that my files are perfectly fine, and this buggy ass game wont stop crashing for no reason, because its PLAGUED with technical issues. It took them way too long to release a UI update and while it is an improvement I'd say over all they didnt fix HALF THE UI ISSUES IN THE FIRST PLACE THAT WOULD REQUIRE A UI UPDATE. This game is riddled with poor design choices, and riddled with bugs that are almost never being fixed. Until it does, my review will remain negative despite how much I play, because I don't think it's worth the price I bought it at for such a subpar experience of what could otherwise be an incredible game.

I got the game because the guns looked interesting and fun to use, but the entire skill ceiling of the game is just knowing where the other player is and hiding. If you dont like shooting things, this game is good for you, but if you actually want to be allowed to shoot your gun more than 10 times every round, avoid it.

This game has the best sound in any game I've played. It's very addictive and the devs do their best to listen to the community. They're pretty good on fixing issues relatively fast. I love the game and recommend it to everyone. I have over 6k hours and I'm not even bored.

For me currently the best extraction-shooter experience. Brought me back into multiplayer shooter and makes me want to master every aspect of it, even though it has a steep learning curve. The wild-west-horror setting with single loaded, bolt and lever action guns and throwables make the showdowns very exciting. Every kill, every success feels very rewarding. Most of the time even loosing does not feel that bad, as you still might have had an awesome round or maybe you learned something new. Every round is different, unique and rememberable. There are currently 4 beautifully handcrafted maps your can sink thousands of hours into it without getting bored. The focus on audio clues and the general audio design is phenomenal. Hearing is more important than seeing. This also benefits the tense atmosphere and the overall astethics of the game. The Graphics are on a very high detailed level if you bring a mid- to high-end gaming setup. (Bring more than 8GB of VRAM and lots of L3 Cache) The game had some issues with updates which made some fans a little bit salty, but those were minor things and got sorted out after some time. I wish all the best for this game's future, full servers and long lasting support as there is nothing compareable out there.

The gameplay loop is fun and engaging, offering an experience that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s enjoyable whether you’re playing solo or teaming up with others. There’s a good variety of playstyles, each supported by a selection of weapons that suit different approaches.

Multiplayer issues. Party with friends is not working.

The company doesn't care or doesn't have the competence to fix/prevent absurd things from happening in a competitive game, examples: - Usability is horrible, it was after 1.5 - Inconsistent damage, especially in sholt bolt, I don't know if they fixed it but it lasted a long time, unacceptable - They keep adding silent weapons to the game, encouraging camping. Not to mention that they prioritize releasing skins instead of fixing critical bugs and always with the promise that they will fix it, but here's a skin while that doesn't happen.