TLDR; Hunt Showdown is one of the most unique experiences I've had in over 20 years of gaming. You absolutely need to try it if you like atmospheric settings and tense PvP combat. It's also on sale right now for $20 which is an absolute steal for this quality of game.

I honestly thought I had already reviewed this game, so I immediately jumped to it when I realized I didn't. Hunt Showdown is a PvPvE game (player vs player vs environments), meaning that you are fighting against both other players as well as the AI. That in itself is not totally unique as other games have similar systems, but the entire core of Hunt revolves around this system to an extent most others don't.

You select your Hunter on the menus and equip them as you desire. All weapons and equipment are setting-appropriate for 1890's Louisiana, with gun brands such as Mosin Nagant, Winchester (called Winfield), Colt (called Caldwell), and others prominently featured. You also equip your various tools (knife, medkit, traps, etc.) and consumables (explosives, health/antidote/stamina shots, poison/flash bombs, etc.). Hunters also have access to perks/traits which I'll talk about later.

You ready up then your team spawn on the edge of the map. Teams can be duos or trios, but you can also go in solo if you're up for a challenge. There can be a maximum of 12 players per match, which doesn't sound like a lot, but holy hell is it more than enough for what's about to go down. Your goal is to discover 3 clues that will lead you to one of (currently) 4 AI bosses, kill said boss, banish it, then extract with the bounty token. Sometimes there are two bosses on the map, in these cases the rewards are split between the two bounties.

One snag - that's what every single other team is also trying to do. As I mentioned before, Hunt is designed from the ground up with PvPvE in mind. One simply doesn't work without the other, and if you removed either aspect, the game would be pointless. They have an inextricable link, and will affect each other in various ways.

AI zombies, varying from your standard grunts to flaming immolators, bullet resistant armored, poisonous hives, giant cleaver-wielding meatheads, and more are littered around the map. They will get in your way, attack you, and most importantly, make a lot of noise as you fight them.

Sound is EVERYTHING in Hunt. You can hear every single gunshot that takes place across the map as long as you're listening, even if it's just the faint sound of a small caliber pistol. You can be certain that if you make a lot of noise by firing your gun or blowing something up, other players will hear it and more often than not, either come looking for you or set up an ambush wherever they think you're going. There are also sound traps all over in the form of flocks of crows, dogs trapped in kennels, glass shards on the ground, and just movement itself. This game has the single best sound design and binaural 3D audio in any video game ever made and that is not an exaggeration. Once you're accustomed to it, you'll be able to identify not only what direction a gunshot came from, but also which weapon fired it, and how far away it is. Same goes for the aforementioned sound traps and footsteps.

You find your clues, you figure out where the boss is, and you go after it. So did other players provided they weren't killed by AI or other players. This is how the game facilitates its PvP combat. When only two bounty tokens are available and 12 players on a server, only one team typically gets out with the reward.

Fights are tense, and can be anywhere from over in two headshots to lasting 15-20 minutes. It's about patience, lining up your shots, and hitting headshots as much as possible. Every gun can kill with a single bullet to the head depending on range, so precision is everything. Alternatively, you can use the bomblance or saber and sprint at your enemies like a madman to catch them off guard. You'd be surprised how often that works.

Now let's say you've killed the boss and had a few fights and are looking worse for wear. When you banish the boss you have to wait 3 minutes for the tokens to become available, and it also fully restores your health. This is especially important if you've died and been revived or had one or more health chunks burned off by fire damage. Once the three minutes are up, you can pick up the token and head to extraction.

But not so fast, there might be people around! There is no way to know how many people are left in a match. The only way to know if a team is dead for sure is to kill them yourself or count up 9/10 other bodies depending on whether you're playing duos or trios. This all adds to the incredibly tense environment and can lead to some serious spooks when you think you're by yourself then suddenly a bullet whizzes by your head.

Once you extract - which can actually be done at any time not only when you have a token - the game is over and you see a summary of your rewards including experience, money, and blood bonds. Experience levels up the hunter you were playing as, as well as your bloodline, which is basically your meta/account progression which allows you to unlock more equipment.

As hunters level up (1-50) they get trait points which can be spent on various beneficial perks. Just a few examples are Fanning which allows you to fan the hammer of single action revolvers to shoot very quickly, Doctor which doubles the amount your first aid kit heals, and Beastface which reduces the range at which AI crows and dog kennels trigger. There are dozens of perks with varying costs and strength which allow you to customize your hunter greatly along with your equipment. You can build your hunter using perks to benefit snipers, or perks to benefit close quarters shotguns.

If your hunter dies during a match and is not revived, they are permanently dead. You lose all the equipment and levels they had and start fresh with a new hunter. Fortunately, you can have up to 5 to start with, and can buy extra slots with the relatively easily obtainable blood bonds.

I have so much more to say but this review is already so long. You absolutely should buy this game as it's one of the most unique competitive shooters you will ever play. It's got a steep learning curve, but once you get it, it hooks you and you won't want to go back to anything else. Plus it's only $20 right now, go buy it.