Hunt: Showdown

My favorite part of the game isn't the gunplay, it isn't the maps, and it isn't the character designs.
It's checking profiles after matches and seeing most accounts have accusations of hacking, abusing ping, and or vac bans on record.

Hunt Showdown used to be a great game. It was challenging, rewarding, and most importantly. Fun. It was the thinking mans FPS, where no matter how bad your gear was, if you out thought or out shot your opponent you could win.
This still holds true to a degree. However since the 1886 Engine/UI update its been reduced to an okay game.
The Engine Update has more or less been good. Tons of players have reported issues with the game since then, I was lucky and my AMD based system didn’t suffer anything worse then reaching barely playable frame rates. Overall, this is the only part of the update I don’t believe has damaged the games core identity in any way.
The UI topic has been done to death so I’ll only say that in the hundred odd hours I’ve played since it was released, I still struggle constantly. Its without a doubt a nightmare for new players.
The various weapon changes and balances are however where things start to take a turn for the worse. Hunt has always had weapons that were simply better in every way then other weapons, regulating them to meme loadouts or simply never to be seen in the Bayou. With the addition of special ammo, this only made weapon variety worse, as the good weapons became great, and the great weapons God-tier. This isn’t restricted to PvP weapons either. The weapons that were best used against AI have been heavily nerfed. On the PvP side, tweaks and balances have been implemented to improve the worst affected weapons. Such as certain types of special ammo to be removed from some guns or given to others. On the AI side. Nothing. This was one of the biggest and most divisive updates in Hunts history, and in hindsight was a sign of what was to come with the 1886 update and its changes.
Gameplay changes are what is making most people leave the game currently. The stated goal of these changes from Crytek themselves is make games end quicker. That is it. They want players to enter the server and leave as fast as possible. To this end they increased the burn rate of downed hunters, reduced the effect of the choke bomb, and added more options to burn bodies. They also changed Necromancer, a powerful-ish trait that allows players to revive downed teammates from a distance, to such a state that I have seen it used only a handful of times. Hunt Showdown used to be more then a name, it was a description for the gameplay. You searched for clues or hunted other players down, reaching a compound where you had a showdown that left only one team alive. Now the way the game is played people rush areas of high traffic and force conflict, with the bosses becoming a secondary objective. It’s PvEvP style of gameplay has changed perhaps irreversibly to PvPv(on occasion)E
This all adds up to a far more frustrating game, where small mistakes that already punished you greatly are simply brutal. You can still kill anyone or anything with any of the weapons and tools in the game, you can still out think, out maneuver, and outshoot your enemies. However the frustrations you run into have gotten worse and the enjoyment of fighting AI is now non-existent.
And this leads me to my biggest concerns about this games future. Its no secret the playerbase is small and tends to shrink more each year by about a hundred or more players. When I started the average daily player count was about 20,000, now its about 12,000. A really good number for the type of game it is. However it seems like with the newest event and its controversial premise that leads me and others to think Crytek might be trying to appeal to a larger player base. Which has historically killed the soul of every game that does it. I don’t want Hunt to lose its soul, but it looks like its heading that way. So if you’re interested in trying this game, alone or with friends, do it sooner rather then later. Crytek has shown they’re willing to meet players half-way on most issues, but not enough to bring back people who have left. Play now before it stops being Hunt and becomes a ever more generic and wider appealing game then it was when it launched.
I do recommend it still, but you should be forewarned, its a different game then it used to be, and is constantly changing so fast and so much that what makes you fall in love with might change and drive you away in a year or less.
I'll nearing that point myself, and will see what the next event holds before I make the choice leave or not. I hope to see you in the Bayou in the time between now and then.

The game itself is great, the new engine update makes it look a lot better than before, it has removed all the jaggy outlines on a lot of objects/models and for the most part performance seems to be the same or better with DLSS.
The UI is absolutely terrible though, they need to fix it, it's a complete step backwards from a UI that was already a bit awkward to use.
Giving it a positive review, just fix the UI, there's no point reviewbombing the game because of the poor UI when the gameplay is great.

The greatest 1st person shooter experience tied up in the worse user interface devised by human kind, the game will be good eventually when they fix the UI. also when they remove the shitty 800ms trade window.

Reading the recent reviews of the game I feel that I must also add mine, just to contradict what I read from certain people.
I understand that there are players who spent thousands of hours playing Hunt and are now frustrated with some of the current features for the sake of whoever please.. This game is a bombshell compared to the trash that is currently mainstream. Absolutely unique mechanics, game-cycle, atmosphere, outstanding gunfights visuals and sounds. I accept that maybe it was different years earlier (not necessary better, but for some people subjectively), but right now -as a new player I can tell you- It is an absolutely worth to buy game and I urge you if you have the slightest interest, just try it for yourself and do not give into the red-eyed hate-reviews towards the dev's being lazy (not true) or whatever. What kills a game is the impulsive negative comments that would drive newcomers away from the game without even trying.
This is a 100% worthy game.

Before HuntShowdown, I had friends, a stable relationship, and dreams. Now I spend my nights crawling through a sweaty swamp with 3 bullets, 2 teammates, and the constant fear that a raccoon sized mosquito is going to suck my soul out through my butt....maybe?
This game is basically a Wild West fever dream where you and your buddy sneak through bayous full of demonic village dwellers while trying not to scream like a goat every time something goes squelch behind you. Every match feels like a horror movie directed by Quentin Tarantino after six shots of moonshine. This game throws you into a sweaty Louisiana swamp with a rusty gun, a sexy hat, and a dream to kill demon goats ...probably, banish fire touting BDSM zombies, and get out alive while a trio of trenchcoat wearing sociopaths try to clap your cheeks from a bush 400 yards away.
You ever get sniped in the face by a guy hiding in a bush for 20 minutes while you were just trying to extract with your bounty like a good little hunter, you will. That’s the Hunt experience, baby. It’s the only game where I’ve celebrated killing someone by screaming, “Suck my sparks, you camping swamp goblin!” while dancing in the middle of a cornfield only to be immediately third partied by someone named "LilToeTickler420."
The sound design? Immaculate. I once tracked a guy for ten minutes just based on the wet squish of his boots. The atmosphere? Oppressive in a sexy way. Like it’s flirting with your anxiety. Honestly, Hunt makes me feel things my therapist isn’t ready to hear.
And The tension? Absolutely erotic. I haven’t clenched this hard since prom night. The sound of glass breaking or a crow flapping its judgmental wings has made me reflexively squeeze my mouse so hard I accidentally turned it off. Every match feels like a chaotic three-way between Deliverance, Supernatural, and Duck Dynasty After Dark. One minute you’re sneaking through reeds like a stealthy little swamp daddy, and the next your teammate sets the barn on fire, screams “I panicked!” and now there’s a meathead chasing you with a hook. That big bastard is either trying to kill me or seduce me and I’m honestly not sure which one I want.
Would I recommend this game? Absolutely. Just be prepared to lose your mind, your dignity, and any semblance of trust in humanity. Oh, and your pants because if you’re not clenching your cheeks the whole time, you’re doing it wrong. Hunt is not just a gameit’s a lifestyle. A sweaty, anxiety ridden, slightly arousing lifestyle. It teaches you trust, betrayal, and how to scream “I’m bleeding out of every hole!” without shame.
12/10. The swamp is wet and so am I.

Please listen to the players, Revert the UI back or at the very least add an option that allows us to use the old UI. This change was not welcome