I remember when a friend asked if he could buy this game for me so that we could play together. I wrote a long message about how "I will only accept the gift if it does not come with the expectation that I will play the game".

See I was worried that I wouldn't like the game. I love FPS games but it seemed so different from what I was used to. It was a cowboy game? Set in an era with old guns? It was hardcore, so you lost what you brought with you upon dying? Seemed more stressful than fun... but...

My love for hunt was almost instant, and has now outlived that very friendship. I was at one point playing this game more than than I was working at my full time job. I've spent unknowable amounts of money and time both on this game, and in search of anything to scratch the same itch this game does. Which is all the more relevant now because...
The last year to year and a half have been VERY hard on a Hunt fan. The game has faltered and at times stalled entirely. There are persistent bugs, issues that have been present and reported since day 1 (Looking at you perma-poison bug) there are *baffling* balance design decisions (like increasing the window for you and your opponent to trade kills instead of updating the tick rate of the servers) and overall a lack of communication from Crytek on the state and future of this game.

Its been 4 years since a new basic enemy was added to the game, 3 years almost to the day a new map was added, and in the same time only 1 new boss, Scrapbeak and 1 new "Half" boss in Rotjaw.
Coming soon, just about 6 weeks from the time of this review, a "Major Relaunch" of Hunt: Showdown is happening. A new map, completely reworked menus and UI, an updated engine, whispers of new bosses or enemies and hopefully upgrades to the faltering backend of this game.

I hate to sound negative because in all, this game changed me, my habits, my hobbies and my interests in a very profound way.

I've met some really great people, and made even better memories in the Bayou.

And I hope beyond hope that August the 15th, 2024 is the turning point for one of the most unique and enthralling video game experiences I've ever had.

Because if this update doesn't succeed, and succeed beyond all expectations, my fear is that this game will not be here to see the next "Major Relaunch" and worse yet, I don't think Crytek will either

This was my favorite shooter over the past year and a half. However, over the last two weeks they introduced an MMR patch which fundamentally changed the game for the worse.

They took people like me who use varied load outs and are above average players and stuck us in the loneliest MMR bracket. This is in order to make sure casuals and below average players consistently have full lobbies and never get killed by someone slightly better.

Now when I queue into lobbies I’m forced into empty lobbies with just a few people, or a bunch of cheaters, or mega sweats with double my KD who only use the same top tier guns every single game.

It’s extremely boring. I went from having great fun fights with full lobbies to empty lobbies and 40 minute stalemates where no one does anything and the only person who moves gets punished because there are 9 guys sitting around waiting for a single pixel to cross their screen.

They’re essentially punishing players for being decent at the game by relegating us to the worst possible lobbies (essentially a purgatory place where I either have no one to play against or the worst people possible).

It gives me no option but to quit this game. I’m not waiting through multiple load screens on a big map to face a duo and a solo.

There are a lot of people in my boat who share this sentiment.

It’s honestly made me despise the devs that they did this. I’ve been robbed of my favorite shooter when I just wanted to have fun fights.

the butcher is so creampie worthy