Games
Life in Hunt: Showdown's series of run-down locations is hard, follow these tips to give yourself the best chance of survival
Hunt: Showdown is now out on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, and this horror-themed shooter is unlike anything else you’ll have experienced before.
Your team of between one and three hunters aim to hunt a monster, escaping with both your lives and it's remains without one of several other teams killing you or hunting the monster for themselves. That makes for a terrifying cat and mouse game, where the roles can be reversed at any time.
Here are five tips on how to survive in the Bayou, though there's nothing anyone can do about the nightmares – sorry about that.
1. Don’t Shoot!
It seems a strange thing to say in a game where the idea is to kill players and monsters alike, but pulling the trigger doesn’t solve every problem in Hunt: Showdown.
Both of the game’s swampy maps are large, but shots ring out over a huge distance, almost always identifying your team’s location. As a result, its best to keep shooting to a minimum unless absolutely warranted.
If an enemy is stalking you, consider crippling its legs with melee attacks to prevent it from keeping up; while Immolators will burst into flames if shot, so they’re also worth bludgeoning instead.
2. Use Every Trick In The Book
Hunt: Showdown offers an impressive range of tools for players to confuse and mess with opponents and AI enemies alike, and it’s worth digging into the available upgrades to see what might suit your playstyle.
Distraction and deception tools like decoys can be thrown to lure monsters away from a location, while Blank Fire Decoys do the same and often lure in other hunters expecting to catch you in the middle of a firefight.
Then there are traps, which can cause big issues for enemies. The bear trap, for example, can cause bleeding, making another hunter much easier to finish off in a gunfight. Consider putting them under windows and behind doors to catch players out, but don’t forget that they can be triggered by your own team, too.
3. Gently Does It
With so much emphasis on staying quiet and using distraction techniques, stealth is of paramount importance in Hunt: Showdown, but that doesn’t make it easy.
When gathering clues at the start of a round, try to do so without alerting rank and file enemies, and try to stock up if you find a storeroom – all ammo earned can make a big difference against bosses.
When roaming the Bayou and any named locations, keep an eye out for dog cages or chicken coops. Both can cause noise if you get too close, as can broken glass on the floor or hanging chains.
Most importantly, flocks of ravens can be a help and a hindrance. Step too close and they’ll fly off squawking, drawing eyes to your location. See them do the same in the distance, though, and take note of their flight path – they’ll always fly in the opposite direction of where they spotted another player.
4. Don’t Forget Why You’re Here
The main attraction of Hunt: Showdown is its nightmarish boss creatures, and while they’re all equally horrifying, each has its own weakness and they’re all confined to an arena, so keep ducking away from the fight to heal if you need to.
The Butcher is weak to axes and explosives (aren’t we all), so be sure to coordinate with your team to ensure you aren’t rushing in axe-raised just as your teammate’s bomb goes off.
Meanwhile, the Spider monster is weaker to a sledgehammer, but the “Frenzy” mode it gets into make it tough to squash the bug once its health gets low. You can also throw lanterns and anything else that generates fire at it – try not to panic if it climbs onto the wall or ceiling, just keep swinging and shooting.
The Assassin is even tougher to hit, but if you get in close with an axe and swing at its faceless head while teammates set some handy poison items up, you’ll have it slain in no time.
If all of this is a lot to remember, fear not – it is possible to kill any of the three boss monsters with one well-thrown Big Dynamite bundle. As with traps though, don’t get too close.
5. Get Away!
Even killing the monster and getting away isn’t simple in Hunt: Showdown, as you’ll first need to perform a ritual that banishes the horrid creature. This takes two minutes and notifies enemies of your location.
That means restocking ammo and equipment after slaying the beast is key, but so is remaining flexible when it comes to exiting the map.
Exits are randomly placed, and there will always be more than one – and enemies will see them too. That means they’re likely to camp out in the underbrush waiting to steal your plunder. Even the most well-healed and well-equipped team may struggle to battle an enemy that’s well hidden, so consider hightailing it to an alternate exit.
On your way there, look out for telltale signs of enemy positions like the ravens or dogs barking, and be prepared to change extraction points if things get hairier than the Spider’s legs.
