I Wish Hunt: Showdown Had Private Matches

Developed by Crytek, Hunt: Showdown is a multiplayer-focused first-person shooter, in which players compete to take down monstrous creatures. This is a clever twist on the battle royale formula — bringing players together due to the prey they hunt, rather than shrinking the map via a gas or some other force. Typical of the genre, only one can stand victorious (be it a solo player or a team) and that's the one who escapes with the earnings from the kill; it’s not over until the fat lady sings and players can stalk, slay, and betray one another until the bitter end. It's no-holds-barred and it's pretty ruthless, and this brings me to my next point: I wish I could play alone.

Now I know that any long-time, experienced Hunt players reading this will probably type in the comments that I should just "git gud". However, personally, battle royales are just not my cup of tea and thus I have little drive to learn and understand their mechanics. No, what I like about Hunt: Showdown is the premise behind the game — the characters, the world they inhabit, and the weapons they use.

Hunt: Showdown is set in an alternative 19th century, and with that comes a fairly unique and often ill-explored historical setting. The alternative part refers to the existence of foul creatures that prowl the post-apocalyptic land, and our cast of bounty hunters that make it their living killing them. Apart from that, the setting looks like your stereotypical slice of post-Civil War southern bayou living.

Ultimately, I want to avoid having to combat other players and experience the game either solo or with friends. I know that may sound a little crazy; after all, would you want to play Fortnite or PUBG: Battlegrounds alone? Of course not, but Hunt: Showdown has the hunting mechanic backing it up; when you throw in the endless and varied NPC enemies that are scattered across the map, there is still plenty to kill. I want to take in the world and enjoy it without having to constantly dodge other players. Who doesn't love killing zombies Wild West style? While we're on the subject, Hunt also manages to present an arsenal superior to that of other vidoegames set in the same time, such as Red Dead Redemption 2; period appropriate weapons, including revolvers, shotguns, bolt-action and lever-action rifles, and even archaic semi-automatic pistols can all be wielded by the player. But feel free to bring along a hefty axe or sharp knife if you'd prefer.

I appreciate that providing players with an opportunity to avoid the game's main threat — other players — would raise questions surrounding character progression. However, there are a bunch of avenues that Crytek could explore in the pursuit of balancing the game. They could either create a separate line of progression altogether, or even pull a Call of Duty and just give you everything from the start as you wouldn't be interacting with others. They could also just nerf progression gains, heavily restricting (or completely removing) potential unlocks so that players don't abuse it.

I suppose that what I have expressed in this article is ultimately redundant, as the aim of Hunt: Showdown is to be a multiplayer battle royale, something that it arguably accomplishes very well. I just want to love this game, and desperately want to be able to approach it in a different way. A man can dream, I suppose.