Hunt: Showdown 1896

Ending support for non AVX2 processors was a bigger mistake than people are willing to admit. First off, to everyone saying "just upgrade your PC"; No. Every single modern AAA title I play runs incredibly well on my i7-4930k, Starfield, Cyberpunk 2077 and Hunt Showdown pre-AVX2 update were all running at 120+fps on medium settings no problem. There is a huge percentage of players that can no longer play a game they have put money into, and many are unaware that the issue is because of the AVX2 update. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to play the only game in my field of view that requires me to upgrade, I will spend it on multiple other games. Hunt is permanently going into the trash bin.

O, how the mighty have fallen. Hunt was once at the very top of my list; I played it constantly, I loved it, I adored it. A Gothic horror/occult/zombie extraction shooter set in the Louisiana bayou with incredibly realistic gun play and strenuous attention to detail? Absolutely a 10/10. But after the engine and UI update, the game basically became unplayable for me. Matches used to load in 2 1/2 minutes at the maximum, but after the relaunch? Roughly 5 minutes of loading, after which, you might not even be able to properly play anyway; unloaded maps, constant crashes, and horrible lag when rendering objects (not to mention the struggle of actually finding the button to start matchmaking) made post-1896 Hunt a shadow of its former glory, not to mention the rampant cheating and hacking that Crytek refuses to do anything about. I desperately long for Hunt to be restored to its glory days, but alas, all seems lost, and the devs are far more focused on releasing new paid cosmetics to notice their game withering around them.

Hunt was a great game...
Until the 1896 update prioritized "fuller" lobbies over actually balanced matches between teams of players, completely destroying the already extremely flawed matching making system.

Regardless of player highs and lows during or not during "events". 3 to 4 star Matchmaking rating players (fresh, returning, or "occasional" players) should not be paired with high end 6 star MMR players who have an overwhelming amount more experience, hours, and skill. And if those 3 to 4 star players happen to kill a handful of 6 star players, (who are possibly not even 6 star skill level themselves, given current circumstances) they should not instantly be stuck as a 6 star themselves until they suffer 30+ deaths in a row (intentionally or not, at the hands of other players or cheaters, it literally doesn't matter anymore) in order to get back to where they should ideally be in terms of "skill" according to this extremely broken system.

Everyone can argue and complain all day and night about the numerous bugs, balancing issues, completely uncontrolled cheaters at high end MMR and smurfs who supposedly abuse lower end mmr, certainly.
But whenever I've tried to introduce or bring friends back to the game and their experience is overwhelmingly negative with death after death after death against players who possesses hundreds of hours more then them, or witnessing my own identical and horrid experience with the matchmaking system...

A fundamentally broken matchmaking system will always be fundamentally broken even when it's "working as intended." or has the "critical" mass of player counts to function "properly."
No amount of new player on-boarding, bug fixing, or balance changes can do anything except band-aid a already long rotting and infected wound on what otherwise is supposed to be a great game.

Say "git guud" and point out "It's a competitive pvp game" all you want, but regardless if it's a silenced bush camper that kills you from across the map or getting turned to red paste the second you make a sound or minuscule error in your own play... Players new and existing need to be able to enjoy playing the game if you want them to stick around and keep it from becoming purely cheaters or sweaty no lifers.
Getting destroyed over and over and over again isn't exactly in most people's idea of enjoyment, and then being outright punished by the system for simply doing "good" a handful of times on top of that is just a really extra rotten way for a competitive game to slowly die.

"If it's not fun, why bother?"

Once, this was one of the best games I ever played, with a reaally big potential. Now, it's just a shadow of it once was and could be. The exactly image of a Winning Game with waaaay too BAD and NEGLIGENT Devs who takes waaay too long to solve any problem/bug, if you are lucky that they ever decide to fix it, just like this concertina bug that could damage you through walls and was around since the game launch. They just decided to fix it now, 5 or 6 years later. Be aware, if you are starting now and expect anything to really be improved or fixed, well, you either need to be really patient (and lucky) or forget it and just accept.

I really enjoyed it while I could, but negligence, bad decision after another bad decision and the path they were taking made me leave this game. Like many other players. Such a shame.

P.S.:Only rating it positive for visibility, but as you could read, I dont really recommend this game anymore, unless you are ok with a bad team of devs who only thinks about making money with new skins and forget to fix the game.

This game was so good and then crytek was like 'man wouldn't it be funny if we upgraded the engine and people who payed for this game can no longer play? Wouldn't it be sick if we ruined the UI???' 'It would be extra sick if we had post malone content and a gun that shoots spinning saw blades automatically in 1896' Read the room guys, jesus christ... I've recommended this game to people who can no longer run it and now i look like an ass hole. Thanks crytek! I haven't witnessed a fall from grace this bad since the tiger woods scandal smdh.

I love the game. However, the devs push off game-altering additions or fixing jarring issues i.e. the UI. Instead, they jump at the first opportunity to pump out cosmetics.... Grimy

I had fun, not gonna lie, spent nearly 4k hours, but I am done for good.
- nerfing things/weapons to the level that no one use them anymore (flashbomb lol)
- ignoring fact that there are servers problems - laaaaags
- EU servers infested with russian/chinese players
- devs don't know how balance weapons/tools - new silenced weapons doesn't fit ? BAM! all silenced weapons -10% nerf damage
- retarded very vocal minority reddit community - keep spamming and devs will make the change you want :D

PS: Very sad Dennis that you let it happen.

amazing game ruined by the devs and community, games full of social rejects and cheaters.

wanted to get back into it, stupid update caused the game to no longer launch for me. and many others. save the money, dont buy it. shitty devs at it again ruining another game

The review describes the state of the game in 2025:
At the very beginning, the game makes a very positive impression. High-quality graphics, great atmosphere, weapons, various mercenaries and pleasant gunplay. Unfortunately, after a few years, the game still has the same problem. There are two styles of play: you sit in the bush with a sniper rifle at a distance, or you guard the artifact at close range with a shotgun. There is practically no medium-range combat. Shotguns are still too strong and the game highly rewards this style of play. Additionally, recent changes have introduced such an unintuitive and artificially complicated interface that character customization becomes a torment.

this game is nothing like how it was when I first started playing, It is such a disappointment that a unique IP like Hunt: Showdown has been so poorly developed and managed. Don't be fooled by the trailers, because the game is played nothing like them. Ultimately Hunt: Showdown will die out because of the constant betrayal of long time supporters to try and bring in more players, all while failing to keep those new players interested in the game. Instead of bug fixes you get DLCs that nobody asked for, and a bi-monthly paid battlepass that used to be free. I wish I could request a refund because this isn't what I paid for many years ago. This games last chance is being sold to a new company that might take better care of it.

Hunt: Showdown 1896 - A good game for a company, but you can play it alone. Although, it's much scarier that way. A game in which the range of emotions is very diverse. You can be happy, afraid or disappointed. You probably won't win all the time. I don't know, maybe the DLC allows you to do this... In general, you can either go on the attack or wait, sitting in the bushes. Or you can just get a bullet in the forehead, not understanding where the shot came from. And... Be surprised. Be horrified. Yea.
Basically, grind, like everywhere else. Donate... But there's a lot of content for "free" time. Well, I guess. It hurts to lose your fighter. But you can buy a new one. That's how it is. Money decides.

But hanging out with friends a couple of times is just right.

Devs managed going from one of the worst main menu Interfaces that exist to singlehandedly the worst by a landslide

The gameplay is fun, except if you want it fast cause this game consists of camping molders

I used to play a lot of different games. Then I discovered Hunt: Showdown, and now it’s the only game I play. I’m genuinely surprised this game isn’t more popular. It deserves way more recognition. If you’re looking for something unique, challenging, and rewarding, Hunt: Showdown is absolutely worth your time.

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.

If you are from South Africa or another country with no access to servers (your closest server is 100ms+) then forget about this game, Crytek have finally tuned matchmaking to segregate higher ping players to their own matches which results in a much lesser experience of the game (Matches with on average, two teams, after long queue times) being Crytek of course, there is no refund or compensation for this product which we purchased, Crytek have been bullied by the minority player base into literally leaving players behind after years of loyalty.

Very rampant cheater problem at high "MMR". Frequently some high ranked players land first shot headshots at intermediate ranges through cover/concealment against both players on a team as fast as the bolt on the rifle can cycle, sometimes while hip firing. While both of the aforementioned players are decently spread out and have approached silently/concealed. Then you proceed to spectate them stumble around the game exhibiting lack of game knowledge akin to someone who just picked the game up, almost dying to NPC trash mobs. Other high ranked MMR players seem normal, and exhibit good gunplay and game knowledge at the same time, but never execute the aforementioned "aimbot" like behavior.

The game overall has a very fun premise, some annoying bugs, and horrible UI choices after the engine swap. All of it could have been overlooked if only there were less cheaters. I have no problem getting stomped, that's how I get better. But when there is even a PERCEPTION of rampant cheating as you move up the skill "MMR" ranking system... The game falls apart dramatically. Sometimes you get lucky and match against normal people at 5-6 star MMR rating and it ends up being an intense experience, where the game truly shines. Sometimes even when you end up losing. But 2 out of 3 games usually terminate in a quite horrible cheater experience.

New content since they added "1896" to the title has ruined a great game. I loved the game until the new changes. New UI is disgusting and new guns are stupid. Please just go back to what it was Crytek. Hunt: Showdown used to be a extract shooter with unique twist and entry into the horror genre. Now the entire game feels like a sellout and the developers don't care about they're game anymore.

End of Feb 2025 they decided to 'silent launch' a ping limiter. If you have over 100ms ping, you will essentially be soft region locked and limited to play outside of the normal match making pool.

Expect 5-10 minute queue times (if you are lucky), empty games, and ludicrous matchmaking with the handful of die-hard players that still somehow persevere through it all.

No communication given about the change, not on the official discord, socials, or official site.

Thanks for taking my money, and then robbing me of the product you sold me. I've never felt like such a 'second class citizen' in my life.

With the new update, I can't say I liked the UI but the graphics are definitely better. Bullet drop won't be felt that much unless you really are a sneaky hunter with lots of patience and using sniper rifles all the time. Other than that, as a hardcore hunt gamer with almost 2K hours now, I must say that the team is doing and trying for better with keeping us updated and listening to the community. May the hunt never end and good luck lads!

Hunt has lost most of it's identity since the mammon update, game went from my Hyper focus game, to thrown in the closet and buried under old blankets. Balancing is wack, servers run off literal hamsters, crytek seems to only prioritize skins leaving bug fixes and balancing few and far between (usually at start and end of "events." ) on that note, Crytek needs to constantly be pushing out these cash grab seasons labeled as an event in order to even try and retain players, Posty season was solid but the last decent event was Serpent's moon. In short this game isn't what it use to be and isn't what made it many players favorite game. Once the game feels like the DEV cares about it's community again maybe then I'll play it more, but until then have fun with your spam weapons and broken gun variants (who thought a suppressed Krag or a pocket Crown was a solid Idea in the first place?)

p.s. thank god they brought back the monster lore...

was a great game before they changed the matchmaking so that anyone with a ping over 100ms dont get matched with people below, it caused matchmaking times even at peak times to take up to 10 min. Even after the 10min you will still be loaded into empty lobbies it is not fun anymore. So if you are in Africa, south America, most of Russia, Korea and japan ,i would not recommend wasting money

Don't buy this is you are not from EU/USA. The recent ping update is basically a region lock and you will most likely not find any matches.

im so over this game 2.4k hrs and its turned into trash they have added a sneeky ping limit anyone from oce who play other servers to find games rip hunt for us it was fun while it lasted

Welcome to hunt showdown, where bullets aren't real and MMR doesn't matter!

Seriously you will run into 5/6* teams in a 3/4* lobby, where the combined MMR of a 3* team is 2.5* and yet a 5.5 MMR, 5* ranked team will be able to join in.

I love the game conceptually. It fulfills the old west aesthetic and tone, the gameplay teaches itself well by repetition, the sound design is fantastic and basically becomes your second best sense after sight, the losing characters and items isn't so bad after a few dozen matches. My main criticism is the learning curve is so steep with the PVP I wish there was a PVE exclusive mode, I know that'd ruin part of the point of being a PVP extraction game.

Part of my reasoning is people with no friends or who don't want to join groups. This game is miserable solo. I know plenty of people who left because they didn't want to join other players who wished they didn't have to fight other people. You are nearly required to have a well coordinated group. Then even if you do have a group the discrepancy between skilled and unskilled players creates a fall off cliff from the necessary amount of skill needed to make it through the game. I am personally horrendous at shooters, but liked this game so much I wanted to at least be subpar. But that's impossible as the game shrinks and only loyalists and newbs are left, especially with the 1896 update that divided the fans. This game is becoming like Dota 2, the learning curve's too steep and the game has driven people away to the point there's only the best and the newbs, who then leave because they can't handle the best. What's left is a dwindling pool of high skilled sharks and no guppies. If there can't be a PVE mode for unskilled players, people who don't want to fight other people or people with no friends, at least try to find a way to make the skill cliff less steep.

I really hope this game gets back on its feet. I have a deep respect for it from a distance and despite being garbage at it I watch and enjoy every moment of its gameplay save the PVP extraction personally, but do see why other love it and it's great to watch. I also hope they stop with their destruction of the game's spirit with the promotions and nonsensical additions to try to lure interest. People were attracted to this game's stern/stoic solidarity, not celebrity promotions.

After 4 years of playing, with over 3,900 hours of playtime, and after suffering from the terrible last year the game has been through, i think the time has finally come to say goodbye to this game under a terrible new team which has destroyed the essence of the game. The past year has been more frustrating than the enjoyable experience this game once had and i took it because i am addicted to the game. The game is unplayable for me now as i have to sit through 20+ minutes to find matches.

How they made a Game UI more painful to navigate than a government website should be studied.

Devs ignore balance changes that need to happen, and points of community frustration, when the fixes do come usually months later, they come in half-measures, or in a convoluted way that causes more problems than the one it fixes.

Hunt has turned to crap, David Fiefiled and the COD mentality killed this game. Post Malone? In hunt? Wtf? Not even the new skins make sense with the game anymore, this is the beginning of the end for this game.

A shell of what it used to be. Having played since 2019, this game peaked in 2021, and every update these days feels like one step forwards, but two steps back. There's plenty of long essays in the reviews breaking it down, but that's all it boils down to imo. RIP Hunt Showdown.
I'll probably still play every once in awhile when I get that itch, then realize it's not as good as I remember, and then stop playing for another period. Or maybe they'll get their act together and bring back it's glory, but that's doubtful.
Is it a bad game? Not entirely. Would I recommend it? Not anymore. Just overall pretty mid now, when it used to be great.

the removal of bounty clash game mode was insane. the quick matches and intensity of bounty clash brought me back to the game but by removing it they have removed me as a player. if anything remove sole survivor that game mode is absolutely trash.

I'm really disappointed with the management of this game. The base game is already slow, with large maps that make it feel empty. To address this, they introduced a great, fast-paced game mode—but now they've removed it. We're back to a walking simulator where you barely see anyone all game.

The servers are terrible, with awful ping in every match. Compared to CS:GO, where I get 12ms, this game is far from a good experience in its current state. I don’t understand why so many resources were put into creating a new game mode only to remove it multiple times, again and again. That effort could have been used to improve the servers instead.

Here’s a summary of my last 10 games:

1st Game: Server crash
2nd Game: Server crash
3rd Game: Got stuck/bugged in a roof, can't move, dies.
4th Game: Server crash
5th Game: Extracted the bounty without seeing a single other player
6th Game: Friend gets killed by a water demon—while lying on the ground, nowhere near water
7th Game: Server crash
8th Game: Server crash
9th Game: Rushed by a katana-wielding ninja who one-taps me
10th Game: Get stuck climbing a ladder and glitched into a roof again

Long, annoying matches on unstable servers that constantly crash—do better.

This game was once the best extraction shooter on the market unfortunately it's lost all sense of direction with bad update after bad update and I doubt the devs even want to fix it at this point.

Even the old Xbox version of the game was better than this.

This game is designed for the worst type of gamers. If you want to be a complete rat, this tool will give you all the tools you need to do it. If you have any self respect for the style of gameplay you do, then you will be at a huge disadvantage and get destroyed by rats.

Dont listen to the bad comments, just TRY it trust me its the best shooter out there. The only thing is that its quiet hard to get into it as a new player. But if you want i offer to help you out and guide you through everything! Just add me or react to the Comment of mine. :)

my friends and I have been asking for something new for 6 years. We love the concept and the setting but nothing has changed. A 1-bounty mob does not count as something new. A "new" map that uses the same assets as the other maps does not count as a new map. WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE "GRAPHICS" UPDATES. WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE UI, DESPITE HOW HORRIBLE IT IS AND HOW THEY MANAGE TO KEEP MAKING IT WORSE. WE DONT CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT STUFF. PLEASE JUST ADD A NEW BOUNTY OR A NEW MAP THAT ISN'T A TEMPORARY EVENT THAT LEAVES IN 2 MONTHS. Also the bug drones ruin the flow of matches. Like, it doesn't makes sense how nothing has changed in all this time. Is there only like 2 people working on the game? I WANT TO PLAY THE GAME BUT IM TIRED OF RUNNING THE SAME MAP AGAINST THE SAME BOSS FOR THE 300th TIME. please, stop spending money on this game until they actually start caring

It's a great niche-shooter. Or it used to be, at least.

The last few updates have been plagued with util and weapons that increase the pace of the game, which is simply against the core of it's identity. The latest addition being the "revive bolt" for a cheap and readily available sidearm. When you play a tactical shooter, revealing your position to land a killshot shouldn't be punished, it should be rewarded. In extreme cases it even allows the player you killed to get back up on his feet and return fire at you before you've managed to reload your single-shot breach-loader. Which in and of itself sounds ludicrous, and there's so much more context to why this addition just does not make any sense. It's obviously aimed at drawing in a broader audience, while alienating their core-playerbase.

Oh and the UI sucks more cock than your average sorority house on a random friday night, but that's old news by now.

I have played this game for over 3,000 hours, its a steep learning curve at the start.
Sometimes hunt giveth some days she taketh.
I play for fun not to sit in a bush for 20 minutes lioke some players in the six star lobbies.
Its a good game and fun for the most part, I would recommend it to most fans of shooters.
See you in the bayou!

This game is at best a shadow of its former self. it had great personality and did something unique, now its just another cod warzone daycare. do not get this. all the cool videos and clips you see are from a time long gone. it was nice while it lasted...

It used to be a great game, it struggeled with game breaking bugs, broken servers, cheaters, OP weapons and even pay to win skins. But it was ture to its core philosophy. At some point the game has started to turn from Hunt: Showdown to Spam Showdown. Today the general direction of the game has shifted into modernity, "popular shooter games trends" and collaborations with "celebrities" as well as rerelease of the game with unfinished HUD, poor QA/QC of the UX. And it's all surrounded by loyal media bubble. I don't recommend this game if you're seeking for unique game. I recommend the game to those who has strong kneecaps, and you can crouch for 30 minutes through bushes, and you have absolutely no idea of situational awareness and importance of desicion making, based on the information you obtain from your surroundigs.

This game WAS fun. Then something changed. Also: aggressive marketing of new battlepasses and skins; ignoring major issues with balance, lags and performance; letting cheaters thrive and play freely.

I love this game. I have played over 1000 hours of Hunt. I have a huge tattoo of the team extract symbol on my leg. The gunplay, the environments, the pacing, the atmosphere, are all incredible. It has been my go-to multiplayer game with my friends for almost FIVE YEARS at this point. I have supported the team via relatively consistent BB / DLC purchases that I am not necessarily desperate for but I buy just to keep them running the game.

It genuinely breaks my heart to leave a negative review on something Iove so much, but **I cannot recommend this game in its current state.** I sincerely hope that Crytek makes some seirous improvements in the near future.

Some details:

I was really, really excited for the update and the new map. I have hardware that is substantially better than the current "recommended" specifications, and I thought I would not have any trouble. Ever since the engine update I am lucky to get 70 fps (on mostly low settings). I used to get 110 VERY consistently on mid level graphics.

The connectivity issues are almost as bad as they were in 2020.

The UI update is horrendous. They took a very straightforward and easy-to-use mouse-and-keyboard-friendly user interface and replaced it with a slow, GPU-hogging, confusing mess that was clearly designed to mimic popular console fps games.

I am looking forward to the day when I can go back to enthusiastically recommending this game to every single person I know with a PC.

Was something really unique. Has been reduced to a parody of its former self in an attempt to try to steal Fortnite's audience(?).

Was good, is now bad. Sad.

They completely ruined a good game. New menu UI is so complicated and confusing now. Graphic bugs and optimization have never been worse. This is not the case only with me, but also with my friends. We wanted to play hunt again after new updates and we were very disappointed.
I also miss old music.

From best fps shooter to worst game of the century. Server lag, packet loss, all you need to get fun in a competitive fps.

Fun extraction shooter.
Menuing is absolutely abysmal. 54 clicks and 3 different screens to make one loadout.
Region lock is easily bypassed so look forward to playing against high ping.
Don't bother reporting them either, Crytek does not look at in-game reports.
GG Crytek, biggest boss you guys killed was the game itself.

The 1986 update absolutely ruined the game. What was once a beautiful, slow-paced experience with challenging, hard-to-master weapons has now been turned into a Call of Duty clone. The focus seems to be on attracting more players and chasing fame, rather than preserving the essence of what made the game so special. It feels like the game has lost its soul, and that's truly heartbreaking, especially since it's been one of my all-time favorites. The hours I've spent playing are a testament to how much I loved it, but now, it's just a hollow version of what it used to be.

Nothing about the game works. Crytek does not care about the quality at all. Full of ping abusers that can be easily dealt with by bringing region lock to servers. And when there is no abusers the servers are dead. Do not even consider buying it. Developers do not deserve a single player.

Game used to be solid. Went the route of COD's horizontal menus and suppressed weapon meta. When your game opens up to literal ads about the game itself, there's an issue.

Let's face it, the community for Hunt does actually love the game. We're all passionate about this game, and that makes us vocal when things go in a direction that drastically changes the way the game has historically been played. I want updates to the game, this isn't a rant about wanting the "old days" back. This is a rant about how Crytek seems to actively want to push their older, loyal fanbase away for no other reason than to try to turn Hunt into a wild west version of COD to attract the teenager, zoomer, crowd.

There have been lots of ups and downs for this game over the years, and to be honest, if not for the last few updates, I'd say its been a relatively positive experience. Between the revive bolts, circus, beetles, event traits that give you your health bars back, solo res nerf, and complete revision of the GUI (completely terrible change), I can't recommend this game. This used to be a slower, more methodical shooter. Now it's either a camp fest or complete shit show with teams reviving each other 50 times. There's almost no downside to getting killed when you're in a team. You can get res'd immediately with a revive bolt from across the compound and either have not lost a health bar at all due to traits, can use a stim to get your health bar back, or make a quick trip to the circus to get it back. This drastically changes the way the game is played for teams as it's less punishing for a player making a mistake and drags fights out so long that it becomes a tedious camp fest.