History's weirdest shotgun is coming to a videogame near you

hunt: showdown
(Image credit: Crytek)

Hunt: Showdown, a tactical cowboy FPS known for its arsenal of cool, absurd, and forgotten weapons of the 1800s, is only getting weirder. According to a detailed leak outlining an upcoming update, Hunt will soon receive a peculiar historical shotgun design long requested by fans: the Alofs device.

The Alofs is the sort of janky, literally bolted-together piece of tech that was common with early firearm design. By screwing a strange two-tube attachment to the outside of a break-action shotgun, the Alofs could transform a single-shot shotgun into a repeating shotgun capable of firing five shells before reloading, defying god in the process. It's sort of like bolting on all the complicated mechanical insides of a normal pump-action shotgun to the outside, and it looks way cooler.

After videos demonstrating the novelty of the Alofs device garnered millions of views back in 2020, the Hunt: Showdown community took notice. In the years since, fans have asked Crytek to add what they reckon is the perfect addition to a game that already features a Mosin Nagant rifle surgically modified to shoot full-auto, rifles with bladed stocks that double as axes, and a whaling spear that launches explosive harpoons.

The dream appears to be finally coming true in the form of the Romero Alamo, an upcoming variant of the Romero shotgun that transforms the slowest shotgun in the game into one of the fastest. Some players in the recent 1.9 Test Server build were apparently able to equip the Romero Alamo and run around the map using it.

As far as I can tell, that is a vicious shotgun. Hunt already features two other pump-action shotguns that function similarly to this, but the notion of a quick-firing Romero is daunting. The basic Romero shotgun hits very hard and has a longer range than any other shotgun, yet has always been balanced by holding only a single shot before requiring a long reload. With an Alofs device slapped on, the Romero loses its one major downside and could be one of the strongest guns in the game.

hunt: showdown romero alamo

The Romero Alamo, a semi-auto conversion of a break-action shotgun. (Image credit: Crytek, via CF2lter on Reddit)

At least, theoretically. When Crytek introduces a new gun variant, it also tweaks some of its values to balance it out. As a result of the fast-firing mechanism, the Romero Alamo may have decreased range or increased recoil.

Another balancing knob Crytek can tweak is the price of the gun: How many in-game Hunt Dollars will I need to cough up for a supercharged Romero? Likely hundreds.

hunt showdown sparks pistol

(Image credit: Crytek, via CF2lter on Reddit)

The Alamo isn't the only new weapon detailed in the leak. Art apparently datamined from Hunt's test server also suggests the new rifle ammo pistol previously teased by Crytek is the Sparks Pistol, a handheld version of the popular Sparks rifle. The Sparks rifle is famous for its ability to drop enemies to a single health point in a single shot, though the smaller barrel of the Sparks pistol will likely mean a bit less damage and range.

Still, it'll likely pack a big enough punch to compete with the most popular gun among Hunt's highest ranked players, the Caldwell Conversion Uppercut. The full leak also gives a sneak peek at new legendary hunters and weapon skins coming in the Serpent Moon event sometime soon. 

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.