Hunt: Showdown is introducing its most disruptive new enemy in years

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Get your shot off before it does.

hunt showdown
(Image credit: Crytek)

Major Hunt: Showdown updates like new maps and new bosses come out at the pace of a welly-clad hunter trudging through waist-high swamp water. So you could think that getting excited over an update that adds pistol-wielding zombies is just a result of Major Update Privation in the Hunt community, but it could actually the most disruptive new monster the game's introduced in years.

Pistol grunts are one of a number of changes being introduced in the upcoming 1.8.1 update. These grunts won't be capable of actually shooting you with their rusted guns, but upon melee-attacking you, the gun will fire off one shot into the air before breaking. Probably more than any other shooter out there, Hunt: Showdown is dependent on sound to track enemies on the map, so that single pistol shot can really mess up a stealthy approach.

Essentially, pistol grunts will be the loudest noise traps in the game, so you'll want to take them down fast and for the gods' sake don't let them hit you.

hunt showdown 1.8.1 update

(Image credit: Crytek)

The 1.8.1 update will also introduce lantern grunts, which carry around both lit and unlit lanterns. If you get hit with a lit lantern, you will be set alight; if you get hit with an unlit one then you get doused in oil (which can subsequently be set alight). Things are going to get pretty hazardous out there.

A new quest system is being introduced too, which will replace the randomised daily and weekly challenges that players got until now. You'll now get to choose from nine tasks each week, each with their own reward and 'star' value. So you get a reward for each quest you complete, and if you collect 30 stars in a week, you get 25 Blood Bonds. The new system should offer a little more control for players to pick tasks in line with their skill level and amount of time they spend on the game.

Robert Zak

Robert is a freelance writer and chronic game tinkerer who spends many hours modding games then not playing them, and hiding behind doors with a shotgun in Hunt: Showdown. Wishes to spend his dying moments on Earth scrolling through his games library on a TV-friendly frontend that unifies all PC game launchers.