Noise might be your greatest foe in Hunt: Showdown

Being quiet seems to be one of the most important skills for competitive demon hunters in Hunt: Showdown. Gunshots and explosions can alert other players to your position, and demons too. In a new video with developer commentary, the duo of hunters forget this and that’s why they don’t escape with their trophy.

IGN’s video offers up a decent slice of the game, showcasing everything from mystically tracking demons to shootouts with others players. See, in Hunt: Showdown, players must find demons, kill them, and then escape with their grisly reward before other players murder them. It’s got hints of PUBG and other battle royale games, but I’m reminded of games like Stalker and Monster Hunter, as well.

Ultimately, everyone is racing to the same places, so gunfire will alert enemies to your position, letting them know if you’re closer to the objective, or if you’re behind them and a perfect target for an ambush. But it’s not just the noise of gunfire that you’ll have to worry about; demons and animals might give away your position as well. As the pair cross a pasture, a dying horse cries out. They kill it to stop the noise, but instead of using a silent melee attack, one of the duo shoots it, which the developer notes is not the smartest solution.

It’s not all about stealth though. There are plenty of explosive fights in the video, a siege in a barn, and some rather exotic weapons. One of them is a sort of grenade that leaves behind a tangled mess of barbed wire. Not only can this cut off escape routes or defend a choke point, it can be thrown on top of enemies. Those not killed outright will be cut to ribbons if they try to run through it.

The hunters do manage to kill their demonic prey, a spider-thingy, by lighting up the barn it’s hiding in with flares and fire, but that’s not the end of the mission. They need to actually escape with their trophy. Letting other players do the hard work looks like a perfectly viable way to play, as the duo is ambushed and killed by the competition after killing the spider for them.

Sometimes it pays to be a bit lazy.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.