As soon as I had seen that they removed the books of weapons/monsters, something wept inside of me. I honestly don't even know why there was a need to do that, besides hurting those players who actually loved the old writing.
I would love this to come back, i didnt play much back when it came out, started playing again and im sad that i missed this, i also miss the rain maps
Wholeheartedly agree, Hazmat. Here's a few things which came to mind: 1. Crytek hired Fifield, the Game Director from Crystal Dynamics to work on their product. People like him pushed out lootboxes and likely have no qualms getting anyone, even children, addicted to gambling mechanics and FOMO. 2. For nearly half a year Crytek said they were implementing a ping limit, but then increased it and invited all of China's hackers to the world. They lied to the honest players. 3. Every player I know with 1k+ hours (and myself with 1,500) has left the game due to battlepass burnout. Managers like Fifield who airdrop themselves into these companies have one thing in mind - maximise shareholder value by changing a system which was once niche and then leaving with money stuffed in their pockets whilst everything else burns behind them.
Long time player here (something along 3k hours on old gen console) and im sad to see just how much i was right back then. When discussing the current state of the game (after every patch) with my friends i used to say multiple times over just how bad the whole Hunt situation started to stink from a certain point onwards, only accelerating it's decaying process even more after Fifield came into the picture...im very disappointed to see what has become of Hunt, seems like direction and soul have been completely lost and/or forfeited.
yeah, I haven't played it since the week 1896 came out. clocked 1200 hours on there in two years and met one of my best friends I've ever had on there and our trio has gone from playing every single night to never touching it. I miss it so much man gahhh
Same dude same. I don't think I'll be hopping back in anymore. Luckily, I ended on a pretty sick solo run so it feels good to have left one of my favorite games on a high note. RIP Hunt.
Seems a lot of the community almost unanimously dislike the back to back events. I doubt any would have a problem if Hunt just went vanilla for 3-6 months and the devs took the time to fix the foundational issues brought on by the 1896 update. What hunt needs is stability while maintaining it's core mechanics and aesthetic.
I already know theyre gonna drop a winter even during Dec and Jan. Cant play them its the perfect time. How ever i better not see any f ing event until mid next year.
Player since beta here: when it was announced that the game was moving to a whole new engine, it legitimately brought me so much joy. And like you said, the game does look incredible. But they had a chance to completely rebuild the game, untangle the spaghetti code, and make Hunt stable once and for all…it hurts so much that they missed that mark
I had no faith regarding the spaghetti code, I expected more of it. We’re a good ten years away from getting a gen of actual programmers in gaming development again.
I still enjoy the game immensely, but Ghostface DLC rubbed me incorrectly. Even if it looks cool, it doesn't have a place in Hunt. What makes it more confusing is that it's supposed to draw in a wider-player base, but with the bugs and glitches that are present in the game, they'll probably end up dropping the game soon after. Still love the game to bits, Colorado is a damn good map, and I'm glad the T1,2 & 3 Hunters are coming back, as they were my fav character designs in the game. I wish they could've improved the lore book rather than removed it.
Before Hunt 1896, i had invested 865 hours into the game, but nowadays, i can barely stand to play the game. It just breaks my heart to see how the game i fell in love with has fallen so much.
Hunt won’t get my money ever again. Add to that the fact that I play less and less, maybe an hour per week, due to the reason that Hunt has lost its way… bringing in the Call of duty guy onboard was a mistake. Good luck, Crytek
@@HazmatFTW sadly. But I want to say thank you for the hard work you’ve put making Hunt videos, especially those regarding the lore of it. I’ve shared them with friends several times in the past 🤙
My friend that I alway play hunt with has 3300 hours split across two accounts and he hasn’t played in months, he talks all the time about how much he misses old hunt and it’s sad to see how much the game has shifted into something that is almost unrecognizable to a hardcore fan that has been playing since launch.
@@basedlibertyprime I feel it man I have over 7000 hours and I don’t play it anymore it’s constant bs frame loss disconnects copy paste skins desync people ping abusing talking crap acting like they are they shit because crytec allows it you can clearly tell when you can’t hit them and thier character moves faster then other peoples. I just can’t stand this crap after crap after crap and this half ass new mode and shity skins they shove in these battle passes is insane the good shit always comes out in dlc anyway so what’s the point of buying battle pass and playing anyway. Most the skins in the pass look like crap or are copy paste of skins that already exist
@@basedlibertyprime the beetles ruined the game too everyone just sits and hides for half the game no one fights ugh man I could complain all day and the new map you have no cover in a fight you can get flanked from every direction it’s sucks as well.
I'm a console scrub with over 4K hours, so I definitely love and adore this game. But, if I had to say something, then it would be that they had forgotten about us that have dedicated time and money in a game we fell in love with. Some of it does seem they're trying to be more mainstream. I understand they have to make money, but dont forget the ones that got you there and do not forget where you came from.
Not sure if any of you guys noticed, but in the last update log (2.1.1), they have 2 bugfixes sections (UI and Other) and there are 3 issues with it. 1. The UI section contains mainly fixes for the "money spending" part of UI instead of those that are commonly called out. 2. The remaining ones from the UI section are also copied into the Other section, so that the update log looks longer. 3. The worst one. Those fixes don't even work, like cursor in-game or boss burn-in not showing on map. TRULY A HUNT MOMENT 👏
@@HazmatFTW Just to point a few bugfix duplicates, listed as: (UI fix)-(Other duplicate) 1-4 3-18 also duplicated as 10.1 in the UI section 6-11 8-10 9-1 11-8 12-12
At the start of the Halloween update i got burnt out and stopped playing. Havent touched it again since. I really am tired of these back to back events. I think there should only be 2 a year.
@HazmatFTW I remember being into CSGO 10 years ago and the hype that built up around events since they were rare then. With Hunt now it's just like "ok we have 2 weeks of normal gameplay before they put in something new".
I loved the lore for Hunt. It's what kept me interested in the events when they were just like 1 or 2 a year. Now it just feels like cookie cutter bullshit that is used to con the loyal player base that fell in love with the old game. I also have like 1500 hours in the game its sad to see. Still go back and watch/listen to your old lore videos love the content hopefully you find something that you enjoy again.
Totally agree on all points, but specifically the Lore... I loved the snippets, and then your videos that put it all together made me love it even more. I literally didn't even complete this event because there was no story to unlock. I have more skins than I will ever use, so that's no longer a motivator. (OG Plague Doctor and Scarecrow are about all I run) Performance: tell your friends to try turning OFF XMP.... I don't know why, but it made Hunt a lot more stable for me. (13900K + Trident Z5 6600 RAM). This might be a me issue with my specific setup, but it's worth a try.
Game went soft on players. It used to be hardcore game way back in past. Now CT went in direction of trying to make a game for everyone and that is a problem. When making a game, it needs to be for one group and that group only because, If you try making game for everyone it will suck. This is something that I learned from Helldivers 2 and they were right.
Came for the lore, stayed for the gameplay. Now the lore is gone and replaced with a bunch of crap, and the gameplay gets worse and worse (I am looking at you, custom ammo spam), while MMR balancing makes no sense anymore either. I am mostly playing as a 5 star solo and I keep gettting instant headshot or overrun by teams made of 6 star players completely what the FUCK?! Also totally feel you with that Ghostface issue. None of my friends gives a damn but for someone who is into that kind of setting skins like this are just alienating. Hunt: Showdown once felt like a cool dark-fantasy western setting. Now it's becoming a dark joke on it's own cost more and more... I really hope the new old map coming back in december will give me some of the good old feeling back but I have that feeling that it will insantly get destroyed by yet another annoying bullshit christmas event. I still play but I feel the moment coming when my patience is exhausted.
And there you go. Next event. Can't wait for clowns all over the map xD .... my god it got even worse than I thaught. Really hope this is just Cryteks way of testing the waters, and not the new course.
Spot on with your takes my dude, hunt is an absolute favorite of mine with it’s gameplay and atmosphere, however it’s been straight downhill since 1896. Sincerely I am hoping things change for the better, yee haw.
Aside from the horrendous UI, what I noticed with the 1896 update was that they remade the colour balancing so that everything looks more vibrant, both in the menu and in the match, that rang a large bell for me too, on top of everything else that the player base feels and points out as a whole. I still play the game every now and then, since even in its current state there's just no shooters like it out there, but it just keeps going downhill for the most part. What I think they really need to do is to restructure the team, take all the feedback, make a post or vid about it to tell that we're gonna work this shit out and just go radio silent for a few months and then drop a bombshell of a patch to iron everything out. I truly want them to go full No Mans Sky and rebuild the game back into shape and make it truly good like it so rightfully deserves.
Agree on many things. I played Hunt for almost 4.000 hours and I finally uninstalled the game, cuz i couldn't bear it anymore. But for me the problem began even before the 1896-Update. For me it already began we the frequency of the events and they added more and more and more and more and more into the game. It barely gave players (or at least me) room to breath. I'm one of those players who "have to" finish the event once they started it, so you might imagine, that when they brought out a new event I pressured myself to play more Hunt. And there wasn't much room in between before they released a new event. Similar regarding the weapons. One might argue, that more options are always a good thing, but in my eyes the arsenal of Hunt: Showdown got oversaturated. When i played Hunt in my Prime, every Weapon had some sort of.. let's say "personality". But with the number of weapons they started to add, it felt becoming more and more generic and brought me less and less fun. On Another note: I'm more of a niche player. And when i first saw Hunt, i immediately knew, that this game wouldn't be for everyone. I liked the hardcore aspect, i liked the theme of the game (of course "the Theme" as well *humms*), and i liked it to be so punishing. It was a game with a lot of edges. Edges are things (at least to me), that give a game it's personality, sets it off from other games of a similar kind. But Crytek tuned down the hardcore aspect of the game over the years. Started with the red skull revive. I'm still one of those who were and are against it, cuz it empowers the "rambo style" gameplay who only care about speed and efficency and not about sounds, about the stealth aspect it used to have. 'cuz if you were one of those rambo style players and you got killed too many times, you were out. No matter if mates were still alive. you were careless, you paid the price. Simple as that. But then they added not just the red-skull-revive, now they added the solo-necro and for the events (who aren't events to me anymore, it's the normal state of the game.... the NORMAL Hunt is more of an event [lol]) they added even more stuff that helps surviving, repleneshing health bars, etc. So players like me, who liked that hardcore aspect of the game, are kinda driven out of the game for a more "generic and faster paced experience for EVERYONE". (Hunt used to be niche, now it's mainstream) So i kinda have to repeat your words from the beginning: Hunt:Showdown is not the game anymore, i fell in love with. And i guess it won't ever be again. :/
I used to LOVE to read the lore in the old books and they just got rid of it and the story has gone so far downhill. I have been playing this game since beta and now it just doesnt feel the same. The servers feel terrible and it just hurts cause I loved this game so much.
Wholeheartedly agree with you, especially with the lore. That was the one thing that made me fall in love with the game, even if I couldn't fully unlock it on the battle pass. But that only made me come to you for the lore and I loved every second of it
Another great video man! I hate to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly. I literally had just made a statement 3 months ago that they were starting to get the game to a point where I felt it was on track to becoming the best it could be. I have now retracted this statement. Every decision they have made recently has me baffled. Especially when they stated about being transparent about things like monetization and rarity. Then blatantly don't put buffs, debuffs, or do sneaky things with content drops. I'm a little fed up too. Again, great video, I hope for the best for your channel.
beta vet here!: I remember picking up this game october of 2018, and this game was a ton of fun back then. I will spare yall the "back in the day" talk, but overall this was a great title that really got me excited to play it with someone that i ended up making deep friendships with from my interactions on their official discord. Ever since this whole engine update, they did some things that the game never needed, and it actually hurt it more than it helped. I understand that feelings lie at times, but this is different. This is a game that I loved to death that is turning over into a new phase of garbage and mr CoD that was hired in was a horrible idea from the start. The game had an identity with a slower combat speed, audio importance, and decision making that made or broke the engagement/conflicts. Those were the identifying characteristics that made the combat so great in this game, but now they want to speed that up like some kid with ADHD is going to request a refund because they sit around for an extra 10 or 20 seconds on the burn time, or they have to wait for their teammate to get them up manually or with necro (negative opinion on the revive bolt). Greed is corrupting crytek more than before and it is concerning because it is showing in the game (ignoring the events because the game doesn't have anything beyond just the events anymore). All of these major points that you bring up in this video essay regarding this game are well placed, introduced, and narrated. Good work!
Thank you, and I appreciate you thought. I don't think you're alone on this, it seems that a lot of the older fan-base have a problem with the increased pace/speed of the gameplay. I am one of them as well. It's just merging Hunt into being like so many other games.
I hate to say it, because I genuinely do love this game. I mean, hell, I have a tattoo on my forearm of the Hunt logo with the 3 star emblem on my left arm, and my nickname is the Patron Saint of Three Stars due to the amount of time I've been hard locked to three star from playing solo... But I honestly agree with everything you've said. Server issues, refusal to fix the look of characters that were in paid DLC in favor of releasing more new DLC, refusal to correct bugs, the real event being when you can just play regular old Hunt without all the gimmicks and battle passes for a week or two between events, horrible UI decisions, removal of lore, removal of trials, and utter lack of any decent communication has made it harder and harder to care about the game like I used to. This used to be the only game I really ever played, but I've noticed lately I've been drifting more toward other games because it feels like Crytek doesn't care about the game anymore, and it's hard to care about something when even the creators don't care about it anymore. I still love this game, and I want to see it succeed, but it feels like Crytek keeps pushing out more and more COD-like decisions because they know that in terms of feel and gunplay, they have no competitors. At this point, I'm just waiting for The Bornless or Hunger to come out, because I'm sure one of two things will happen. Either Hunt will work harder to get back to it's prime, or Crytek will continue to exchange their old and dedicated fanbase for the COD Pay Whales, and the old fans will move on to something that is cared about the way Hunt used to be. Until then, I'll keep coming back, I know I will. But I just hope Hunt doesn't fully get to a point where it's a hollow shell of its former self.
@@rat_329 hmm they could just bring back old hunt that’s an idea I wonder how much it would cost to buy old hunt that's an idea we could all come together and buy the right to old hunt showdown.
I was really not that impressed by Scorched Earth's writing compared to past events. During the Tides series, it felt like things were building towards something, conflicts between the pacts in the wake of these major supernatural events occurring. Now characters we thought had died just showing up randomly (and okay death cheat is a thing but shouldn't that be addressed?) I have to wonder if in their survey for Scorched Earth, not a lot of people engaged with the story, but it also felt honestly not that compelling to me anyways :/ Like Vincent's lore and Scrapbeak's lore. Was there even anything about Hellborn on the level of what we saw for other bosses? My main takeaway was that Preston was hording a bunch of these bounty tokens and that created another corruption zone or something? I'm sure I'm missing some pieces, but I was just not that motivated to dig into it this time and it's mainly because I found it kind of boring this time around.
I think Preston was using the bounty tokens in order to extract oil, it worked initially but the tokens began piling up and slowly corrupting the land. I also think the demented found a huge stash of tokens and did sone type of ritual to speed things up
@@Nobelnaga Something like that yeah, and Preston had been keeping this information secret from the lawful pact when he brought them there. (I assumed Preston is the Statesman???) Usually the Hunters in the battle pass have something to do with the story though, so I was extremely confused by The Shroud and the Ancient Egypt themed skins' inclusion there.
@E1_DE3 I don't think Preston is the statesman, the statesman was talking about showing Hardin the benefactors for the whole bounty hunting thing, I think Preston is simply one of them. The shroud could maybe fit within the Hayalis little screen play, the Egyptian lady is kinda left field, maybe she is supposed to symbolise the awakening of something ancient?
@@Nobelnaga I suppose I just got that impression because Brewer mentioned specifically how he was dressing as though he was working class like them, but that'd make sense too. I'm willing to see where it goes provided they don't just nix story content completely in the next event, but I was kind of hoping for more pact and character driven interactions. Like I thought the Wilderness Pact was going to go to war with the Lawful pact, but they just kind of teased it, and there seemed to be a lot of things they were teasing but it didn't really feel like the event was "resolved" either.
@@Nobelnaga About Shroud, could be. I mean I hope they had an idea to tie it into the event and it wasn't just a cool skin to put in the battlepass. That's the cynical part of me talking.
As a new player to hunt showdown - I love it...The game has everything i was searching for after red dead 2 and DayZ. It has PvP,pve, western vibes and relatively short matches...Some people say Devs pay too much attention to events but i like it cos it gives you more goals to accomplish and skins are looking so good and badass! In 40 hours in game I've crashed 2x but that didn't change how the game helps me relax after a hard day at work...
Yeah, I agree with everything you said basically. Used to play regularly with my mates, now we barely even speak of the game. It's just sad. I love the aesthetics, lore and feel of Hunt and it's really sad to see how all of it is mismanaged by Crytek. Hope to return someday, but hanging up my hat for now :(
I'm 100% behind you brother. Lore was the biggest thing that kept me interested in the game as a whole. I even used to buy every single dlc and battlepass that came out until this last one with ghost face, I didn't even play this last event either as I felt a bit burnt out with the last few events and all the recent issues (and old issues) that haven't really ever been resolved.
Im glad youre more and mor hunt youtubers like you are talking against the many atrocious decisions crytek made with 1896.. it such a shame... I honestly dont believe you or any of use will be herd but Im still glad you made this video
I highly doubt it too. I think we're past the point of Crytek caring about community feedback, and more at a point where they take consideration to community outrage.
@@tomaterasu700 regular Hunt showdown was already going downhill… events were the normal state of the game even back then, and radio silence on bugs was started then as well 😞
The Lore and theme are what drew me too and made me fall in love with this game to begin with. I could deal with all the issues if they kept the lore and keep additions on theme, or at least don't bullshit us about it. I will always love this game but it's becoming so hard to enjoy it anymore.
When I first heard that they were planning on removing the lore books, I immediately thought about your channel. It breaks my heart to see such a unique world having its potential progressively squandered. Also something that I don’t hear too often in the community, but a take that I personally believe, is how far the weapons are even deviating from the games theme. Like katanas, stalker beetles, c4? I literally predicted that it would be only a matter of time till they added revive beetles or crossbow bolts. And look where we are now. There are still so many unique and interesting experimental guns from the period that would be great additions, like the lefaucheux side loading over-under shotgun. But instead we get 10 variations of the LeMat, and a whole drilling weapon family, which is essentially the same niche.
I’ve been following *Hunt* for a long time because, for me, it has the best aesthetic ever-gothic western. I used to only watch gameplay, but this year I decided to dive into the hunt myself, and I’m loving every second of it. That said, I agree with you. I think Crytek could consider: 1. A complete UI revamp. 2. Making all past battle passes "purchasable," allowing players to farm event points and buy levels of the battle pass they want, similar to what *Helldivers* does. Honestly, I’m not sure if the player base really minds if new players get access to old cosmetics, as long as they can complete the battle pass on their own terms instead of relying on FOMO. I believe the events themselves are enough to keep players engaged without needing to tie it to the battle pass.
I love this game and you’re absolutely right I am a veteran of this game too and I hate to see what it has become but I will always love to play it, but I still need the lore back
Hunt is dying a slow and painful death after years of dedication from it’s most supportive players. My heart breaks for this game, there will never be another game like Hunt. Crytek is killing one of the greatest shooters of all time
Honestly I thought it was just me, there's something about hunt that just doesn't do it for me anymore, when I first started it felt so gritty and mysterious, I can still play it, but it isn't the same. I also believe it is a case of me thinking "Hunt was cool when it wasn't really popular" , the game has shot up exponentially in popularity imo, therefore it became mainstream and prone to the problems that come with that.
I was very excited for the 1896 update. My first game it ran so poorly and I got the game breaking bug after banishing the boss. I restarted the game and during my 2nd game I thought to myself, "Am I having fun," which is not what I expected to happen. The game has been updated since then but the update, in my opinion, made the game worse.
I always been saying this and I keep on saying it, This game could have gotten way better if they listened to the community and not give people something half baked and in rush Honestly I wouldn't mind some silent times of not having any events or battle pass but instead working on the game and improving it. This game was waaayy much better before the engine update. I don't see any changes beside the water effects. Everything else pretty much look the same before the update but just eats more of your system's performance and FPS Even for simple bugs that could have been fixed in less than a week, they took almost 3 months to eventually get it (The damn cursor bug especially) I just really hope they will listen to you and others, getting this game to a better and MUCH better state before it's too late Thank you so much for your honesty man
I've talked since day one of the update about how they removed Bios and lore , dude its so bad that you can't even look at the unobtainable characters , so many cool characters with so much cool lore just thrown away im so pissed with this...
I was actually really looking forward to fully jumping back into the embrace of Hunt after the engine update, but everything I know has completely changed, I got overwhelmed by everything and suddenly I just don’t even know what to do anymore.
I’ve sunk close to 1800hrs into Hunt, as much as I do have things that annoy me about the game, I have found no other game that has that pulls me in match after match. Bugs, glitches, bad UI, servers stopping…. I just want to jump in match after match for a great Hunt Showdown shootout.
@@HazmatFTW thanks. Yea, the steam reviews are also a good indication. Since launch of 2.0. there are barely any days where the positive reviews outnumber the negative ones... Its so sad, seeing what happens to our beloved Hunt.
Still play pretty frequently but I get at least 2 server crashes a sitting. Would love a roadmap or bug fix plan/acknowledgement. Honestly any comms would be appreciated
While I have not stopped playing, I am playing alot less and for shorter sessions. I use to play 10+ rounds as a minimum, and some times with a couple of friends, we would play all day, 10+ hours or so and feel a little sad when one or both teammates said they had to leave as I would have kept playing. Now Its about 5-6 games tops, and when one of us has had enough, we all happily go off and do something else. They said the lore books woulod return later down the road, but I don't see it happening, and its sad that new players will have no idea about the sculptor, how the corrutption started, tales of Lynch ect... Its all very disappointing.
@@HazmatFTW Aye, sadly you are right there, whats not disappointing is seing you upload Hunt content again, even if is not positive, its honest and fair.
I love this game - 600 hours in Showdown and 800 in 1896..... I can handle the UI. I can handle some server issues. I thankfully don't have many performance issues. But the removal of the book and lore heavy stuff really rubbed me the wrong way. I know I'm in the minority, but I actually loved flipping through the book to read the lore or look at the art. Huge chunk of personality just sucked out of the game. I always thought the game would only get better with the update/more attention and players, but man is this a slippery slope for chasing the live service trends.... Fingers crossed
Haha first of, love your username. Secondly, I think we are both in the minority of players who enjoyed the lore. But it was the core of the game to me. So much more than just cool stories.
I think each of us are feeling this wholeheartedly. The game is a shell of it's former self, no matter how much the game still has in it. Great video, Haz.
As someone with almost 3k hours, I can agree. The constant problems, and no communication on whether they will be fixed or not, and constant swaying away from balance, is infuriating. I remember when this game was praised because the weapons were balanced. Now we have stand outs that take a weapon that was balanced, and completely overpower em. It's sad
Glad to see you speak your mind and validate the concerns of many players. The community is usually allergic to any criticism and take it soooo badly. The buggy re-launch left a bad taste but the ghostface skin just felt like crytek taking a massive dump in my mouth... It is nice to see someone big in the community addressing this, my absolute and genuine thanka to you sir.
@HazmatFTW yes I think things might be shifting a bit but will crytek notice before it's too late? Or will they just bleed this pig dry and toss it....
I have 1800h of hunt at this moment. And I still love the game. My steam account exists since 21 years and has never seen a game like this. The thing is: I don't have this many issues. But I see other people having them. I also never was to deep into the lore. But I liked your videos about it and kept some of the bits to tell some talltales to my mates while playing. Now, as the lore is gone, I first didn't miss it. But it is like Hunt was sold to an other company that just kept the cashcow part. It was a huge part of the game. The gruelling, fascinating part. Though I don't have so much trouble with the game or UI I'm afraid the game is in a critical state. I don't want so see it die. I still want to play it the next years. Tell my wife I don't have time today. Slap some other casual dads, fat fingering in sheer panic.
As much as i deeply hate to say it, no words made more sense than yours. I love this game, and accepting that it's going into another direction its just heartbreaking :(
I agree 100%..Despite all this, I still love this game so much and have so much fun. It’s in a pretty crappy stage but I’m hopeful. I hope they’re gonna get it together
I have 1500 hours in hunt, i uninstalled about a month ago when i realized i hadnt touched it in over 3 months. When i used to play it was with an excited fire in my belly. As of recwntly, hunt has felt more like a chore. All of the bad changes and weird decisions turned this game ive put more tine in than any other game into a game i dont recognize.
I fricking LIVED for your lore videos... I may not have been around long as a subscriber, but I didn't get a chance to actually read any of the lore writings in the game, mostly because I kept NOT doing it but also because my thought process was "Its not going anywhere, I'll read it later" and then it was gone so all I have left are these videos to remind me of what I miss so dearly in this game. I'm not a good player by any means, I've played hundreds of hours and still have yet to get past two star... I only fell in love with the game because of the world building and immersion into this grim universe, so to see that fade away into just another cash grab hurts us all I think.
Good Video Hazmat. Only issue I have is that you bring up the communication. I mean Crytek has been dropping 2-3 dev notes per week. What else do you expect?
I would love for them to pro-active on community feedback instead of being in a state of frantic damage control - which has been an issue for years now.
Hmm, I see. But I also honestly think that crytek does not have the resources to do so. They are a rather small studio and set in Germany of all places. Not saying things could not be improved but I dont think it's all doom and gloom. As how they are adressing things now, seems to me like a couple of steps in the right direction.
I've only been playing for a short few months now, the new engine seemed like a good jumping-on point for the game. And in some ways, it was, with the game itself feeling good to play, and the new map being a lot of fun! But even in the short time I've been playing, it already feels like the game has been degrading in quality, the UI seems to be working less, lag feels like it's getting worse, and it's harder and harder to find games since people are leaving, and for good reason. The lore stuff stings really hard, since getting into the game, I wanted to know more, and this channel was how I found more about the stories surrounding the gameplay... but now it's all just draining away. I like funny cowboy game where you shoot monsters and other people, but It's harder and harder to /keep/ liking it, even as a new player.
And it's honestly such a shame, because the original narrative team created such an amazing base for this game. The lore was literally its own living mystery that we as the community tried to put together. It was so much fun.
Wait, they removed the lore? The thing that makes their universe interesting?? That’s the equivalent of a Fallout game removing terminals, NPCs, holotapes, environmental storytelling, quests, etc. They really shot themselves in the foot didn’t they? I only know of Hunt through your lore videos and I love it, the whole quarantined Louisiana bayou riddled with an infectious disease that isn’t being properly addressed is fascinating to me, imagine if it spread to New Orleans, Baton Rogue or any other major population centres. The whole deal with the hunters and the petty infighting that led to their current fractured state is so interesting.
Unironically, they could've done something cooler than Ghostface. I think the devs tried to make it fit but everyone said "Tf are you guys smoking?" Imagine if we got something like a Native American man or woman wearing the pelts of animals (play into the Skinwalker mythology) or someone wearing a deer skull like they're a Wendigo. Its like what people are saying now, they're trying to go down the Fortnite route with all these collabs that really don't work. Hunt's strength lies with its dark Western setting so they should play into that strength, not do collabs. I should mention also, I haven't played since they took the game offline for PS4
6000 hours into the game. I love the game passionately, but not the way i once did. I've been saying for a while that the fact that a game this unique, this promision, with this much potential, is in such incapable hands as Crytek's, is just downright painful.
For me the worst thing (servers aside) is that they released a new map and now we have LESS maps?! They should have just released the new map on the old engine, and worked on 1986 for another year, then launch the full, finished game all at once.
Potentially if they care that might. Maybe force a 180? Pointing out the mistake with sources they trust. Might get something. Tough, i don't expect it
@@HazmatFTW well. the intent< is to have the highter ups understand the stupidity they did, by using the facts of sheer numbers, but if the game is being used as a sacrifice for the sake of another project....yeah, no amount of data no matter how trustworthy will sufice. to be fair, perhaps adding that kids nowadays are watching other stuff, like Vtubers, not cartoons. so creating the "modern audience", trough social engineering, will also fail.
So I play on Xbox and I haven’t noticed any problems with servers or performance, and I know that a console wold be fine with that aspect, but the lore and the books going away is really dumb. And still not having a FOV slider is insane.
Love the video Hazmat!, very well put together, The only reason i personally have a issue with the post Malone addition is Yeah cool it will bring players, but Hunts in such a bad state that it won't keep the new / returning players playing for long, for me they have done it the wrong way, Game needs fixing then exposure But thank you for addressing these issues, I too hope hunt returns to its glory sometime soon!.
Well.. It's funny you should mention that, because no, it was never revealed - but I do have the answer for what the original idea of the source/origin of the corruption was.
I literally redownloaded the game because i wanted to play the game again but also read the lore again because i loved how they mad lore in historical root from my home state. But ive been quickly disappointed with ui and heavy spend money push
OG's have been commenting how this or that specific issue is the one to break the game ever since they introduced seeing players with darksight when you grabbed a bounty. The game will continue to grow with or without these players usually. Crytek is by no means perfect, all you have to do is see the UI after the engine update. But they always working to fix these issues and are always churning out content (on an 8 year old game). Everyone knew the game had to earn money as it went on somehow and a battlepasses acheive this and is more exciting than drips of small content.
Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your lore videos on Hunt Showdown and I also don't really understand the overall direction the game is taking now. I don't want to contribute to the hate especially as criticism, even light one, is being taken in such a sharp and negative manner, so I redirected my attention to some other games that are blossoming real well nowadays. Thank you for the dark gritty lore you provided and I hope that one day everything will get back on track, but if not, it's been a bash, hunters.
I love hunt, I enjoy the game a lot to the point I have over 1k hours in the game which is rare for me. However after the direction of 1896 I am finding my will to defend crytek becoming less and less. I am honestly just tired the way they treat the game.
I think they got rid of the lore because hunt showdown isn’t just in the swampy bayou anymore. A lot of the lore was specifically tied to the Louisiana outbreak and, though not completely sure, some of the lore would’ve been conflicting with the new edition of areas. Most notably all the new characters. However hunt could’ve just alter the lore. The outbreak simple swept north America, thus all the new area and limitless potential of storytelling.
And that's so weird, right? Because they have writers - and the writers could simply just incorporate the new lore into the old lore. I don't see any reason why they had to remove it completely.
The game is fun! But I agree with you about the lore and the UI and the direction the DLCs take... nobody needs a rarity system for skins! And Crytek needs to improve the quality of their updates urgently!
I'm a player with only 120 hours between Xbox and PC, relatively new to Hunt. I want to put more time into the game, but the way development has been going for the game has been very discouraging. It feels terrible getting into a gun fight with someone, thinking I narrowly dodged a bullet only to realize that actually, I died just now and it took the game 1.5 seconds to register that. The release to 2.0 has made this a constant occurrence for me. The direction matchmaking is pushing towards doesn't help either. Choosing to prioritize filling lobbies over a fair match has made the game incredibly stressful to me. Ever since 2.0 I've been put into six star MMR and I frankly don't belong there. I feel like I'm nothing more than fodder for the actually good players and I have little opportunity to improve because I just keep getting stomped by players that are leagues ahead of me.
If Crytek are not going to add the lore back to the game. Then i think YOU and YOUR community should get together, and just create the lore without Crytek. I would love to read fan made lore. (Its probably better than Crytek lore) and with your storytelling, i think it would be amazing. I think you are one of the only hopes that we have to have good lore on our beloved game. It would be good content.
I have 9 more headshots for the 100 headshots achievement. I'll probably uninstall the game after that. The highs just aren't worth the lows. It's 1 good game for every 20 bad games.
I’m a new player. I love the game, there is nothing like it for me. I do, however sympathise with those from before 1896 who have lost what made it the game it is today. I was hoping to read a load of grimdark lore but there is nothing but a paragraph per item which is dogwater as far as writing. That would be great to see in game.
People saying there’s loads of new content, Skins don’t count, BP is just the same recycled content with ever so slightly different traits, New guns don’t mean the game has something new and exciting, New map and boss was cool but for how long the game has been going there’s not a great to deal to show. Only consistent new stuff is skins and there’s just weak
I surely do hope they watch your video and do a 180. The Lore is the Foundation to something like this, curious minds will no longer be intrigued by it, all because they felt it was unnecessary. I'm a console player, but i want this game to prosper for both pc and console...
600+ hours, played on and off since Traitor’s Moon and Scorched Earth dropped. It’s worrying and frustrating with all the changes since 1896, but I’m doing my best to enjoy the game as-is. I just don’t know if I can make it to 1K if it continues going downhill
It is so sad that all of this is so true. Overall a great video and I agree with everything except for one thing - There was no "review bomb", no organized campaign to shit on hunt, just genuine reviews of a player base tired of always giving the devs all the leeway in the world and repeatedly getting ignored.
After 2500 hours I uninstalled. Haven't played since seeing the trailer for the Ghostface skin. However, the December update announced by Crytek looks promising. I don't know. Maybe I will install again someday but I'm over it. RIP to the greatest multiplayer ever.
Crytek needs to run an operation health like R6. Have a time period of dedicated fixes for performance and bugs I love the game and it gets tiring. I cant imagine being a new player trying to get into it.
Man I've been saying that for years now. It's never happening. Maybe if they lose another 20000 players on steam but at that point... It'll be too late. I loved this game and if you told me a year ago I wouldn't be playing it I would have laughed on your face.... But here we are.
As soon as I had seen that they removed the books of weapons/monsters, something wept inside of me. I honestly don't even know why there was a need to do that, besides hurting those players who actually loved the old writing.
I don't understand it either. You don't need to expand on it - but you could at least keep it :(
New players don't even know what they are fighting.. maybe the books are somewhere hidden within the UI we just can't find it...
Bad joke i know..😢
WHAT? Why tf would they do that???
I would love this to come back, i didnt play much back when it came out, started playing again and im sad that i missed this, i also miss the rain maps
Luckily it's mostly all available still on the wiki, but it makes no sense to have them tied to the battle pass as rewards then take them away.
Wholeheartedly agree, Hazmat. Here's a few things which came to mind:
1. Crytek hired Fifield, the Game Director from Crystal Dynamics to work on their product. People like him pushed out lootboxes and likely have no qualms getting anyone, even children, addicted to gambling mechanics and FOMO.
2. For nearly half a year Crytek said they were implementing a ping limit, but then increased it and invited all of China's hackers to the world. They lied to the honest players.
3. Every player I know with 1k+ hours (and myself with 1,500) has left the game due to battlepass burnout.
Managers like Fifield who airdrop themselves into these companies have one thing in mind - maximise shareholder value by changing a system which was once niche and then leaving with money stuffed in their pockets whilst everything else burns behind them.
@@RanmaSyaoranSaotome david fifield and his big bald head are my mortal enemies
the worst thing a game can do is "broaden their appeal"
Long time player here (something along 3k hours on old gen console) and im sad to see just how much i was right back then. When discussing the current state of the game (after every patch) with my friends i used to say multiple times over just how bad the whole Hunt situation started to stink from a certain point onwards, only accelerating it's decaying process even more after Fifield came into the picture...im very disappointed to see what has become of Hunt, seems like direction and soul have been completely lost and/or forfeited.
I've got like 2k hours. I play when the battle passes come out now and have an amazing time. I think the game is in a great state tbh
Chinese hackers has infiltrated the reddit as well, talking about the chinese cheaters will get you banned
COD manager is in charge, that is the problem.
Even post Malone agrees the worst way to die is server crashing 😂
100% agree brother, my beautiful game is just not the same anymore
No, it's sad :(
yeah, I haven't played it since the week 1896 came out. clocked 1200 hours on there in two years and met one of my best friends I've ever had on there and our trio has gone from playing every single night to never touching it. I miss it so much man gahhh
That's so sad. It's been quite the downhill trip the last couple of months, huh?
Same dude same. I don't think I'll be hopping back in anymore. Luckily, I ended on a pretty sick solo run so it feels good to have left one of my favorite games on a high note. RIP Hunt.
@cheez1771 sometimes I think about booting it up again just to get the 250 wellspring achievement for the 100% lol
Seems a lot of the community almost unanimously dislike the back to back events. I doubt any would have a problem if Hunt just went vanilla for 3-6 months and the devs took the time to fix the foundational issues brought on by the 1896 update. What hunt needs is stability while maintaining it's core mechanics and aesthetic.
Yes, and I couldn't have said it better myself. I think you are absolutely spot-on.
This! This is exactly what I want.
I think we might just both be in different echo chambers. Personally I like the events a lot and so do a lot of my friends.
If i didnt see another fucking event id be so happy. Im so tired of it. It stopped being fun around the time scrapbeak was introduced.
I already know theyre gonna drop a winter even during Dec and Jan. Cant play them its the perfect time. How ever i better not see any f ing event until mid next year.
Player since beta here: when it was announced that the game was moving to a whole new engine, it legitimately brought me so much joy. And like you said, the game does look incredible. But they had a chance to completely rebuild the game, untangle the spaghetti code, and make Hunt stable once and for all…it hurts so much that they missed that mark
Yeah, there seems to be a shift in the player base at the moment. With the more seasoned players of Hunt being switched out for a newer base.
I had my doubts about the new engine. I expected a prettier version of a game becoming overwhelmed with flaws. It is exactly that.
"rebuild the game"
brother do you hear yourself?
I had no faith regarding the spaghetti code, I expected more of it.
We’re a good ten years away from getting a gen of actual programmers in gaming development again.
New player 🙋@@HazmatFTW
I still enjoy the game immensely, but Ghostface DLC rubbed me incorrectly. Even if it looks cool, it doesn't have a place in Hunt. What makes it more confusing is that it's supposed to draw in a wider-player base, but with the bugs and glitches that are present in the game, they'll probably end up dropping the game soon after.
Still love the game to bits, Colorado is a damn good map, and I'm glad the T1,2 & 3 Hunters are coming back, as they were my fav character designs in the game.
I wish they could've improved the lore book rather than removed it.
How does it even widen appeal? The Scream movies were decades ago, and the newer movies weren’t exactly getting theaters swarmed.
Before Hunt 1896, i had invested 865 hours into the game, but nowadays, i can barely stand to play the game. It just breaks my heart to see how the game i fell in love with has fallen so much.
Same here man, it’s tough
Hunt won’t get my money ever again. Add to that the fact that I play less and less, maybe an hour per week, due to the reason that Hunt has lost its way… bringing in the Call of duty guy onboard was a mistake.
Good luck, Crytek
Yeah, it seems that might have been the beginning of the end for the older player-base.
@@HazmatFTW sadly. But I want to say thank you for the hard work you’ve put making Hunt videos, especially those regarding the lore of it. I’ve shared them with friends several times in the past 🤙
My friend that I alway play hunt with has 3300 hours split across two accounts and he hasn’t played in months, he talks all the time about how much he misses old hunt and it’s sad to see how much the game has shifted into something that is almost unrecognizable to a hardcore fan that has been playing since launch.
Yeah, it's sad. It's been with me since it came in early access. So it's a bit sad to see it in its current state.
@@basedlibertyprime I feel it man I have over 7000 hours and I don’t play it anymore it’s constant bs frame loss disconnects copy paste skins desync people ping abusing talking crap acting like they are they shit because crytec allows it you can clearly tell when you can’t hit them and thier character moves faster then other peoples. I just can’t stand this crap after crap after crap and this half ass new mode and shity skins they shove in these battle passes is insane the good shit always comes out in dlc anyway so what’s the point of buying battle pass and playing anyway. Most the skins in the pass look like crap or are copy paste of skins that already exist
@@basedlibertyprime the beetles ruined the game too everyone just sits and hides for half the game no one fights ugh man I could complain all day and the new map you have no cover in a fight you can get flanked from every direction it’s sucks as well.
I'm a console scrub with over 4K hours, so I definitely love and adore this game.
But, if I had to say something, then it would be that they had forgotten about us that have dedicated time and money in a game we fell in love with. Some of it does seem they're trying to be more mainstream. I understand they have to make money, but dont forget the ones that got you there and do not forget where you came from.
I absolutely agree.
Not sure if any of you guys noticed, but in the last update log (2.1.1), they have 2 bugfixes sections (UI and Other) and there are 3 issues with it.
1. The UI section contains mainly fixes for the "money spending" part of UI instead of those that are commonly called out.
2. The remaining ones from the UI section are also copied into the Other section, so that the update log looks longer.
3. The worst one. Those fixes don't even work, like cursor in-game or boss burn-in not showing on map.
TRULY A HUNT MOMENT 👏
Dear god. Is this really true? There's no way.
@@HazmatFTW Just to point a few bugfix duplicates, listed as:
(UI fix)-(Other duplicate)
1-4
3-18 also duplicated as 10.1 in the UI section
6-11
8-10
9-1
11-8
12-12
At the start of the Halloween update i got burnt out and stopped playing. Havent touched it again since. I really am tired of these back to back events. I think there should only be 2 a year.
I agree with the event burn-out too. It's just too much.
@HazmatFTW I remember being into CSGO 10 years ago and the hype that built up around events since they were rare then. With Hunt now it's just like "ok we have 2 weeks of normal gameplay before they put in something new".
An event for holidays would be great
I loved the lore for Hunt. It's what kept me interested in the events when they were just like 1 or 2 a year. Now it just feels like cookie cutter bullshit that is used to con the loyal player base that fell in love with the old game. I also have like 1500 hours in the game its sad to see. Still go back and watch/listen to your old lore videos love the content hopefully you find something that you enjoy again.
There is still lore to dive into, so I have many more plans. Don't worry. I have a couple of Hunt videos on the way :D
4k hours. I used to buy every DLC, I'm not spending another cent until they fix this hot mess.
We can only hope. It's too good of a game to let it decay.
The new UI was made by the same guy that made the COD UI. Thats why its awful
Totally agree on all points, but specifically the Lore... I loved the snippets, and then your videos that put it all together made me love it even more. I literally didn't even complete this event because there was no story to unlock. I have more skins than I will ever use, so that's no longer a motivator. (OG Plague Doctor and Scarecrow are about all I run)
Performance: tell your friends to try turning OFF XMP.... I don't know why, but it made Hunt a lot more stable for me. (13900K + Trident Z5 6600 RAM). This might be a me issue with my specific setup, but it's worth a try.
Appreciate it, man. I'll pass on your words of wisdom ❤️
Game went soft on players. It used to be hardcore game way back in past. Now CT went in direction of trying to make a game for everyone and that is a problem. When making a game, it needs to be for one group and that group only because, If you try making game for everyone it will suck. This is something that I learned from Helldivers 2 and they were right.
Dudw, I've stopped playing. I was wondering how you felt about. I put a comment in HBE xx
Man, it breaks my heart that such a large part of the community feels alienated from the game now.
Fancy seeing you here!
Came for the lore, stayed for the gameplay. Now the lore is gone and replaced with a bunch of crap, and the gameplay gets worse and worse (I am looking at you, custom ammo spam), while MMR balancing makes no sense anymore either. I am mostly playing as a 5 star solo and I keep gettting instant headshot or overrun by teams made of 6 star players completely what the FUCK?! Also totally feel you with that Ghostface issue. None of my friends gives a damn but for someone who is into that kind of setting skins like this are just alienating. Hunt: Showdown once felt like a cool dark-fantasy western setting. Now it's becoming a dark joke on it's own cost more and more...
I really hope the new old map coming back in december will give me some of the good old feeling back but I have that feeling that it will insantly get destroyed by yet another annoying bullshit christmas event. I still play but I feel the moment coming when my patience is exhausted.
Yeah. I'm there with you, man. Exhausting is a good word, honestly.
And there you go. Next event. Can't wait for clowns all over the map xD .... my god it got even worse than I thaught.
Really hope this is just Cryteks way of testing the waters, and not the new course.
Spot on with your takes my dude, hunt is an absolute favorite of mine with it’s gameplay and atmosphere, however it’s been straight downhill since 1896.
Sincerely I am hoping things change for the better, yee haw.
I'm crossing my fingers, man. I really am.
@@SuiTheSenpai since before 1896 I’d say. They been ignoring player feed back for well over a year now.
Aside from the horrendous UI, what I noticed with the 1896 update was that they remade the colour balancing so that everything looks more vibrant, both in the menu and in the match, that rang a large bell for me too, on top of everything else that the player base feels and points out as a whole.
I still play the game every now and then, since even in its current state there's just no shooters like it out there, but it just keeps going downhill for the most part.
What I think they really need to do is to restructure the team, take all the feedback, make a post or vid about it to tell that we're gonna work this shit out and just go radio silent for a few months and then drop a bombshell of a patch to iron everything out.
I truly want them to go full No Mans Sky and rebuild the game back into shape and make it truly good like it so rightfully deserves.
Personally, I don't think radio silence ever benefits anyone. Let the community know what you're up to. But besides that, I agree with you.
Agree on many things.
I played Hunt for almost 4.000 hours and I finally uninstalled the game, cuz i couldn't bear it anymore. But for me the problem began even before the 1896-Update. For me it already began we the frequency of the events and they added more and more and more and more and more into the game. It barely gave players (or at least me) room to breath.
I'm one of those players who "have to" finish the event once they started it, so you might imagine, that when they brought out a new event I pressured myself to play more Hunt. And there wasn't much room in between before they released a new event.
Similar regarding the weapons. One might argue, that more options are always a good thing, but in my eyes the arsenal of Hunt: Showdown got oversaturated. When i played Hunt in my Prime, every Weapon had some sort of.. let's say "personality". But with the number of weapons they started to add, it felt becoming more and more generic and brought me less and less fun.
On Another note: I'm more of a niche player. And when i first saw Hunt, i immediately knew, that this game wouldn't be for everyone. I liked the hardcore aspect, i liked the theme of the game (of course "the Theme" as well *humms*), and i liked it to be so punishing. It was a game with a lot of edges. Edges are things (at least to me), that give a game it's personality, sets it off from other games of a similar kind. But Crytek tuned down the hardcore aspect of the game over the years. Started with the red skull revive. I'm still one of those who were and are against it, cuz it empowers the "rambo style" gameplay who only care about speed and efficency and not about sounds, about the stealth aspect it used to have. 'cuz if you were one of those rambo style players and you got killed too many times, you were out. No matter if mates were still alive. you were careless, you paid the price. Simple as that.
But then they added not just the red-skull-revive, now they added the solo-necro and for the events (who aren't events to me anymore, it's the normal state of the game.... the NORMAL Hunt is more of an event [lol]) they added even more stuff that helps surviving, repleneshing health bars, etc.
So players like me, who liked that hardcore aspect of the game, are kinda driven out of the game for a more "generic and faster paced experience for EVERYONE". (Hunt used to be niche, now it's mainstream)
So i kinda have to repeat your words from the beginning: Hunt:Showdown is not the game anymore, i fell in love with.
And i guess it won't ever be again. :/
I used to LOVE to read the lore in the old books and they just got rid of it and the story has gone so far downhill. I have been playing this game since beta and now it just doesnt feel the same. The servers feel terrible and it just hurts cause I loved this game so much.
Wholeheartedly agree with you, especially with the lore. That was the one thing that made me fall in love with the game, even if I couldn't fully unlock it on the battle pass. But that only made me come to you for the lore and I loved every second of it
And least the lore is still available online - it's just not the same when it's not within the game, you know?
@HazmatFTW Yeah, unfortunately so
This is the penultimate set of items that needed to be said. we can all rest now
Another great video man! I hate to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly. I literally had just made a statement 3 months ago that they were starting to get the game to a point where I felt it was on track to becoming the best it could be. I have now retracted this statement. Every decision they have made recently has me baffled.
Especially when they stated about being transparent about things like monetization and rarity. Then blatantly don't put buffs, debuffs, or do sneaky things with content drops. I'm a little fed up too. Again, great video, I hope for the best for your channel.
Yeah, and then there's the whole inventory setup for accidental purchases of weapons with Blood Bonds - which was also a very shady business decision.
beta vet here!: I remember picking up this game october of 2018, and this game was a ton of fun back then. I will spare yall the "back in the day" talk, but overall this was a great title that really got me excited to play it with someone that i ended up making deep friendships with from my interactions on their official discord. Ever since this whole engine update, they did some things that the game never needed, and it actually hurt it more than it helped. I understand that feelings lie at times, but this is different. This is a game that I loved to death that is turning over into a new phase of garbage and mr CoD that was hired in was a horrible idea from the start. The game had an identity with a slower combat speed, audio importance, and decision making that made or broke the engagement/conflicts. Those were the identifying characteristics that made the combat so great in this game, but now they want to speed that up like some kid with ADHD is going to request a refund because they sit around for an extra 10 or 20 seconds on the burn time, or they have to wait for their teammate to get them up manually or with necro (negative opinion on the revive bolt). Greed is corrupting crytek more than before and it is concerning because it is showing in the game (ignoring the events because the game doesn't have anything beyond just the events anymore). All of these major points that you bring up in this video essay regarding this game are well placed, introduced, and narrated. Good work!
Thank you, and I appreciate you thought. I don't think you're alone on this, it seems that a lot of the older fan-base have a problem with the increased pace/speed of the gameplay. I am one of them as well. It's just merging Hunt into being like so many other games.
I hate to say it, because I genuinely do love this game. I mean, hell, I have a tattoo on my forearm of the Hunt logo with the 3 star emblem on my left arm, and my nickname is the Patron Saint of Three Stars due to the amount of time I've been hard locked to three star from playing solo... But I honestly agree with everything you've said. Server issues, refusal to fix the look of characters that were in paid DLC in favor of releasing more new DLC, refusal to correct bugs, the real event being when you can just play regular old Hunt without all the gimmicks and battle passes for a week or two between events, horrible UI decisions, removal of lore, removal of trials, and utter lack of any decent communication has made it harder and harder to care about the game like I used to. This used to be the only game I really ever played, but I've noticed lately I've been drifting more toward other games because it feels like Crytek doesn't care about the game anymore, and it's hard to care about something when even the creators don't care about it anymore. I still love this game, and I want to see it succeed, but it feels like Crytek keeps pushing out more and more COD-like decisions because they know that in terms of feel and gunplay, they have no competitors. At this point, I'm just waiting for The Bornless or Hunger to come out, because I'm sure one of two things will happen. Either Hunt will work harder to get back to it's prime, or Crytek will continue to exchange their old and dedicated fanbase for the COD Pay Whales, and the old fans will move on to something that is cared about the way Hunt used to be. Until then, I'll keep coming back, I know I will. But I just hope Hunt doesn't fully get to a point where it's a hollow shell of its former self.
Beautifully put. It's sad, but it's spot-on, man.
@@rat_329 hmm they could just bring back old hunt that’s an idea I wonder how much it would cost to buy old hunt that's an idea we could all come together and buy the right to old hunt showdown.
I was really not that impressed by Scorched Earth's writing compared to past events. During the Tides series, it felt like things were building towards something, conflicts between the pacts in the wake of these major supernatural events occurring. Now characters we thought had died just showing up randomly (and okay death cheat is a thing but shouldn't that be addressed?) I have to wonder if in their survey for Scorched Earth, not a lot of people engaged with the story, but it also felt honestly not that compelling to me anyways :/ Like Vincent's lore and Scrapbeak's lore. Was there even anything about Hellborn on the level of what we saw for other bosses? My main takeaway was that Preston was hording a bunch of these bounty tokens and that created another corruption zone or something? I'm sure I'm missing some pieces, but I was just not that motivated to dig into it this time and it's mainly because I found it kind of boring this time around.
I think Preston was using the bounty tokens in order to extract oil, it worked initially but the tokens began piling up and slowly corrupting the land. I also think the demented found a huge stash of tokens and did sone type of ritual to speed things up
@@Nobelnaga Something like that yeah, and Preston had been keeping this information secret from the lawful pact when he brought them there. (I assumed Preston is the Statesman???) Usually the Hunters in the battle pass have something to do with the story though, so I was extremely confused by The Shroud and the Ancient Egypt themed skins' inclusion there.
@E1_DE3 I don't think Preston is the statesman, the statesman was talking about showing Hardin the benefactors for the whole bounty hunting thing, I think Preston is simply one of them. The shroud could maybe fit within the Hayalis little screen play, the Egyptian lady is kinda left field, maybe she is supposed to symbolise the awakening of something ancient?
@@Nobelnaga I suppose I just got that impression because Brewer mentioned specifically how he was dressing as though he was working class like them, but that'd make sense too. I'm willing to see where it goes provided they don't just nix story content completely in the next event, but I was kind of hoping for more pact and character driven interactions. Like I thought the Wilderness Pact was going to go to war with the Lawful pact, but they just kind of teased it, and there seemed to be a lot of things they were teasing but it didn't really feel like the event was "resolved" either.
@@Nobelnaga About Shroud, could be. I mean I hope they had an idea to tie it into the event and it wasn't just a cool skin to put in the battlepass. That's the cynical part of me talking.
As a new player to hunt showdown - I love it...The game has everything i was searching for after red dead 2 and DayZ. It has PvP,pve, western vibes and relatively short matches...Some people say Devs pay too much attention to events but i like it cos it gives you more goals to accomplish and skins are looking so good and badass! In 40 hours in game I've crashed 2x but that didn't change how the game helps me relax after a hard day at work...
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the game, my man. Welcome to Hunt! ❤
@HazmatFTW thank you 🙂
Yeah, I agree with everything you said basically. Used to play regularly with my mates, now we barely even speak of the game. It's just sad. I love the aesthetics, lore and feel of Hunt and it's really sad to see how all of it is mismanaged by Crytek. Hope to return someday, but hanging up my hat for now :(
Hope you'll come back soon, man.
I'm 100% behind you brother. Lore was the biggest thing that kept me interested in the game as a whole. I even used to buy every single dlc and battlepass that came out until this last one with ghost face, I didn't even play this last event either as I felt a bit burnt out with the last few events and all the recent issues (and old issues) that haven't really ever been resolved.
Hopefully this isn't the beginning of the end. I hope they turn it around :))
Im glad youre more and mor hunt youtubers like you are talking against the many atrocious decisions crytek made with 1896.. it such a shame... I honestly dont believe you or any of use will be herd but Im still glad you made this video
I highly doubt it too. I think we're past the point of Crytek caring about community feedback, and more at a point where they take consideration to community outrage.
@@tomaterasu700 regular Hunt showdown was already going downhill… events were the normal state of the game even back then, and radio silence on bugs was started then as well 😞
The Lore and theme are what drew me too and made me fall in love with this game to begin with.
I could deal with all the issues if they kept the lore and keep additions on theme, or at least don't bullshit us about it.
I will always love this game but it's becoming so hard to enjoy it anymore.
I'm at the exact same point, man.
When I first heard that they were planning on removing the lore books, I immediately thought about your channel. It breaks my heart to see such a unique world having its potential progressively squandered.
Also something that I don’t hear too often in the community, but a take that I personally believe, is how far the weapons are even deviating from the games theme. Like katanas, stalker beetles, c4? I literally predicted that it would be only a matter of time till they added revive beetles or crossbow bolts. And look where we are now. There are still so many unique and interesting experimental guns from the period that would be great additions, like the lefaucheux side loading over-under shotgun. But instead we get 10 variations of the LeMat, and a whole drilling weapon family, which is essentially the same niche.
That's exactly why it's such a shame. The world of Hunt is so unique!
I’ve been following *Hunt* for a long time because, for me, it has the best aesthetic ever-gothic western. I used to only watch gameplay, but this year I decided to dive into the hunt myself, and I’m loving every second of it. That said, I agree with you.
I think Crytek could consider:
1. A complete UI revamp.
2. Making all past battle passes "purchasable," allowing players to farm event points and buy levels of the battle pass they want, similar to what *Helldivers* does. Honestly, I’m not sure if the player base really minds if new players get access to old cosmetics, as long as they can complete the battle pass on their own terms instead of relying on FOMO. I believe the events themselves are enough to keep players engaged without needing to tie it to the battle pass.
I love this game and you’re absolutely right I am a veteran of this game too and I hate to see what it has become but I will always love to play it, but I still need the lore back
Hunt is dying a slow and painful death after years of dedication from it’s most supportive players. My heart breaks for this game, there will never be another game like Hunt. Crytek is killing one of the greatest shooters of all time
Honestly I thought it was just me, there's something about hunt that just doesn't do it for me anymore, when I first started it felt so gritty and mysterious, I can still play it, but it isn't the same.
I also believe it is a case of me thinking "Hunt was cool when it wasn't really popular" , the game has shot up exponentially in popularity imo, therefore it became mainstream and prone to the problems that come with that.
Amen brother.
When I first started playing I found your channel because I was so enamored with the lore and they went and fucked it all up..
It's sad, really.
I was very excited for the 1896 update. My first game it ran so poorly and I got the game breaking bug after banishing the boss. I restarted the game and during my 2nd game I thought to myself, "Am I having fun," which is not what I expected to happen.
The game has been updated since then but the update, in my opinion, made the game worse.
I always been saying this and I keep on saying it, This game could have gotten way better if they listened to the community and not give people something half baked and in rush
Honestly I wouldn't mind some silent times of not having any events or battle pass but instead working on the game and improving it. This game was waaayy much better before the engine update. I don't see any changes beside the water effects. Everything else pretty much look the same before the update but just eats more of your system's performance and FPS
Even for simple bugs that could have been fixed in less than a week, they took almost 3 months to eventually get it (The damn cursor bug especially)
I just really hope they will listen to you and others, getting this game to a better and MUCH better state before it's too late
Thank you so much for your honesty man
@@leons.kennas1533 yup roaming bosses that hunt you would have been absolutely sick they should have done it a long ass time ago
I love the lore... It's how I found your channel
Don't worry. The lore will keep on coming, baby :))
I've talked since day one of the update about how they removed Bios and lore , dude its so bad that you can't even look at the unobtainable characters , so many cool characters with so much cool lore just thrown away im so pissed with this...
The UI is made to look like a western frontier
@@funman1422 aka: ass
I was actually really looking forward to fully jumping back into the embrace of Hunt after the engine update, but everything I know has completely changed, I got overwhelmed by everything and suddenly I just don’t even know what to do anymore.
Hiring someone from CoD is the problem. It’s evident as hell
I’ve sunk close to 1800hrs into Hunt, as much as I do have things that annoy me about the game, I have found no other game that has that pulls me in match after match. Bugs, glitches, bad UI, servers stopping…. I just want to jump in match after match for a great Hunt Showdown shootout.
I've been there with you, man.
Great video man.
3600 hours in, since launch ...
I feel you with every single word.
You're not alone. It seems that a large part of the community feel the same way.
@@HazmatFTW thanks. Yea, the steam reviews are also a good indication. Since launch of 2.0. there are barely any days where the positive reviews outnumber the negative ones... Its so sad, seeing what happens to our beloved Hunt.
Still play pretty frequently but I get at least 2 server crashes a sitting. Would love a roadmap or bug fix plan/acknowledgement. Honestly any comms would be appreciated
While I have not stopped playing, I am playing alot less and for shorter sessions. I use to play 10+ rounds as a minimum, and some times with a couple of friends, we would play all day, 10+ hours or so and feel a little sad when one or both teammates said they had to leave as I would have kept playing. Now Its about 5-6 games tops, and when one of us has had enough, we all happily go off and do something else. They said the lore books woulod return later down the road, but I don't see it happening, and its sad that new players will have no idea about the sculptor, how the corrutption started, tales of Lynch ect... Its all very disappointing.
Disappointing is an understatement to be honest. It's downright depressing lol
@@HazmatFTW Aye, sadly you are right there, whats not disappointing is seing you upload Hunt content again, even if is not positive, its honest and fair.
I love this game - 600 hours in Showdown and 800 in 1896.....
I can handle the UI.
I can handle some server issues.
I thankfully don't have many performance issues.
But the removal of the book and lore heavy stuff really rubbed me the wrong way.
I know I'm in the minority, but I actually loved flipping through the book to read the lore or look at the art. Huge chunk of personality just sucked out of the game.
I always thought the game would only get better with the update/more attention and players, but man is this a slippery slope for chasing the live service trends....
Fingers crossed
Haha first of, love your username.
Secondly, I think we are both in the minority of players who enjoyed the lore. But it was the core of the game to me. So much more than just cool stories.
I think each of us are feeling this wholeheartedly. The game is a shell of it's former self, no matter how much the game still has in it. Great video, Haz.
As someone with almost 3k hours, I can agree. The constant problems, and no communication on whether they will be fixed or not, and constant swaying away from balance, is infuriating. I remember when this game was praised because the weapons were balanced. Now we have stand outs that take a weapon that was balanced, and completely overpower em. It's sad
I want to play Hunt. I start the game. I fight with the UI for 10 minutes. I no longer want to play Hunt and close the game.
Glad to see you speak your mind and validate the concerns of many players. The community is usually allergic to any criticism and take it soooo badly.
The buggy re-launch left a bad taste but the ghostface skin just felt like crytek taking a massive dump in my mouth...
It is nice to see someone big in the community addressing this, my absolute and genuine thanka to you sir.
I think the leeway Crytek had in terms of the benefit of the doubt might be dwindling from a larger part of the community. It looks that way at least.
@HazmatFTW yes I think things might be shifting a bit but will crytek notice before it's too late? Or will they just bleed this pig dry and toss it....
I have 1800h of hunt at this moment.
And I still love the game.
My steam account exists since 21 years and has never seen a game like this.
The thing is: I don't have this many issues.
But I see other people having them.
I also never was to deep into the lore. But I liked your videos about it and kept some of the bits to tell some talltales to my mates while playing.
Now, as the lore is gone, I first didn't miss it.
But it is like Hunt was sold to an other company that just kept the cashcow part.
It was a huge part of the game.
The gruelling, fascinating part.
Though I don't have so much trouble with the game or UI I'm afraid the game is in a critical state.
I don't want so see it die.
I still want to play it the next years.
Tell my wife I don't have time today.
Slap some other casual dads, fat fingering in sheer panic.
"Slap some other casual dads, fat fingering in sheer panic." got a legit lol out of me
As much as i deeply hate to say it, no words made more sense than yours. I love this game, and accepting that it's going into another direction its just heartbreaking :(
I agree 100%..Despite all this, I still love this game so much and have so much fun. It’s in a pretty crappy stage but I’m hopeful. I hope they’re gonna get it together
I am hopeful too
I have 1500 hours in hunt, i uninstalled about a month ago when i realized i hadnt touched it in over 3 months. When i used to play it was with an excited fire in my belly. As of recwntly, hunt has felt more like a chore. All of the bad changes and weird decisions turned this game ive put more tine in than any other game into a game i dont recognize.
I fricking LIVED for your lore videos... I may not have been around long as a subscriber, but I didn't get a chance to actually read any of the lore writings in the game, mostly because I kept NOT doing it but also because my thought process was "Its not going anywhere, I'll read it later" and then it was gone so all I have left are these videos to remind me of what I miss so dearly in this game. I'm not a good player by any means, I've played hundreds of hours and still have yet to get past two star... I only fell in love with the game because of the world building and immersion into this grim universe, so to see that fade away into just another cash grab hurts us all I think.
You're not alone in that. I absolutely adore the lore of Hunt's world ❤
Good Video Hazmat. Only issue I have is that you bring up the communication. I mean Crytek has been dropping 2-3 dev notes per week. What else do you expect?
I would love for them to pro-active on community feedback instead of being in a state of frantic damage control - which has been an issue for years now.
Hmm, I see. But I also honestly think that crytek does not have the resources to do so. They are a rather small studio and set in Germany of all places. Not saying things could not be improved but I dont think it's all doom and gloom. As how they are adressing things now, seems to me like a couple of steps in the right direction.
I've only been playing for a short few months now, the new engine seemed like a good jumping-on point for the game. And in some ways, it was, with the game itself feeling good to play, and the new map being a lot of fun! But even in the short time I've been playing, it already feels like the game has been degrading in quality, the UI seems to be working less, lag feels like it's getting worse, and it's harder and harder to find games since people are leaving, and for good reason. The lore stuff stings really hard, since getting into the game, I wanted to know more, and this channel was how I found more about the stories surrounding the gameplay... but now it's all just draining away. I like funny cowboy game where you shoot monsters and other people, but It's harder and harder to /keep/ liking it, even as a new player.
And it's honestly such a shame, because the original narrative team created such an amazing base for this game. The lore was literally its own living mystery that we as the community tried to put together. It was so much fun.
Wait, they removed the lore? The thing that makes their universe interesting??
That’s the equivalent of a Fallout game removing terminals, NPCs, holotapes, environmental storytelling, quests, etc.
They really shot themselves in the foot didn’t they?
I only know of Hunt through your lore videos and I love it, the whole quarantined Louisiana bayou riddled with an infectious disease that isn’t being properly addressed is fascinating to me, imagine if it spread to New Orleans, Baton Rogue or any other major population centres. The whole deal with the hunters and the petty infighting that led to their current fractured state is so interesting.
Unironically, they could've done something cooler than Ghostface. I think the devs tried to make it fit but everyone said "Tf are you guys smoking?"
Imagine if we got something like a Native American man or woman wearing the pelts of animals (play into the Skinwalker mythology) or someone wearing a deer skull like they're a Wendigo.
Its like what people are saying now, they're trying to go down the Fortnite route with all these collabs that really don't work. Hunt's strength lies with its dark Western setting so they should play into that strength, not do collabs.
I should mention also, I haven't played since they took the game offline for PS4
6000 hours into the game. I love the game passionately, but not the way i once did. I've been saying for a while that the fact that a game this unique, this promision, with this much potential, is in such incapable hands as Crytek's, is just downright painful.
We're in the same boat, man.
For me the worst thing (servers aside) is that they released a new map and now we have LESS maps?! They should have just released the new map on the old engine, and worked on 1986 for another year, then launch the full, finished game all at once.
I would have preferred that too.
Man you nailed it in this video I freaking miss the lore myself but I'm mostly worried that they will stop writing more lore.
Yeah, I think that ship has sailed, man.
Potentially if they care that might.
Maybe force a 180?
Pointing out the mistake with sources they trust.
Might get something.
Tough, i don't expect it
I somehow doubt it.
@@HazmatFTW well. the intent<
is to have the highter ups understand the stupidity they did, by using the facts of sheer numbers, but if the game is being used as a sacrifice for the sake of another project....yeah, no amount of data no matter how trustworthy will sufice.
to be fair, perhaps adding that kids nowadays are watching other stuff, like Vtubers, not cartoons.
so creating the "modern audience", trough social engineering, will also fail.
Good video. Agree with almost everything.
Appreciate you stopping by. Not often I get celebrities around these parts.
So I play on Xbox and I haven’t noticed any problems with servers or performance, and I know that a console wold be fine with that aspect, but the lore and the books going away is really dumb. And still not having a FOV slider is insane.
You're one of the lucky ones. Whenever I look to reddit, I just see bug-post after bug-post for PC players.
Glitches, crashes, bugs, current burn speed and what ever tuning they did on MMR all needs to be fixed. Our favorite game is a shell of what it was.
Love the video Hazmat!, very well put together, The only reason i personally have a issue with the post Malone addition is Yeah cool it will bring players, but Hunts in such a bad state that it won't keep the new / returning players playing for long, for me they have done it the wrong way, Game needs fixing then exposure But thank you for addressing these issues, I too hope hunt returns to its glory sometime soon!.
Imagine people running around as Jack Black in Hunt, what a terrible mental image
Did the lore ever explain how things started
Well.. It's funny you should mention that, because no, it was never revealed - but I do have the answer for what the original idea of the source/origin of the corruption was.
I wonder what the Sculptor's been up to. 🤔
Nothing good that's for sure!
I literally redownloaded the game because i wanted to play the game again but also read the lore again because i loved how they mad lore in historical root from my home state. But ive been quickly disappointed with ui and heavy spend money push
OG's have been commenting how this or that specific issue is the one to break the game ever since they introduced seeing players with darksight when you grabbed a bounty. The game will continue to grow with or without these players usually. Crytek is by no means perfect, all you have to do is see the UI after the engine update. But they always working to fix these issues and are always churning out content (on an 8 year old game). Everyone knew the game had to earn money as it went on somehow and a battlepasses acheive this and is more exciting than drips of small content.
Like I said. The monetization doesn't bother me - how it is done, is what bothers me.
Last event i never finished the battle pass... First time since early access in 2018... And it didn't even bother me
Happy to see you posting about Hunt again buddy.
Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your lore videos on Hunt Showdown and I also don't really understand the overall direction the game is taking now. I don't want to contribute to the hate especially as criticism, even light one, is being taken in such a sharp and negative manner, so I redirected my attention to some other games that are blossoming real well nowadays.
Thank you for the dark gritty lore you provided and I hope that one day everything will get back on track, but if not, it's been a bash, hunters.
I love hunt, I enjoy the game a lot to the point I have over 1k hours in the game which is rare for me. However after the direction of 1896 I am finding my will to defend crytek becoming less and less. I am honestly just tired the way they treat the game.
I think they got rid of the lore because hunt showdown isn’t just in the swampy bayou anymore. A lot of the lore was specifically tied to the Louisiana outbreak and, though not completely sure, some of the lore would’ve been conflicting with the new edition of areas. Most notably all the new characters. However hunt could’ve just alter the lore. The outbreak simple swept north America, thus all the new area and limitless potential of storytelling.
And that's so weird, right? Because they have writers - and the writers could simply just incorporate the new lore into the old lore. I don't see any reason why they had to remove it completely.
The game is fun! But I agree with you about the lore and the UI and the direction the DLCs take... nobody needs a rarity system for skins! And Crytek needs to improve the quality of their updates urgently!
I had completely forgotten about the rarity as well. God help us all.
I'm a player with only 120 hours between Xbox and PC, relatively new to Hunt. I want to put more time into the game, but the way development has been going for the game has been very discouraging.
It feels terrible getting into a gun fight with someone, thinking I narrowly dodged a bullet only to realize that actually, I died just now and it took the game 1.5 seconds to register that. The release to 2.0 has made this a constant occurrence for me.
The direction matchmaking is pushing towards doesn't help either. Choosing to prioritize filling lobbies over a fair match has made the game incredibly stressful to me. Ever since 2.0 I've been put into six star MMR and I frankly don't belong there. I feel like I'm nothing more than fodder for the actually good players and I have little opportunity to improve because I just keep getting stomped by players that are leagues ahead of me.
With such a surge in the player base it also seems weird that servers have to be force-filled without the consideration for skill levels.
There would be NOTHING wrong with a jack black skin 😤
Stop it!
If Crytek are not going to add the lore back to the game. Then i think YOU and YOUR community should get together, and just create the lore without Crytek. I would love to read fan made lore. (Its probably better than Crytek lore) and with your storytelling, i think it would be amazing. I think you are one of the only hopes that we have to have good lore on our beloved game. It would be good content.
I have 9 more headshots for the 100 headshots achievement. I'll probably uninstall the game after that. The highs just aren't worth the lows. It's 1 good game for every 20 bad games.
I’m a new player. I love the game, there is nothing like it for me. I do, however sympathise with those from before 1896 who have lost what made it the game it is today. I was hoping to read a load of grimdark lore but there is nothing but a paragraph per item which is dogwater as far as writing. That would be great to see in game.
Welcome to Hunt. I'm glad to hear you enjoy it - but yeah - it's a bit of a hit for older players to see the direction the game is heading in.
This man spoke all our minds lol i have 12k in og hunt and 800 in the new one and it dont feel the same
12.000 hours? Holy shit, man. That's a lot!
People saying there’s loads of new content,
Skins don’t count, BP is just the same recycled content with ever so slightly different traits,
New guns don’t mean the game has something new and exciting,
New map and boss was cool but for how long the game has been going there’s not a great to deal to show.
Only consistent new stuff is skins and there’s just weak
I surely do hope they watch your video and do a 180.
The Lore is the Foundation to something like this, curious minds will no longer be intrigued by it, all because they felt it was unnecessary.
I'm a console player, but i want this game to prosper for both pc and console...
Fingers crossed, man! Let's hope for the best.
My only issues are the servers and the mmr system being super inconsistent
600+ hours, played on and off since Traitor’s Moon and Scorched Earth dropped. It’s worrying and frustrating with all the changes since 1896, but I’m doing my best to enjoy the game as-is. I just don’t know if I can make it to 1K if it continues going downhill
Hopefully we will see a shift in development priorities at some point
It is so sad that all of this is so true. Overall a great video and I agree with everything except for one thing - There was no "review bomb", no organized campaign to shit on hunt, just genuine reviews of a player base tired of always giving the devs all the leeway in the world and repeatedly getting ignored.
You know, you're actually right. I'll rephrase it to "a sudden accumulative wave of bad reviews" instead lol
After 2500 hours I uninstalled. Haven't played since seeing the trailer for the Ghostface skin. However, the December update announced by Crytek looks promising. I don't know. Maybe I will install again someday but I'm over it. RIP to the greatest multiplayer ever.
Sucks, man. I haven't had the heart to uninstall it. I still hope.
@@HazmatFTW Nice video, btw, an accurate analysis.
Crytek needs to run an operation health like R6. Have a time period of dedicated fixes for performance and bugs I love the game and it gets tiring. I cant imagine being a new player trying to get into it.
I also have a tough time imagining how I would enjoy the game as a new player.
Man I've been saying that for years now. It's never happening. Maybe if they lose another 20000 players on steam but at that point... It'll be too late. I loved this game and if you told me a year ago I wouldn't be playing it I would have laughed on your face.... But here we are.