While my coworkers spent their spring breaks tackling their backlog of 2024 games, I ignored my pile and got back into Hunt: Showdown 1896 in a big way. I’d barely touched the extraction shooter since its big 1896 update thanks to some unfortunate performance bugs, but those were cleared up in time for Hunt’s biggest event ever: Post Malone’s Murder Circus.
Yea, it’s a weird one. The event centres around Grammy-nominated recording artist Post Malone, who also happens to be a hardcore Hunt: Showdown fan with over 400 hours logged. This is the first time Crytek has ventured into the world of real-world celebrity crossovers, and while I was worried it’d be an ugly fit for an FPS set in the 1800s, I’m surprised to report it actually works. If this were Fortnite, Post Malone would’ve simply been dropped into the game as himself, but in Hunt he’s playing a character: The Deposed King, the supernatural ringmaster of a cursed circus of freaks. In full cowboy getup with serpent adornments and his recognisable tattoos, Malone honestly fits right into the Hunt world.
But the Deposed King is just a battle pass accessory. The real star is the ritual Murder Circus, a new point of interest added to all three currently available maps. This is another Hunt first – adding what’s essentially an entirely new compound that will only exist for a few months.
The circus tent is a small arena with high walls that block vision, but let any bullet pass straight through. Guarding the central tent is Ursa Mortis, a three-headed bear monster that functions like a miniboss, chasing hunters in and around the tent while inflicting intense bleeding with its screams.
I sorely underestimated the beast when I first fought it. Not only is it faster than a Meathead, but it’ll chase you farther too. I learned that the hard way when I emptied a magazine of compact ammo into its back and then pulled the usual Hunt move of running outside where boss can’t chase. Except Ursa Mortis does not respect boundaries: it chased me outside the tent while I reloaded and gave my guts a suntan.
NEED TO KNOW
RELEASE February 22, 2018
PUBLISHER Crytek
DEVELOPER Crytek
LINK
huntshowdown.com