Hunt: Showdown’s newest event, Tide of Shadows, marks the first new boss in the bayou in two years. Rotjaw, a growling crocodile that, according to Crytek’s lore, “defies known aquatic reptile physiology.” Read patch notes and roam knee-deep swamps waiting for your next meal. Rotjaw is Hunt’s first outdoor boss, apparently only appearing at night or when it’s raining.
That’s right, it’s raining in Hunt right now. Perhaps it’s a bigger threat than a slimy swamp lizard. First, you can’t escape the rain. It started raining right after the match started and never stopped. The constant (and somewhat relaxing) patter has an immediate and noticeable effect on Hunt’s stealthiness and combat mechanics, which usually rely on a keen ear to pick up vocal cues. Having everyone trudging through the mud can make your footsteps louder, which may help, but it also increases the risk of sprinting.
The rain’s greatest impact is not felt until halfway through the game when the storm turns from a drizzle to a downpour. ask here). Vision is a problem as fog and spherical water droplets block vision. It drains gallons of water from the roof, which doesn’t affect gameplay, but looks very nice. In the case of heavy rain, sound becomes essentially unimportant.
Gunshots are the only thing you might hear in Mother Nature’s terrifying wrath. “Stealth” takes on another meaning when you can avoid an act that would otherwise amount to a death sentence. In a few matches I played today, Hunter would hide in the storm and rush into battle.
At one point, in a downpour of rain, I walked over to my dead teammate and started a tumultuous resurrection. The enemy came in a few meters away, and I was sure he could hear me, but he had his back to him.
Rainy conditions join the list of fun hunt map modifiers Crytek wishes they had in the game. Last year, Crytek introduced “wildcard” map variants such as the full moon night, which gives all maps an eerie twilight feel, and the “Inferno” variant, which sets the map on fire. Both of these were great, but like the rain wildcards, they were only available during two-month events like Tide of Shadows (then revived occasionally on random weekends).
Having more ways to experience Hunt’s limited three map pools is such a huge benefit to the game that it seems worth perpetuating, but I also think Exclusive In-event features make the event feel more special, possibly generating buzz and leading to more Battle Pass purchases.
Speaking of which, several new guns are free with this season’s pass, including two new Wild Rifle/Shotgun combo guns: a 3-barrel medium-ammo driller and a dominant uppercut against the Upper Matt A long ammo pistol made for I’ve tried both briefly and am still unsure if it’s wise to drop 500 handle dollars on a medium ammo rifle, but UpperMat says he’s an 8 kill server with instant death on his wipe It has been proven.
Tide of Shadows is shaping up to be the biggest hunt update of the year, if not because of the new bosses, but because of significant changes to how the premium currency Blood Bonds are used. For these changes and many other balancing tweaks, full patch notes. Tide of Shadows runs until his August 23rd.
