After spending an elongated period in development, Hunt: Showdown finally hit Steam Early Access back in February. Crytek's semi mission-based multiplayer FPS has received constant updates and support since its debut, encompassing things like new content and new languages, and later this year it will be getting more substantial new content to add to the experience.

I had a chance to meet up with Crytek this year at E3 and received an in-depth look at the upcoming content updates for the game. While I wouldn't consider any of it radically game-changing, this new content should bring new weapons, support items, and even new mechanics into the mix that will definitely spice up the experience for those that have stuck with Hunt: Showdown since it hit Early Access.

The biggest new weapon added via the upcoming content update is the Vintage Crossbow. This weapon is pretty large and can take a while to load, but is fairly silent and its bolts can be picked up off of the corpses of enemies. A smaller Hand Crossbow that functions like a pistol is also being added, which means players will soon be able to wield both a crossbow and a main weapon that packs more of a punch.

Both knives and axes can also now be thrown at enemies, giving players some brand new ranged options so that they don't need to waste ammo. This impending update will also introduce things like bear traps and sticky bombs, which are good ways to deal a noticeable amount of damage to opponents from afar before swooping in for the kill. While none of these weapons will drastically alter its gameplay, they do give players new ways to tackle enemy encounters in Hunt: Showdown.

[pullquote]"Players will soon be able to wield both a crossbow and a main weapon that packs more of a punch."[/pullquote]

My favorite of the new weapons I saw was the Wasp Grenade, which players can throw at enemies to summon a swarm of wasps that will deal prolonged attrition-like damage. While this weapon can be countered with certain items, it was still one of the coolest-looking and most original weapons that I've seen in a shooter recently.

Hunt: Showdown will also be receiving a flare gun soon. While this can be used to see at nightime or distract enemies, it can also deal fire-based damage to many of the creatures that players will have to fight. It's a fairly standard weapon, but its implementation in Hunt: Showdown looks unique.

As explained by the developers at Crytek, these new weapons were created from a mix of community requests and planning by the developers. For example, the bear trap is a new damaging item that was requested by the community, while the crossbow was on a list of items that the developers at Crytek wanted to add to Hunt: Showdown after launch. While some of these items were already planned, it is nice to see that Crytek is really taking community feedback into account, as that it is crucial for any multiplayer or Early Access title to be successful.

[pullquote]"It is nice to see that Crytek is really taking community feedback into account, as that it is crucial for any multiplayer or Early Access title to be successful."[/pullquote]

Those aforementioned weapons aren't the only things that Crytek plans on adding soon, either. Players can also expect a brand new monster called the Water Devil that lurks in the game's lakes to be added to Hunt: Showdown. The developers found that players were dodging enemy encounters by just camping in water, so they added a very deadly enemy there to keep players on their toes.

Foggy environments will also be rolled out into Hunt: Showdown soon. While this doesn't seem like it will impact much in terms of gameplay outside of visibility, it does look really cool and will add a lot of eeriness to the game's atmosphere. A new Louisiana-based map is also currently being worked on by Crytek, so players should expect a whole new area to explore in the coming months, though that is further off than the other content we've seen so far.

[pullquote]"The game's avid community will embrace this new content as it doesn't radically change anything, but it does embellish the fun title that is already there."[/pullquote]

There will also be quite a few quality-of-life updates coming to the game within the next few weeks that should help polish some of Hunt: Showdown's rougher Early Access edges. In order to counter campers, players who pick up bounties will be able to see the enemies near them for a short period. Players will also soon be able to loot dead bodies in order to gain valuable resources, such as ammo and the like.

The game will also finally be receiving a speculator mode and death messages, so that way players can clearly see how they died and what happens in the game afterwards. You will also be able to finally send friend invites to players after a match, which should bolster the game's already active community.

From our time seeing the updates and features in store, these enhancements show that Crytek is very committed to improving and evolving Hunt: Showdown. While this new content is currently without an exact date, the developers are promising to add it soon in a series of staggered patches. I'm sure the game's avid community will embrace this new content as it doesn't radically change anything, but it does embellish the fun title that is already there.