Talk about a hidden gem with HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age coming from Crytek. We had an official announcement just a few weeks ago but it didn't do much to impress me as an original IP but more the blending of two other IPs coming soon. I could not have been more mistaken after seeing what they had to show on the floor at E3 for HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age. It does have similarities to games like The Order: 1886 and Evolve but it really shines as its own idea.

Now the demo I was shown took place in the Louisiana bayou where the group of hunters are gearing up to take down a witch in the area based on real world mythologies and lore. Like I said, it sounds like other titles. Where HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age stood out for me was in the actual character design and personalities that were given to the hunter group. They did not sound like some well-organized group that had been trained since birth to do what they were doing but more of average people who were put into an insane situation and thrived. I could have sworn I heard on of the characters talk like the stereotypical "let's lynch 'em" redneck. It wasn't given the period but that was part of the feel given off.

As was to be assumed each hunter has their own specialties and specific weapons; both melee and ranged. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play as the guy who has a hatchet and a double barrel shotgun but the others were really cool and looked downright bad-ass as they tore through the minions of the witch. Yes, it looks like it is going to be multiple missions rife with minions to lead up the big bad boss if you were still not following along, but it was engaging and fun to watch so it should be about ten times more fun to play.

One of the interesting things I though was how a dead player respawns into the world. As there is no magic or resurrection gel in HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age Crytek had to go another route to with respawning a 'dead' player. They really didn't go into the reasons or mentality as far as story for it but if I had to speculate it looked like it was along the lines of your hunter being captured and the team has to release them. This was shown via a coffin that a respawned player was locked in or another player being hung upside-down from a pole yelling for help. The first time it made no sense but when it happened again it made more sense and they all look to be random as well.

So I mentioned Louisiana as a location in HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age but that isn't the only one. Crytek didn't go into details but they stated that there would be many different locations around the world all with their own monsters pulling from the locations real world mythologies. Again, nothing on those lores either as they would most likely give away things that the developer doesn't want out in the wild just yet for HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age.

What I thought was interesting here was that the team kept claiming that HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age was still in the early alpha stages of development but it looked to be well beyond that. The character models could use a bit of tweaking but that would be just to match the visuals of the environment already in play. The way that HUNT: Horrors Of The Gilded Age looked and looked to handle was worthy of much more than just an early alpha statement. The team knows what they are doing and it is clear. This easily took HUNT from a minor player into a lead star for me. Now to eagerly wait.