Let us travel to the year 1895. Grover Cleveland is the President of the United States. A flu pandemic five years previous has killed 1 million people worldwide, with particularly devastating effects in Chicago, and this event isn't so much your past as your future, as infectious diseases are more than likely to be the cause of your own dead-end. Both Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde are at the height of their careers, as is Butch Cassidy, but Will Rogers is just a boy, and the gramophone has only just gone into mass production. Life is full of possibility, but it is also—by 2017 standards—brutal, dirty, and short.
Embedded within this world and this year is Hunt. It was a hell of a time for firearms innovation, and the weapons of Hunt first gestated in the minds of the 19th century's engineers and inventors. Our artists bedded down in the gear of the time, translated it into the world of Hunt, and when you play, you'll be able to get your hands around their brutal, dark designs.
In Hunt, Louisiana in 1895 is a dead zone, populated with horrific creatures that have crept through the cracks between worlds, or so one theory goes. Bounty Hunters from across the country are answering the call to arms: the call of wealth, the call of glory, and the call of blood. The weapons and equipment these Hunters carry has done time in the field, been modified with whatever was at hand, and splattered with blood and mud and sweat and grime. Death lies visibly upon them, as it does the faces of those who have fought these strange terrors and lived to repeat the experience.
They shall know you by your rifle
Each Hunter can carry one double-handed weapon, one single-handed weapon, three tools, and three consumables. How you equip yourself is entirely up to you and your hunting style, but today we're going to take you through a few items you might want to have hanging on your belt during your first few Hunt matches. This load out may be slightly less flexible than a more subtle combination you might choose later in your hunting career, but it will give beginning players with a bit of aim and a bit of luck the power necessary to take down a veteran.
Sparks LRR
The Sparks LRR is a rifle designed for big game hunting. It can take down a buffalo—or any other large creatures you might meet in the wilds—at an enormous distance with incredible accuracy. But it only takes one cartridge at a time, and the slow reload time can put you at a disadvantage in close combat.
Caldwell Rival 78 Handcannon
This sawed-off side-by-side shotgun has a wide shot spread and is most effective at point blank range or to sweep a room of enemies. If you've also equipped yourself with a Sparks, the Rival will compensate with some powerful short-range wreckage.
Electric Lamp
See in the dark! Investigate underground areas and dark corners! Alert everyone else on the map to exactly where you are so they can take you out! That is to say: use with caution. The Electric Lamp will never be necessary to see, but it can be helpful—or harmful—depending on when and how you use it.
First Aid Kit
The First Aid Kit is an obvious but necessary item for every Hunter. You can bandage yourself or your fellow Hunter to restore one health bar, and carrying it around with you will make you less dependent on level caches to resupply.
Fire Bomb
You might know the Fire Bomb as a Molotov Cocktail, and the concept is the same: Hunters use whatever they have on hand—which, if they've been paid recently, is likely to be a few empty whiskey bottles—to build a makeshift bomb that spells their wrath out in flames.
Get ready Hunters, the time to arm yourselves draws near.