The hounds are so close I can hear their growls as I move among a small group of trees, attempting to skirt around them. CRACK! A stick breaks beneath my feet. I whip my view to the decaying zombie dogs.

Did they spot me?

No. I'm good. Their growling isn't angrier sounding. They aren't looking at me. Good, on to get this clue.

Suddenly crows burst into the air to my left, their wings and their cawing loud in my ears. The birds were close, but not close enough that it was me that startled them. I crouch and sidle up against a pile of dirt for cover. My gun drawn to my shoulder, I swing the iron sight left and right, scanning the bushes.

I'm not alone. A cowboy shootout is but a moment away. Is it another solo? A duo? A trio? My goal is to take the first one by surprise, hopefully dropping him with a head shot to help even up the odds.

And this is just the first compound I'm walking into that match. This is the first minute or so of the match. That's hunt. It's not just a shooter. It's a freaking experience. This isn't Tarkov or one of it's imitators. Hunt is something else; It's own beast. It's unique and it is unmatched.

In short, Hunt is a gaming masterpiece.

Hunt is gaming done right. It released 5 years ago, but the devs never gave up on it. They've released content since that release. New guns. New bosses. New monsters. Ammo variants. Dual wielding pistols. As of a few days ago, dynamic weather. The list goes on and on. And you know what they have charged for this gameplay content they have pumped into this game over the last 5 years; For the hard work of all of the developers and artists working on a 5 year old game?

Not a single cent. Not a thing. You buy the game, and they just keep giving you content. They keep making Hunt better and better, and they never lock any of it behind a DLC.

The result? A masterpiece that they have, and continue to, fine tune half a decade after its release. And are they giving up on it anytime soon? Not by the looks of it. With a port over to a new Crytek engine 5 years more modern than the one it was built in planned to be completed by next year, along with a new map in an entirely new biome around the same time, they seem committed.

This is gaming done right. Because of their dedication to the game and continued addition of free gameplay content, this game is continually hitting higher concurrent player numbers than ever before. It is the same reason it is not uncommon at all to find players with literally thousands of hours in hunt.

As of this writing I'm 800 hours into hunt... And I still learn something new all the time. It is a game where the premise is pretty easy to understand, but with all of these years of additional content and slowly perfecting what is already there, it also has layer after layer of depth. Depths you often can't even see until you've delved into the layer above it.

Recently they reduced the amount of their real money currency, known as BBs, you earn in game. People have begun writing negative reviews about it. That's fine, that's their opinion. They are allowed to have it, but it doesn't stop it from being a very entitled opinion. They conveniently ignore in all of those reviews that Crytek also removed the BB cost from everything even slightly gameplay related in the very same patch.

So yeah, we get less BBs now, but they are also now exclusively used for buying cosmetics. Things to look pretty. That's it. Because the developers of hunt do NOT sell power. These cosmetics won't even change the iron sights on any gun, because even a small change to iron sight might end up being some sort of advantage to someone who likes that iron sight more.

But no, these entitled gamers aren't happy with a masterpiece game that has dedicated devs still producing completely free content for a 5 year old game. No, they want to be able to easily afford to buy all the cosmetics they want for free as well. I mean, devs don't have to pay rent or eat, right?

Me, I look at it like paying my taxes. I like the country I live in. I'm patriotic that way. I enjoy a lot of benefits, including my freedom, but also streets and schools and clean water. So to me paying taxes is the patriotic thing to do. Freedom isn't free, as they say.

I look at games like Hunt in a similar light. I see the hard work of the devs. I see their good faith and the respect they give to us, the gaming community, by being quite deliberate in never selling power or charging us a cent for any gameplay related content. Bought this game 5 years ago, you have access to all the guns and tools. Bought this game last week, you have access to all the guns and tools.

So while I've never bought BBs directly, I buy a dlc pack with a legendary hunter skin and a couple of gun skins now and then. Sure, partly because I think the stuff in that particular pack looks cool, but also because I'm perfectly willing to toss these guys a few bucks now and then in thanks for my 800 hours, soon to be more, of enjoyment.

The hounds are so close I can hear their growls as I move among a small group of trees, attempting to skirt around them. CRACK! A stick breaks beneath my feet. I whip my view to the decaying zombie dogs. Did they spot me? No. I'm good. Their growling isn't angrier sounding. They aren't looking at me. Good, on to get this clue. Suddenly crows burst into the air to my left, their wings and their cawing loud in my ears. The birds were close, but not close enough that it was me that startled them. I crouch and sidle up against a pile of dirt for cover. My gun drawn to my shoulder, I swing the iron sight left and right, scanning the bushes. I'm not alone. A cowboy shootout is but a moment away. Is it another solo? A duo? A trio? My goal is to take the first one by surprise, hopefully dropping him with a head shot to help even up the odds. And this is just the first compound I'm walking into that match. This is the first minute or so of the match. That's hunt. It's not just a shooter. It's a freaking experience. This isn't Tarkov or one of it's imitators. Hunt is something else; It's own beast. It's unique and it is unmatched. In short, Hunt is a gaming masterpiece. Hunt is gaming done right. It released 5 years ago, but the devs never gave up on it. They've released content since that release. New guns. New bosses. New monsters. Ammo variants. Dual wielding pistols. As of a few days ago, dynamic weather. The list goes on and on. And you know what they have charged for this gameplay content they have pumped into this game over the last 5 years; For the hard work of all of the developers and artists working on a 5 year old game? Not a single cent. Not a thing. You buy the game, and they just keep giving you content. They keep making Hunt better and better, and they never lock any of it behind a DLC. The result? A masterpiece that they have, and continue to, fine tune half a decade after its release. And are they giving up on it anytime soon? Not by the looks of it. With a port over to a new Crytek engine 5 years more modern than the one it was built in planned to be completed by next year, along with a new map in an entirely new biome around the same time, they seem committed. This is gaming done right. Because of their dedication to the game and continued addition of free gameplay content, this game is continually hitting higher concurrent player numbers than ever before. It is the same reason it is not uncommon at all to find players with literally thousands of hours in hunt. As of this writing I'm 800 hours into hunt... And I still learn something new all the time. It is a game where the premise is pretty easy to understand, but with all of these years of additional content and slowly perfecting what is already there, it also has layer after layer of depth. Depths you often can't even see until you've delved into the layer above it. Recently they reduced the amount of their real money currency, known as BBs, you earn in game. People have begun writing negative reviews about it. That's fine, that's their opinion. They are allowed to have it, but it doesn't stop it from being a very entitled opinion. They conveniently ignore in all of those reviews that Crytek also removed the BB cost from everything even slightly gameplay related in the very same patch. So yeah, we get less BBs now, but they are also now exclusively used for buying cosmetics. Things to look pretty. That's it. Because the developers of hunt do NOT sell power. These cosmetics won't even change the iron sights on any gun, because even a small change to iron sight might end up being some sort of advantage to someone who likes that iron sight more. But no, these entitled gamers aren't happy with a masterpiece game that has dedicated devs still producing completely free content for a 5 year old game. No, they want to be able to easily afford to buy all the cosmetics they want for free as well. I mean, devs don't have to pay rent or eat, right? Me, I look at it like paying my taxes. I like the country I live in. I'm patriotic that way. I enjoy a lot of benefits, including my freedom, but also streets and schools and clean water. So to me paying taxes is the patriotic thing to do. Freedom isn't free, as they say. I look at games like Hunt in a similar light. I see the hard work of the devs. I see their good faith and the respect they give to us, the gaming community, by being quite deliberate in never selling power or charging us a cent for any gameplay related content. Bought this game 5 years ago, you have access to all the guns and tools. Bought this game last week, you have access to all the guns and tools. So while I've never bought BBs directly, I buy a dlc pack with a legendary hunter skin and a couple of gun skins now and then. Sure, partly because I think the stuff in that particular pack looks cool, but also because I'm perfectly willing to toss these guys a few bucks now and then in thanks for my 800 hours, soon to be more, of enjoyment.