Yesterday saw the launch of Huntdown, a 16-bit masterpiece on the Microsoft Store. If you haven’t heard much about the game yet, it’s an action comedy arcade shooter, inspired by action movies of the ’80s and the arcade games people grew up with.  Huntdown was designed by hand, like an old school arcade game, how neat is that! 

You play as three antihero bounty hunters tasked with cleansing a dystopian city of criminal gangs and their bosses. Before you dive in, I wanted to share some tips and tricks that should prove useful to any novice bounty hunter looking to make a killing.

 

Huntdown

 

Timing is Key 

You can’t always throw yourself into dangerous situations in Huntdown. Sometimes you need a tactical approach, and timing is super important. Sliding into cover at a critical moment can mean the difference between life and death. Leap from cover to cover to avoid taking a hit, slide behind a crate, kill an enemy, take their weapon and repeat.

You can also dash to avoid bullets and jump between platforms to avoid enemy fire. If a particularly stabby foe gets too close, kick them away by pressing X, and finish them off with a shotgun blast before advancing to your next target.

 

Choose the Right Tools for the Job 

In Huntdown you can confiscate a plethora of weapons including laser weapons, katanas, grenades and more but selecting the right tool from your arsenal can make all the difference. Shotguns make short work of armour at close range, but machine guns are great for crowd control.

The games three Bounty Hunters each have their own primary gun with infinite ammo, as well as throwing weapons, both with a cooldown period. Anna Conda’s primary gun fires in bursts, John Sawyer’s hits hard but there’s a slightly longer delay between every shot, and with Mow Man you can spam the trigger button to fire faster. Learn the strengths of your character’s primary weapons and use them as much as possible.

 

Huntdown

 

Ammo on weapons you pick up in the levels is limited in Huntdown. If you find an awesome weapon, you can swap back to your primary weapon if you want to save ammo until a harder fight ahead. You can also pick up powerful grenades that will replace your throwing weapon, but they can be dropped and re-equipped at any time.

Learning how the defaults differ and when to switch back to your less powerful weapons to conserve ammo is something that separates good bounty hunters from the rest.

 

Know Your Enemy 

In the game you have a huge variety of gangs to wipe out, from violent feral punks to a murderous rockabilly motorcycle club who take inspiration from the Centurions of ancient Rome.

Study the patterns of enemies to bring them to swift justice. The gang bosses are a huge test of skill and reflexes but can be put down by learning their attack patterns.

 

Huntdown

 

You also get full health when you reach a boss or checkpoint.

 

Search Every Inch of the City 

Scour every part of the level to make sure nobody escapes justice. At the end of each level you receive a total number of enemies you eliminated, and how many remain.

There are secrets hidden behind certain walls and in some objects that need explosives to get to. Look for explosive barrels that can devastate objects and enemies when exploded. Sometimes entire waves of enemies can be hidden away and then you complete a level to find you’ve missed 10 out of a possible 40 targets, reducing your bounty and leaving crimes unpunished.

 

Stay safe and Happy Gaming CX readers

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