Hunt: Showdown's new Serpent Moon event adds more bite

Serpent Moon is Hunt: Showdown’s latest in-game event following on from Traitor’s Moon. This new event expands on Hunt’s story and introduces a bevy of new elements for players to discover. Shacknews recently had the pleasure of diving into a test environment to check out Serpent Moon and I walked away eagerly anticipating the arrival of this snakey event on July 27.

Straight away, Serpent Moon feels meatier than previous events in Hunt: Showdown. While a lot of the core mechanics and principles are present, the new season pass-like system, story focus, slight tweaks to event point collections, and weaponry make this feel more substantial.

The event includes a sort of season pass, for lack of a better term. Players can progress through the ranks by collecting Event Points, which grants rewards like the Snake Oil Ward antidote shot skin, among others. For those that purchase the premium version, extra rewards will be granted along the way. But more than cosmetics, there are also story elements to enjoy throughout the event. Each new rank comes with its own narrative insight into the world of Hunt: Showdown.

In terms of accruing Event Points, while long-time Hunt players will be familiar with the basics of this event, there are some slight differences. Players will be focused on finding snake baskets which can be destroyed for Event Points or, if players want to risk getting poisoned and bitten, the snakes can be collected. Take these snakes to an altar and sacrifice them for double the Event Points. It’s a risk-reward element that players will need to juggle and should see another layer of tension added to the matches.

There are also other ways to boost the Event Points earned such as using contracts (one of which is included immediately in the event pass) and by playing as certain hunters like the Witch Hunter, Hail Mary, and the Night Seer. Stacking contracts doesn’t increase the percentage gained but it does increase the duration of the effect.

The Serpent Moon event will also introduce the Sparks Pistol. This is a sawn-off version of the mighty Sparks LRR that is just as powerful as its sniping counterpart, albeit with a significantly reduced range, worse handling, slower muzzle velocity, and deals less damage from a melee. The advantage? The thing does 149 damage in close to medium range. With only a single bullet in the chamber, you won’t want to miss.

Another weapon added to the pool is the Romero 77 Alamo, an auto-loading version of the dominant shotgun. Thankfully, this thing fires slower than the Crown & King and also takes a while to restock the reloading mechanism. While its rate of fire is slower than the Romero, and fully reloading the mechanism is slower than reloading one round, the advantage is that you don’t need to manually reload after every shot.

Though my time with Serpent Moon was short, it left me eagerly awaiting the arrival of the event in the full game. It will be interesting to see how the community adopts the two new weapons, especially the Sparks Pistol. The ability to double Event Points in a match should add another tantalizing opportunity for more fights and higher tension, which is already quite high during events as players opt to not burn bodies.

With the Serpent Moon event coming to Hunt: Showdown on July 27, there’s only a short time to wait before players get to sink their fangs into this meaty event. Crytek has also just unveiled a new DLC, The Prescient Night, which releases at the same time. Keep it locked to Shacknews as we bring you more on Hunt: Showdown.

This hands-on preview is based on a pre-release Steam build offered by the developers.

Sam Chandler

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler