Combining PVE with PVP is something several games have tried. The Division tried this with the dark zone, the Souls series found much success with invasions and even titles like Mindjack let players make story mode significantly more difficult. In Hunt: Showdown, the idea is broken up into three distinct parts, which makes for an interesting, but possibly frustrating system.
The idea is simple. Matches are five teams of two, who compete to collect bounties. Bounties involve killing bosses, the one shown was a agile spider that made for a creepy scene, which you can find via clues. There are a total of three clues, with the third always revealing its location.
Bosses are more difficult than regular enemies, but not terribly complex or long battles. This is because killing the boss is merely one part of a three part system.
After the boss is dead, things move from PVE to PVP. When you purify the boss, something you need to do to collect the bounty, it gives away your position, which you need to hold out for the duration. Currently the timer is set for 2 minutes, though that time might increase over time. At this point other players will know your location and possibly come to collect your prize. After collecting the item, players must return it safely to receive a reward. It’s an interesting idea, that is really enhanced by the idea of the hunt.
Since Hunt: Showdown features permanent death, it adds a certain amount of risk to everything you do. Everything you do has a certain amount of risk, with it sometimes being better to wait than to engage in every battle. Thankfully, when you do die, something that will happen eventually, your characters progress will go into your bloodline. This means new characters might be weaker, in terms of skills they can equip and use, but they’ll have more options as time progresses. Especially since there are no classes in Hunt: Showdown, meaning you can make any character whatever you want to make them.
While Hunt: Showdown looks interesting and sounds quite ambitious, it sounds like defensive play styles will be more advantageous. Sometimes, like Destiny’s salvage mode, those who try to do the objective are at more of a disadvantage than those who merely stop others. Say you find an enemy team because you hear gunfire, so you stalk them. It would be much better to wait until they get into combat to take them out, than to immediately pounce.
From what was said, Hunt: Showdown sounds like it has potential. The basic idea sounds like a lot of fun, but multiplayer can be unpredictable and things might not go as planned. Despite that, those interested in a new PVE/P hybrid game or just like core concept should probably keep an eye on Hunt: Showdown.