PSP World

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Review

Monster Hunter has been one of the most divisive games on the PSP in terms of public and professional opinion. Many reviews by the mainstream gaming press seem to miss the point of Monster Hunter entirely, while a sizeable core of fans balk at any suggestion that their baby may be less than perfect. The truth is, like most games, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has flaws - the camera system is all wack, the pacing is closer to War and Peace than to an action game, and navigating the weapon improvements tree practically requires a PhD. Those things are all true, but they didn't stop this cynical gamer from recognizing a spark of something special at the heart of Monster Hunter the first time I booted it up on PSP. What makes a game great are not the technical details by themselves, although they help. What it takes is soul, and Monster Hunter has that in abundance.

With its updated release, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Capcom appears to have fixed many of the small blemishes that plagued the first few PSP games, making this an absolute must-buy for anyone curious about the Monster Hunter franchise. This review is primarily aimed at those newcomers, since Monster Hunter veterans on the PSP have almost certainly gone and picked this game up already. For those of you who have played the previous Monster Hunter Freedom 2, remember that you have the option of importing your saved character from the previous game, so as not to lose any progress you've already made.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite features some intense multiplayer co-op action.

Now, the basics. Monster Hunter is primarily a game about hunting monsters. There is no story, outside of the vague conceit that you are a newcomer to this town named Pokke, which is inexplicably surrounded on all sides by monsters that inhabit extremely different climatic conditions. Your character will hunt them through meadows, over snowy peaks, in the blazing sands, and through the dankest swamps. Since there is no princess to rescue, or magical crystals to collect, why do you do all this? To become a better and more skilled hunter, of course. The joy to be had from this game is in the process, not the destination, a warning that newcomers would do well to heed before embarking on a series of quests that could take more than 100 hours to complete. Yes, you read that correctly - there is easily 100 hours worth of content contained in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, adding to its immense appeal for gamers who want value for their money.

The 100+ hours you will likely spend exploring the world of Monster Hunter will be largely spent improving your weapons and equipment, since the game does not have any RPG-like improvement for your main character. You will be essentially grinding for loot, rather than XP, since items found in the natural world can be used to craft and upgrade weapons. However, unlike traditional RPGs, where you can "grind" experience by killing hordes of weak and boring peons, Monster Hunter will force you to take on more and more dangerous quests to get what you want. You see, you won't be able to craft that powerful Babel Spear unless you can collect some Gold Rathian scales, only found on the body of a defeated wyvern. Depending on the type of weapon or armor you want to build, you may also have to supplement monster body parts with mineral or plant matter, which can be harvested from the levels themselves or from your personal farm.

Here is how a typical quest goes down in Monster Hunter. First, before even setting out into the field, you will need to think about what type of enemy and environment you will be facing: which elemental weapon or armor should you bring along? Will you need special items like cool drinks just to keep your character alive while walking around? What traps, bombs, or other special items will you need? Once you have your inventory all figured out, it's time to head into the wild. You will begin in one of several interconnected "zones" that are all linked together by narrow passages.

Somewhere out there in one of the zones is your quarry, but in between you and your prey are scattered a bunch of little raptor-like minions that are not usually a problem on their own, but can be dangerous in groups. You don't know which zone holds your target until you discover it for yourself. You will definitely know when you've located it, though. The first thing that you're probably going to want to do is run in close and tag the monster with a paintball, allowing you to track its movements on radar if it leaves the current area. Once tagged, you can set about trying to weaken it. Using a flash grenade to stun the beast and then rushing in for some quick stabs is usually a good tactic. So is setting a pit trap, using yourself as bait, and then using barrel bombs on the immobile target before it can get free. In between strikes, you will need to put distance between you and the monster so you have time to drink health restoring potions and sharpen your weapon.

You can puncture crab shells with a sharp enough weapon

The best part of Monster Hunter is heading out into the field to track, confront and bring down a fearsome monster, and then triumphantly looting its carcass for precious materials. Success is based more on strategic thinking than on combat skills, although quick reflexes do help. Perhaps it takes a bit of obsessive-compulsive personality, but this formula is definitely what gives Monster Hunter its charm and for better or worse, it is a process that is repeated over and over with bigger and stronger monsters over the course of the game. Every time you confront a new monster - one of the 38 major ones included in the game - you will probably be killed. Only by observing your quarry, learning its habits and anticipating its next move will you be able to put yourself in the right position for a kill. Because of the extreme threat posed by these gargantuan beasts, the game does a very good job of making the player feel what it would be like to actually fight an animal many times bigger than himself. The piercing sound effects and ominous shadows tracing over the ground below wyverns help, too.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is an incremental improvement over its predecessor, Freedom 2, but it adds enough new content and features to make it worthwhile. In terms of specific gameplay improvements, the expansion of the player inventory means that players can now horde more precious items and manage them more easily in their chest. A memory stick install option all but eliminates load times between map areas, something that definitely speeds the pacing and aids the enjoyability of the game. Some all-new map areas have been added, including the "Great Forest" zone, as well as two entirely new sets of quests. Finally, an AI controlled Felyne companion can now join the player on quests and contribute its specific skills to the player during battles. This last feature probably won't help experienced players too much, since the Felyne's behavior is totally random, but it is nice to have for beginner players who need all the help they can get while learning the ropes.

A hunter and his Felyne companion, out on a quest.

Capcom is also really good about providing free downloadable content after the fact, and this time DLC will feature new Epic Quests that will reward the player special items for completing a trial against a series of tough monsters.

Compared to its PSP predecessors, Unite is nearly perfect. There is one glaring fault remaining with the game, however, and that is the omission of infrastructure multiplayer. For a game so challenging, the best way to even the odds is to bring along real live human companions, and sometimes the game seems like it was designed for co-op rather than single player. With that in mind then, it is almost inconceivable that Capcom has resisted including online play in the PSP version, particularly since Monster hunter Tri on the Wii will be online-enabled. If you have friends who are into this sort of game, then problem solved, because you can join up with an ad-hoc connection. If not, there are two options available to you: it is possible to use a new PS3 tunneling system from Japan to link systems together, or you can use Xlink Kai which can tunnel an ad-hoc connection through the PC. Both options are helpful but far from perfect.

Do not be fooled into thinking that Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is a fast-paced action game. In terms of pacing, it has a lot more in common with Shadow of the Colossus than with God of War. The folks who will get the most out of Monster Hunter are the detail-oriented Dungeons & Dragons players, particularly if they have friends who are also big into gaming. Gamers with short attention spans who don't like to think too hard should definitely steer clear of the series, because the game is about as hardcore as you can get on the PSP. And for folks like us, that's just the way we want it.