Monster Hunter: World
A great game becomes an utter beast online
Monster Hunter: World is a tremendous game, but while it’s perfectly possible to play it entirely solo, the game is absolutely made to be played online with others. A variety of weapons that can complement each other, combined styles, different support roles – it’s all there for the benefit of playing with other people.
Once you’ve joined an online session you are able to see what quests every other player in the session is doing, allowing you to jump in and help with a hunt. There are various missions aside from the straightforward story ones, for example investigations where you’ll have specific criteria under which to complete a hunt (such as having limited time or being restricted to specific equipment). Hanging out with a big group of friends as you all split off into your own hunts is pretty much the perfect multiplayer experience.
And those hunts scale in difficulty to match multiple players so you’ll still all have a fun and challenging time. You can go on expeditions as a group, chilling out together while gathering herbs or watching animals. The variety of activities and lowpressure nature of the online game helps make Monster Hunter: World the most accessible game in Capcom’s beast-bashing series.
It’s built very smartly for social play as well. While the game’s main hub can only be accessed solo, everyone can hang out in the gathering hub where they can organise hunts, make funny gestures, eat meals, and even do some arm wrestling. You can also join squads – the game’s answer to clans – so you can quickly join sessions set up by other players. It’s nice and easy, meaning
THE HUNTS SCALE IN DIFFICULTY TO MATCH MULTIPLE PLAYERS SO YOU CAN ALL HAVE FUN.
you can join several squads to ensure you always have someone looking for companions on a quest. Capcom displays a lot of consideration in certain areas of the multiplayer options. All of which makes the game’s quirks all the more unfortunate. Players can do story missions together, for instance, but only if they all have progressed to the mission and everyone has seen all the cutscenes. There comes a point in a hunt where it will say “SOS flare now available” meaning you can put a distress call out to everyone, but it’s also a signal that friends are able to join your quest. So there are ways around the story mission problem, but for something built to be played in co-op, it’s such a cumbersome obstacle. Thankfully it doesn’t tarnish what is otherwise an excellent online suite.
VERDICT
Despite a few odd design decisions, Monster Hunter: World is one of the most sociable online experiences available. You won’t need to hunt down a better game for months. Sam Greer