Playing it cool
MONSTER HUNTER WORLD: ICEBORNE PS4, XBox One (PEGI 16) HHHHH
THE Monster Hunter series has been something of a cult hit since it first emerged on the PS2 back in 2004.
Developed by gaming giant Capcom, the fantasy-RPG instantly became a massive success in Japan and garnered a huge following in the west.
As the name of the series suggests, the game is all about hunting monsters.
Starting out as a novice, you gain skills, weapons and attributes as you slay your way through an increasingly difficult variety of weird and wonderful beasts.
Of all the games in the series, the best so far has been Monster Hunter World (MHW), which hit consoles to much fanfare last year.
Hailed as the biggest and most spectacular entry to date, fans said it couldn’t be topped.
They were wrong. Iceborne expands on the incredible environments already created for MHW, with new equipment, new monsters and, surprisingly, an attempt at some actual character story arcs.
Taking place in a new hunting biome, the Hoarfrost Reach – an icy tundra that has been beautifully brought to life – this is the finale that MHW deserves.
Picking up where the game’s main campaign ends, your hard-earned, levelled up High Rank armour and weapons mean nothing here, as Iceborne introduces Master Rank – a new tier which, frankly, destroys the competition.
And you’re going to need it as the monsters you come up against are much harder to kill and dole out gruelling punishments.
There are 20 new beasts and some returning creatures (good news for veteran hunters) to do battle with.
The shark-like Beotodus knocked me on my backside time and time again.
Upgrading my armour wasn’t the chore it became in MHW, where it felt like I had to grind for hours to earn the items I needed to move up the ranks.
Crafting was ridiculously cheap to begin with, meaning I could spend more time hunting and less time earning items.
Some cool new items have been added to your arsenal to help you find and take down the monsters in this frozen wasteland.
The best by far is the clutch claw, which adds a whole new level of strategy. Wielding it allows you to grapple onto the weak spot of a monster and attack it – but if you’re not proficient with the tool, be prepared to eat snow quite a lot.
Alongside the new monsters on the block are cameos from some of the most vicious beasts to have graced the series so far.
My most dreaded encounter was with Nargacuga, a huge dragon, armoured with tough black scales and thick fur. After an hour of exasperating, throw-your-controller -through-the-window-in-frustration gameplay, I finally managed to kill it and I can’t even begin to describe the sense of accomplishment.
I’m sure veterans of this game will make short work of some of these beasts but, as someone who dips in and out, my fighting style just wasn’t fluid enough.
If you’ve played MHW all the way through, Iceborne takes all that you think you know about the game and incinerates it in a fiery blast of dragon’s breath.
There is a tremendous amount of new content here which is the least you can expect when you realise it’s priced at £49 RRP, the same as the base game when it was released.
And a word of warning, if you don’t already own MHW, or haven’t completed the main campaign – which can take upwards of 30 hours, then you can’t jump straight into Iceborne.
As an expansion, this is one of the most creative and enthralling additions I’ve ever played.
It elevates monster hunting to an art form and has to be one of the best games currently available on this generation of consoles. Bargain buy: £32.99 from cdkeys.com