Monster Hunter Freedom is based off the Japan-only Monster Hunter G. The later was a version of Monster Hunter that was basically a fixed up version of the first one that was slightly more accessible to non-online players. The PSP version starts out pretty much the same way that the PS2 versions did; you pick your character model, including hair, skin colour, face etc. and pretty much jump in. The selection was a bit more varied than the PS2 version we played last year. There’s no real story to the game, the basic single player gist is that you’re out to become the best monster hunter of them all.
The game is very similar to its console predecessor. You’re thrown into the game and the initial batch of quests are there to get you familiar with the ins and outs of the Monster Hunter world. It’s actually a very daunting experience, as the game appears to be simple on top, only for a stupendous depth to be unveiled. Simply, there is so much to Monster Hunter Freedom that not everyone will experience all that the game has to offer.
Nice view
The initial quests have you running off on very simple tasks such as finding a herb, gathering some raw meat and so forth. Throughout each one, the village chief gives you some pretty explicit clues on how to complete the task, as well as information on some of the other intricacies in the world. For example, when we were sent to find special mushrooms, he told us how we should explore for areas where we can mine for raw materials. Other times, you’ll discover items and actions while in the course of actually playing. There’s actually a fair bit of hunting involved in the early stages but they’re false pretences to the epic battles that will follow.
Ninety percent of the game is likely to be spent by the player out on a quest. There are two basic sources of quests, the first being the Village Chief and the second being the Guild. The distinction with the Village Chief quests is that they hold your hand with some clues and explicit information. The Guild quests can be taken as either online or offline. If you take the quests offline, you’re taking them on your own. Oddly, the online mode is only applicable for local network (ad-hoc) connections. In the online Guild, there can be up to eight people “hanging around” and you can partake in quests with up to four players or a new mode known as “Treasure Hunt”, that’s for up to two players. The single player has been bolstered with a lot of the online only quests from the PS2 version being siphoned down into the single player as well as there being a few additions. However, the game is at its best in the multiplayer experience. In the end there are a lot quests to partake.
There are numerous quests that require you to gather certain items and as arbitrary as it may seem, it’s actually a very important aspect. You see, no self-respecting hunter will go out on the hunt until his/her gear is in order. The gathering essentially teaches you about the valuable and useful items and their place in the game. You will learn about the items that are consumable, how to experiment with combining and other little nuances in the game. For example, you need to eat cooked meat to keep your stamina up or combine herbs and mushrooms for more powerful healing agents. There are a number of quirks in the game, like the mini-game that you play to cook the meat, that requires you to play in time with the music.
Man or Monster?
Another aspect of the game suggests that you gather the trophies off downed beasts. Once a monster is downed, the player can gut it and keep the spoils. The finds range from raw meat (that needs to be cooked) or items like bones, scales and hides. Beasts aren’t the only source of materials. Players can search, fish, catch and dig for more useful elements of creation. These items are used for the creation and improvement of weapons and armour. The game’s economy puts the player in a pickle of a position because everything is very expensive. However, the player can create or improve their current stock in a much more cost-effective manner, all you need is the right materials and some cash. As much as this game is an action game, the player really needs a very well created/bought equipment set before tackling the more difficult quests because you will get seriously smacked if you don't.
As the title suggests, monster hunting is the ultimate order of the game. Whether these are monsters or dinosaurs that you’re hunting, we’ll leave that up to you. No doubt after numerous gathering quests, players will be itching to take their skills out on the hunt. Essentially there are two types of hunts – the hunt and the capture. The hunt requires you to track down and kill a specific or specified amount of beasts. The capture actually comes much later in the game and is the true test of the players hunting prowess. In single player, you have a lot of options with regards to how you go about your hunting. You can run in hacking and slashing, shoot from a distance or use tactics such as baiting, trapping, bombing, using flash grenades and so forth. Anyone willing to look outside the square will find that there are many ways to achieve the one goal.
The single player experience is improved over its PS2 counterpart but at the end of the day, the true experience lies in the multiplayer. The ultimate experience in the game is taking your motley crew out into the deep, dark depths of the lands to hunt out the biggest, nastiest and smelliest monsters that you can find. The advantage with the game being LAN only, is that now you can truly co-ordinate your attack with everyone and play out some truly excellent strategies. This allows you to play through with the full extent of the games capabilities. That, and you can now (literally) strangle the bugger who steals your well-earned spoils.
The Guild is a lively place, if you can get people online
As mentioned, there is a portion of time spent outside the quests. While you’re not upgrading or sorting your items and equipment, you can partake in activities that include fishing and agriculture. There are even a few additions, such as the eventual ability to get pet cats to cook for you. This cooking enhances your abilities before a quest. The game is also full of its own brand of humour and personality, but a lot of these NPC’s have quite a lot to say, both useful and utterly useless.
In the PS2 Monster Hunter, your attacks were mapped onto the right analog stick. Obviously, the PSP lacks an analog stick so the controls have been squeezed into a much smaller scheme. It’s a slightly unintuitive scheme because it takes a while to get used to and not everything that you’d like to be will be done in the heat of battle. Attacks are now shared on the triangle ad circle buttons, item usage on the square and a ducking/rolling on the X button. The R button is both sprint and shield (weapon unsheathed) and the L button centres the camera behind you. The camera in general follows you without any sudden jerks but can quickly flipped behind you in this scheme. As an action game, this scheme is quite an ordinary one, because you’ll often miss the targets and when things get heated, it’s too easy to lose yourself. The camera is a bit deceptive, as you'll often swing a weapon, only to just miss the target. It actually requires more precise actions and to be well throughout rather then a player running through with pure hack-and-slash methods.
The nature of Monster Hunter Freedom makes it difficult to recommend as a portable title. Quests can take quite a long time and as far as portable titles go, the pacing of this one will cause a diminished appeal to more than a few players. It isn’t that it’s slow, it just take a while to get everything that you need to come together. Despite this, the game is technically competent with reasonable load times. It can’t be considered pick-up and play because you can’t save until the end of the quest. This is a game better suited for long to very long play periods (you may want to consider a second or bigger battery). As far as the multiplayer goes, it is disappointing that there is no online mode but the LAN play actually has a lot of potential, if you know of other people that own this game. If you can gather a group of eight, you’ll be surprised how much mileage there is in the game.
Be prepared for some epic battles
Graphically, the game is a very impressive showcase. The downgrade to the PSP has not made a huge difference. The wide and various range of beasts retain their great and unique models, colourful exteriors and their great range of animations. The player models are still generic but are brought to life with a great array of animations and movements. The environments are a tad two faced. In open spaces, the game is exemplary with superb views of the surrounding environments. However, in closed spaces, such as a cave or low-canopy forest, the colours seem to saturate together and it is a bit difficult to distinguish. There are a few odd moments, such as where the monsters charge into a wall and keep charging on the spot or clipping issue but the graphics still do a damn good job.
Sound-wise, the game does a good job. The sound effects are varied and convey the atmosphere and environments very well. Each of the monsters sounds suitably ferocious and intimidating and you often feel like you’re in for a heck of a fight. Music ranges from serious to silly tunes with some Celtic overtures in between. Voicing is limited to some muttered gibberish.
Monster Hunter Freedom is a deep, engrossing experience that is likely to be hampered by a players inability to utilise its full capabilities. It’s portability is limited to long time periods but then you’ve got the battery issue. Players expecting to run in guns blazing and swords swinging will not get as much as a player who has really thought out how they're going to go about playing the game, meaning that it will still not appeal to lower end of the casual-gamer scale. The single player experience is improved over the PS2 incarnations, despite being essentially similar and makes for a good game for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to making the experience count. At the end of the day, the multiplayer reigns supreme. If you can find three others as willing and dedicated to playing the game to its fullest, you’re in for a great time.
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