Monster Hunter

THE BAD:
Offline takes a while to pick up speed
No headset support
Sometimes camera can be a pain
Minigames aren't so imaginative

SUMMARY:
I have read many "Pro"-reviews, and I'm here to set the record straight. Many of them say that this game is unimaginative, and hasn't even scratched the surface of its potential. Well, you can plug up your ears with cotton and read this. One guy even said, and I quote, "...this game takes place in Prehistoric ages and you play as a miscellaneous cave person." Pfft, we all know that the Neanderthals had guns. It's so obvious.

When I first saw my friend playing this game, he was in the middle of a forest, collecting mushrooms. Boring, yes I agree. I got rather bored of him running around and picking mushrooms. One person can only take so much fungus picking. I was losing intrest. He had told me that the game was good, I was beginning to doubt him. I almost fell asleep.

But then he started to head back to camp and finish the current mission he was on. He was on his way back, when I saw a shadow on the ground and the flapping of leathery wings, among a crowd of herbivores, nothing special. He's jogging along, and bam! A giant bird-like creature with neck frills. I started to gain some interest. Then I noticed him whip out a sword. I don't know why I didn't notice the huge weapon at first. The creature super-squawked at him, rendering the character immobile for a few seconds. I was sitting there leaning on the edge of the couch watching intently as the bird thing ran at him like a raging drunk, spewing fire all the way.

I was hooked ever since I saw him take down the Kut-Ku.

The game is sort of slow in the beginning, you basically start out with gathering quests. Oh boy, you know how I like pick mushrooms and slaughter poor, defenseless deer, or Kelbi. You gather stuff, fish, meat, herbs, Kelbi horns (those are the deer, remember?), and various other objects. When you get done with all those boring tasks, time to kill stuff. Time to slay a Velociprey! (Think velociraptor, except blue and a more bird-like look)

I have to admit, at first the controls baffled me. The analog stick I normally used to rotate the camera and such was attack. So my camera button was turned into the button I kill with. And you can't really attack, move, and change the camera easily. The camera control is the D-pad. The move controls are on the left analog stick (and for you geniuses out there that haven't figured it out yet, the right analog stick is the kill stick). I've also heard complaints about missions being timed, do you really need 50 minutes to kill a Kut-Ku? If so, I consider a nice, refreshing game of Barbie Horse Adventures. That should be plenty easy enough for you Hunting-challenged.

I know that there are some Cloud wannabes out there, if you don't know who Cloud is, or you're thinking of a different Cloud, think the Cloud with a big sword. You get to fulfill your dream to tote around a sword that defies the laws of physics in this game. Fun, eh? Just whip that bad boy out and cleave something in half. But, you can also choose from other weapon classes. Want a freakishly large hammer? Monster Hunter's your game. Thinking, "Holy $#!%, I don't want to get up close with that behemoth!" Then your weapon of choice would be a gun. But then again you think that hammers, giant swords, and guns are all too robust and need something more streamlined, quicker, then look no further than the sword and shield or twin blades. Maybe a bit weaker, but they are as quick as a starving pig after bacon.

There's also a neat innovative idea in this game that I really hadn't thought of before. Whether it be low intelligence or not really having time to think, I hadn't thought of this before. Let's make stuff out of the enemy! Brilliant! Holding a grudge against that Rathalos (Think dragon, with tattoos, and something crammed up its asshole) that knocked you unconcious twice? You finally slain the bastard? Well then, make a coat out of him! Yes, in this game you can carve the dead beast, and create items with their remains. It's like you get to be that serial killer that made a coat out of the victims skins, but instead its a wyvren and it isn't against the law and isn't frowned upon by society. Well, some animal rights activists may protest, but then they would come to recognize their blunder when a Rathian (Female version of Rathalos) barbeques them, then eats them.

Ooh, my favorite part to discuss, online mode. This is probably my favorite online game, why? I have no idea, I think I might've smoked something before playing, but that's still questionable. But nonetheless, its more fun than killing a barrel full of monkeys. Er, wait, strike the word "killing". It's fun, let's leave it at that. Sure it doesn't support the headset, but then again, who needs a headset when you have your handy-dandy USB keyboard!? Nobody! The people online are... colorful to say the least. Of course communicating with people is almost impossible.

Most of the time, people are friendly and work together to break a poor Kut-Ku's leg by dropping it in a hole. But then, like any online game, there are the noobs that seem to seek you out. In this game, the people wielding the Great Sword (Think Cloud) will hit you into the air for hours on end. It doesn't hurt you, thank whatever holy beings there may be, but it is still annoying as an eternity in a place where fire and torture is rampant, in a word, Hell.

So, all in all, Monster Hunter is a superb game. Has everything you could want, violence, the female's character's butts showing (I keed, I keed), giant, bone-rending monsters, violence, and little, kleptomanic cats that steal your stuff. What more could you want? It loses points because offline takes a while to pick up speed, and it's sort of boring killing stuff on your own.

THE BAD:
No headset support
Terrible offline
Training missions are easy but take a long time

SUMMARY:
This game is one of a kind. Seriously. You start out with nothing but a sword and shield, then you talk to the villiage elder and go through hellishly boring training missions, which drain your interest in the game till you come close to selling it. Don't worry, it gets better...be patient. Then, save and exit out of the single player. NOW. (this is if you have an online connection) Go to online, set up an account, and get ready to see why this game was made. The controls are totally different than other games, so takes a bit to get used to it. I like it, some don't. Anyway, the core of this game is getting a group together(up to 4) and hunting down huge, beautiful monsters in a variety of ways, from killing them to trapping them, using items you find and create. Other stuff like cooking, fishing, and mining is fun and serves as a way to get useful items.

After you kill a few wyverns and go on some gathering quests, you get the ability to rebuild yourself as a hunter, choosing from swords, great swords(giant swords that are slow but powerful) dual swords (cool and very ninja-like), lances, hammers, and bowguns. Also you chose armor and this all can be upgraded. As you level up, more quests like capturing open up....and the game never seems to run out of stuff to do. Happy Hunting!

THE BAD:
However as brilliant as this is the game is not perfect.
The offline is weak. Without broadband and a network adapter this could very easily become really hard, tedious and one of those games that sits halfway up your stack of games never to be played again.
There are also a few problems with the gameplay. The camera occasionaly gets stuck when you are thrown at a wall causing only more pain and there is nothing more frustrating than stopping a dragon dead in its tracks AFTER it charges you.

SUMMARY:
This game is for the players linked up to the net. This game was designed as an online game and as such deserves to be treated as one. The offline play is only there as a necessity and it is is not until you hit the information highway that you appreciate this game's full potential.
It is exactly what you would expect from a game called Monster Hunter. There is freedom, there are big weapons and most importantly of all there are great big dragons waiting to be hunted.

THE BAD:
Why are u still reading go buy the game... fine the only bad thing is if u dont got internet connection this game gets dam boring and typing without a key board is a drag also it should have had a headset

SUMMARY:
Great Fun kicks A$$ now stop reading and buy the game ok the games char custamazation is fun and making a cool char and getting tons of cool armor with crazy wepons is the best the detail is awsome i love this game tons of hours of fun so far i got over 700 hours of fun and i have beat the game if i could i would play this game 24/7 but parents wont let me but over the weekends the kids rule now go buy the game comon buy the game... stop reading buy the game

THE BAD:
NO OFFLINE MULTIPLAYER!!! no real story , and really hard.

SUMMARY:
Overall, it's pretty good. There isn't really much to say because the title explains it all. You can do all sorts of things irrelevant to hunting monsters such as mining, fishing, item gathering, and bug catching. Carving monsters, mining, and catching bugs is fun, but totally random. There is some music in the game, but you only hear it in a fight, and at the beggining of a quest. I don't like the time limits that the game has, and you can't really pause the game. You can bring up a menu, and still get your ass kicked. Upgrading weapons is fun, and the weapons have a very wide variety. There is a vast array of monsters for you to kill, and they each offer their own set of items to carve out. The quests are hard out the whazoo, but the harder they are, the higher they pay. Overall, it's a great game.

THE BAD:
some of the boss's are hard to kill and you get a surtent amount of items to use witch is poor its hard to get health up potions.

SUMMARY:
the game play is awesome and off the wall I think this game is one of the best games out there. I've played games since I was 3 and I know what a good game is when I see one. hopefully most people have already played this game if not then get your butt out there and buy it. online play is the best for me thts were you get all the money and iteims from hard to beat monsters on single mode. I've goten up to $60,000 just by going online with other people that makes a person wanna goback and find more stuff lol. online if not is one of the best ways to get what you need on this game it's more easier to get what your looking for online then it is offline. hopefully you come join me and the rest of the players on line. oh if you would like to play with me online here's my game name : drake_master16

THE BAD:
all the missions are timed
not too much of a storyline

SUMMARY:
monster hunter is freeking awesome!! the game has a very detailed character customization when you wear armor it changes the way you look. With smart and powerful foes you're going to need some serious weaponry. There are two types of hunter you can choose from. They are blademaster and gunner and you can switch from one to the other at any time during the game. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses as well as your enemies. You can upgrade your weapon using material from the land or my carving up a creature and with online play it adds more replay value for anyone. The quests you take on the game are either gathering or hunting. Gathering quest you have to get certain items and deliver them. Hunting quest you have to kill a certain creature or a certain amount of creatures.