Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is the latest game in the series that builds and improves on the old fundamentals of the previous games while making some updates and further changes to the single player mode. Some for the better and some for the worst. Well, for one they manage to introduce in the single player campaign the story element that you are a fresh adventurer that’s out to become a Ace (high rank/class hunter) when your ship is attacked by one of the elder dragons and you find yourself in a village that has been plagued by monster attacks and the trade routes have suffered because of it. Now your tasked to help the village and the surrounding areas get their trade routes and lives back in order while collecting and crafting your gear from the fallen monsters you hunt. Which is the main point of the game.
This is the first time that the game has an online component on a 3DS system . Which the online is excellent in terms of connecting and getting a mission or two done. But the lack of a real physical keyboard and dedicated microphone makes it hard to really communicate and befriend new people online. Which in term leads to the majority of rooms getting disbanded after a mission is over with and you having to jump into another room hoping that the people in there will be playing for more than one mission. Now as for difficulty this seems to be the right balance yet to a monster hunter game. The single player missions continue with the low, high, and G rank missions that serve as a difficulty bump and a reason to keep playing and collecting rare bits of material to help craft your gear. The online component adds to layer based on the number of people in the group. Over all it was fine but like most people hoping to jump right into online right away you’ll find yourself hitting a wall because your gear isn’t up to snuff to deal with the fights ahead.
Some of the brand new mechanics such as jumping and riding on monsters back hacking away at them to make them fall over is pretty interesting and adds a new layer to the hunts but once again require you and your team mates to communicate otherwise you’ll be knocking off the hunter who is trying to subdue the beast. The new weapons seem to be interesting and are a welcome addition to the already large library of weapons. The charge blade (sword/shield that turns into an switch axe) and the insect glaive (the name says it all) add to the layer of weapon mastery. With the charge blade you basically have the ability to defend and block in SnS (sword and shield) mode and build up energy to let loose in switch axe mode that causes you to attach explosive energy bits to your target and they cause bombastic damage to it. Many times I found myself getting the killing blow as the charges blew up as the monster was running away. I haven’t played with the insect glaive but from what I’ve seen online is that it causes quick fast damage and allows you to jump up on the monster to hopefully start hacking away on its back.
Overall Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a great game. You’ll be spending hours upon hours playing with friends and going on hunts with randoms in hopes of collecting all the items and gear that you want. Also, capcom is always throwing out free DLC for the game so it’s not like you’ll stop playing anytime soon. Only real down side is the online mode with the lack of communication between players. Plus I really hope in the future that this game sees a Wii U port.
Final Score: 4 out of 5
-OutlawHero
