Monster Hunter Freedom Unite: What to Expect
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the most recent title in the Monster Hunter franchise. The game was released in Japan as Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, and adds a new feature of a Felyne companion, hunting along with the player. Freedom Unite is certain to be among the longest and biggest titles ever released for the PSP till date, as technically, the game doesn’t ever end.
The game starts off as our monster hunter is attacked by a powerful creature and falls off a snowy cliff face. Rescued and nurtured back to health, he wakes up at the heart of a seemingly peaceful village. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite allows players to trade meat, skins, bones and anything obtained from the slaughtering of beast-like creatures. Upgrades to various battle gear can be purchased in this manner. Players can customize everything from their character’s appearance to his clothing. This ability is very rewarding as you can make your own character as you wish. You will even have the option of choosing your player’s voice as he shouts out in battle.
The graphics are not all that great and the pixilation on the screen is quite obvious. But for a game on the PSP platform you can’t really expect next-gen graphics. However, the Monster Hunter Freedom Unite graphics do feature an extremely high level of detail. The character’s movement is a little slow to say the least. Not something you would expect from a nimble and agile “monster hunter”. For a game that allows friends to join in and play together on monster hunting quests; pretty impressive. A very good immersive experience even on single player, Freedom Unite promises to deliver something even better in the multiplayer mode.
The relatively slow movement takes some time getting used to when trying to navigate your way around the environment. And at times, dodging the oncoming monster attacks can get a bit tricky. But the game does provide a mini map so that you know where you’re going. The levels are mapped out for reference.
Through the game, several upgrades are available for the taking, and upgrading armor and weapons lets you survive more powerful attacks and slay creatures with greater ease. This is a very crucial feature and players need to constantly tweak their arsenal to best to suit a hunt. Sometimes you might need heavy armor against a powerful beast, while at other times you might need to sacrifice self-preservation for speed and agility. Also, several new monsters can be found in Freedom Unite which should provide quite a challenge for first time hunters.
The practice area lets you get a hang of various skills and abilities you might need to command in a hunt and this feature of the game is very well constructed. There are various things that a player can practice ranging from movements to attacking skills to learning which weapons are of best use against specific monsters and players can try and master all these in this area. The music score and sound quality in the game are just excellent. This gives a great sensation when stalking and attacking the game’s various beasts. It actually imparts a feeling of oneness with the game’s main character, in a medieval sort of world populated with all these monsters for the hunting.
Gameplay, at the start of the game at least, is a bit slow to take off. A monster hunt, on the other hand, is something of an experience. And playing through Freedom Unite, expect to see all kinds of weird beasts which look like something straight out of a Spielberg movie.
I downloaded and played the demo over the 4th of July weekend, and the feline companion “meow” was annoying me, the child, and the dog in the house.
The movement and camera was horrible, the maps work, as do the power ups (Once you hold down L, and sroll left-right, and then as the monster keeps attacking you, you stand there and take FOREVER to use the whetstone to sharpen your sword of choice.
I deleted the demo and bought “FEAR 2 Project Origin” for the PC via STEAM that same day, and it is AWESOME!!!
So sick of Sony and the PSP/PS3 hype…-Blister72
NO! you can move While scrolling, and if you have swrdsharpn +1 it takes one “grind” other than four.
if you are trained and experianced in the game it is easy to do everything, this game is great and deserves a 4 out of 5 if it was being rated.the camera is something to look past, not much pixilation if you keep your psp clean and on the “up and up”.
Blister72 i dislike your comment and i think you need to buy the game and try it out for a longer period
All in all the moster hunter games take off a little slow but with a little time its far more rewarding than your average medievil hack n slash or fps. The monsters are great and there is nothing more rewarding in the gameing world than beating a hard “boss” makeing a spear out of it then running that pain in the butt monster thru with it. All in all the monster hunter game are great if you have the longevity for it.
One of the best games ever.
It is skill based, user skill that is.
So sharping your weapon takes time…dûh..
Seems realsitic to me. Thats the whole point of it. Bit lame to sharpenn it when the Monster is about to hit ya, aint it?
No lock in real life, no lock in MHF.
Yep, then it is best to do what Blister did. Look for somethin easier.
It is considered hardcore.
Played all 3 of em. And if they’d release it on a PS3, id buy it again.
Not on the Wii tho: now that is crap graphics.
The in play graphics of MHF is one othe best on the psp.
To me it scores 100%
Apart form WOW it has the longest playlife of any game i know of.
@blister72
YOU DUMB @SS. typical comment for those that havent really played the game.
I find that mhfu has a unique learning curve, whereby getting better weapons is a placebo, and most of your actual improvement is in skill. You tend not to notice though, and attribute it to better armour/weapons.