Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Storyline: 8/10
Replayability: 10/10
Learning Curve: Inexperienced (probably won't keep the game but usually about 3 hours)

Pros:

- Plenty of enemies that vary in size and intensity to decimate
- Many weapons to choose from and upgrade
- Well planned out maps and different environments that will physically test the mettle of your character
- Realistic aspects of life: fishing for food and cooking meat, as well as combining ingredients to discover more items that will assist throughout
- Amazingly fun multiplayer mode, great to play with others, be it two or four people

*SEQUEL EXTRAS* (Since Freedom 1)

- More weapons that are easier to craft
- Data from previous Monster Hunter can be used to help your new game
- Lots of little nags have been rectified, items can be sold at the end of a quest, some camera angle fixes, Armor can be improved and a Decoration system (to power up your… more »

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Storyline: 8/10
Replayability: 10/10
Learning Curve: Inexperienced (probably won't keep the game but usually about 3 hours)

Pros:

- Plenty of enemies that vary in size and intensity to decimate
- Many weapons to choose from and upgrade
- Well planned out maps and different environments that will physically test the mettle of your character
- Realistic aspects of life: fishing for food and cooking meat, as well as combining ingredients to discover more items that will assist throughout
- Amazingly fun multiplayer mode, great to play with others, be it two or four people

*SEQUEL EXTRAS* (Since Freedom 1)

- More weapons that are easier to craft
- Data from previous Monster Hunter can be used to help your new game
- Lots of little nags have been rectified, items can be sold at the end of a quest, some camera angle fixes, Armor can be improved and a Decoration system (to power up your equipment) are included for the first time
- More environments, species and weapon classes to enjoy
- Downloadable bonus quests, items and info.

*SEQUEL EXTRAS* (Since Freedom 2)

- Felynes become an assistant in combat for the first time, with many ways of selecting and enhancing your fighter
- Even more weapons, items and quests to do
- Literally every last detail of your Monster Hunter Freedom 2 gamesave is added to the game, right down to the completed missions, farm upgrades and items
- Previously maxed out weapons gain one or two extra upgrades
- Some Wyvern are tiny!!!
- Missions have become so difficult that if you don't have data from the previous game, you will never succeed
- Camera doesn't appear to bug anymore
- Minor graphics update

Cons:

- Some may dislike how you control the camera
- Frustration is crippling when you consistently die

Verdict:

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the most elite game for the console, in terms of minimum time spent completing and difficulty. This game is clearly aimed at people who like a long, rewarding challenge as you can spend upto 50 minutes just killing one monster, but when you do it's always epic. If you have poor reading skills and are not best suited to long/strategic games, then you will have to rely on internet walkthroughs at almost every turn. One last thing: never get it for a younger gamer, they will not understand/be able to complete it, aside from this it is epic in most respects and should definitely be bought.

There's been such a buzz for the release of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite you'd think it was a new game, rather than an expansion of MHF2. Believe the hype though, this is just an astounding title. Its not an easy game, you're going to be beaten up by monsters a lot, and spend an awful lot of time reading, and chatting to people, and reading some more, and trying to work out the best way to solve some weird problems (like carrying an egg back to camp when you're bowed under the weight of it and can't defend yourself nor move very fast), but the sheer inventiveness and the range of things to do is keeping me coming back at every spare moment to find out more, take on quests, get the hang of the weaponry and just generally enjoy the excellent graphics and in-depth gameplay.

This is a sprawling, complex game, players of previous titles admit to chalking up over 900 hours of gameplay, and as a rank beginner it does seem like there's way too much to learn, in terms of weapons and… more »

There's been such a buzz for the release of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite you'd think it was a new game, rather than an expansion of MHF2. Believe the hype though, this is just an astounding title. Its not an easy game, you're going to be beaten up by monsters a lot, and spend an awful lot of time reading, and chatting to people, and reading some more, and trying to work out the best way to solve some weird problems (like carrying an egg back to camp when you're bowed under the weight of it and can't defend yourself nor move very fast), but the sheer inventiveness and the range of things to do is keeping me coming back at every spare moment to find out more, take on quests, get the hang of the weaponry and just generally enjoy the excellent graphics and in-depth gameplay.

This is a sprawling, complex game, players of previous titles admit to chalking up over 900 hours of gameplay, and as a rank beginner it does seem like there's way too much to learn, in terms of weapons and traps and gathering and combining items to make new things. getting the hang of training your felyne companion (small cats that fight alongside you, heal you and also cook your food in the kitchen at home!) and generally working out how things work. There's an amount of pick up and play here, the shorter quests and training sections can be done in no time, and mini games like fishing or mining or catching bugs on your farm are good for a quick session, but the strength of the title lies in the fact that no matter how often things go wrong you want to go back and have just one more go, improve your skills so you capture the great scaly beast and return in triumph for a change.

Loading times are a bit of a pain, but the cut scenes are astonishing. A must-have game, in my view. Now, where's my dual sword, there's a wyvern needs slaying!