Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Review: exactly what the game needed

Monster Hunter World becomes considerably bigger today with Iceborne, a $ 40 extension that adds a new freeze, dozens of new monsters and much more challenging missions. It does not do much to change the formula, but it's a welcome burst of new content and a great reason to return to a game that has aged a bit.

Extensions that add new monsters and a higher level of difficulty, previously known as G-rank, are a tradition of the series. But with precedent Monster Hunter Games, which have never been commercialized on systems where large downloadable extensions would have been really useful, Capcom has developed new games fully adapted to the content and additional difficulties. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, for example, was called Monster Hunter 4G in Japan, and he went out some time after vanilla Monster Hunter 4, which has not been published in the West at all. The G ranking was the main draw for the new releases, of course, and you could usually transfer characters, but you also had a bunch of low and midrank missions to help you get your Monster Hunter legs and back.

Iceborne It's not like that. It essentially replaces the original World, giving it a new icon and a new title screen, like an MMO extension. You can not even access IceborneContent without having completed WorldThe main campaign. You pay specifically for difficult things here.

As such, Iceborne becomes fast brutal. I am not the best Monster Hunter player on the planet but I've found WorldThe campaign is easy enough to do solo, with very few roadblocks. With Icebornethis has not been my experience. I always need some time to remember how to play Monster Hunter correctly, but even IceborneThe first fights proved a ruthless way to regain the unique control and combat of the game. I have no shame in admitting that I can not wait to be in line with better players now that the game is out.

This is not a complaint. Monster Hunter World It has made it possible to add new players to the series, but it may have been too easy for experienced players, who have to deal with "temperate" versions of monsters and difficult downloadable quests. With Iceborne, every new monster you find is fighting seriously, making the campaign much more satisfying. The extension is explicitly for high level players and that's good.

It means Iceborne is not really going to do much for those who have not yet embarked with Monster Hunter World other than the promise that there is now a much longer final phase. You will always have to play through all WorldContent before you can take a Iceborne monster. You must at least use some of IceborneSome minor tweaks and enhancements, such as a fun new "claw claw" that lets you catch monsters from afar, with the original missions. Iceborne Owners also have access to a very powerful armor game that should make older content easier to read.

In certain regions, Iceborne do not go as far as possible. The online / offline lobby system is still awkward and confusing, for example, even if those who play at Iceborne will already be used to it. I would have liked to see more of a new main area, vast and beautiful as the new unique addition. And although there are many new monsters, too many of them are variants of "subspecies" or, more subtly, built on the same skeletons and animations as existing creatures. Monster Hunter World is obviously a huge leap forward technique, but his menagerie is still much less diverse than previous games.

In general, however, Iceborne do exactly what he needs. Monster Hunter World It's an excellent model to work with, and it's now deeper, broader, and much more difficult. My biggest complaint is that I have to go back to the PS4 from the much more fluid version of PC, which, unfortunately, does not get Iceborne until next year. On the other hand, it will be just another excuse to start all over again.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is now available on PS4 and Xbox One.