Hands-on | Monster Hunter Tri

Format: Wii | Genre: Action | Publisher: Capcom | Developer: Capcom | ETA: April 2010

If you asked me which console were in desperate need of more decent third-party games, my answer would be the Wii. In terms of the titles not crafted by Nintendo themselves, there are very few glimmers of excitement on the console’s horizon. Capcom would hope that’s no longer true, though, as they’re getting ready to launch Monster Hunter Tri in the UK in April.

Capcom recently arranged a large gathering of press and community to showcase the English version of the game. A few exclusive weapons were presented, ones that had been designed via community competitions, and it was also revealed to now feature Wii Speak support, which was missing in the Japanese version, released back in August.

The singleplayer sets out just like any other Monster Hunter title. You create your new hunter, customising your face, hair, sex, voice, eyes and so forth. Then you arrive in Moga village, where a basic story outline is exposed before you’re set free to explore the wonderfully massive and intricate world of Monster Hunter Tri.

There are a variety of weapons to wield, from swords to bows. You can even try your hand at the Switchaxe. Half sword, half axe, the Switchaxe is a new addition to the Monster Hunter armoury. You chance stances depending on which side of the Switchaxe you are using – quite an impressive weapon to master.

WASH AND GO
For those unfamiliar with the Monster Hunter saga, the premise is simple. You obtain a quest from a guild master or various NPCs around the village. You head out and fulfil the quest by killing a certain monster or gathering certain items. You reap your rewards by upgrading your armour and weapons. Rinse and repeat.

You can delve into the more intricate side of things by using your farm to grow stock that will help make items such as potions and bombs. You can also level up your ChaCha, a pet that you save early on in the game. The ChaCha provides support during battles, gains experience from your fights and has a variety of different moves to execute, depending on the mark you equip it with.

Monster Hunter Tri is one of the best looking Wii titles you’re likely to get your hands on this year. The environments, monster design and sheer scale are all quite a sight to behold, especially for the hardware it’s running on. From sunny, lush, open fields to volcanoes and seemingly endless deserts, there is a decent range of areas to explore. The most impressive of them all are the new underwater levels, which see the hunters jumping from the beach and into the sea below.

Monster Hunter releases with the new Classic Controller Pro, which is a classic controller with love handles. Capcom had influence over the design of the controller but it doesn’t really take much innovation to create what they did. The European copy will be bundled with Wii Speak and the new controller, with just the controller or as a single game unit.

The controls take a little getting used to, and almost feel a little backward. One of the main issues is with selecting certain items – ones that use the action buttons to select and sort through as well as use. It feels like rather a hassle to use items as you’re trying to run away from enemies or find a tactical way of defeating a nearby monster. Using items is painstakingly slow at times, and even just grab or put away your weapon takes far too long. This is something that’s quite important to master, especially as you can’t run with your weapon out and, depending on your class, running around the battlefield is essential to gaining tactical advantage.

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