Time was when it was socially acceptable - gentlemanly, even - to pack a suitcase full of guns, ship off to a far-flung continent, and shoot the biggest animal you could bribe the locals to point you in the direction of. A combination of factors has made this practice somewhat less feasible in today’s world. All the same, there’s a caveman in all of us who longs to triumph with his wits and weapons over some immense beast, display his conquest’s trophies in his cave, and tell his grand-cavec ... more >>

Time was when it was socially acceptable - gentlemanly, even - to pack a suitcase full of guns, ship off to a far-flung continent, and shoot the biggest animal you could bribe the locals to point you in the direction of. A combination of factors has made this practice somewhat less feasible in today’s world. All the same, there’s a caveman in all of us who longs to triumph with his wits and weapons over some immense beast, display his conquest’s trophies in his cave, and tell his grand-cavechildren about it in years to come.

Surely there’s a lot to be said for exploring such a primal, inherited instinct. Coming somewhere between safari hunters and mammoth-hunting parties, with a liberal dose of fantasy mixed in, is Capcom’s Monster Hunter. The game is set in a medieval world where people live in fear of enormous dragon-like lizards that swoop around the skies, called Wyverns. As if that weren’t bad enough, the countryside is packed with more, dinosaur-like beasts.

A citizen of this wild and dangerous world, you have elected to hunt rather than be the hunted. Players get to design their own character from scratch, and a wide selection of body parts allow you to choose your monster hunter’s sex, facial features, hairstyle and get-up. Starting off from a small village as your base camp, you must make forays into the wilderness and hunt down the dangerous reptiles. The game will assign you various missions, to destroy an animal that is ruining crops, say, or one that has developed a taste for people. But it’s up to you which animals you decide to hunt. Different creatures’ body parts can be collected and used to upgrade your weapons or commission new ones. However many powerful weapons you collect for your arsenal though, you only get to take one on each hunting trip. Weapons are divided into two types, Blademaster and Gunner, and as you’ll guess these are melee and missile-type arms respectively. As you gain monster hunting experience, you’ll choose the weapon most suitable for different missions.

Things get even more interesting when you take the game online. Join up with three other hunters and go on an expedition together. By working as a team, you’ll be able to bag the really big beasties that you couldn’t imagine taking on alone. Take what useful trophies you can from the body and use the rest to cook a BBQ for the hungry villagers. And boast proudly of your achievements to anyone who’ll listen. << less