There are few truly great games on the PSP and I just want to start off by saying that for me this is one of them. I even couldn’t wait for an English version of the game to be released and imported a version from japan.

This is the second in the PSP version of the game Monster Hunter. The first game Monster Hunter Freedom was my favourite game on the PSP and probably in my top 5 games of all time. But this new version has bumped the previous game down a bit.

Graphically it is very close to the previous title but there have been some noticeable improvements in the models of some of the creatures and characters. Edges look smoother and the animation has a much cleaner look to it. The main graphical change is the size of the areas that you can now explore, no longer are their small areas that can barely fit you and a creature in, now there are vast plains to run and fight across

There are a host of new creatures and boss creatures, not being limited to just wyverns and dragons like the first game, now there are huge monkeys, massive chameleons who can turn invisible and even a giant crab (which you can hit it’s weak spot for massive damage. No really)

Another big change is the loading times, anyone that has played the first game will no doubt remember the loading times of 3-5 seconds between zones which if you where just travelling could get a but annoying. This game has loading times of less than half of the original and often under a second, which keeps the flow of the game much better.

Audio wise the game provides brilliant surround sound effects when used with headphones drawing the user deeper in to the gaming environment.

The weapon line up has also had a bit of a re-jig.

Great Swords have been split in to two categories, Tachi and Great Swords the former being faster but dealing less damage and no guard option, and with a fast combo.

There are now Hunting Horns under the hammer group which allows you to play notes to give skills and effects to yourself and anyone else that you are playing with, these can also just be used like hammers only with some different moves and slightly less damage.

Lances are the same but there is a new section called Gunlances, which are able to fire short ranged bullets as well as be used like a regular lance.

Swords and Shields have been weakened a fair bit, which came as a bit of a shock as it is my primary weapon in the first game and has forced me to play a bit with other types.

Bowguns are the same, only a new ranged weapon has been added which is Bows, these have short to medium range and three types of firing depending on the type of Bow. Once good inclusion for the Bow is a melee attack where your hunter will slash at a creature with one of the huge arrows, rather than like bowguns where you where quite defenceless when up close.

The armour system in the game has had some additions, the main one being that most armour can now have gems fitted to it to improve it’s skills or get rid of negative skills. All armour can also now be upgraded, so no longer does the player have to just stop using one type of armour, as they needed more defence now they can buy upgrades.

Lastly the camera has had some tweaking, now when you are hit and knocked against a wall, the camera doesn’t give you some unplayable angle, it now goes in to almost a fisheye lens effect where you can see more of the surroundings, this is a bit of a double edge sword as although it can be very helpful for location creatures that might attack as you try to recover, it also throws all sense of distance out the window as it makes things appear slightly further away than they are. But the effect is only active for a very short time so it’s not a terrible feature.

I will no doubt buy the English version when it’s released, but I just couldn’t wait till September and I think that a lot of monster hunter freedom fans are probably the same, yes all the in game menus/items/weapons and armours are displayed in Japanese but with a guide and some common sense it’s not hard to start recognising characters and learning what they stand for.

On release in September there will also be a steady stream of free downloadable quests adding even more fun to the game.

This is a must for all PSP fans that want hundreds of hours of play hacking and slashing their way through groups of monsters, using various weapons and armours improving their skill all the time.