Monster Hunter World: Iceborne PC Review

Monster Hunter World has been quite a success worldwide and the latest DLC, Iceborne, launched a couple of months ago onto consoles. Console players have been able to enjoy a range of new content as well as Master Rank quests already while PC players have been left salivating waiting for more. Thankfully, the wait is over and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is now available on PC via Steam.

As an expansion to Monster Hunter World, players should be familiar with the game’s premise. If not, let’s get everyone up to speed, shall we? In Monster Hunter World players take on the role of a hunter, which they create during an intro cutscene, on a ship as it braces the rough seas to the New World. Shortly after creating your character, the ship encounters Zorah Magdaros, a colossal Elder Dragon with a volcano on its back. The player’s character is then whisked away to safety by a flying wyvern and thrown into the wilds of the New World where the main story of Monster Hunter World takes place.

Players are slowly introduced to the concepts of hunting and foraging through a simple series of quests. Once these are done are dusted, the real monster-hunting begins. The game slowly builds up an intriguing story featuring Zorah Magdaros and the Elder Dragons and this draws you further into the world. Players will disembark from a central hub area known as Astera and complete quests or hunts to earn rewards to craft new weapons and armour.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne brings players to a new region. Hoarfrost Reach is teeming with new life and players will encounter a variety of new monsters. It’s fresh content that revitalizes Monster Hunter World and it will keep you busy for quite literally hundreds of hours on end. The essence of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is in, yup, you guessed it, the hunting. Iceborne introduces new mechanics to the game such as the “Clutch Claw” as well as a lot of new weapons and armour. These new items change the game immensely since new weapon and armour combinations are possible which can be tailormade for hunting specific monsters.

Players will still have access to a rather large selection of weapon types. Axes, swords, bows, hammers, glaives and even lances are all available. The new monsters and equipment have taken the already immense longevity of Monster Hunter World and expanded on it even further. Given the repetitive nature of hunting the same monsters in specific quests, the fact that you’re always upgrading and changing your playstyle to reflect the new challenges at hand makes the game highly rewarding.

The new monsters in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne includes the return of some series favourites such as the Tigrex and Nargacuga. There are brand new monsters too and without spoiling anything with regards to the story of the DLC, there’s a lot of challenging creatures to keep you coming back for more. I particular like that Velkhana is the flagship beast of Iceborne since it’s especially well designed.

The new hub area known as Seliana is flat out amazing. The attention to detail Capcom have put into this area is astounding. The new characters introduced in Iceborne aren’t just throwaways either. Players will grow to like them as they play through the story of Iceborne. With that said, the story plays out very similarly to the base game. You’ll have to investigate clues as to why certain events are happening and hunt some powerful monsters along the way. It’s formulaic but it works and it works well. There isn’t a point in the story where you’ll feel bored since there’s always something to do or hunt.

Gameplay in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is fast and fluid but not unrealistic. Characters move as you’d expect them to, especially when clad in heavy armour and carrying heavy weaponry. Using the variety of weapons on offer each presents a different style of gameplay which players can change up should the need arise. Hardcore fans of the older Monster Hunter franchise might, however, find some particular aspects of the game have been watered down. Overall though, Iceborne delivers a lot of gameplay adjustments which have spiced combat up. The clutch claw being a key item in this regard. The higher tier rare weapons will also entice players to keep hunting.

Building on the base game’s multiplayer popularity, Iceborne has already introduced some new event quests where players can team up with other hunters. Teaming up does however bump up the difficulty level quite significantly but therein lies a lot of the fun (or frustration if you are paired up with people who don’t know what they are doing). Each major quest monster that you defeat in Iceborne fills you with a sense of achievement that is hard to replicate elsewhere.

Graphically, the game is exceptionally well detailed and Iceborne’s attention to detail is unbelievable at times. Monsters still look and feel as if they are alive. The icy visuals of Seliana and Hoarfrost reach are great and attack visuals are on point once again. Capcom has also introduced a photo mode to the game and players will definitely love making use of this to capture images of their favourite monsters.

The player home can be extensively decorated in Iceborne and you’ll find yourself spending a lot of time customizing it to your liking as you unlock new items. Seliana also features a mini-game known as the Steamworks where you can obtain items rather easily by spending fuel resources. The game’s soundtrack is stellar too with orchestral themes that are not easily forgotten. Seliana’s theme, for example, is one of the best most catchy town themes I’ve heard in years.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne much like the base game can be described as a “Boss Battle Simulator” and that’s not too far off from the truth. If you’re up for a challenge with a high reward pay off, this is the game for you. Given the nature of the game and the sheer number of things to do though, be prepared to invest quite a large chunk of time getting into this title. Diving straight into Iceborne does require you to complete the base game but once you do and once you get the hang of the game’s mechanics and systems, you’ll find yourself hooked on it. There’s so much content available right now, players will have a hard time complaining about Iceborne even after they finish its story.

There are some reports that the PC version of the game runs less than optimally on certain hardware but in our reviewing period, we haven’t experienced any of this. Capcom, however, is aware of these issues and since there’s an entire roadmap of content still to come, we’re pretty sure that the game will be optimised further with future patches and updates. If you haven’t played Monster Hunter World before, purchasing the Master Edition of Iceborne of Steam is a great way to start. Happy hunting folks! We highly recommend this game.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne was reviewed on PC, the game is also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4

If you feel you would like to give this game a try head on over to Steam

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