Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U) Review

By Jorge Ba-oh 18.03.2013

Review for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U

Being the latest kid on the video game block, the Nintendo Wii U needs a solid roster to appeal to potential new owners and one of these big names is Capcom's increasingly popular Monster Hunter series. Back in E3 2012, Nintendo teamed up with Capcom to announce a ferocious enhanced port of Monster Hunter Tri for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as the definitive editions of the game. Bigger, meatier and packed to the brim with new content, is it worth embarking on a quest with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Nintendo Wii U?

For those unfamiliar with Monster Hunter, the series invites anyone to become an aspiring hunter - a chap or lady who sets out, armoured with an immensely powerful weapon set, into the wild world to either slay beasts for meat and supplies or capture the most revered foes. Primarily mission-based for the solo adventurer, the series has also tapped into the world of mass online multiplayer, letting beast slayers team up on a global scale.

Nintendo got its first fix of Monster Hunter with the Japan-only Wii remake of the first game, Monster Hunter G, and since then weaved a successful Western breakthrough with the original Monster Hunter 3, adopting new fans outside Japan. With that in mind, it's without question that Capcom decided to upscale the game into high definition for the Wii U launch period.

When first loading in Ultimate, players are invited into a far more vibrant and detailed world compared to the original release. Despite being a reworked game, rather than one with assets being developed from ground-up, the increased level of detail and crisper output creates a unique and inviting setting to explore. The locale, monsters, and the main character are particular highlights that benefit from the added refining, all brimming with life and villagers looking as menacing as monsters. Despite the clean-up, however, not everything has been brought up to scratch, leading to some inconsistency across the board - low level textures, floating characters and poor shadow work, for instance, spoil the effort poured into the rest of this enhanced Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate landscape.

Screenshot for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U

Upon deciding on gender and model of the main character, it's time to embark on the main quest that involves either carefully roaming the world in order to find supplies to upgrades or putting your strength to the test by facing one of the many large and menacing beasts, of which there are a fair few more in this release. Unlike a traditional adventure game, Monster Hunter puts a strong emphasis on realism - the focus, of course, being on the hunt, with the AI and behavioural qualities certainly where this release, and the series as whole, comes into its own. Not all critters will run towards you in blind fury like in The Legend of Zelda, as most will only see the hunter as a threat when actually attacked. Others, however, will see him/her as a delicious armoured slice of dinner and go for it. There's a fluid sense of realism with movement, retreat, attack and using the environment that urges a far more considered strategy instead of random hacking and slashing.

When the difficulty level rises considerably, in other words when the character becomes mauled within seconds, it's time to shift gear into resource mode. There are a lot of elements to seek out and collect within the world of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, finding players, stumbling upon a volcanic setting, tearing through a vicious jungle or going for a seemingly tranquil dip into the sea. It's these chunks of metal, meat and herbs that essentially give the character that added boost of energy for the mammoth battles against those bigger monsters.

What could be essentially labelled as "boss" battles, these longer quests require a fair bit of time and patience, and it's this area that can cause a marmite approach for potential new Monster Hunter players - it's not a quick and simple affair, but one that could require an hour of carefully considered planning and attacking before the job's done. These wilder and bigger monsters aren't slain by a handful of pokes, but require more specific combat and inventory items to progressively weaken them before the final draw. These sorts of battles certainly aren't for everyone, and it's here that Monster Hunter struggles when a player might want a shorter, more manageable session. Occasionally as the game progresses, some of these can end up too familiar or perhaps too drawn out in a world that is fairly barren - concentration can wane unless truly wishing to pimp out the hunter.

Screenshot for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U

If able to stomach the longer play sessions that could merely end up in failure, there's a ridiculous amount of items, weapons and armour to equip. Swords and the like come in different flavours that could create a completely different approach to a situation, where a larger or heavier blade may not be suitable for the more nimble of foe.

One of the niggles with the original Wii release was very much about control; camera issues caused a frustrating design when a simple lock-on would have made things far more comfortable in the heat of battle. With the Wii U version there's what Capcom calls a "Target Camera" that works by refocusing the camera behind the player and towards any nearby monsters - it's more of a smart camera than a Legend of Zelda-inspired targeting that, whilst keeping combat focused, is still clunky and will often lead to monsters roaming off the field of vision and ramming their horns into the player's rear end. Camera work and movement are an area of the franchise that have proven troublesome in the past and still weave their way into Ultimate. It's not a problem with one or two smaller critters, but when attacked by a number of monsters at once it does prove to be troublesome to maintain an attack and keep your shield in the right place. Whilst problems exist on land, it becomes near unbearable when diving underwater; sluggish and unresponsive, these sections should be tackled with some level of apprehension given how long they might take to complete.

Screenshot for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U

Frustrations with the camera aside, the GamePad interface is a neat addition to the setup that creates a flexible approach to how players want to embark on their quest. The entire HUD display on the TV can be hidden from view, plus certain information can be shuffled into different allocated blocks on the touch screen. It provides a versatile approach for those who perhaps want a more cinematic experience, yet have all the tools at the touch of a button (or in this case, six-or-so-inch screen). Having selectable panels and the added level of inventory control does help counter those visual issues during combat, allowing players to shift between items without hassle and view the area map without having to bring up a number of menus.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is a peculiar experience; it relies heavily on strategy over raw action and most certainly perseverance. It becomes far more rewarding when playing with fellow hunters and multiplayer is where Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate becomes far more enjoyable than the solo hunt. The Wii U edition supports multiplayer in two ways - either by hooking up Nintendo 3DS consoles (which each require a copy of the 3DS edition) and playing locally, or by joining other Wii U players online. Once the parties are assembled and raring to go, it's case of picking out a mission and attempting, as a collective, to reach the goal. Playing with others certainly heightens the action, taking the pressure off a lone warrior as there's an increase in pace that can cut those longer missions down quite considerably. Overall, there's little lag when it comes to connectivity, though the action can become choppy once things becomes a little intense or input heavy. The dips in performance are outweighed by the potential for multiplayer enjoyment in a global scale (note: region free multiplayer as of April 2013), offering a large range of missions for many months to come - though be warned, Ultimate does have the ability to drain a lot of hours.

Screenshot for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U

Cubed3 Rating

7/10
Rated 7 out of 10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Rated 7 out of 10

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is the definitive version of the Monster Hunter 3 collection, blending together elements from more recent instalments into a cross-platform package. For newer players it's the ideal starter to break into the series, though some may find the initial steps and quests fairly daunting to become accustomed to. For the Monster Hunter veteran, there's plenty to see and do here with the benefits of the Wii U GamePad. Despite its strengths, there are elements in the game's control, camera and presentation that do make the longer play sessions frustrating - recurring issues from past games that Capcom has tried to address but still needs to work on strengthening. Grumbles aside, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate comes recommended as a new addition to anyone's Wii U library, though perhaps try before buying through the demo version if new to the series.

Also known as

Monster Hunter 3G HD Ver.

Developer

Capcom

Publisher

Capcom

Genre

Adventure

Players

4

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10 (8 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now    Also on Also on Nintendo eShop

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