Monday 1st Feb saw the unveiling of Monster Hunter Tri to the western world with the opening of the Monster Hunter University at the Science Museum in London.

Draconacticus whips out his unfeasibly larger chopper and is promptly escorted off the premises by two heavily armed security guards

We were ushered in by two heavily armoured doormen and took our seats for the lecture by Dr Ryozo Tsujimoto and Professor Kaname Fujioka. These two men of learning proceeded with the presentation using the severed arm of a long dead hunter to point out the many remarkable features Tri has in store for us.

What leapt out straight away is the quality of the graphics which, for a Wii game, are nothing short of stunning. They attempted to squeeze everything they could out of the Wii in terms of its visual capabilities and it looks like they have succeeded.

A trailer teased us with glimpses of fighting enormous monsters from the deck of a ship in a desert, underwater battles and a whole host of monsters new to the series, all of which have had their behaviour and ecology based on real life animals to enhance the realism.

Monsters now have stamina which as it depletes renders their attacks weaker. Rathian for instance is unable to produce fireballs when she’s knackered; instead all she can manage is an angry looking belch. To recharge their stamina and continue to whoop hunter ass, monsters now have to pop off for a quick mid-fight snack before running back in to the fray.

We were then shown the new switch axe weapon class and given instructions for proper use to pull off its special attack. In addition to this several weapons created by fans of the series have been added as a Western exclusive as well as Wii Speak compatibility. Hooray! Bundles will be coming out with the game packaged with the classic controller and Wii Speak for the ultimate nature bashing experience.

After a quick lunch break we then had a chance to get our hands on the controllers and experience the game for ourselves in 4 player online mode, 2 player (on one console) time attack trials, and single player also. People who enjoyed the felyne fighter aspect of Unite have a new companion, Cha-cha, to look forward to. Apparently his interchangeable masks alter his behaviour for different types of quests and he gains experience as you take him on your adventures.

The 4 player online version leaves from the Loc Lac hub in the game, where you can either create a roster to locate your friends online or just randomly quest with strangers you meet without the need for friends’ codes. No confirmation on whether this will be pay-to-play or free was made.

I loved the underwater fight with Lagiacrus, it moves just as you’d expect a sea monster to with quick serpentine type twists and turns, and adds a great new dimension to the hunt. The fighting underwater is surprisingly intuitive for those familiar with the series.

I can definitely confirm the kitty cart is still in the game as I enjoyed many, many trips on it back to camp. An interesting change to the mechanics is instead of the hunter now lying flat on his stomach, they are now face down, arse up, as they rest on their knees whilst doing a faceplant. This gives a very unflattering upskirt view of female hunters which shouldn’t disappoint die hard fans of the kelbikini.

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