Monster Hunter Freedom

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The call of the wild pulls us into this primitive-themed RPG

Freedom also keeps the hack-and-slash action intact, and even makes itself a little more accessible to beginners by offering an assortment of powerful weapons right off the bat. The gigantic Iron Sword is extremely slow and unwieldy, but smacking it into a monster's face is incredibly satisfying. (Using it to finish off monsters as they flail around in a near-death panic is a little less so, though.) The other close-up weapons - a hammer and a lance - were fun as well, and although the crossbow was super-weak, aiming it in first-person and sniping from a distance was a nice change of pace.

There's a bunch of new content as well, not the least of which is the adorable Felyne Kitchen. Here, you can hire a few of the goofy, semi-intelligent cat-creatures that wander the game world to be your personal chefs. They'll then scurry around in a musical food-preparation sequence, falling over themselves to serve you. Depending on what they cook, your attack power, defense or another attribute will get a boost. Additionally, each cat comes with a unique ingredient that adds a special effect to your meal.

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.