Not many people review demo’s. But this Demo had such an impact on me I felt it was worthy of a review. Just so that you understand the weight behind my words you’ll need to know a few things:
- Monster Hunter 3 has been my most anticipated game on the Wii U
- I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game before and was excited to jump in during the HD versions.
- I was excited about these worlds to explore and hunt monsters.
- I have been convincing my fellow Confident Gamers to pick up the game as well so we can get some 4 player Co-Ops going!
So when Chris told me that the DEMO was available on Wii U, I couldn’t wait to get home and download it. 2 FULLY playable quests?! Count me in! Once it was downloaded and installed I ventured into this unknown land. I’ve spent about 2 hours with the demo now and I can sum up my experience in about two words: Utter Disappointment. The purpose of the Demo is to give players a tease, a taste of the cake, give them just enough to get them to go out and pre-order that bad boy. Show off the possibilities! Demo’s are meant to please fan boys until release and convince the rest that they need to buy this game. Demo’s are suppose to make you feel confident, teach you some basic’s about the world and draw you into the folk lore. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Demo fails to do this on all counts.PresentationIt’s no secret that the graphics are stellar. Details and textures are pretty low, but I knew that going into the game. I wasn’t playing this for the graphics, I was playing it for the challenge and fun of hunting and killing monsters. The menu system is very CAPCOM. Very arcade style. Player and monster animations are great. You really get the sense that you are fighting some wild creatures.Game PlayReady… GO! That’s what happens in the demo. You are dropped in the middle of a camp and told you have 20 minutes to kill everything that dares to cross your path. 20 minutes? Well… okay. I poke around my came for about a minute trying to figure out what to do. I accidentally drink about 3 potions while trying to determine the button scheme. Finally I decide to just head off into a direction to explore…. Then it happens. “Loading” 3 seconds later I appear in another area… I wrote it off as leaving camp to go into the main hunting grounds. So I walk around and head off to a mountain I see in the distance “Loading” WHAT?! Then it hits me. This map is divided into 7 sections. None of which connect very well.This was especially troublesome as I fight the bosses. More often than not The bosses like to fight right at the entrance to another area. I accidentally leave the fight several times while trying to dodge an attack. The monster will not follow you so you have to go back to the area you were fighting in… “LOADING” – BAM – you get hit as you re-enter the first area. But don’t get too comfortable in any particular area. After a few hits the monsters will run away and you have to track it from area to area. The demo explains nothing to you. I had to figure out that I needed to sharpen my sword after every fight.The classes were decent. I only played three. The bow was not fun to play at all. I tried a long sword class but he was slower than I had time for. I ran out of time twice trying to kill this guy due to the speed of my guy. Finally I tried the sword and shield guy and he managed to get the job done. Upon beating him the game simply said I completed the quest and thanks for playing. Over. That was the easy quest. I have not managed to beat the “hard” quest because I repeatedly keep running out of time.Swimming and fighting under water is not fun.SoundMusic is forgettable at best. The two little creatures who tag along make the most annoying sounds over and over if you stand still for too long. Monster sounds are okay.ConclusionThis is one of the few demos I have ever played that have convinced me not to buy this game. To me it is fairly arrogant to not take the time to craft a demo for people who might not know anything about the game. The map is split up into 7 – 18 different area’s which requires load time for each is absurd. Not allowing you to customize your character AT ALL in the demo is another missed opportunity. The only enjoyable thing in this demo that I found was going up to my little helpers after a monster ran away and kicking them repeatedly. If this demo is an accurate reflection of this game – I would highly recommend not buying it on day on – if at all. Very disappointed Capcom. For a demo to turn an eager first time fan into a cynical critic is a unique skill that you shouldn’t be proud of.I give this demo a 4 out of 10.
