They came in their thousands for Monster Hunter‭ ‬3.‭ ‬If there was a game of TGS‭ ‬2008,‭ ‬one that people travelled to see,‭ ‬then this was it.‭ ‬Queues stretched for between three and four hours in waiting time and had to be capped early in the day‭ – ‬many,‭ ‬of course,‭ ‬using the delay to catch up on their Monster Hunter Portable‭ ‬2nd G.‭ 

It was hard to miss the system-selling potential of the series when a line of PSPs waited patiently to play pretty much the same thing on a Wii,‭ ‬and it was certainly noticed by the SCE executives who made‭  ‬the short walk over from the Square Enix booth to marvel at the hubbub.

Few non-believers will be swayed by‭  ‬the basics of Monster Hunter‭ ‬3.‭ ‬This is a straight series installment that concentrates on the core experience while playing around with some of the Wii hardware’s possibilities.‭ ‬Most notably,‭ ‬it’s quite beautiful.‭ ‬Capcom‭  ‬may have leaped to the forefront of Wii development if the long draw distances‭  ‬and lighting are anything to go by,‭ ‬despite the company’s insistence that the demo featured incomplete visuals.‭ 

The processing power isn’t just for the pretty plants,‭ ‬either,‭ ‬but goes towards creating a stronger sense of wildlife in motion as you move around the world,‭ ‬watching creatures chase and feed‭  ‬on one another.‭ ‬The game uses the Wii Remote to direct both camera and targeting.‭ ‬Simply pointing at a section of an enemy will focus attacks,‭ ‬although no‭ ‘‬locking‭’ ‬system was available in the demo code and it seems unlikely one will be included.‭ 

While battling,‭ ‬slight tilting of the Remote cycled through the possible actions:‭ ‬guarding,‭ ‬use of a shield,‭ ‬type of attack.‭ ‬Nothing has yet been confirmed with regard to MotionPlus compatibility,‭  ‬but the likelihood is that the game is too far advanced in development for any radical implementations of its capabilities.‭ ‬Combat is straightforward enough,‭ ‬with differing Remote swings for various types‭  ‬of blow and the ability to charge up attacks,‭ ‬as well as a fairly simple combo system that amounts to rapid shaking.‭ 

The real challenges are the different tactics required for each type of boss,‭ ‬most of which depend on co-operation between various classes of hunter‭ (‬the vanilla one being melee and‭  ‬long range‭)‬.‭ ‬The biggest innovation for the series lies here,‭ ‬however,‭ ‬with the addition of underwater combat.‭ ‬This places a time limit‭ (‬ten minutes‭) ‬on deep-sea hunting,‭ ‬necessitating some real co-ordination between diving characters to take down‭  ‬the bigger beasties,‭ ‬although combat‭  ‬appears much like previous instalments.‭ 

Many are hoping that Monster Hunter‭ ‬3‭ ‬will be a turning point for Wii in Japan.‭ ‬Not in terms of sales,‭ ‬but in terms of perceptions among Japanese consumers,‭ ‬who still look on PS2‭ ‬as the last great‭ ‘‬gamer’s console‭’‬.‭ ‬The huge popularity of the title during TGS,‭ ‬and the very favourable feedback Capcom has had from fans and the press,‭ ‬suggests it may just have a chance.