Monster Hunter World Iceborne Review, Gameplay Impressions and Speedrunning Tips

Monster Hunter World brought the long-running franchise to a global audience thanks to must-have refinements, gorgeous visuals and gargantuan fights few games could equal.  

Iceborne, the game's first big expansion, sets out to reward endgame players and lure in an even bigger audience overall through a massive visual shift and key improvements after learning from the ups and downs of a game that has enjoyed plenty of success since its initial launch in late January 2018. 

With the snowy Hoarfrost Reach as the backdrop, loads of new (or remixed) monsters and gear and a fresh story all atop an already globally successful base game (90 on Metacritic), Iceborne once again looks to stand alone in its niche while offering thousands of hours worth of playtime. 

Graphics and Gameplay

The one thing World missed was a touch of snow. 

Naturally, given their penchant for skyscraper-sized monster encounters and large open worlds of varying regions, the developers at Capcom went all-in with avalanches, cracking ice, waist-high snow and icy environmental hazards. 

World was an incredible-looking game in its own right, and that doesn't change here when players return to the base-game areas. But Hoarfrost Reach is a real treat for the eyes. Like the other regions, it boasts its own complex ecosystems, from beetles and bugs right on up to the monstrous denizens at the top of the food chain who still engage in Hollywood-esque Turf Wars.

Not too long ago, the subject of footprints was a big talking point in video game graphics. Here, the footprints and billowing snow as players charge ahead is close to distracting in its realism and looks. 

The disparity between the icy sides of the region and the steam-filled hot springs and cave systems with water dripping from above are staggering. But Hoarfrost Reach is beautiful in its functionality, too. Players slide, get impeded by high snow and plunge to freezing depths if ice cracks. 

The new area didn't need to go big—World has big. It did need to get vertical, though, and it does. The region offers some interesting flying workarounds for faster travel than in the other areas. Boss encounters can spring avalanches and other catastrophes to engage with as a battle continues. More of the map than ever is weaponized, which applies in both directions. 

Gameplay didn't go unchanged. The biggest notable alteration is the Clutch Claw, a grapple of sorts that increases player mobility and ways of fighting.

Aiming this device at a monster with proper timing zips the player on to the monster and into a mount, which can then open a variety of different attacks based on the weapon or slinger ammo. This leads to wounding and/or stunning the beasts, allowing for extra damage. But there is also a massive risk-reward element—a poorly timed effort can lead to plenty of damage, if not defeat. 

This isn't merely a chance to hop on a monster and hack away until it can fling the player off, either. Some loadouts let players steer the monster in traps or environmental catastrophes, which can tick off damage numbers in the thousands. 

The Clutch Claw doesn't always feel intuitive, and its range sometimes feels finicky—as does whether it attaches. But, as a whole, it's an incredible new addition that mixes up the battle formula. The same goes for the ability to fire the slinger without sheathing a weapon. It's a small quality-of-life thing that opens up a world of new, quicker fighting options that removes some of the plodding nature of encounters.  

Otherwise, this is Monster Hunter. Players can go on expeditions or any number of missions, quests and hunts. There weren't any new weapons added to the game, but it was bordering on too many already. There are additions to some classes for the sake of mixing things up or refinements based on feedback, but there's nothing wild worth spotlighting—the effort to tweak the 14 weapons is present. 

The gameplay loop is just as players remember it: grab the missions; hit a region (don't forget a meal for stat boosts); gather supplies out in the wild; track the monster; engage the monster over a multi-part battle; return to base; upgrade armor, weapons and the Palico—among other things—with an extensive list of unlocks and craftable items. 

And that's keeping it rather general. Revisiting old fights to gather materials to engage the current monster on the to-do list is frequent. Speccing out a character with the proper resistances and strengths is a must against the big bads, and quickly. 

And, as a warning: this game is difficult. It isn't playing around or approaching things with kiddie gloves. The tried-and-true tutorials are there and always accessible. But Capcom is treating this for what it is—a massive expansion for those who beat the base game. This is relentless from the jump, with tough fights and mechanics to juggle. For players coming back from a break, good luck.

Difficult doesn't mean unenjoyable, though. Newcomers jumping into the series can take it slow in the base game. Players coming back will eventually get their wits about them and otherwise enjoy everything new.

To summarize, it's hard to envision Iceborne being as fun as it is without the Clutch Claw, first and foremost, and it's unlikely the expansion would enjoy as much as success as it surely will without it. 

Story and More

The story in Iceborne is going to feel familiar to World players and won't knock the snowboots off new arrivals. There's a new island with its own ecosystem that presents a threat to the research team's bases in the New World, and somebody—meaning the silent protagonist—needs to solve the problem. 

In World, the main narrative was carefully crafted around the Elder Dragon storyline and its gargantuan impact on the ecosystem of the world. 

Iceborne does a lot of the same but narrows the focus and really hopes a player's affection for Handler can drive some meaning into the narrative. That isn't greatly accomplished, but the story has always been a backdrop to the world itself and the monsters that inhabit the food chain. 

Like the base game, there are a few fun, massive setpieces to enjoy that are grandiose in scale. But in the base game, these greatly hurt the pace and took too long, whereas the idea has been refined here and is much improved—we'll leave it at that for sake of spoilers. 

While we've touched on the fun gameplay wrinkles Hoarfrost Reach presents, it can grow tired. It is gorgeous and refreshing, without question, but this expansion is so big and in-depth in scope that it feels like a sequel, so more than one new region would have been nice. 

There's nothing wrong with going back to The Ancient Forest or Coral Highlands, among others, though. These are as beautiful and varied as ever, and it is fun to turn new things like the Clutch Claw loose in them—not to mention see some wrinkles in the form of monsters mix up the well-established ecosystem. 

Speaking of going back, there's no point in revisiting Astera, because Seliana is really good. The new base is pretty and, more importantly, streamlined and packed together in a way that makes sense. That's an upgrade on Astera, where lengthy bouts of running can separate some of the biggest spots players need to regularly visit. 

Compared to past Monster Hunter games, World made strides in mission structure by streamlining things so they were easy to understand. The same applies here, though some of the same pace-stuttering moments remain. Losing a 40-50 minute fight and getting nothing from it is crippling. Backtracking to gather supplies and fighting the same monsters over and over for craftable items isn't strictly a bad thing, but it is an acquired taste.

It wouldn't be a Monster Hunter review without touching on the monsters. 

Old friends return, such as a souped-up version of the Paolumu from the base game. That's merely one example. Thankfully, these aren't just reskins of the monsters from the base game—they have new quirks and patterns that make them feel different enough so that even the grindiest of players will be entertained while kept on their toes. 

Thankfully, multiplayer is seamless. Given how overwhelming some fights can feel—not only thanks to the monster, but also other monsters, the environment and more—players will lean hard into SOS Flares often. But it is simple to pop one of those into the sky and keep fighting while players join and monster health scales based on how many players join the fray. The game plays just fine as a solo experience, but teaming up with others makes things easier even after the enemy health scaling. 

It isn't worth diving into the endgame for the sake of spoilers, but it sounds robust after World had some hiccups in that regard. There is plenty to hold players over until Capcom starts rolling out season events like they have since the original game's launch. 

Speedrunning Tips

World carved out a nice speedrunning community with plenty of runs featuring the start of the story through the final boss. But individual speedruns of monsters were more popular, and their strategies and approaches changed throughout the game as the developers tuned items and new ones were added. 

Iceborne won't be an exception in this regard. The expansion has a runnable story mode to gun through, and many of the tips for it will also apply to individual speedruns of even the most fearsome of monsters. 

Those tips start with getting comfortable with one of the game's weapons. Some obvious rules apply—weapons like the Longsword are top tier in the DPS department, whereas the Hunting Horn and Insect Glaive, not so much. 

But largely it will come down to personal preference. It's the same with armor, depending on the type of monster encountered next and the needed attack bonuses or resistances.

More important is remembering to have proper loadouts. Popping Demondrug for attack bonuses and other items that boost numbers are key to bring along. In Iceborn, this includes warm drinks to stave off the stamina-reducing environment.

Old classics are a must, too. Flash pods and traps prevent a monster from fleeing to a different area. Bombs for when a monster goes to sleep open big damage windows. Depending on how the fight is going, Dung Pods encourage another monster to flee instead of forcing the player to wait on a Turf War. 

This also means proper item setup. Bringing the right ingredients on a fight or in the campaign and setting up items to auto craft from the radial wheel is critical, as is shuffling the order of the item bar from the options. 

Truthfully, a speedrunning guide for any Monster World game could easily surpass the size of this review quickly. Basics—like remembering to eat a meal before departure for stat buffs—are the most critical elements to begin with when aiming at quickly getting through the story or a specific fight. From there, it's a long, long drop into the speedrunning rabbit hole that is perhaps more rewarding than most games on the market. 

There is almost unlimited appeal here. There are so, so many variables that go into a speedrun in this game between items, craftables, armor, mods on the armor, one of the 10-plus weapons, player skill and more, not to mention the random occurrences within ecosystems while fighting these monsters. In an ever-budding streaming era, Iceborne figures to thrive. 

Conclusion

Iceborne isn't just more of the same, although that wouldn't have been a bad thing for a game like World. 

There are some areas where it would have been nice to see some more love, such as when it comes to pacing. But this is a stunner of an expansion not just because of looks, but because of the refinements made within a brand new locale. 

If one couldn't tell from the above, this isn't for everyone. It's an endgame expansion for a very complex, lengthy experience. But for those just starting their journey into World, know that Iceborne awaits and sits positioned as a great example of an expansion done right. 

Jammed with content building upon one of the best niche foundations in gaming today, Iceborne is bound to be universally praised. There isn't much of a reason for fans of the series to skip, nor is there anything that should deter new players from giving it a look