Today, Capcom has announced new details for an exciting, highly anticipated, and massive expansion to Monster Hunter: World, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will contain a brand new storyline, monsters, gameplay options, and more. In addition, the base game will have a free trial and new content updates for consoles later this month.
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Iceborne intends to build on every aspect of the original Monster Hunter: World, starting with an all new story picking up after the conclusion of the main game. Hunters will be taken to a newly discovered, frosty location called Hoarfrost Reach. The new snow-covered terrain offers an ecosystem that contrasts areas in the main game and expands as the story is progressed. Hoarfrost Reach will be the largest region in the game so far, offering a wealth of new content with even more quests to undertake than in the original release.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne also introduces a new higher difficulty: Master Rank. This is a new quest tier that makes new and existing monsters even more ferocious. New monsters that hunters can expect to encounter in Hoarfrost Reach are foes such as the horned brute wyvern Banbaro and the snow-buried Beotodus. These monsters will interweave in the ecosystem with fan favourites such as the Nargacuga, who has been buffed with a few extra tricks in his moveset. The mysterious new flagship monster, Velkhana, an elder dragon with powerful ice attacks, will be a pervasive threat in the new story.
New gameplay options will also be made available, creating opportunities for exciting new hunting strategies. The Slinger can now be used while the main weapon is drawn, regardless of weapon type. New features have also been added for the Slinger such as the Clutch Claw used to grapple onto monsters with more direct control and the Flinch Shot which unloads Slinger ammo to stun monsters. Each of the 14 weapon types will also get new combos and new elements, offering additional depth to master in combat.
Players will need to already own the Monster Hunter: World base game. While Iceborne players will be able to enjoy some of the gameplay options such as the Slinger and weapon updates right away, they must have completed the main story through Hunter Rank 16 in order to access the new story and quests. So if you haven’t done that already, get moving on it before the chill takes over. Depending on location, special editions and pre-order bonuses are available, so be sure to check your local stores for more details.
The new free trial of Monster Hunter: World is available on PS4 from today through to 20 May 2019. In the meantime for existing console players, the last new content update for the base game will celebrate the aggressive flagship monster Nergigante who will finally appear in the Arch-Tempered form for a limited time from 11 May UTC. Defeating this ultimate challenge will net the user powerful Nergigante ? (gamma) armour.
Further information on Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will be revealed at E3 this June!
