When a game is released that has hundreds of thousands lining up to buy a console solely to play one game, you know it means business. Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is one such game.

The follow up to last year's Freedom has made a huge splash in the Japanese market. The reception has been staggering to say the least. Players range from 8 to 50 years old, with some clocking up over 1,000 hours just within 6 months of release. In fact, over half of all the people that have bought the game also bought their PSP solely to play it. It has certainly given the PSP its second wind on the charts. This recent Capcom series, whilst receiving a wealth of attention in Japan, has largely been reserved for quiet RPG circles locally. Could Freedom 2 mimic its success in Japan to bring it out into the mainstream within the Western world?

Like with my recent review of Stuntman, Monster Hunter is another fairly blunt title. The game starts with you (a hunter) out on a hunt (of the monster variety) when you are attacked (by a monster) and are knocked out in the snow. Fortunately you are rescued and wake up in a town, who coincidentally are in the need of (monster) hunters, and thus you go out to roam the land and complete quests (typically through hunting monsters). It's kind of like Pokémon, except you are putting the monster out of its misery upon defeat, rather than claiming the poor creature as your slave, squeezing it inside a tiny sphere and forcing it to do battle in some sadistic fight to the death that I'm sure is branded with PETA's seal of disapproval.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 plays as an Action RPG. You have your hub world, the township, wherein to buy and sell goods, undertake quests and otherwise go about your daily routine, in typical RPG fashion. It is once you venture on a Quest that the action part takes the wheel, with 3D person gameplay that any action fan would be familiar with. Gameplay is a mix of exploration, weapon based combat and strategy. You seek out your prey and utilise a strategic combination of traps, items and stabbing your opponent in the face, all in a rollicking good time. With other 250 Quests, 700 weapons and 70 different monsters there's a hell of a lot of gameplay on offer.

The depth of gameplay in Freedom 2 borders on the ridiculous. You hunt your prey, carve it, cook it and sell the hides at market. The amount of gameplay is nothing short of impressive. You can even pick which Felynes (walking, talking, dancing cats!) you want to hire to work in your kitchen and decide not only what meals you want them to prepare for you (be sure to check the daily menu), but you can alter every little detail, right down to their uniform and their shifts! I picked Arnold dressed in the cook's coat who prepared me a lovely meal of Bone Taco and Twinshroom today that was surprisingly delicious. It sure adds a lot of character, and is a welcome rather than tedious detail.

With so much gameplay, you'd expect the game to fall flat through repetition. Fortunately, whilst the story may not give Tolkien a run for his money, it is backed by a wealth of character. It is the little touches within the game that keep you there.

Even though typically I am not much of an RPG fan, the action based gameplay and wealth of character kept me playing. On the other hand, for the hardcore RPG gamers, it mightn't be turn based (egads!) but the sheer depth of gameplay should keep you coming back.

Oh and did I mention that you can take the game online to join up to 3 friends on a hunt?

Continuing the legacy of Online gaming pioneered in the original PS2 title, Freedom 2 returns with Infrastructure support for up to 4 players, a 2 player treasure hunter co-op game and also new support for downloadable content. Multiplayer is seamlessly accessible within the single player. You enter the online Gathering Hall from the village to meet with your fellow hunters. All your weapons and items carry other, and fortunately so does your reward. I guess it's kind of like World of Warcraft in some regard... *shudders*

One of the greatest improvements Freedom 2 offers over its predecessor is significantly optimised load times. The lengthy load times in the first instalment were bordering on game ruining for a game on the go, but they no longer present an issue, coupled with the additional RAM of the new model PSP, load times should no longer be the issue they once were. In addition, you can turn on background loading at the expense of battery life, which minimises loading between quest areas to only a minor pause between areas. Still, with so much text within the game, I still can't help think that in future the load screens would be best used to display the essential info for a quest, as then it would make the load times for starting quests seem near non existent. I do hope one day that the game will eventually remove all load screens from quests and make the whole quest area one streaming world, as it is still a, minor but ever present, nuisance.

Although Freedom 2 may have built upon the features and corrected the faults of its predecessor, it is still not without its flaws, some unchanged since the original. The typical camera problems that seem to plague games brought over to the PSP are still present (Note to Sony: PSP 2 must have a second analogue stick). When running around the township, you view the world in a typical RPG isometric fashion which works fine, but it is when you dig into the meat of the game and venture on a quest that the issues start to show. You view your hunter from a 3rd Person Perspective, which is certainly ideal for the type of game. Unfortunately as soon as you turn your hunter, the camera doesn't follow. You need to click the L button to centre the camera. Turn again and you need to again repeat the process. You can't just simply hold down the button as that opens your item menu. It is just an exercise in frustration and it is totally unnecessary. Considering you can rotate your camera by using the D-Pad, I see no reason for it to not remain as a fixed camera behind the hunter. If not a fixed camera, a button to lock on to your enemies would make a world of difference, missing your prey when you attack is just humiliating.

For all the variety and wealth of weapons (700!) and equipment that Freedom offers, combat still remains quite rigid, an aspect that again remains unchanged since the first title. Your attacks are limited to the triangle and circle buttons with the R button used to dodge or block based on your weapon. For some this still manages to offer some diversity, but for others, such as the newly introduced Gunlance, it just feels overly restrictive in their attacks and becomes quite repetitive very early. Perhaps the ability to switch between weapons on the fly to keep things fresh and allow you to put each of the 700 weapons to use would have worked better, though I appreciate the realism the developers have gone for by allowing you to only carry one giant 7' weapon on your back.

Had the combat and camera mechanics been corrected then I certainly would have awarded Freedom 2 an extra mark, as it stands though, they knew these areas were problematic last time and have failed to correct them.

So will Monster Hunter Freedom 2 resonate its success in Japan, Down Under?

The unfortunate answer is no. It's of no discredit to the game, but for all the stellar titles that have come and tried beforehand, they have all been overlooked by a simple unwillingness to consider the PSP as a worthy platform. For current PSP owners, it's certainly a great game and if you have a lot of time to put into the game it has a lot to offer in return. It is most certainly one of the deepest experiences you will find on the PSP. The sheer depth of gameplay justifies the purchase price alone.

Even though this is not typically my sort of game (I simply do not find I have the time or attention span necessary for RPGs), I thoroughly enjoyed Freedom 2 and it is hard to fault it. Beyond the problems related to combat and camera, there is little wrong with the actual game. Graphics and sound are top notch and the features are packed to the brim. It truly sets a benchmark for the depth that can be included in a handheld title. If you have a few hundred hours you're looking to kill, I'm sure it can help to fill the void.

If you purchased the first Freedom title then Freedom 2 is not necessarily an essential purchase, as a lot of the content remains the same. If however you enjoyed the original and were looking for more of the same, or were otherwise put off by the load time issues (which I agree were on the point of being game ruining), Freedom 2 is a worthy and superior successor.

With more gameplay than I could ever possibly cover in its entirety for this review, this is one game I honestly wish I had more time to invest in. Ah the life of a games reviewer *sigh*