Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne

Iceborne is as good as expansions get. It presents welcome tweaks to the original formula and monsters that will challenge even the toughest of hunters. If only more of the campaign explored this.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is a fantastic expansion that almost feels like a sequel with all of the content that’s packed into it. There’s a huge cast of monsters to hunt with lots of new equipment to keep you going for another year at least and along with the promise of post-launch content like the base game received, you’re in for another treat when you make the journey to Hoarfrost Reach.

At $40 Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is an absolute steal for those who had countless hours of fun with the original game. For $60, players who may want to give the game a try for the first time can do so with the base game included. The whole package acts as a great introduction to what awaits at the end of the entire story, which altogether probably amounts to around 80 or 100 hours at this point. With Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, this game has definitively become the best entry in the series by far.

“Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is one of the best games of the year, expansion or not.”

Iceborne takes what’s already fantastic and nearly doubles the original game in size. If you haven't played Monster Hunter yet, now is the time to start!

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne doesn’t solve any of Monster Hunter World‘s underlying issues, such as its insistence on splitting up players for short bouts when playing in co-op. The expansion content itself also isn’t going to make those who weren’t too enamoured with the game originally change their minds, and it’s not ideal for those who found their skills pushed to the limit by the base game’s most fiercest foes. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is for devout hunters seeking yet more challenging encounters, and for those it is a must-have. Bolstering the game’s repertoire of monsters and tw...

Despite launching several months later, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne on PC is a grand experience, full of awesome monsters to hunt, worthwhile weapons to grind and more depth to the combat. Even with performance issues and quirks unique to the series, Iceborne is simply essential for every Monster Hunter fan.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne is the expansion that MHW fans are looking for. You can expect to lose hours of your life to this game and enjoy every moment of it.

Still, Iceborne is a remarkable achievement. I’m slapping the Bestest Best sticker on it, and not just to make up for the fact that I erroneously didn’t slap it on the base game. Together, they form a standout work that excels at everything it sets out to do, with the exception of storytelling. Iceborne adds even more joyful oddness to what is, perhaps, the most idiosyncratic and whimsical of recent graphical benchmark blockbusters. It boasts the sort of production values that seem antithetical to risk taking, while remaining a deceptively vast and information-rich game, that places an easy th...

2018’s Monster Hunter: World was a successful update to the long-running beast-slaying series. Fully functioning ecosystems and updated combat crafted an experience where each battle was a unique challenge even after hundreds of hours. World’s latest expansion, Iceborne, is massive. Building up a solid framework, it brings dozens of new monsters and ups the difficulty for a deeply rewarding adventure.

A thrilling new adventure, but it's not just the world that's chilling.

When I lost, I almost stayed knocked on my ass, pouting that the game is too frustrating — more punishing than the base game ever was. But instead, I took Iceborne’s hand, got back up, and it showed me one of the most rewarding video game experiences I’ve had this year.