Monster Hunter Portable 3rd has some grand co-op missions

Anyone who’s played a Monster Hunter game for a while would know that one of the series’ great joys is to go on cooperative hunts with other players. There’s an awkward charm to seeing yourself and several other strangers tumble and dive around the legs of a gigantic monster, gesticulating wildly and trying to time all those over-the-top weapon animations just right to inflict the most damage to whichever bits of monster you want to injure hardest.

Capcom knows that, and seems to be taking a few hints from another one of its co-op-focused games for Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. But no, the game they’re taking from isn’t Resident Evil 5, but Lost Planet 2. Which makes sense, given that Lost Planet 2 borrowed a lot from the Monster Hunter experience as well.

It might not have been the greatest game on earth, but one of the best missions in that game was one where the team operated a humongous train cannon to take on an even more humongous Akrid creature. With the right team, it was almost magical, evoking the kind of fun one might have playing the now-ancient Air Buccaneers mod for Unreal Tournament.

Now, a new mission has monster hunters crewing a sand ship in pursuit of the Jhen Moran, another giant sand-swimmer. The mission plays out a lot like the Lost Planet 2 version, but in this case players can also climb onto the monster’s back to attack and, er, gather minerals. So yeah, mining in the middle of a fight. Sounds like Monster Hunter, alright.

Are you stoked for some Portable 3rd, or are you still busy sinking hundreds of hours into Portable 2nd G or -Tri?

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd: Jehn Moran [Andriasang]