There are plenty of times when I was working menial positions at dead end jobs, where all I wanted during my breaks (and company time I made into breaks to keep sane) was to jump headfirst into exciting, adventurous worlds that were anything and everything but my current location. There are few better ways to accomplish such a feat than with a videogame, especially a portable one, so the lookout for games that provide such momentarily relief is always vigilant.

As the Japanese already know, if you own a PSP then Monster Hunter Freedom is one of those games, standing as the only million selling franchise for Sony's portable system in Japan. Though it has what will prove to be deal-breaking faults for some gamers - namely a stiff learning curve and difficulty, as well as excessive loading - Monster Hunter Freedom 2's addictive gameplay, robust multiplayer questing and pick-up-and-play nature should keep the scales tipped towards must buy for many a handheld action-RPG fanatic.

Not unlike the PSP and PS2 Monster Hunter games to come before it, Freedom 2 is all about killing and looting. Monsters and wild beasts of all shapes, sizes and walks of life all stand in the way of acquiring fame, fortune and kick ass weaponry. Sure, there is a storyline there for those willing to read through it - your character has been sent to the little backwater surrounded by mountains and wilderness village of Pokke to hunt monsters, protect the townsfolk and so forth - but honestly, what is there is there simply to give each quest a context; you will lose so very little by skipping over anything not related to your current objective.

If you subscribe to the theory that wreaking havoc against unsuspecting monsters is only as fun as the weapons and powers you can use then Freedom 2 surely will not disappoint! Sporting eleven weapon types, ranging from your standards such as swords and bows to the more exotic gunlance - each with their own playing style - there are not only plenty of ways to tailor the gameplay to your individual tastes, but the replay value from building multiple different character types is immense. Armor also plays a big part in your character decisions, as it can directly affect your performance. For example, running around in the frosty areas will catch up to you and begin draining your life if you aren't bundled up properly (or at least have a warming potion handy).

Once you have your character and his weapon of choice (you can change between the base weapon of each type if you change your mind), it's off into the wilderness you go! Quests, which can fall into a multitude of types such as fetch, killing, context sensitive and more, are generally given out at the guild lodge. Each one is given a star rating based on difficulty, so you'll have an idea of what you are getting into a fight before you even begin. As you complete quests and earn guild points, your rank grows and the quests available to you increase. The harder the quest, the better the reward, so completing as many as you can is highly recommended.

Monsters, which range from takes on present day animals such as elk, bats and rhinos to and fantasy creatures such as exotic looking raptors and dragons, roam the world of Freedom 2 much like wild animals; traveling in packs, venturing out in nomadic fashion and reacting with a fight or flight mentality when you approach them. Once you slaughter your prey, if you take the time to put your weapon away before the carcass fades into nothingness, you can poach to your heart's content, securing valuable supplies. These, along with your quest completion spoils, are the keys to crafting and cooking, allowing you to create many of the game's best items. And unless you want to keep having your rear end handed to you on a plate by giant ape-like creatures, well, you will exploit those systems for all they are worth!

Controlling your character, for the most part, is easy and fun - as long as you are using the right weapon. Any of the melee weapon types, such as swords, knifes and lances do not require any more input than to face your character forward and unleash combo after combo, throwing in a dodge move when you feel the need, giving the combat a loose yet responsive feel. The double-edged special abilities that each weapon offers, such as increased speed and attack power, keep similar weapons from feeling the same, as the club and the horn attack the same way but the horn has the ability to play stat-boosting songs. Ranged weapons, on the other hand, fall victim to overly tight, robotic controls that lack the fluidity necessary for them to not be entertaining but to just work. Aiming using the sniping feature is clumsy but usable, while trying to accurately aim using the third-person perspective is near impossible. Twisting around and around, trying to face a moving enemy before firing and missing them as they have charged in and attacked you is a test of patience that will leave many players cursing the game completely. The camera system will bring out even more curses, with its lack of a lock on and no easily accessible rotating features. The complete absence of both is just unacceptable at this point in 3D gaming, as a centering button can only help so much and when you are surrounded by a pack of angry monsters, one of the last things you want to do is make yourself a sitting duck just to rotate the camera.

The world Freedom 2 is set in is broken into many pieces, much like the 2D Legend of Zelda games, where each screen is its own little area. Each one of these screens is set in a larger block area on the world map, with each of these areas having its own unique climate and wildlife. This allows for a compact fighting experience, allowing the developers to make what is essentially a ton of different gladiator arenas, challenging the player at every turn. The downfall of this ends up being that every area has to be loaded separately, making the world map that accompanies the loading screen a more familiar image than it should be. Loading times are never unbearable, lasting around ten to fifteen seconds in-game, but when you are forced to endure them on average every few minutes, more if you are wandering around, you will be pulled right out of the moment, which can lead down a discouraging road.

On the presentation side, Freedom 2 is one of the better-looking PSP titles available, utilizing a vibrant palette and great texture detail and variation. Not only does each section have a distinct visual feel, but there are also strikingly noticeable differences between areas within each section. Backgrounds have been rendered exceptionally well, appearing crisp and natural, actually existing as part of the gaming world instead of poorly constructed, pixilated grabble. Character models are above average in design and detail - with the bigger guys receiving even more attention - but you'll eventually stop paying attention as you kill a thousand or more of one species. In the sound department, you get a mix of exciting fanfares, ferocious growls and the wonderful sound of metal clashing against scale and bone that will help wash out the horrendous excuse for voices given to the townsfolk (think of lazy, one-liner Simspeak).

As you can hopefully tell, Freedom 2 hits all of the familiar stops that a standard, MMO-style action RPG should: robust character customization, many beasts and areas to explore and conquer and a near endless supply of items to collect and make and, more importantly, weapons to be found and crafted. If you are the type to become item obsessive, needing to be decked out in the best equipment at all times, then you will definitely find this game hard to put down. But where's the multiplayer, the key to longevity to this genre? It's here in the form of local support for up to four adventurers (WiFi is limited to content downloads), allowing you to tackle quests as a team - as long as everyone has a copy of the game. This is where the majority of players should find the reason they must own this title, as blasting through the game alone is great, but it hardly holds a candle to questing with a group, allowing players to topple the hardest quests, beat the baddest enemies and obtain the phattest loot.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 might not set the gaming world ablaze with new ideas and boundary-pushing gameplay, but it further refines a genre of gaming that really seems to find a niche on the PSP - the action RPG. As long as your idea of awesome questing involves hacking, slashing, getting better weapons, washing and repeating - then starting that list over with friends - and nothing much else, you will hastily fall in line with Freedom 2's Japanese fans in bellowing out its many achievements. If you need more than that, chances are you'll be quickly finding out how much your local game store offers as trade-in value.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).