The Beta For Monster Hunter World: Iceborn Is Now Live

The Beta for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is now live for Playstation players.

The Beta allows players to access Iceborne early, practice their hunting skills, and, if they dare, to take on the mythical Velkhana. There's 4 quests available, taking place across the Ancient Forest, Hoarfrost Reach, and the Elder's Recess. Each of these is scaled to a particular difficulty, and the Monster Hunter site explains these in more detail. Novice hunters can practice their skills against a Great Jagras, whilst more experienced hunters could try their luck against a Banbaro, "A monster...like a running brick wall". More practised hunters still can pit themselves against a Tigrex, a type of "flying wyvern straight out of prehistory". Those who have mastered their hunting skills can set out to Elder's Recess in search of "Velkhana of the Frost", a Legendary Elder Dragon "with the power to freeze all".

Players will be rewarded for completing these with commendation packs, which contain useful items such as potions, and can be claimed in the full version of the game. Aside from these quests, players can try out the Raider Ride, by calling Tailraider monsters to carry them around the map, or take a closer look at the Clutch Claw, an intriguing weapon which allows you to grapple onto monsters and manipulate their movements.

In other Monster Hunter news, Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy will be making another appearance in the game's world. There's no confirmation of when she's arriving in Iceborne, but it definitely seems like a perfect choice. Aloy will be used to the cold after HZD's Frozen Wilds expansion, and as a skilled hunter herself, she's just who you'd want at your side in a fight. The only difference is that Iceborne's monsters are definitely less mechanical.

Last but not least, the latest Iceborne trailer confirms the return of a fan-favourite monster, the fanged wyvern Zinogre. Velkhana, Namielle, and now Zinogre; Iceborn looks to be the most testing experience for Monster hunters yet. Iceborn'es Beta closes at 11:59 PDT on September 1st, so now's your chance to grab the Clutch Claw and get practising.

Will you be playing the Beta? Will you choose a Great Jagras, a Banbaro, a Tigrex or the mighty Velkhana as your opponent? Let us know in the comments!

We've got the full list of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne trophies - check the list for guides to unlocking them.

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Written by Heidi Nicholas

Hey, I'm Heidi! I've just finished studying a Masters in English Literature, but I've been obsessed with gaming since long before then. I began on the PS2 with Spyro, before graduating to the Xbox 360 and disappearing into Skyrim. I'm now a loyal RPG fan, but I still like to explore other genres — when I'm not playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, or being lured back into Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Witcher 3!