It’s Hammer time in the latest Monster Hunter Wilds gameplay trailer

Dash across the battle and crack monsters' skulls with the Hammer in Monster Hunter Wilds

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What you need to know

What you need to know

Last week, Capcom began releasing a series of trailers highlighting all the unique and fun weapon types players will use to hunt the various beasts ofMonster Hunter Wilds. We’re now over halfway into the series of weapon trailers, and the latest one gives us an overview of the iconic Hammer weapon type.

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The Hammer is a blunt weapon type designed to deal significant damage to a monster’s head. However, unlike its musical counterpart, theHunting Horn, the Hammer has no support techniques to power up fellow players and focuses purely on dealing damage.

Hammers can crack monster skulls so they drop gear crafting materials you can’t acquire with other weapons like theGunlanceorLong Sword, and inflict the Stun status effect on monsters. The Stun status effect will briefly knock out monsters and leave them vulnerable to attack.

The Hammer also has a wide range of melee combos where you swing it around like a maniac, and some heavy attacks that can be charged to deal extra damage. However, unlikeGreat Sword’s charge attacks which required you to stand still, the Hammer allows you to move while charging the weapon so you can stay on the offensive while still being able to avoid incoming attacks.

Monster Hunter Wilds' take on the Hammer will stay true to how it traditionally plays in pastMonster Huntergames, while incorporating a fair amount of new moves and old ones from previous games to improve its mobility and damage potential.

The new changes and new moves that have been revealed thus far according to its gameplay trailer are:

The Hammer’s improved concussive power force in Monster Hunter Wilds will knock monsters senseless

The Hammer’s improved concussive power force in Monster Hunter Wilds will knock monsters senseless

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The Hammer is one of my preferred weapon types in Monster Hunter games because of how simple yet brutally effective it is. It’s got a move-set that’s easy to learn for beginners while having enough deep mechanics that are satisfying for veterans to master, it has useful evasion techniques to help keep its user alive without hindering its aggressive playstyle, and it’s generally one of the more reliably powerful weapons in a Monster Hunter game.

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I love that Monster Hunter Wilds is bringing back techniques from Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate and weaving them into the Hammer’s core move-set, as those two aforementioned games featured my favorite iterations of the weapon type. It makes me wonder ifMonster Hunter Wilds will be including other classic techniques from previous games in the rest of the game’s fourteen weapon types; move-sets.

We will have to wait to find out, as Capcom will continue to release the rest of the  Monster Hunter Wilds weapon overview trailers daily in the lead-up to the game’s next big cinematic trailer that will be showcased atGamescom 2024.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom’sbest Xbox gamesandbest PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025 forXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Explore the uncharted Forbidden Lands to discover long-lost secrets and hunt monsters to protect the balance of nature in Monster Hunter Wilds. Hunt the vicious beasts of the Forbidden Lands alone or with your friends in 4-player online co-op.

Pre-order at:Amazon|Best Buy|GreenManGaming (Steam)

Alexander Cope is a gaming veteran of 30-plus years, primarily covering PC and Xbox games here on Windows Central. Gaming since the 8-bit era, Alexander’s expertise revolves around gaming guides and news, with a particular focus on Japanese titles from the likes of Elden Ring to Final Fantasy. Alexander is always on deck to help our readers conquer the industry’s most difficult games — when he can pry himself away from Monster Hunter that is!