MONSTER HUNTER, Publisher: Capcom. Format: PS2. Price: £39.99. Family friendly? 12+: MONSTER Hunter is a strange game.

It starts with the usual warning about graphic gore and violence that players of the Resident Evil series have become familiar with, yet sports a 12 age rating.

It's Capcom's first online PS2 game, meaning you can enjoy it alone or with the help of four friends online. It starts with a group of peaceable dinosaurs grazing by a river. Seconds later, a couple of carnivorous raptor-style creatures attack and grab a young calf. Before they can tuck in, however, an even bigger monster swoops down from the skies and carries off the kill. And even this huge creature doesn't get to satisfy its hunger because three human monster hunters are lying in wait.

Ostensibly an action game, Monster Hunter pits your character against a wide range of scaly beasties, either alone or with the help of others.

You start by creating your in game character by manipulating skin colour, hairstyle and voice types. Your first mission is shocking. You have to kill two herbivores, carve them up and bring the raw meat back to the village chief.

I felt a bit uneasy at the sight of my character wielding a four foot long axe and hacking away at a sleepy old dino. The blood spurts make it all seem a bit too real and I'd think twice before allowing an impressionable 12-year-old to play this, despite the self-imposed rating.

The game's title is something of a misnomer because some of the creatures you have to kill are anything but monsters. They are just minding their business grazing on the land, as your character turns up and chops them to bits. Subtle it ain't.

Objectives vary. They can include killing specific monsters, protecting a village or just collecting items. Your hunter's kit includes a sword, a crossbow-type of device and various potions. Rewards for following objectives usually help with tracking and trapping more dinosaurs.

As the story unfolds, individual characters develop their skills - gaining more potent weapons and greater strength. Shops scattered throughout the game world allow the seasoned hunter to upgrade his or her arsenal by trading items gained through combat. Monster skin and horns also have a trade value.

It's important to take good care of your weapons. A blunt sword is useless in the heat of battle. You can buy whetstones to hone your blades and it's a good idea to pick one up as soon as possible.

Entering the online world of Monster Hunter places you in a team of four working with each other to trap and kill fearsome creatures. You may need to distract a monster's attention while a friend sets up a trap - or even place yourself in harm's way to free a buddy from a creature's embrace.

The co-operative mode works far better than the single player experience, which left a nasty taste in this gamer's mouth. The need to hone a plan and follow it to the letter in order to succeed gives the game's characters a purpose that's lacking when playing alone. Otherwise it all feels a bit too gratuitous for its own good.

Capcom seems to have recognised this fact as well. The single player adventure feels very much like an afterthought and some items are only available to online users.

Animal lovers are advised to steer well clear of Monster Hunter.

ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO 9, Format: PC. Publisher: Ulead. Price: £59.99: SINCE editing video footage became possible on the PC, one company has done more than any other to make the often difficult task of chopping up film footage straightforward - Ulead.

Videostudio is Ulead's software package aimed at beginners and enthusiastic amateurs. Now in its ninth incarnation, the editing suite faces stiff competition in the form of Adobe's Premiere Elements. As a result, Videostudio 9 is positively loaded with goodies that blur the gap between this software and the pro stuff used by TV companies.

New for 2005 are enhanced widescreen and Dolby digital support, better titles, extra format support (everything from AVIs to Smartphones) and better DVD recorder tools.

You can also delve into some really spectacular special effects. Always wanted to fly? Using Videostudio's blue screen effect you can put yourself into the clouds with the same technology that transformed Christopher Reeve into Superman.

For all this extra power, Ulead hasn't sacrificed the software's user-friendly interface. In fact, it is quite possible to make a nifty move in just three basic steps - capture, edit and burn. There's even a free book packed with tips on how to make your home movies look more professional.

Ulead Videostudio 9 remains the benchmark against which all other home editing suites should be measured. If you have a DV camcorder and a powerful PC (P800 and 256MB RAM is an absolute minimum) then you must buy this.

Published: 03/06/2005