A Slice of Raiden: Rising Above Most Side Stories
As a franchise, Metal Gear Solid is not afraid of compressing a wealth of exposition in their games, even those considered to be side stories. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance tells a short (but dense) story of what happened to MGS2 protagonist and MGS4 sidekick Raiden some years after the events of MGS4, though it does so in a very different style than other entries in the franchise. It is a third-person character action game, in a similar gameplay vein of developer Platinum Games’s Bayonetta, but with the story-telling soul of Kojima Productions.
PMCs (Private Military Companies) are still in demand after the SOP system was shut down by Solid Snake & Co in MGS4. Raiden enlists in one, Maverick Security Consulting, for a job and to support his family without having to return to the battlefield.
Unfortunately for Raiden and his new crew of people reachable by Codec, another PMC has different plans. Or so it appears. The story wastes no time in going down the typical Metal Gear-conspiracy rabbit hole and the philosophizing about war, life, politics, and society by every single character. In fact, the last boss (who you have to see to believe) spews out some wild sentiments in current American politics that rival any tin foil-hatted theorist. As others have noted, it is probably the most anti-American thing seen in a video game since probably the epilogue of Killer7.
Getting there is a blast too. The combat system takes some getting used to, with an emphasis on parrying attacks to stop enemy attack patterns just long enough to get a few sword swipes in or going in for the kill with Zandatsu/Blade Mode. There’s also a bevy of sub weapons and items available for use like grenades, and a few secondary weapons you acquire from bosses to mix things up. On normal difficulty, the game doesn’t make things too easy for button mashers, but does reward you for learning the mechanics in a way that feels satisfying. It is possible to brute force some of the encounters through constant offense (or to skip some battles with stealth), but you’re better off looking for the signature glow of enemies’ animations and waiting for the weak spot to show itself. The controls in this system feel as fluid as those in Bayonetta and feature a few quick time events.
The downside of this fast-paced combat is that it feels just a hair too short: the game can be completed in less than 5 hours and 3 of the 8 missions are just boss encounters. There are a decent amount of collectibles, as is the norm for Metal Gear games, and a lot of Codec conversations to fill in the context of the story and 20 VR Missions to pad out the length. However, if you’re like me, the replay value lies in playing on a higher difficulty and mastering the gameplay.
The cast of characters is smaller than in MGS4 (which, to be honest, was a little dizzying to keep track of), but feels just as well-realized. Yeah, the bad guys are a little goofy-looking (one resembles a Goomba from the Super Mario Bros. movie) and yes, they fill in for generic samurai movie tropes, but the over-the-top personalities and stylish graphics more than make up for it. The voice acting is good and only ventures into cheesy territory with Raiden himself. Anger is not an emotion his character experienced too much in his last two appearances and feels a bit out of place when he starts speaking as “Jack The Ripper”.
Still, Metal Gear Rising is an awesome ride for fans of the Metal Gear universe and who don’t mind some slick swordplay instead of “tactical espionage action”. It is a great blend of Kojima’s and Platinum’s styles, without deluding too much of either’s touches, and manages to finally fill out Raiden as a proper Metal Gear-slayer. If the frenetic insanity of Rising is any indication, we’re all in for a treat when the next game in the series comes.
