Metal Gear. The name alone conjures up images of giant mechs, cardboard boxes, and generally confusing plot-lines (Nanomachines, right?). Kojima Productions’ critically acclaimed franchise has been lauded as a great stealth gaming experience, and while it does have its issues, the series has maintained a high degree of quality throughout (Metal Gear Acid notwithstanding).
To say Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance had a troubled development process would be an understatement. The game was initially called Metal Gear Solid: Rising and was being developed internally by Kojima Productions before being nearly cancelled. MGS: Rising was eventually handed off to Platinum Games, best known for their work on well-received action games like Bayonetta and Vanquish, and was rebranded with its new title. It has finally been completed and released after a couple years of tortuous waiting for us hungry MG fans.
With Platinum Games’ touch, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance eschews the famous MG stealth gameplay of past titles in favour of a more action-oriented experience, and for the most part, it feels pretty decent. Revengeance is by no means the exciting new MG title we’ve all been waiting for, but at least it serves as a canon game to play while we wait for Ground Zeroes.
Players familiar with Metal Gear Solid games will instantly recognize the protagonist, Raiden. In MGS2, many people found him to be a nuisance, but in MGS4, Raiden became a cyborg ninja – a brutal killing machine – and a lot more interesting.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance hopes to flesh out this new ninja Raiden. Several years after the Patriot Incident of MGS4, he finds himself working for a VIP security group known as Maverick, protecting an African prime minister. A rival group, Desperado, shows up on the scene and proceeds to lay the smack down on poor Raiden. After losing an arm and an eye to one of Desperado’s own cyber samurai – a thoughtful mercenary named Jetstream Sam – Raiden swears revenge and is outfitted with new cybernetic abilities.
The plot of Revengeance is the biggest detriment to what is ostensibly a fun action game. The story begins as a poorly inspired quest for vengeance and becomes a mission to protect “the kids” and their harvested brains from becoming cyborg child soldiers, then transforms into essentially an angry ninja killing a lot of bad guys. It can be argued that previous instalments in the Metal Gear franchise offer some convoluted and strange plot-lines, but at least they were interesting. Revengeance‘s story seems tacked-on at best and never really unfolds into anything particularly coherent or noteworthy.
Along with the story, the voice acting feels spotty in terms of quality. Raiden’s voice is mostly believable and well-done, but becomes a poor Christian Bale Batman impression upon Raiden’s transformation into his “Jack the Ripper” persona later in the game. Other characters in Maverick Security include a Russian pointman (named Boris) and a German doctor (named Doktor, cleverly enough), and they are both voiced with the stereotypical extremes of their nations’ accents. Overall, the VO job is not a particular highlight for this game, but mostly passable.
Despite my issues with the game, I still had a great time actually playing it. Revengeance takes the typically offense-based gameplay found in games like DmC or Bayonetta and flips it into a defense-oriented system. The game focuses on parrying blows before delivering them, which felt refreshing for the genre. To parry, the player must press the analog stick in the direction of an enemy’s blows and execute a light attack. If timed right, Raiden will block and then counterattack automatically. If the player is too early, the foe’s attack will only be blocked, and if Raiden is too late, damage will be sustained.
Parrying becomes of the utmost importance in any of Revengeance‘s boss fights and imperative at any difficulty above normal even on the minion enemies. The whole defensive system took some getting used to, and sometimes I found myself attacking rather than blocking, but on the whole, the mechanic works.
The real highlight of the game can be seen in “blade mode”. By pressing L1, Raiden enters a blue-tinted, time-slowed, precision-oriented stance. The player can then use the right analog stick (Or square and triangle for easy horizontal and vertical) to line up exactly where the sword will cut, whether it is the enemy’s head, arms, torso, or legs – and it cuts deep! A previously whole enemy can be sliced into hundreds of pieces by the time Raiden’s “fuel cells” (which limit the length of time blade mode can be used for) run out. A counter on the right side of the screen indicates just how many pieces the enemy or object has become and being quick enough could result in some large numbers there.
The only real issue as far as gameplay is concerned is the camera. Often it was impossible to tell what exactly was going on due to the camera not being able to keep up with the action. The game is incredibly fast-paced, and it is almost unsurprising that it would have camera problems because of this.
In true Metal Gear style, the boss fights are the some of the most exciting and creative parts of the game. Each of Desperado’s commanders offered a unique challenge and an innovative design. A couple of the last bosses felt incredibly tough and I found myself racking up my death count, but I eventually zeroed in on their patterns and learned to parry their attacks properly. The final battle was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever witnessed in a video game and yet I loved it. It was over the top and insane, and for that I can at least give it credit. This game is not afraid to embrace cheesy territory and I am certainly glad to see it.
To go along with the bigger fights in the game, the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in recent memory. All of the songs are pounding, adrenaline-filled cheesy-but-amazing metal/electronic anthems. Whether you choose to pick up Revengeance or not, I strongly recommend you listen to some of the tracks on YouTube – particularly “The Only Thing I Know for Real” and “The Stains of Time”.
The game seems built to be replayed, whether that be for a greater challenge or simply to score a perfect rank on a fight. There are plenty of unlockables and collectibles, and for completionists, that may be enough, but for the majority of players, one time through is probably it. While the game is graphically quite nice, a lack of interesting environments (Denver, Colorado is one of the exotic locales Raiden visits) and sparse variety in enemy types might dissuade people from revisiting this one.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is not great, but it isn’t awful either. It is a decently-made game worth your time if you love MG or over-the-top action, but it is definitely not the next great game in the beloved franchise – I am eagerly awaiting Ground Zeroes to (hopefully) take that title. Revengeance is worth a shot if you are really aching for an action game, but with so many better examples of the genre on store shelves, it might be wiser to pick this one up later, in a gaming drought. Hideo Kojima, creator of the series, has said that if this game takes off we will likely see more off-shoots of MG and I sincerely hope we do, though it would be preferable if they are more polished than Revengeance. Here’s to hoping! *slice slice slice* Anyone want some sliced watermelon?
