Game Review: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
I’ve been a fan of the series since it’s inception on NES and have been closely following it since MGS on PS1. With that being said this title has to be the most anticipated since it’s fairly “experimental”. Metal Gear has traded in the Tactical Espionage Action for Lightning Bolt Action and has a new protagonist. Raiden came onto the scene in MGS2 and at that time you either loved him or you hated him. Fast forward to MGS4 and suddenly EVERYONE loved Raiden. How could you not? He was a fast paced ninja badass that sliced everything in his path! Now he is in his own game!
Official Description From Konami:
In the near future, cyborg technology has become commonplace throughout society. Three years have passed since the collapse of the Patriots system that had been secretly controlling the global power balance from the shadows. However, peace remains elusive. The dissemination of cybernetic technology has triggered instability and conflict as those who control the trade gain increasing power. Furthermore, large ‘Private Military Companies’, or PMC’s, that had been supported and controlled by the Patriots have collapsed, spawning countless rogue entities with origins to larger criminal organizations. These renegade PMCs employing cyborg technology have become increasingly more disruptive shifting policy and power at will. As a member of the peace-keeping PMC ‘Maverick Security’, Raiden lives by the mantra of protecting and saving lives. But as the world plunges further into asymmetric warfare, the only path that leads him forward is rooted in resolving his past, and carving through anything that stands in his way.
First Impressions:
I love the look of the game. Everything looks so clean and moves so fluidly yet it keeps the same feel of a gritty war zone that MGS4 did. With this game introducing a completely new dynamic to the franchise it was interesting to slice through everything and run around so quickly. I feel like anyone could pick up a controller and start hacking away at enemies without too much instruction. So far so good for MGRR!
Gameplay:
As I said previously, everything moves so fast which I feel is a fresh experience for the franchise. There wasn’t really any sort of slow down moment and there was always something going on. 
The maneuverability of Raiden is fantastic. With a drop of a hat you can change directions and make detours rather quickly. Almost reminded me of a mix between Ninja Gaiden and Bayonetta (obviously).
I wanted to see right away if what the developers said was true of the game (that just about everything could be cut up) so the first chance I got I started “going to town” on the environments. Immediately I was impressed at how precise the slicing action was. You could honestly stand there and slice a tree into little itty bitty pieces and where you sliced is exactly where the tree would split. This went for everything from barrels to boxes to billboards to brick walkways. Nothing is safe.
The only “complaint” I have is the camera orientation at times in battle. I tried to create some distance between me and a Raptor so I ran in the opposite direction but wanted to keep an eye on the enemy so I turned it in front of Raiden as I ran. T
he camera wanted to continue to orient itself behind Raiden so I had to keep moving it around a bit. I tried to mess with the camera options a bit but still no luck. A small annoyance from an otherwise fantastic title.
The weapons and skills upgrades were a nice touch to the game and gave you a bit more to work for. There are lots of different options there with lots of different attack moves that can be bought. This would be a good feature to have for future MGS games for weapon upgrades and such.
I’m glad that with this being something new it still FEELS like Metal Gear. They still have the Codec and Rations (which they call Repair Nanopaste) and even though the item equip
screen isn’t as easily accessible as it used to be it didn’t seem to create any problem during gameplay. The only thing that still takes a bit getting used to is the use of Electrolyte Packs in battle situations. I keep forgetting to either use them or switch back to my Repair Nanopaste when I do use them. I was also extremely happy to see the VR Missions included as well. It wouldn’t have been the same without them.
There was a significant amount of trial and error when fighting the bosses. I replayed certain boss battles various times until I found the “sweet spot” for each one so to speak. Difficulty is always a plus in my book. It wasn’t impossibly hard but it gave me enough of a challenge that when I would beat a boss I would usually end with an audible “Hell Yes!”.
Story:
With all Metal Gear games the main focus and best part was always the storyline. This was no different. I can tell you now that it definitely continued the story so perfectly and gives this game a bit of breathing room to do things its own way. The Desperado Elite have a feel of the previous antagonist groups of previous games but are way more cybernetic and have names that kind of remind me of Transformers (Mistrial, Monsoon, Sundowner, Jetstream). The game still contains the same political and governmental overtones as its predecessors which gives a bit more realism for the player I feel. This story has its twists and turns which I always love. I don’t want to talk too much about the story (I REALLY don’t want to ruin it) but it enticed me enough that I found myself playing for hours without realizing it.
Overview:
If you open your mind and play through the game I guarantee you’re going to love it. I enjoyed it thoroughly and the replay factor of it is pretty high. Hack and slash games aren’t really my first choice when picking a game but after playing MGRR I have a new respect for them. Platinum Games has done it in a way that doesn’t make things feel repetitive and for that I’m grateful. I like the fact that they didn’t alienate the die hard fans or the fans of the genre as well. Platinum was swinging for the fences with this title. There was a lot riding on it I’m sure and I think they knocked it out of the park. I completely recommend you pick this up (on PS3 preferably) especially if you are a huge fan of the franchise as I am and I hope to see more of Raiden in the future.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is available NOW at your local game retailer or you can order from Amazon below:
