The Metal Gear franchise is back with another title, and while Revengeance features a new character and a departure from the Solid Snake themes (as it takes place four years after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots), it is as good as ever.
In terms of plot, players will take on the role of Raiden, a cyborg ninja tasked with taking on a private military company known as Desperado Enterprises. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Desperado Enterprises are not exactly what they appear to be.
What we liked about it
One of the most obvious things that players will enjoy about Revengeance is the fact that they will be able to literally slice up an enemy into 20 or 30 tiny little pieces – depending on how fast they can push the buttons on the controller, through a new Blade Mode feature.
It could be seen as overkill and unnecessarily violent, but it is incorporated strategically into the game.
While the game is a bit sparse in terms of playing time (clocking in around 5 or so hours), the combat in non-stop and certainly cannot be accused of being boring. There are enemies around every bend, but this is also to the detriment of the game.
In heated combat, players will need an arsenal of weapons to counter the rushing advances of the enemies, and players will be allowed to customise their loadouts and unlock new weapons. With a clever menu system, everything is easy to find and to add to the inventory. Couple that with a control scheme that is incredibly easy to grasp, and players will being sowing destruction in no time.
The game also makes use of a rather unique way of replenishing health – while carving up an enemy and exposing the right parts, players can reach in and crush their blue cores, which will give gamers a health boost. It is little things like that which make the game even more enjoyable.
Since everything is slightly over the top, the title does delve into the ridiculous at times, but that should not discourage gamers from picking up this one – especially if they are fans of the franchise.
What we did not like about it
While the title does its best to make the gaming experience as awesome as possible for gamers, there are a number of factors that bring the overall score down. There is a possibility that gamers will feel like many of the levels are the same in terms of story progression. They tend to all follow a general design element of ‘entry area, watch cut-scene, kill all enemies, kill enemy boss, watch cut-scene’. Rinse and repeat. While it is not true for the entire game, the feeling will start to manifest itself after the third or four such encounter.
There also tends to be a rather steep curve in difficulty between the settings. There is a massive difference between playing on easy and playing on medium, where easy willl challenging yet manageable, while medium will pose a serious challenge to the point of being frustrating.
In terms of graphics, it is every inch a Metal Gear title, with signature Japanese visuals, text fonts and control scheme. While the graphics will be sufficient for the Metal Gear purist, it could have been better – especially with the technology and capabilities of modern consoles. And with a Japanese title comes dialogue – and lots of it. At least there are not any RPG-esque conversations, but the characters do tend to get a bit carried away during scenes.
Conclusion
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is by no means a horrible title to invest in and fans of the franchise will reap a lot of joy from the manic slashing and dismemberment, but it could have been a bit better. The story is exciting and will keep the player’s attention, coupled with seriously cool combat moves that will make an enemy look like they have been dragged through a grater.
Revengeance is one of those games where players will be able to have fun for hours, even if it is only out of sheer delight in the vicious manner in which they can slice and dice the hordes or bad guys in their way.
Players new to the series will find the control scheme easy to master, the plot simple to understand and the graphics of a acceptable level. Returning players to the franchise will be able to immediately jump into the shoes of the protagonist Raiden and save the world from evil – even if it is a new character.
Our score: 7.9/10
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
