I admit; I’ve never paid too much attention to Konami’s Metal Gear series. I am not a stealthy gamer; I’m far too impatient for that, and the hour-long cut scenes the series is renowned for is not my idea of playing a game, I’d just rather watch a movie.
Bearing all that in mind, my first impressions of Metal Gear Rising blew me away.
Let me clarify that for a second; it blew me away because, in the half hour I spent with the game, I never snuck or hid once. Not for a second. It was action and combat almost beginning to end. And the combat was very impressive indeed. This is down to Hideo Kojima passing development from Kojima Productions to Platinum Games; famed for titles such as Bayonetta and Vanquish, have clearly put their signature on the game, and have re branded the classic “Tactical Espionage Action” series to “Lightning Bolt Action”. Kojima, however, has still made sure the series stays true at least in part, by spending a lot of time developing the artistic style, story and characters.
The demo started by throwing me right into a VR Training area, where I was shown how to use what is to be Raiden’s main go-to weapon in the game; his Katana. Basic combat is fairly straight forward, seemingly taking a leaf from the hack ‘n slash school of combat. Hold down the left shoulder button, however, and Raiden will stand still and raise his Katana above his head, while the camera pans round to look over his shoulder. A line appears on the HUD, showing the arc his sword would take, and by manipulating the camera and his hold on the sword, you can direct exactly how he swings his sword yourself. You can even chain multiple slashes together, and enter bullet time, but you cannot move while doing it. Time also doesn’t slow down, and it can be a little clumsy to use, especially when enemies are falling to the floor, but soon enough I was turning VR boxes and wooden dummies into multiple piles of rubble; satisfyingly so.
Soon enough, I had completed the training and I was thrust into the middle of a complex and typically Kojima-esque plot, involving a humanity that has broken free of control of “The Patriots”, and as such has made bounding advances in technology, specifically cybernetics. AI controlled robots are common, as are cyborgs, like Raiden, who are considered normal and human. Indeed, all the human enemies I encountered in the game were cybernetically altered in some way. After a lengthy cutscene and explanation with only minimal musing on the meaning of life, Raiden is dropped into a war torn city and shown his objective, which was clearly intended to be secondary to the action, as by the time I had navigated the flight of steps I was dropped in front of, I was already pounced upon by the first enemies in the game, not even given the opportunity to sneak round them, or evade their attention.
As I mentioned, the combat is nothing new, and has a very hack ‘n slash feel to it, with heavy and light attacks, the odd dodge and counter where needed, and even a ranking system as well. The “Blade Mode”, when you get a chance to use it, is satisfyingly fun as well. It is extremely accurate and responsive, and if you land a hit it seems to guarantee to cut through almost anything in one stroke; guaranteeing a kill, at least on human enemies. I did use it sparingly however, as it does consume energy to use and Raiden stands still while in this mode, leaving him vulnerable.
The main way Blade Mode is meant to be used is to gain more health. If Raiden adequately slices and dices an enemy, he will actually be able to reach into their bodies and pull out their augmented body parts, which he can “drink” to heal himself. There is no doubt plenty of material in that one feature to warrant an internal monologue about morality; and I’m sure that humans and technology will be a major theme in the course of the story.
If I’m completely honest, there was some sneaking involved in the preview, although it was a very straightforward affair. The primary tool involved is Raiden’s visor, that can see through walls and structures, and highlight enemies. From there, you can decide how to engage them, or avoid them. There are no minimaps, and no cones representing an enemies’ field of view, and as far as I could tell, there was no way to peacefully neutralize them, either. The only prompt that appeared when I walked behind an enemy was the kill button, which, makes Raiden spectacularly drive his Katana straight through an enemy’s chest to kill him in one sweep. One thing I noticed, was that although I did this around 4 times, each time it was the same kill animation. I couldn’t say if this was just something confined to the preview, but I would like to have seen at least a couple more animations, for variety’s sake. I can see that one getting old quickly.
What I can say for certain though, is the game itself looks incredible. Sweeping views and close ups over Raiden’s new, hi tech cyborg body shows incredible polish and attention to detail, as do most enemies in the game, which showcase the smooth, slick and technological look that Metal Gear series is famed for. The environment, although carrying a slightly clichéd “war torn city” look, still managed to look lush and colourful, and on one occasion while using the precision mode, I even managed to accurately slice off the top of a man’s skull, and actually saw the bone and brain inside. Although this demo was played on the PS3, the graphics looked sharp and polished, and shows that even though the PS3 may be entering the end of its life cycle, it still has a lot to offer.
The rest of the preview was fairly similar. There was a small section where I was presented with a civilian hostage with two guards; however killing the guards presented no opportunity to rescue the hostage, who just knelt there unmoving, and it seemed to me to be a rather pointless way to add a bit of immersion. Partway through the demo, the waves of cyborg humanoids were joined by two legged metal gears; basically bigger and angrier versions of Snake’s buddy in the last game. Much more tough and powerful than their counterparts, there was also the hint of the odd quick time event, as correctly wiggling the left analogue stick when Raiden got tied up by one resulted in him turning the tables, and wildly swinging the whole Metal Gear through the air before slamming it into the ground with a satisfying crunch.
The preview ended with Raiden facing off against an AI controlled cat-like robot, which sprung around the combat area with a chainsaw attached to its tail. You can say this for Kojima; his art direction is definitely inventive. Cue another minor bout of Raiden musing on Artificial Intelligence and how it can be truly intelligent while bound to the rules of its creator, and we were off once again. Raiden will be able to carry secondary weapons in addition to his Katana, and I was extremely glad that I had decided to save the rocket launcher I found earlier, as this fight was truly relentless. I played it through on medium difficulty and I barely managed to scrape through, despite healing myself numerous times from other enemies that (thankfully) joined the fight, and I know many other people that tried it also died multiple times.
Again, whether this is indicative of the game as a whole or just this demo, the PR girl did not know unfortunately. But either way it seems that along with its more action orientated game play, Metal Gear is still just as challenging in more direct ways, rather than stealth.
It is plain to see that Hideo Kojima is attempting something much different with this iteration, which is why it is being pushed as a spinoff, rather than a strict sequel. Saying that, the story and script writing is, as ever, extremely well thought out, and although I’ve mentioned the way the length of the custscenes, and how characters pause mid-battle for long monologues can grate on people, it seems there is a little something for everyone here. It may be that long time fans of the series may not like this fresh take on the franchise; however I would still urge them to give it a try, as although the stealth has been toned down, the storytelling and art style is still very much there, and arguably, that is just as important to any Metal Gear game. And for those who prefer action-oriented games with slick controls, this may also be a title to overcome your previous misgivings for, too. This is going to be a very difficult game to predict people’s reactions to.
In appealing to a wider demographic, Kojima has risked alienating his traditional audience, however by keeping other traditional elements present, will long-time fans be able to get over the change in gameplay style for a fresh take on the series?