METAL GEAR RISING REVENGEANCE - DEMO IMPRESSIONS
A spin-off of the MGS series, MGRR’s self contained plot is set four years after MGS4 and carries the PMC (private military company) antagonist with it. Players assume the role of Raiden, probably the least loved character in all the MGS series, as a cyborg, sword wielding ninja. A far cry from all the previous stealth orientated games, this is an action driven slash-em-up in which the player can slow down time to dissect foes before snatching their electrolyte spinal cords.
Developed by Platinum Games, creators of other action slashers such as Bayonetta and the gore-tastic Mad World, MGRR shares many aspects as the other MGS games which were all developed by Kojima Productions. These include many sounds, such as the classic ‘spotted’ exclamation, to the codec, cutscenes and a handful of ridiculous but loveable characters. However it also keeps that old scar of a trait that is the awful controls. Numerous times I found myself having to press multiple buttons to just throw a grenade but hopefully with more practice it will hopefully be as quick and smooth to perform actions parallel to the speed of the game.
After a very short VR training tutorial, the demo takes place with Raiden arriving in PMC infested Sukhumi and before long is attacked by kin-like cyborg ‘desperado enforcers’. Players familiar with Metal Gear Solid 4 will notice the similar aesthetic here to the beginning of Act 1 and you may even pause for a moment to think whether Snake could be hiding in a nearby barrel or discreetly wiggling his way across the floor. It's also clearly evident that these enemies aren't going to succumb to a strangle hold or a punch, punch, kick combo, but who knows, perhaps still a rude magazine may still harass their hormonal urges.
Strangely there are still the alert and search modes that the enemies abide by but it's hard to understand why this is used for what I believe to be an action game. My first instinct was to charge the enemy like The Holy Grail's Sir Lancelot the Brave but I often found myself being shot at from a distance or having to take small groups at a time. Tainted perhaps by the likes of other action games such as Devil May Cry or God of War in which that is the standard logic, it seems that Metal Gear Rising hasn't completely ripped out the insides of it's stealthy predecessors.
Rising Revengeance is certainly something everyone should give a go, even those who have no interest in MGS and to those who do, each could take something from this they find enjoyable. Be it being thrown back in the world of the Metal Gear universe or those who just like to see bodies, robots and watermelons get sliced apart.
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