Saturday 9 March 2013

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Review



Tear out your enemies spines to replenish your health.

I recently purchased Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance as I enjoyed the demo and am a big fan of the Metal Gear series.  Before the game came out I was very much in two minds about it due to the massive differences to the other games in the series.  Gone are the stealth elements of the previous titles, replaced instead with action and combat.

Shifting four years into the future after the events of Guns of the Patriots the game puts you in control of Raiden instead of series mainstay Solid Snake.  Introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and transformed into a cyborg ninja in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Raiden is a very different person to Snake, with lots of demons in his closet that come back to haunt him in this game.

Raised on the battlefield as a child soldier under the cruel tutelage of George Sears, the third clone son of Big Boss known as Solidus Snake, Raiden was so vicious and sadistic as a child solider that he became known as Jack the Ripper.
Sunny makes a surprise and enjoyable return to the Metal Gear series.
This comes into play a great deal in Rising as Raiden has to not only face his past as a child soldier and embrace the darkness inside of him but try to prevent other children from falling victim to the same traumatic childhood that he once faced.  Using this as the main driving force of the story adds more to the plot than a simple revenge drama and adds more depth to Raidens character.

The action in the game also plays very well, enabling you to easily step into the shoes of a cyborg ninja and perform all of the amazing feats that we have seen them perform in pervious games.  Fiendishly simple to learn but challenging to master the games combat system is so enjoyable that you will find yourself actively engaging in combat every chance you get, even in those moments where you have the choice to avoid further combat.

The destructibility of the environments allows you to cut your way through trees and cars and collapse raised walkways to bring your foes crashing down around you.  The game is also littered with an assortment of Metal Gears such as the returning Rays, Geckos and Dwarf Geckos as well as a host of new mechanical enemies that builds upon the already established mythology of the series that Metal Gears became a widespread threat after the events of the first game.
Rising lets you play as original cyborg ninja Grey Fox.
The boss battles in the game are all vastly different with some of the most unique battles in the series to date with set pieces that are so epic and over the top that you will have a massive smile on your face as you slice your way through them.  The final boss battle in the game is also one of the all time best in the series and will have you wanting to replay the battle straight away.

Metal Gear Rising is a great addition to the Metal Gear universe that takes a big step away from the game play of the past and steps boldly in a new and exciting direction.  Hopefully the first game of many with Raiden as the star this could easily be the first instalment of a whole new era for Metal Gear, giving players something that compliments the stealth elements of the other games of the series.  Along with some great over the top characters and a crazy music score Metal Gear Rising is an amazing, if somewhat short game that will soon be boosted by some very exciting downloadable content.  9/10

Amy.
xx

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