Metal gear rising revengeance review12/18/2022 Harm an enemy enough with your basic moves and you can start to lop off limbs, but if you slice an opponent in the right place – indicated by a glowing red square – Raiden will reach inside their freshly sliced body and pull out a glowing blue core to replenish his energy. On the lower difficulties, it’s self-expression in the manner of a sashimi chef on higher settings, you’ll need to resort to a bit of tactical dismemberment. Normal and strong attacks string together into combos that verge on the balletic, while a squeeze of the shoulder button activates Blade Mode, where the left and right sticks allow you to aim your slices more precisely. Good job, then, that hitting things with a sharp metal blade is such brilliant fun. The odd EMP grenade is ok for a bit of emergency crowd control, but otherwise you’re best off simply unsheathing your sword. And when it comes to close-quarters combat, you’ll rarely get the opportunity to use anything: by the time you’ve readied a grenade, or aimed a guided missile at a target, you’ll have an enemy or five all up in your grill. Such projectile weaponry is occasionally handy for airborne opponents, but given that you’ll instantly alert enemies by using them, it completely negates the idea of stealth. Sure, they might be part of the Metal Gear universe, but Raiden’s a scalpel, not a sledgehammer, and watching him hoist a rocket launcher onto his shoulder looks decidedly weird. The sub-weapons, meanwhile, feel almost entirely extraneous. Admittedly, the cautious approach is recommended during certain stages, with motion-tracking machine guns proving a constant irritant when you’re trying to fight. Not least because half the levels don’t seem designed for it, and at other times you’re merely avoiding the game’s most enjoyable element: its combat. Though there’s that same unmistakeable thrill of a perfectly executed stealth kill, instances of genuinely sneaky infiltration are rare. Yet it’s a surprise to see other elements familiar to Metal Gear – introduced, presumably, to appease the fans – so clumsily implemented. But it often fails to strike the right tone, and some scenes are downright embarrassing, notably a series of exchanges involving a young NPC who speaks in subtitled patois.įew play Platinum’s games for their stories, granted. There are elements here that work, most notably an examination of Raiden’s capacity for violence that simultaneously touches upon the complicity of the player. That unique blend is a series trademark, but Kojima has always managed to find the right balance. But the po-faced politics, the attempts at serious social commentary, and a disturbing plotline that centres on harvesting the brains of destitute kids never quite sit right. The game’s most playful moments, its gags, and sly references (a late game nod to Kojima’s fondness for nanomachines seems destined to become a meme) suggest Platinum relishes the sillier side of Metal Gear. Those first two words in the title are part of the problem. Tragically, it doesn’t quite turn out that way. By the time it’s over you’re left breathless with anticipation for what could be one of the best pure action games in years. This first glimpse of what is to come is everything you’d expect – and hope – from this talented studio, and more. This is Platinum’s forte – a violent third-person action game that sees you move from one combat encounter to the next, and which ends each mission with a gargantuan boss fight. It has a few strands of Metal Gear in its DNA, sure, but not its bones. This is a Platinum game, not a Kojima game. There’s a supreme confidence about it, a cocksure swagger that says this is Metal Gear, but not as you know it. It’s a terrifically paced piece of spectacle gaming, a blend of brisk, smartly edited cutscenes and fast, slickly choreographed action. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has one of the best opening levels of the current console generation.
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