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?
