When you think Metal Gear, you obviously make it synonymous with Solid Snake, the master warrior who tactically makes his way into battle, sneaking around in a box and taking out guards without him ever knowing he was there. The last thing you might think is an action game where you slice everything to bits and running head on is a helicopter, right?
Yet here’s Konami, taking a long-time franchise and twisting it around on its head, putting you in control of a sword-wielding lunatic who slices and dices more than a Cuisinart ever could. We took a quick hands-on look at the game at E3 2012, and it is shaping up to be a good one!
As you might expect, this isn’t your normal Metal Gear game, but change is inevitable. Just look at what Castlevania: Lords of Shadow did two years ago. For Rising Revengance, Konami has assigned Platinum Games, the team behind Bayonetta and Vanquish (as well as the upcoming Anarchy Reigns), to handle its long-announced Metal Gear franchise entry, and it works out beautifully.
You control Raiden, the warrior first introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but there’s a difference this time around (beside the fact he’s clothed). Rather than sneaking around without being detected, he runs into battle carrying a very nasty sword, one that can carve enemies into sushi in .06 seconds (give or take a millisecond).
Konami gave us a test drive of the new weapons system in a behind closed doors session, and it doesn’t skimp on the action. Enemies come at you left and right, and there are always plenty of targets to systematically take down. But it’s how you do it that’s the real kicker…
The thing that sets Metal Gear Rising Revengeance apart from other games is its special sword control system. By holding down the left trigger, the game moves in slow motion, enabling Raiden to lock on his target a lot better without them reacting.
This enables him to grab his blade and slice away using the right analog stick. But you don’t just slice once.
Nope, as some poor watermelons and cardboard boxes learned in our wake, you can slice objects MULTIPLE times. As a result, you watch anything in front of you get sliced into pieces. While all we were slicing were some fruit and some packing material, imagine how it’ll be when you charge into a group of enemies, watching them collapse into mush.
And that scene where you could chop the blades off a helicopter in the trailer? We totally did that too – and it was amazing. The game does a great job at putting the power of the sword into your hands, giving you ample time to carve up your target in whatever way you see fit. Because, with a sword that sharp and skills that great, no one’s going to mess with you.
While Revengeance’s tactics may be a far cry from what Metal Gear grew up on, there’s no question that this is clearly Platinum Games territory. Sensational action, great looking graphics and even a little silliness thrown in for good measure make this one of the games we’re most looking forward to when it arrives early in 2013.
