When I first heard bout a new Metal Gear title, I got excited. When I heard it was a Raiden only game I wasn't so sure, I was hoping that Snake was in it somewhere. I did like the premise of the story though, I really wondered how Raiden actually became a bad ass. I was suprised to find out that the story, while insane, was actually good and made me want to kill that last boss.
The newest and most notable aspect of the game was blade mode.
Blade mode allows you to make more precise cuts and if you cut within the box that appears when you do enouugh damage on certain enemies;
You can rip out the person's spine and absorb that person's power and regain health in a special move called Zandatsu. Zandatsu is a pretty important aspect of the game too. It's basically the main way to regain health and energy.
Now onto the main bit of the game. This is a fast paced game with very few stealth elements. You can sneak every now or then, but it's not important unlike the other MGS games unless you want to save the 4 prisoners that are around. This game's version of sprinting is ninja run, it let's you automatically traverse many obstacles and make jumps. There's several parts of the game where you sprint up buildings and from missile to missile or up a giant boss' arm. You auto deflect bullets while sprinting and can attack too. It can really help when you are in a tight situation. The fighting in this game is pretty great. You can parry sword attacks to stun enemies momentarily to combo up on them or do Zandatsu. Square is your sword and triangle is your unique weapon (if no unique weapon is equipped you get a heavier attack. I love using the unique weapons though, it makes combos easier and can do more damage.) The game controls well,though the camera can be odd sometimes. My biggest complaint?
PULLING UP THE ITEM EQUIP MENU.
It can take up to three seconds, which does not sound like alot but it can cause some annoying deaths. You'll be getting the shit beat out of you by wahtever and you'll be pounding away on the right D PAD button just trying to get that nano paste to heal but you just can't get it in time.
The thing I died to most was the music. There were a few songs I just wanted to listen to, they were just so fucking awesome.
Monsoon's theme is the best example;
Fucking awesome music all the way through the game, love the songs in it.
The last thing to touch on are the graphics:
Amazing quality for the most part, just like Metal Gear Solid 4's awesome graphics. Blood splatters when you stab people and it leaves stains. There's plenty of little details and you can cut a good bit of objects in the game and the way they fall depends on how you cut the object.
Overall, give this game a 8.5, or possibly even a 9.
Happy gaming and remember to chop till ya drop fellow Racketeers!
