Metal Gear Online brings the classis MGS game play you love online. A truly unique multiplayer experience.
The Good:
-The game play you love in the single player feels seamlessly transferred into 16 player online action
-The levelling is solely down to skill and not grinding hours on end
-Diverse and unique game modes (Sneak and Team Sneak are great fun)
-Great graphics
-Codec messages always amuse
-A game that caters for hardcore gamers as well as more casual gamers
-Almost limitless and continually updated character customisation
-Animal ranks are fun to earn
The Bad:
-The Konami ID system needs work
-No ability to join a game as a group forcing you to constantly hit refresh until a slot opens up
-Does have a number of glitches and exploits that players use to their advantage (Thankfully Konami are always quick to address them)
-The expansion packs does split the community
I never got to experience the original Metal Gear Online for the simple reason that I never had my PS2 hooked up to the internet and never got to play MGS4's Online for constant network problems that had hounded me for three or four months. I not only feel as though I missed out on a few months gaming with a great online experience but I strongly feel that I've completely missed out on a great gaming experience on the PS2 all these years.
You can't just dive straight into the game however. You have to endure a lengthy patch (I'm not calling it a bad thing, it's there simply to improve the game by repairing all the faults demanded by the community) and then you have to go through the dreaded Konami ID registration. It's not that bad I suppose, but their flat right refusal to allow you to play direct from your PSN makes you feel as though they are cashing in from you by only allowing you one character slot (extra's are available at a price). Thankfully pre Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and MGS Rising Konami have announced that they are scrapping the system.
Metal Gear Solid 4's game play is perfectly ported to online play. The fantastic gun play and almost everything you can do to the AI in the single player. Lay a Play Boy magazine and watch your opponent tread on it and react to their single AI counterparts, CQC them, Hold them up at gun point, use a scanning plug on them to reveal their team mates positions.
The weapon selection works in two ways, Drebin points on and disabled. With the Drebin points enabled there is a much bigger selection of weapons to choose from (A primary heavy damage weapon, a side arm and a thrown/ placed item as well as your knife) and the better you play and higher your kills to death ratio the more points you receive and the better the weapon you can purchase or the more attachments you can connect to your weapon (a scope, silencer, grenade launcher etc.. In an attempt to keep the competition rewarding the better player but not over-powering them, once points are spent you loose them (even if you die before getting off a shot). The alternative mode (decided by the server creator and un-able to be changed by voting) is no point accumulation to spend on weapons/ upgrades but a smaller more focused choice of weapons to select. You can use stealth to a degree too, press against a wall and watch enemies run past, lay down behind cover, play dead.
My absolute favourite novelty feature is that there is 'the' cardboard boxes that are littered around the game world. If you have enough confidence (or sheer desperation) you can leap into yours and try and deceive the enemy into thinking that you are one of the empty ones.
The maps here are equally good. They don't feel too big and not too small at the same time (they aren't that big your always away from the action but not that small you die the second you spawn) and all have a unique setting, style and game play approach. Call of Duty style skills appear in this game. It's not something I wish to go into detail about as they are all self explanatory but they all feel part of the MGS world and vary from skills that benefit you in combat but to ones that benefit your team as well).
The real star of the show here is the game modes, there is a vast selection which all feel as though Kojima Productions have put their own individual stamp on them and manage to retain the Metal Gear Solid feel. You have the classic every man for himself Death Match (or DM), Team Death Match (TDM), Sneak (SNK), Team Sneak (TSNE) - I will go into detail about the last two further down, Capture (CAP - Metal Gear's own take on capture the flag), Stealth Death Match (SDM - I will go into detail about momentarily), Solo Capture (SCAP - Death match and capture the flag fusion. Each player has to fend for themselves whilst trying to hold onto the flag for a period of time), Rescue Mission (RESC - One team has to defend a target whilst the other team attacks and tries to capture it), Race (RACE - capture the flag but you have to get your opponents target to designated checkpoints), Bomb (BOMB - One team has to defend whilst the other team tries to plant a bomb at the target. What I love here is that to diffuse the bomb you have to go to the method of de-activating them, by using cooling spray) and Bases (BASE - More the game mode the Battlefield series pioneered. Capture and hold flags in which you can spawn from). Not only Snake is not the only playable MGS character either. The expansion packs not only offer new maps but also new characters with their own set of unique attributes you can use online.
Sneak, Team Sneak and Stealth Death Match are my absolute favourite game modes. They are unique to this title and that they are MGS concentrated.
Sneak pits one player as Old Snake (fully equipped with Octo-Camo, The Solid Eye and a greater selection of weapons available to him and he has all the max level skills available to him) and another as the Mk. II. The concept here is the exact same as MGS4. Sneaking between two rival teams whilst trying to accomplish their mission. For Snake and Mk. II to win they have to stun enemies and acquire their dog tags and the rival teams win by resetting each others spawn count to zero or by taking away all of Snake's lives.
Stealth Death Match equips every player with the Stealth Camouflage from the original MGS and (arms them to the teeth) in a free for all death match and gives them one life. If you are hit, you loose your stealth and go into full view and have to not only survive but get together to regain it. It's not a simple case of laying in wait the full match for less patient enemies to run past, the game world is constantly shrinking, forcing players to stay on the move.
I have lost a colossal and quite scary amount of hours playing Team Sneak. My word, what a marvellous and inspired online creation. The premise here is that one team is armed with lethal weapons and has to defend a target whilst the other is equipped with Stealth Camouflage and only non lethal means at their disposal (apart from the Knife) and has to capture the target. The magic here is that if one of your invisible team mates gets spotted running around the map and gets shot the entire team looses their stealth ability for five seconds (the clock keeps resetting to five each time a player is shot) and has created a lot of great memories for me. Sure it is frustrating but loosing stealth through no fault of your own when opponent players are near you and you have to run for your life (no re-spawns here) and evade them is exhilarating. I have never witnessed a online game give you this much of a rush this constantly. The game mode does leave a lot of interesting circumstances too. If you can stun a player and get to them, you can acquire their lethal weapon and lie in wait for someone running around the map for an opponent they think is only armed with a tranquilising gun. The other falls on the defensive side. If you can CQC grab a stealthed opponent and use the Scanning Plug (if you have the skill equipped) and it reveals the entire teams location (even with the optic camo on). Some game modes also allow you to purchase SOP Destabilisers which you plant in your opponents bases and it explodes making them all go into the 'zombie' soldiers from the single player. The opponents have no control over the character and are made easy pickings for you and your team.
Every Friday and Saturday there is tournaments (if you purchase the expansions) that reward you with points (Depending on your success) in which you can go to the MGO Reward Shop and buy new clothes in which to customise your character and even go as far as selecting their colour or camouflage pattern. Animal ranks are always fun too. Meeting a set criteria in which to earn an animal emblem that appears besides your name on the scoreboard.
There is annoying glitches in this game however which does seem odd considering how perfect the single player is. Konami are always quick to address the problem but new ones always seem to get found and abused all to frequently. However MGO is a great game with great graphics. If you love the Metal Gear saga this a must play for you if you love your online gaming. where you will make a lot of friends.
My Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots review can be found here: http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/metalgearsolid4/player_review.html?id=676584&tag=all-about;review1