Metal Gear Acid Hands-On

TOKYO--Sony's PlayStation Portable is quite possibly the biggest hardware platform looming close on the horizon, and one of the biggest games on the PSP is Metal Gear Acid, the card-battlin' rendition of Hideo Kojima's long-running stealth action franchise. Today at the Tokyo Game Show, we finally got to put our hands on a real-life, working demo version of Acid so we could figure out how the hell Konami has managed to shoehorn turn-based strategy into the Metal Gear milieu. Preliminarily, we would offer that they've pulled off the mixture with impressively playable results.

At the beginning of the demo version of Metal Gear Acid, which may or may not closely resemble the final product, we got to play through a brief tutorial mission that introduced us to the basic play mechanics of the game in a non-lethal setting. All throughout this tutorial mission and the rest of the demo, Solid Snake exchanged codec transmissions with a square-jawed, bespectacled fellow named Roger (presumably Snake's commanding officer in the game), who seemed to chime in mostly when some new gameplay element needed explaining. The entire Acid demo was in Japanese, and though our skills in written Japanese are hardly up to par, we managed to pick up the gist of the game, and so we proceeded further into the demo with little hindrance. We'd say that fact speaks highly of Metal Gear Acid's apparently accessible nature and thoughtful design.

Here's the deal: You've got Solid Snake, and he has a mission to accomplish. You have a certain number of points per turn that you can expend on actions that will help you complete that mission. Some actions cost more points than others, and when you hit zero points, you'll have to rest while any bad guys in the area take their turns. To invoke a particular action, you'll need to play its corresponding card, assuming you have enough points left in that turn to cover the cost. As you'd expect, every time you play a card, you lose it, so you've got to choose wisely or risk finding yourself in a bad situation.

Luckily, the benevolent gods of stealth action will mete out a new hand of cards every turn to replenish your store of available actions. Most of the cards we saw were related to some sort of equipment; there was a FAMAS card, a silenced SOCOM card, a body armor card, grenade card, and so on. When you select one of these cards, you can opt to use its corresponding effect, or you can sacrifice it to move Snake a certain number of squares across the map. Often, these item cards are to be used instantly; a grenade must be thrown immediately, for instance, or the SOCOM fired at a nearby enemy (if one is present). Snake also had two equipment slots, and we were able to equip other cards into these slots to provide passive effects. Equipping the body armor lessened damage from enemy attacks, for instance, while equipping the AK-47 let Snake counterattack with that rifle right after an enemy hit him.

There were several other cards on offer, such as a "support" card (imprinted with a silhouette of a person resembling Solid Snake), which could also be equipped, but the effect of which we unfortunately didn't observe. As mentioned, any card could either be used or equipped (depending on the card), or instead sacrificed to let you move Snake a number of squares. However, a "character" card was provided that seemed to only have the move function associated with it. You can also discard any card you wish, though for what purpose we're not sure. Anyway, if all this sounds complicated, rest assured that it's actually easy to get into after just a few minutes (even if you can't read the text).

Once you've got the basic card mechanics mastered, Acid plays a lot like, well, a turn-based version of Metal Gear. When you make Snake move to a new square, you can make him go prone or back up against a wall to stay hidden, just like in the previous action games. Guards can become suspicious or alerted outright if they see you, and they'll come after you in droves if this happens--though, of course, they'll have to expend their own turn points to do so. If you've caught guards unaware, you can shoot them with your silenced pistol to take them out without being detected. We also noticed that the terrain, your orientation vis-a-vis your target, and other such factors will be figured into your accuracy (which is indicated with onscreen numerals). We also imagine you'll be able to sneak up behind enemies and kill them silently in classic Solid Snake fashion if you're stealthy enough (we weren't, alas).

The tactical, slowly paced gameplay in Metal Gear Acid seemed well suited to the PSP's surprisingly friendly controls. The two shoulder buttons rotated the camera around in set intervals, while the analog controller--which is really a sliding disc, since it doesn't tilt--could fine-tune the camera angle in all directions so you could get a better view of your surroundings. Acid's graphics were nicely rendered, with a style that was quite similar to that of the original Metal Gear Solid. Though we don't have much frame of reference for PSP games' visuals right now, we'd say that technically the game's graphics were somewhat less impressive than those of the PS2 games in the Metal Gear series. Close-ups of Solid Snake proved that the character models were noticeably less detailed, as were the environments. Even still, this is far and away the best-looking Metal Gear to ever hit a handheld platform.

We'll admit, we've been a tad skeptical about Metal Gear Acid since the revelation that it was in fact a strategy game. However, while we'd still love to see a Metal Gear on the PSP with the series' trademark action intact, Acid proved during our short demo to provide both involving, accessible tactical gameplay and the authentic Metal Gear feel, which are the two things Acid needs to make its strange concoction potable. Fans of both strategy and Solid Snake will likely want to drink this one down when the game is released along with the PSP next year.

For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2004.