Graphics and presentation: 8 out of 10
Character models look good, on par with Metal Gear Solid 4. The environments are somewhat more colorful, the bosses all have unique colors and styles. The environments are somewhat bland however. The cyborg characters have nice colors for their gear and Raiden looks pretty awesome.
Gameplay: 8.5 out of 10
I loved the gameplay in this game. Playing as the Cyborg Ninja Raiden was a blast. You have a primary and secondary weapon which require the square and triangle buttons to use in specific combos. The ninja run used by holding down R1 allows Raiden to run over and under obstacles with ease as well as deflect enemy bullets. The problem I had was the blocking or parrying in this game. Instead of having a block or counter button you have to push up and square towards the attack as it happens to block it. It works well for the most part but when you fight enemies with quick combos it can get really annoying. The quick time events aren't too annoying but I really don't care for them in any game, let alone a Metal Gear game. The camera works well for the most part too, but sometimes it gets in the way and it may be hard to tell where attacks are coming from. You face memorable bosses, upgrade Raiden and unlock concept art, techniques, wigs which could give you certain advantages like infinite ammo or unlimited rage to be Jack the Ripper. When you are Jack the Ripper your attacks become more powerful and you take less damage, this is only temporary however and you must have full battery consumption to activate it. You can kill enemies and consume their energy as well as collect their left arms which stores data needed to unlock abilities. The Zandatsu is fun to use and you can cut at any angle. The game is pretty linear and there is not much you can do other than go forward, so roaming around isn't really necessary unless you want to unlock everything. There are also unlockable VR Missions to play as well like in past MGS games. Many may not like the fact that stealth is almost non-existent, but you play as a powerful cyborg ninja, so why would you want to sneak around anyway?
Story: 7.5 out of 10
The story is decent, not up to par with what we've come to accept from Metal Gear games, the cinematic scenes are much shorter, the action scenes look awesome and the story and dialogue aren't overly complicated. These things all sound like they might make the game better and for the most part they do, I love Metal Gear and it is my favorite game franchise but the 30 minute cutscenes drag on too often in the past games, but the story in this game is too straight forward and somewhat predictable in this game. I was hoping to see more references to past Metal Gear games, this game pretty much reminds you of the fall of the SOP system from MGS4 and see Sunny, that's about the only time you hear anything about MGS4 or anything before it. This game focuses more on the return of "Jack the Ripper" which is cool but they way they go about it feels rushed and inconsistent, one moment Raiden is questioning something for being morally wrong or claiming to fight to protect the weak, the next minute he is crazy as he becomes "Jack the Ripper", a blood thirsty, ruthless persona he had kept suppressed for years which he developed from being a child soldier during the Lyberian Civil war as a child. Jack the Ripper enjoys the hacking slashing and killing. The change is too fast pretty much on the flip of a switch, and not really built up right, he flip flops between the two sides of Raiden and Jack too often and he resembles Jeckyll and Hyde at times, also Quentin Flynn's crazy Raiden voice is a little over the top for my taste. The main story has you fighting to save children from being harvested for their brains by Maverick, the evil organization in this game. they want these children's brains to turn them into cyborg child soldiers. This strickes a nerve with Raiden because he too was once a victim of a child soldier program that forever changed him into what he is today. Of course this game goes farther than that and gets more complex but I don't want to spoil it.
Overall I'd give this game an 8 out of 10
I love the new fresh direction of MGR and I hope it becomes its own series, many hated this game before it was released because it wasn't a real MGS game and you didn't have to sneak around. I say give it a chance, it is very fun, has great replay value and any true Metal Gear fan would still love it, even if it is a radical departure from the roots of the Metal Gear franchise. Who want's to sneak around when you're a Cyborg Ninja anyway?
Why not just let er' rip?