Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Review
Raiden is working for the Colorado-based PMC Maverick Security to raise money for his family, performing multiple tasks such as the training of armies and VIP protection in an unknown African country that is recovering from a previous civil war. Raiden encounters an army of cyborgs from Desperado Enterprises, a self-proclaimed PMC that has been involved in various terrorist attacks. Their leader, Sundowner, kidnaps Raiden's protectee, Prime Minister N'Mani, and Raiden goes to his rescue.
The story goes on to be a bit more personal for Raiden but I won't reveal what it is because I don't want to spoil it for you. That being said... the story is not special. The voice acting is good but overall the story the characters are playing in is nothing worth really caring about. I wish more Hack & Slash games would do a better job with storytelling. To this day GoW and DmC are the only Hack & Slash games that I remotely cared about... when it comes to story.
Graphics:
The look of MGR is average. Not bad but also not good. The cut scenes are well done and full of great action and decent dialogue. DmC was prettier game to me. The coloring in MGR was very blah and the scenery was generic. All the buildings looked boxy. (Is boxy even a word??? :)) I never cared about a single environment I was in. I would say the graphics and story are pretty much the same. Not bad but not good. Platinum games did not push any boundaries with this title when comes to looks and storytelling. They played it safe.
Gameplay:
Here is why I bought MGR in the first place. I didn't buy it for its looks and storytelling. I bought it for the love of Hack & Slash action games.
The combat is really well done here by Platinum. This is nothing new for them. They have a bit of experience in this area. :) The basic slashing feels the same as any other H&S game but where I felt Platinum took the game to a new level is with the Free Slicing ability. At first controlling can be frustrating but as you do it more and more it makes the game so much more fun and separates itself from all other H&S style games. You hold LT (Played on 360) and use the Right Stick (RS) to control the slashing. For those who don't want to use the Right Stick you can hold LT and push X and Y for horizontal and vertical strikes in Free Slice mode. Very well done Platinum. It really was fun to play.
My main issues (For me, for others they will like this) was there was no block button or enemy lock on ability. DmC didn't have lock on either so that doesn't really bother me but in some battles it would have been nice to be able to focus on certain enemies that were more powerful. Let me explain the blocking. There is no designated block button there is a parry ability. It was a pain in the ass to pull parries off when being attacked by multiple enemies. This led to a lot of frustration for me. Again.. for me. I know many "hardcore" gamers who love ultra difficult games will love this about MGR. So for me it's a negative because but for some it's not. You decide! :)
Now let's talk camera. The camera is fine in open areas. The camera is not so fine in enclosed areas with multiple enemies. This leads to more frustration when consider the game is already difficult with a good camera. Nothing major but something that on a sequel needs to be fixed.
Replay Value:
The campaign took me around 5 hours to beat. I don't plan on playing this game ever again. So $60 for me stinks. Lucky me I'm not out $60 for it. There are some cool unlockables but nothing for me worth pissing myself off again to replay for.
Final Word:
Overall MGR is a solid game. It does gameplay very well and everything else average. MG games have always been about story. Even though this is a spin off and not a "Solid" game. Platinum should have done a better job to engage players with a great story. Not just another cheesy filler story between action sequences. I want more from H&S games. They need to start moving forward and all aspects not just combat.
Story: 5.0
Graphics: 8.0
Gameplay: 8.5
Replay Value: 6.0
Final Word: 7.0