Having played the game for 30+ hours and finishing it an upwards of 10 times, I thought I’d try something different and give my thoughts on the game, a sort of review, if you will. Keep in mind this is the first time I’ve done anything of the sort.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, set four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4 sees Raiden working for the PMC Maverick Security Consulting, INC. Raiden is protecting a VIP, when they are attacked by Samuel “Jetstream Sam” Rodrigues  This eventually leads to the death of the VIP and the defeat of Raiden by the hands of Jetstream Sam. Raiden is the then reconstructed by his PMC and sets out to find Sam and the company he has been affiliated with, Desperado Enforcement LLC. 

This game doesn’t shy away from throwing you right into the action; in fact, you’re up against a modified version of Metal Gear Ray, soon after the opening cinematic is over. Taking control of Raiden, our cyborg protagonist was a lot easier than first expected, originally I thought the controls would seem a bit clunky, with this game straying away from MGS’s Tactical Espionage Action and replacing it with its own Lightning Bolt Action. But Platinum Games who are behind this title, along with Kojima Productions did an absolutely splendid job at making sure the game played almost flawlessly. 

The combat system is great, the addition of unlockable moves just added to the amount of fun I could have with this game. Stringing together light and heavy attacks to deal a devastating amount of damage to your opponents worked a treat; however, there were moments that would have you thinking WTF!? The addition of secondary weapons, which were acquired after defeating bosses, made combat more troublesome than it should have. For instance equipping a secondary weapon eliminated your heavy sword attack and replaced it with the weapon’s specific attacks, this caused the combat to go from something that was quite fluent to something that just fell apart the moment you hit the heavy attack button. It practically cuts your combo short and starts you off anew with your strikes from your secondary weapon This was most notable after acquiring Sundowner’s Pincer Blades, as attacking an enemy with them left you wide open, due to how long it would take Raiden to strike an enemy with them. Despite this, the addition of secondary weapons did add some form of versatility to the game, for instance, the sai would often disrupt a cyborgs movements, allowing you to take the opportunity to take out your foe. 

The addition of Blade Mode was an interesting one, being able to seemingly slow down the flow of time and freely hack your way through enemies with a flick of the right stick was a rather hilarious, yet almost vital part of combat, as Zandatsu or cut and take was Raiden’s way of replenishing his fuel cells. Simply enter Blade Mode and cut the indicated area to have Raiden reach in, grab the electrolyte filled spine and crush it to replenish his health. Not only does blade mode help when it comes to healing, it is also a good defensive mechanism, slicing missiles fired from helicopters and Metal Gears came in handy from time to time. 

The games dodgy camera poses additional issues when it came to engaging in combat, with the larger enemies, like the Mastiff and Gekko, as they would often attack in groups and with their unpredictable attacks this would often cause havoc when it came to moving the camera around to find your target.

The disappointingly short story mode was rather frustrating. 8 chapters in total, most lasting no longer than 30 minutes each, depending on how you played the game. Unfortunately, increasing the difficulty setting didn’t seem to increase the play time either. But with the Addition 30 VR Missions and the Jetstream DLC having already launched, with Bladewolf DLC being released later on in the year, one can only hope that content like this will keep the game alive long enough to satisfy us Metal Gear fans until the arrival of MGS V. 

Comparing this game to something it’s not, is something a lot of people have done which I think has plagued what would be their “true opinion” of the game. While playing this game, I didn’t think of it too much as something that strayed too far away from what some people would call “true Metal Gear canon” and if you go into this game with that mindset you should be fine, it’s when you start comparing things to the Metal Gear Solid series that you’re going to have a bad time. Plus, the game barely makes any references to any prior Metal Gear game; the most you’re going to hear about is the fall of SOP.

For me, this game was a great experience; I’ve had such a great time playing it. Even after playing through the main story, VR Missions are great fun and going for Rank One in each is sure to challenge even the most dedicated of Metal Gear fans. 

This game is a must have for any Metal Gear fan and anyone who has enjoyed any of Platinum Games previous releases like Bayonetta and Vanquish. With DLC on the way this game has still got a lot of kick left in it.

-Dane Brown