Since I first played Metal Gear Solid 2 when I was a kid, I’ve been enthralled by the Metal Gear series. I’ve replayed Metal Gear Solid One, Two and Three to such an extent that I could have moderate success in each game with a blindfold over my eyes. Naturally, the release of a new Metal Gear game had me excited. But the new game, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, is not like the previous titles.
In Revengeance, Kojima Productions decided to take a bold leap from the traditional stealth and survival gameplay of their series, to create an action-packed thriller with a focus on intense melee combat.
While the previous titles in the Metal Gear series were based on sneaking around, avoiding contact with enemies and only fighting when absolutely necessary, Revengeance throws the player into bloodbath after bloodbath, forcing them to throw caution to the wind and cut every last of their enemies to ribbons.
Revengeance is a deliberate departure from the Metal Gear Solid Series – the changing of Solid to Rising is meant to demonstrate that to players. Revengeance is strictly a spin-off from the main series, and thus should be treated as a separate entity.
In Revengeance, the player assumes the role of Raiden, a cybernetic ninja soldier in a futuristic world, on a virtuous rampage against a private military company that rivals his own. The enemy PMC – Desperado, attempts to drag the world back into the “war economy,” a state of economics in which meaningless proxy wars fought by PMC’s fuel all industries.
The combat system of Revengance is based around fast-paced sword fights, combo chaining and a “blade mode,” which allows the player to temporarily slow down time and make hard vertical or horizontal slices with their sword, effectively eviscerating their enemies in the blink of an eye.
In order to further their progress towards upgrades in the game, the player must remove the spines of their enemies and consume their power. This gruesome and unmerciful combat set to a heavy metal soundtrack makes the game feel indescribably hardcore – better experienced than read.
Kojima Productions is famous for pushing the boundaries of right and wrong – and Rising is not an exception to their record. The story tests the moral limitations of modern video games – featuring child soldiers and the slaughter of innocents. As the player is standing knee-deep in carnage, the game will make them wonder, “Why am I doing this? These people didn’t choose to be my enemy – why are their lives worth less than mine?”
The deep immersion of Revengeance at times makes the player feel like a hero, and at others feel like nothing more than a vector of suffering and destruction.
