Wind Waker 2 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Review (DS)

Read my entire The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass review (DS) here.

 

Metal Gear Rising Review (Xbox 360). Revengeance Propels Metal Gear Into Blistering Hyper Action Mode And Never Looks Back (Lightning Bolt Action)

Slash everything in your path in Metal Gear Rising.

Metal Gear Rising review of the newest action game on the scene, this time it is from a revered Stealth series that decided to tackle the genre of fast-paced action games, ala Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden and God of War.

Metal Gear Rising has been a long time in coming, and had an extremely troubled development cycle. From the get-go, the game’s unique hook was the ability to cut anything in the environment into a million pieces, and allow the player to control the direction of each and every slice!

This mechanic wowed audiences when the game was first revealed at E3 2009, where it was called “Metal Gear SOLID Rising” and had the tagline “Lightning Bolt Action”. True to the name, the game was meant to take the Metal Gear franchise into a new action-packed direction, and was to be set between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. However the end product would simply take place after MGS4.

Two years or so into the project though, trouble was abrew and creator Hideo Kojima (the creator of Metal Gear Solid, Zone of the Enders, etc.) and his team at Kojima Productions was having difficulty implementing their vision of a “cut anything” mechanic into solid gameplay that would carry the title throughout.

Due to these issues, Kojima himself cancelled the game. Thankfully, they didn’t scrap all those year’s of work, and the folks at developer Platinum Games (made up of former Clover guys who created Viewtiful Joe and Okami. As Platinum they were responsible for Bayonetta, MadWorld and the upcoming The Wonderful 101 for WiiU) entered into a deal with Kojima Productions and Konami wherein they took the Metal Gear Rising project in 2011 and completed the rest of it! And man am I glad they did!

Metal Gear Rising: Reveneance was thus finally released for Xbox 360 and PS3 in February of 2013. Does it live up to the hype, and was Platinum Games successfully able to create a compelling new Metal Gear action experience? Read below to find out!

System: Xbox 360
Also On: PlayStation 3
Release Date: USA February 19 2013 – EU February 22 2013 – AU February 26 2013 – JP February 21 2013
Genre: 3rd-Person Action
Players: 1
Online Support? No
Downloadable Content? Yes
Saving: Saves automatically after major events or minor battles, at each checkpoint. Or you can save manually by calling Courtney on your Code (Press Select).
Save Data: Xbox 360 – 2733KB needed to save your game.
Rated: M for Mature 18+. (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language)
Format: Single DVD Disc (Xbox 360), single Blu-ray Disc (PS3)
International Ratings: ?
Download Version Available? Not Yet
Special Editions: Yes. Multiple Limited Editions actually.
US Metal Gear Rising Limited Edition version includes: Official Soundtrack, Steelbook Case, High Frequency Plasma Lamp (you read that right) for $150.

All UK versions include the “Gray Fox” costume.
UK Metal Gear Rising Limited Edition versions include: “Metal Gear Rising UK Limited Edition” – large white box with badass Raiden black & white art on the front. This version includes a White Raiden Play Arts Kai figure, and a special White Raiden Costume DLC Code (only available at Zavii stores).
“Steelbook with Shinkawa Art” version includes a gray steelbook case with black art of Raiden drawn by renowned Metal Gear artist Yoji Shinkawa on the front. This version includes the Inferno Armor Costume (only available via GAME stores).
“Steelbook With CG Raiden Art” version includes a steelbook case with a CG render of Raiden on the cover, and includes Commando Armor Costume DLC (available at independent retailers that don’t include Zavii or GAME).
Japanese Metal Gear Rising Limited Edition: It’s worth noting that the “Japanese Metal Gear Rising Limited Edition” is a phenomenal set well worth importing. It includes a premium two-disc soundtrack in it’s own steelcase, a Metal Gear Rising Artbook by artist Yoji Shinkawa, 2 magnetic gray-colored Dwarf Gekko Tripod figures, and a Cyborg Ninja DLC Code. This version costs 9,980 yen. For 12,980 yen, you get all of the above plus a White Raiden PlayArts figure! Huzzah!
Toy Figures – A Black Raiden Figure is purchaseable on Amazon, while the white figure included in the special editions is exclusive to the Japan and UK special editions. Dwarf Gekko figures will also be available to purchase soon, the little Tripod robots from the game.
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Konami
Creator and Director: Hideo Kojima, Kenji Saito
Producers: Yuji Korekado of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima (executive producer), Atsushi Inaba of Platinum Games
Music Composers: Jamie Christopherson
Writer: Etsu Tamari
Designers: Yoji Shinkawa (concept artist), Kenichirou Yoshimura (character designer)
Origin: Japan
Price: $60, US Limited Edition: $150 MSRP, UK Limited Edition: £99.99

Metal Gear Rising is an absolutely awesome game. I highly enjoyed virtually every aspect of it, and any complaints I have are few…. and are nitpicking. I’ll say right off the bat that you should definitely pick up this game if you love action games, you won’t be disappointed if you are a fan of any of the above three titles (Ninja Gaiden, God of War, Devil May Cry) and previous Metal Gear experience is not at all required.

Metal Gear Rising puts the player in control of a cyborg ninja called Raiden (whom fans of the series will be familiar with from previous Metal Gear games), although playing previous Metal Gear games will allow you to better understand many of the references made to former games and former events, it is no where at all a requirement to have played previous Metal Gear Solid titles.

I myself had only ever played the first MGS game from 1998, and I enjoyed the heck out of Metal Gear Rising and wasn’t at all confused regarding the story, or the events. And events from past games are explained to those who don’t know anything about them via the Codec conversations and is largely spoiler free and details are kept to a minimum during these conversations.

Metal Gear Rising is an action game through and through, as Raiden you will be tasked with infiltrating various environments and making your way through them, defeating any enemies that come into your path and taking out bosses at the end of each chapter. Enemies are generally kept to a small area that you cannot move beyond until the enemies in that predefined border are defeated.

For the most part, Metal Gear Rising is a straight up action game. You won’t really be doing any “adventuring”, or meeting and talking to new characters, however you will meet new characters in the bosses, and a couple major characters you encounter, but you won’t be talking to new people that you encounter as you are making your way through the environments like in a lot of games.

There also isn’t really any exploring to be done, although you will want to comb through the environments to find items tucked away in corners and there are hidden collectables to be found, but no one would really call MG:R an adventure game. However some collectables are very well hidden and easily missible if you don’t’ look hard for them, on top of chandelairs, tucked into corners, and behind boxes, etc. It is more in line with say, Ninja Gaiden, in the way it plays and the way you search for hidden items (exactly like it, actually).

Raiden, as a cyborg, can continuously dash in his “Ninja Run” (although he cannot run along walls) and can continuously swing his sword to cut up enemies or the environment while performing his ninja run.

This mechanic alone is a HELLUVA lot of fun! I spent numerous hours, as you can see from my WatchMePlay Metal Gear Rising videos doing nothing but running around and slashing objects into millions of pieces. It’s extremely fun… actually TOO much fun. Although I must admit that much of my slicing was in hopes of actually getting an Achievement for doing so… which never came to me even with nearly 3000 pieces cut! Boo!

Anyhow, Raiden can perform a number of martial arts style moves and attacks, which require precise button presses (using only two attack buttons) along with movements on the control stick, and you will unlock new moves as you progress. Between missions you can purchase new moves, weapons, and upgrades as you see fit.

You use the X and Y buttons to perform these moves with Raiden’s equipped weapon like his sword (X for light horizontal attacks, Y for heavy Vertical attacks), while the A button jumps and the B Button performs special attacks like the Zendatsu. B is also used to interact with objects in the environments, to open doors, and interact with computer terminals, etc.

Pressing the R Trigger makes Raiden dash or run (“Ninja Run”) while pressing the Right Bumper locks onto enemies. Pressing the L Trigger enters the all-important Blade Mode, while pressing the Left Bumper will ready the sub-weapon that you have selected. Holding LB and pressing the Right Trigger will use that Sub-Weapon, and you aim the sub-weapon with the Right Control Stick.

Sub-Weapons you can find include various types of Grenades, Rocket Launchers, Sneaking Items and things like that. So if you want to use the Rocket Launcher, equip it on the Start Menu, then hold LB, aim with the right stick, and press R to shoot it. It took me a bit to figure it out (I don’t play FPS games) but once I did it worked well. It is hard to aim with grenades though, even using the path highlight.

Pressing Right or Left on the Directional Pad (D-Pad) brings up the Sub-Weapon screen, where you can set health (that automatically gets used if your Life Bar drains) and allows you to cycle through your Weapons by pressing up or down for each one of the different boxes. You can also change your Weapon on this screen (press up or down to select the item you want, then press A to equip it).

Pressing Up uses the Health Item you have selected on the Sub-Item Screen.

The Right Stick controls the Camera, which can give you problems at times. You can move the camera around Raiden by using the Right Stick, and clicking the Stick recenters the camera directly behind Raiden. You can also Walk slowly by pressing the Left Stick slowly, which is useful when sneaking up on enemies.

Finally you have the very important AR or Augmented Reality Mode, which you can enter by pressing Up on the Directional Pad. While in this mode, you can see enemies and which way they are facing, even seeing them through walls, and you can detect hidden Items (white squares) and other pickups (like Rocket Launchers or Grenades), you can also see breakable objects (like Cars, Walls, Pillars, Barriers, etc.) which are highlighted in a light blue color, and the AR Mode allows you to see in the dark.

In the upper righthand corner you have your radar, which shows enemies as red dots (although you can’t see a field of vision cone for some odd reason) and shows your goal, a slight layout of the map, etc. There is no regular map of the whole environment you’re exploring though.

In the upper left you have your energy/health at the top in yellow, and beneath is your fuel that you need to perform Blade Mode in blue. The longer you stay in Blade Mode the more fuel that is drained. If you run out, time won’t slow down when you enter Blade Mode. When you slice an enemy or object, combo and “Pieces” numbers pop on the screen (no you don’t get anything for getting 3000 pieces slices! >_< Not even an achievement! Maybe at 5000 though?) showing how many hits you have dealt the enemy or how many pieces you've cut off an object.

Of course the main hook of Metal Gear Rising is Blade Mode. By holding the Left Trigger, the camera zooms in close and you can control the direction of your slices with Raiden's sword. While in this mode, you can cut off the limbs of enemies and occasionally press two buttons together (such as Y and B) to perform unique and ultra-deadly special attacks… which are vital in easily taking down large, metallic foes.

Blade Mode has a bar that drains as you use it, in order to fill it up you will want to perform a "Zandatsu" attack, which allows you to pull out energy from an enemy via a special attack, and then absorb it to refill your Blade Gauge or Fuel Gauge as I'll often refer to it. Generally you will need to attack enemies with multiple strikes to weaken them before you can perform the deadly Zandatsu attack, which will kill them in one hit. If you can slice up your enemy and target their Fuel inside them before the enemy hits the ground you will steal more Fuel than if you wait for their bodies to get closer to the ground.

While in Blade Mode you can literally hack off their limbs, and you'll want to get precise with this because hacking off JUST their left hands allows you to turn their hands into a collectable that you can pick up. The Doktor who you can speak to in your Codec (more on that in a bit) can use the information stored in the Left Hands of your enemies for research & development, which translates into unlocking new moves for you to purchase.

Just like in previous Metal Gear Solid games, you'll be doing lots of speaking to your partners on each mission via the Codec radio system. You can radio your friends by pressing the Select/Back Button, which will bring up the Codec Menu of people you can talk to.

They include Boris, the mission leader, Kevin, the culture expert, Courtney, who will save for you and Doktor, the nerd of the group who is knowledgeable about science, biology, technology and the like. Just like in the original Metal Gear Solid, you'll want to talk to them frequently throughout your adventure. They will give you tips on battles and fighting enemies, offer up trivia about science, technology, history, warfare, food, culture, et al, will discuss the events of past Metal Gear games, and will give you tons and tons of story exposition.

I love the Codec system, I think it's awesome. The best part about it though is that it is entirely optional. You can speak to them as much, or as little, as you want, and it is never required. Much like the Scanning in Metroid Prime, those who want to hear everything, get lots of extra story details and exposition, and know the game in and out and see all that there is to see, will want to use the Codec a ton. Including speaking to each person multiple times (you'll get an Achievement for listening to all/or most of the Codecs btw). But those who do not care can entirely skip it and won't be any worse for it.

However I myself loved every second of the conversations which cover a billion topics. One of the aspects of Metal Gear Solid that I've always admired is that you feel like you are learning a lot just by playing it, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is NO exception. There is just as much discussion of war, history, biology, science, experiments, robotics, technology, food, culture, sociology, psychology, world affairs, politics, and everything else under the sun as in past games.

You'll also grow to love each of these characters as you build a connection and relationship with them through Raiden's discussions, especially with Courtney and Keven in particular. The way they joke, semi-flirt, and the like, is really cool. I wouldn't say the character building is amazing, as you don't really feel like you care a ton about each character, but it is better than a lot of games simply due to the wealth of speech and interactions between them.

I should note that they speak aurally to you, but you can also read the text of what they are saying. The pictures and reactions of your Codec calls aren't anything to write home about though, it's only the speech that is impressive. Which is a bit of a disappointment but I don't really mind.

From your Codec you can also access "VR Missions" and "Customize", although it will restart you at the last Checkpoint, so accessing these between missions is probably the best time to do so.

The VR Missions are just like you remember from the original Metal Gear Solid, mini missions that you can undertake. A lot of these have to be unlocked via the story mode, where you will find little computer consoles that can be found tucked away in corners and will unlock a particular VR Mission. But the VR Missions also serve as a tutorial to teach you the basics of the game, and it's recommended that you play through them before you start the game proper if you want to have a full grasp of how to defeat your enemies and make use of the combo system better.

The VR Missions turn into a bonafide Puzzle Mode the further you get into them, as the later missions require you to figure out how to beat the mission.

"Customize", which also happens between missions, is where you can purchase new moves for Raiden, upgrade your Weapons, increase your Life Gauge or your Fuel Gauge, change into a new outfit, and the like. Each one of these changes will cost BP, or "Battle Points", that you earn from fighting, performing Zandatsu, using stealth, opening treasures chests (er, boxes), taking out bosses, satisfying certain conditions and beating missions.

Just like Devil May Cry, there are lots of very cool and extremely useful new Moves to unlock and Master. Mastering moves will truly make battles much easier, as this is a game of technique, where skill is required, especially if you play the game on Hard.

Although it is very possible to get through the game without mastering ANY combos and essentially button mashing your way through, or attacking enemies by just using the few same moves, jump attacks, slide attacks and running and swiping with your sword. I know this is true, because I did it.

I did not learn a single combo or master a single new move that I bought… However I must say that I know it made the game harder to get through, and much more frustrating. And I am POSITIVE that mastering your moves will be required to beat the game on Hard.

Thankfully, to help you in this endeavor there is a Move List that you can access by pressing Start and going to "help" (press the right trigger [R Button] to see a layout of the controls).

This screen lists all of the Moves you know for each weapon and shows you the button combination needed to perform the move, along with a still photo of the move being performed (I do wish you could see a video demonstration of each move).

Study this list and perform each move to learn them after button mashing in the field, you'll definitely want to use this information to better and more easily take out your enemies. It's worth noting that new moves you've purchased must be "Equipped" on the Customize screen before you can use them and before they will appear in your Moves list.

This is very bad if you don't' realize you need to equip them on the Customize Screen (as you won't be able to perform the move) but it's actually a good thing as it allows you to turn off moves that you find annoying or moves you accidentally keep performing when you meant to do another move, which can be handy.

Plus you'll learn all kinds of stuff that you didn't know about this extremely in-depth combo system if you study the moves list.

Some quick tips that you may not figure out on your own:

* You can roll to the next enemy during combat by pressing the X Button! I never knew this and I wish I did!

* If you sneak up behind enemies you can take them out in one hit and perform a stealth kill by pressing the B Button. Right after stabbing them, press L to go into Blade Mode and also perform Zandatsu on them.

* You can also kill enemies in one hit by attacking them from above. Either stand above them and press B, or leap towards them and press B as you close in on them from the air. If they see you however, you won’t be able to perform this stealth kill.

* If you sneak up on an enemy, you can easily slice their left hand off with a single horizontal strike (without doing the stealth kill). Only “real” cyborgs will have hands that you want to collect, be sure to walk over the hand to actually collect it, the normal grunt enemies, the ones that look like regular humans and aren’t as heavily armored, don’t have anything special for collecting their hands.

* You can target enemies by pressing the Right Bumper (R1 on PS3).

* You can perform a deadly slide attack where you can go into Blade Mode and cut in slow motion as you are sliding by running and pressing Y to perform the slide (which allows you to slide into small holes or gaps as well btw) and going into Blade Mode with L.

* You can run up obstacles and small walls automatically by simply holding R to do a ninja run, you can also jump and climb up by jumping towards a ledge and holding R.

All of this adds up to create an absolutely awesome combat system that is extremely strategic, will play out differently depending on how well you study your moves list and make use of new moves you learn, and is accessible to both button mashers and those who really want to master the art of fighting.

The combat of Metal Gear Rising is extremely fast-paced, true to the “Lightning Bolt Action” subtitle. It’s extremely visceral and feels absolutely badass, especially when you perform the extremely awesome Zandatsu attacks and the special A/B techniques to take out a large, fearsome foe in extremely sufficient, deadly style that will be certain to draw a crowd and much ooo’s and ahhh’s from those watching.

And in order to take down the larger tough enemies or the epic bosses, you’ll need to exploit a particular weak point and attack them in a specific manner. After damaging them some, you will see a certain context-sensitive button combo pop on the screen (like Y+B), pressing Y and B together will activate a special move where Raiden will say, leap on top of the enemy, pull out his sword, and you’ll be required to jam on the Y Button to slam your sword into their skull over and over again.

These type of context-sensitive combat scenarios have been seen plenty of times before, in games like God of War or Dante’s Inferno (first seen on the Dreamcast in Shenmue actually, where the term “Quick Time Event” or “QTE” was coined) but they still work well and make elaborate combat cutscenes playable, as you have to successfully pull off the QTE in order to defeat the enemy, heavily damage them, or cue the next button press in the sequence.

These special attacks are absolutely awesome and a sight to behold, you’ll leap upon fired missiles in order to chop a helicopter in half, swing a giant robot around and toss it into the pavement, slice all of the robot legs of an enemy before leaping atop them to finish them off, and much more!

You will definitely want to make use of these advanced techniques and trigger the QTE when fighting heavily armored enemies. After damaging them a lot or in a particular area, such as damaging their shield or a turret, you’ll often see the QTE button combo come onto the screen, press them and you’ll eventually see see a Japanese character or ninja symbol flash on the screen.

That is your cue to enter Blade Mode in order to cause massive damage to the enemy or boss, often this will result in you cutting their shield or weapon into a million pieces, resulting in the boss losing some of it’s fighting ability or strength and putting them into a weakened state, in which their health bar (shown in the lower right during boss battles) can be permanently lowered.

It’s a cool system that works well, and as intentioned, even though some people may cry foul that they couldn’t come up with anything more original than QTEs, which has been done a ton ad nasuem. It also takes a lot of skill and experience to get better at the combat system (always a good thing) and it will seem overwhelming and convoluted at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.

Regardless, you really do feel like an invincible, badass Cyborg Ninja who is unbeateable when playing Metal Gear Rising… even though you know for a fact that you are actually very, very, VERY beatable.

And that is one aspect that I absolutely love about this game. Just like in the original polygonal Ninja Gaiden games, EVERY enemy is a deadly foe worth fearing. While the grunts can be taken out pretty easily, the robotic enemies (called “UGs”) are absolutely to be feared and will tear you to pieces if you are not focused on defeating them, making use of your Moves and taking advantage of their weaknesses and your powerful techniques; or you will be turned into hamburger meat before you can blink!

That makes Metal Gear Rising a thinking man’s action game. While the game can be played without thinking, those who do take the extra steps to learn the moves and combo system will have a much bigger advantage in combat, won’t die as much, and will survive longer against the merciless hordes and giant robots who’s sole purpose is to kill you.

One of the coolest aspects of Metal Gear Rising outside of the awesome combat is the storyline. The storyline in Metal Gear Rising is fantastic, the voice acting is top-notch, all of the characters are well played and likeable, and the game is filled with amazing computer generated FMV sequences, just like the days of yore!

While some people say FMV is dumb because they’d rather play than watch (and the computer-generated cutscenes always look better than the in-game graphics) I for one absolutely love CG cutscenes and see them as the awesome reward and payoff for all that great gameplay.

It’s great to take a breather (especially after the beating your hands take in this game) after finally defeating a tough boss, and just sitback and watch an awesome cutscene.

I am very happy that they didn’t go with in-game generated cutscenes, which I absolutely hate. Even if the graphics are good, I always prefer a cinematic CG cutscene to an in-game one.

It is a worthy reward to watch the badass movie scenes and all of them in this game are excellent. I think if you were to put them all together you’d have one heck of a cool action flick worth watching.

Unlike a lot of other games, the storyline here is extremely unique and unlike anything you’ve seen before. While the game does feature a kind of melodrama that will remind you of Japanese anime, that may put off some people, that doesn’t really detract at all from the core storyline.

The story is also full of twists and turns, in typical Metal Gear fashion, and holds up extremely well when put up against other games or previous games in the Metal Gear series.

The story also tackles a lot of heavy subjects, everything from morality and evil, to political intrigue and the pros and cons of war, to human trafficking, rich vs poor, 1st world countries vs third world, corruption, the dangers inherent in nationalism and patriotism, to terrorism, the War on Terror, and the human condition.

Of course, most of that stuff is delivered via the entirely optional Codec conversations (of which there are tons and tons and TONS of them), the actual storyline itself is more based upon morality, and focuses a lot on Raiden himself and a superhuman group of Terrorists known the “Winds of Destruction”.

Thankfully, the game has a lot of humor in it and Raiden is an extremely likeable, and very cool, character. Whose voice acting is absolutely badass (he sounds very much like Snake at many points. I swear it is David Hayter doing the voice work!). Raiden also knows when to poke fun at himself, at the names of enemies, or other things. While the game isn’t exactly self aware, it comes close to it and doesn’t always take itself too seriously.

You’ll also encounter lots of interesting discussions, like one where him and the Dok discuss the torture porn genre of horror films and the state of violent media and its impact on people. Another really interesting and fun discussion comes via Courtney, who is always talking about food… this leads to lots of interesting tidbits on foods and cuisine that she thinks Raiden should try, from various countries… all of this food and all of these facts are real, so the player could very realistically check into these foods himself and try them out… expanding his meal palette. And that is very cool!

Those who have an interest in Science, and everything from Biology to Robotics, will also have a field day as the conversations given in the Codec with the Doktor are as technical and complicated as they come. Those who consider themselves braniacs and love the nerdy techhead stuff will absolutely love the conversations to be had in Metal Gear Rising. Others, who aren’t so much into this stuff and could care less about technicalities, may be turned off by it.

A lot of it gets pretty heady, although Raiden always has interesting comments to make that are closer to the every-man, as he doesn’t care all that much about understanding the intricacies of the robot enemies he is facing, how they’re made, how they function, and the scientific discoveries that made them possible… he just wants to kick their butts!

I must say however that there is an anti-American streak that runs through the game to some degree… Raiden balances it out a bit however… and considering the fact that most of the major characters are Americans themselves; even so, things get hairy towards the end.

As a Conservative Republican, and a Christian, some of this bugged me a slight bit. I don’t like when US Senators for example are put in a bad light or made out to all be corrupt, or the insistence that America is the source of the ills of society or the world.

There’s also lots of talk about “memes”, evolution and even praise for Richard Dawkins! The author of “The God Delusion”. The last person I’d want to praise would be Dawkins (who, in my opinion, is masterfully taken apart by Ben Stein in his debate with Dawkins at the end of the movie “Expelled”), however I have an open mind and I think, when going into someone else’s creation in any form of media, you have to check your opinions at the door and enjoy it for what it is.

So my own opinions and my own faith didn’t hamper my enjoyment one bit, and the above issues are all nitpicky as it really isn’t too big a deal. Although the anti-American thing is heavy-handed… even so I think the game tries to give itself a balance, so you gotta give kudos to that. However if you an extremely patriotic American, you should know that the anti-American kind of talk is unavoidable in the game, and is NOT optional. So be forewarned on that front.

Other aspects of Metal Gear Rising are also well-made. For instance, the enemy list is quite diverse, and enemies will come at you with all manner of weapons from Swords to Rocket Launchers. You will pick up lots of collectables and finding every one of them in the game is very difficult to do on your first run through.

The robotic enemies are extremely tough, but even they can be taken out with a single hit if you master Stealth. As such, Metal Gear Rising is actually every bit a stealth game as an action game… however it is optional, but those who do go the Stealth route will be rewarded for it with Achievements, easier enemy deaths and single-hit kills, and unlockables from Left Hands that are obtained easier via stealth.

So in actuality, Metal Gear Rising actually has a lot in common with Metal Gear Solid. Much more than at first-blush… you will even find a very familiar item that will make you laugh, and the game is full of in-jokes, from hidden posters of scantily clad females to … MIB. If you play the game you’ll understand the reference, and it’s a funny one!

I was also struck, and impressed, by the very wide range of environments that you get to explore, and locations, that are to be found throughout Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I was very happy to see that the initial setting of the game isn’t the ONLY setting, and things get really, really interesting halfway through the game.

All in all, Metal Gear Rising is a must-play experience. I will rate the game on Fun Factor, and give it the rating that it deserves in my personal opinion. However remember that the game IS indeed a furious action game, and those who don’t like drawn-out cutscenes full of hyberbole and psychobabble about morality and war, those who take offense to FMV, or those who prefer Adventure over Action, will probably be turned off by this game.

And those who are looking for all-new mechanics that have never been seen before may also be disappointed, as Quick Time Events and the combat isn’t anything new.

However even given all of this, Metal Gear Rising was an absolute blast to play. I enjoyed myself from beginning to the very end, and the game seems to just get better and better as you progress.

The boss fights are absolutely EPIC and the first boss fight in particular against a certain female absolutely raised the game from “great” to “HOLY CRAP THAT WAS FREAKIN’ AWESOME!” All of them are multi-staged and all of them are impressive and highlight moments.

I also must mention the music which is fantastic. This is one of the first games that uses actual songs in the music to increase the coolness of battles, songs with vocals. While it works better in some instances than others, I think it really elevates the whole thing and all of the boss themes are absolutely badass and have become new favorite videogame tunes for me. :D

All said, Metal Gear Rising is a must play. Buy the game, and give Platinum Games what they deserve for reviving Revengeance. I am super glad that this gem was not cancelled. BUY IT!

FUN FACTOR: 10
Metal Gear Rising is absolutely awesome. I had a blast from the very first opening scenes all the way to the end of the game. The battles are both tough as well as extremely strategic, while still remaining accessible enough to button mash your way through and beat the game without learning a single combo (Like I did). However if you are to master the game or beat it on Hard, you’ll be required to learn the in’s and outs of the intricate combat system and those who do will have a distinct upperhand. The boss fights are phenomenal, the music is awesome, the storyline is great, the voice-acting is top notch, the character development is good, the characters are likeable, Raiden is a badass, the end boss is INSANE, and the Codec conversations are fascinating. There are really absolutely no complaints from me.

GRAPHICS: 8.0
Metal Gear Rising looks great for the most part. There are a few WOW moments as well, such as when you get to the “garden” (I won’t spoil it, but I just stood there staring cause it looked so beautiful) and when you use your AR Mode in the dark… And the ability to cut things into literally thousands of pieces is IMPRESSIVE. Even though the game can slow down intensely during these times, although it never affected gameplay in my experience. And when I say cut things into thousands of piece, I mean literally. This is best witnessed when cutting glass that has broken on the edge of a window. Watch at the pieces that remain and cut at them, and you’ll see how little pieces continuously chip off. Even so, the graphics are not so great as to be impressive normally, and when chopping things into pieces, sometimes the graphics are such that you can’t really tell all that much… The cutscenes are also amazing, but sometimes look a bit blurry on the Xbox 360. Not that I really cared one bit however.

MUSIC & SOUND: 10
The music in this game is absolutely awesome. While I wouldn’t say it was phenomenal, it is made in such a way that it really elevates the boss fights to new levels. And just supercharges the whole thing. But what really elevates this game to a ten is the voice acting. It is just about as perfect as you can get IMHO, and I absolutely love Raiden’s deep, gruff voice. I think he may even beat out Snake’s voice in cool factor, which is saying something.

INGENUITY: 8.0
Metal Gear Rising gets props for the Blade Cutting techniques and how it is incorporated into gameplay, but all told, there really isn’t anything “new” here. Except for the Blade Mode. It is all used to great effect, but the Quick Time Event button presses are a dime a dozen in games, and some people will be put off by yet another adventure that using them throughout.

REPLAY VALUE: 8.0
There is a LOT of game here. You are ranked per mission (D, C, B, A, S) and per mission segment (of which there are tons, sometimes more than 8 segments per mission), there are a lots of collectables to find (MIB, Data Files, treasure chests, items, girlie posters) and getting each and every Cyborg Hand is very tough indeed. There are also multiple difficulty settings, lots of moves to unlock, multiple costumes, and lots of VR Missions to play through. A nice assortment and you’ll be kept busy for a while, especially if you want to unlock all the Achievements/Trophies. And you’ll definitely want to play through the game more than once just to master the combat system and see the awesome story again, in my humble opinion.

 

Retro Review – Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2 NES. Also On: Wii VC, 3DS eShop, GBA, GameCube)

The interesting named NES adventure Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Read my entire NES Zelda II review (Adventure of Link) here.

 

Retro Review: NES The Legend of Zelda 1 (Also On: Wii Virtual Console, 3DS eShop, GBA, GameCube)

Very cool Zelda 1 NES cover box art superimposed with gameplay screenshots.

Read my NES The Legend of Zelda 1 review here.

 

Retro Review: GameCube The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time From Master Quest, Zelda Collection Set (GCN. Also On N64, Wii VC, 3DS)

Read my entire GameCube The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time review here.

 

Lego Indiana Jones 1: The Original Adventures Review (Xbox 360. Also On: PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2, PC, Mac)

The front and back of the Xbox 360 box cover art for Lego Indiana Jones 1

Read my entire Lego Indiana Jones 1: The Original Adventures review (Xbox 360) here.

 

Retro Review – N64 Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 64 (Also On Wii Virtual Console)

The comical box art for the original N64 Super Smash Bros.

Read my entire N64 Super Smash Bros. 1 N64 review here.

 

Retro Review Super Smash Bros. Melee For GameCube

The starting cast with no unlockables from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Read my entire Super Smash Bros. Melee GameCube review.

 

Retro Review: Final Fantasy X For PS2 (FFX Coming Soon To PS3 or PS4)

A very cool pic of lead character Tidus graces the box art for FFX.

Read my entire Final Fantasy X review (PS2) here.

 

Metroid Prime Review For GCN. Viewpoint #2 – A Modern Classic

The amazing black Samus Phazon suit from Metroid Prime 1 wallpaper!

Metroid Prime for Nintendo GameCube was released in 2002 and marked Samus Aran’s first foray into the world of polygonal 3D. This is my second review of Metroid Prime originally posted on Epinions, check out my 2009 Retro Review: Metroid Prime article to see my first viewpoint on the game and compare it with this one written in 2012.

Samus (the female armored bounty hunter protagonist of the sci-fi series) had never before graced the third dimension, with Metroid Prime’s predecessor being the side-scrolling, 2D, Super Nintendo masterpiece Super Metroid; released for the SNES way back in 1994. And all Metroid games preceeding it also being in only two dimensions.

Samus skipped the Nintendo 64 entirely, as Nintendo’s designers wrestled with how to bring their most “mature” action heroine into the space beyond two dimensions; thus she only made a single appearance on the console, with Nintendo’s multiplayer brawler Super Smash Bros., a game that proved to be a huge smash hit (pardon the pun).

Yet it was not enough to satisfy fans of the long-running Metroid series, who craved a polygonal 3D entry in their favorite sci-fi platformer series. Which made it’s debut with the NES title Metroid, a game that set the bar for open-ended action games way back in 1987.

Previous to the debut of Metroid Prime, fans waited with baited breath for the highly anticipated first modern Metroid game… while growing ever worried as news broke that Nintendo had outsourced the development to an American(!) second party company in Texas called Retro Studios. The first footage of the game didn’t much ease the nervousness as fans discovered that Nintendo had switched the game from what was presumed to be a third-person platformer into a… first-person shooter!

Metroid as an “FPS”, or “doom-clone” as games were sometimes known in those days, seemed like the worst idea of all time, and led players to scratching their heads; then folding their hands and praying that somehow Nintendo would come to their senses and not butcher their favorite series.

Thank the gods! All that worrying was for not, as Metroid Prime was, and remains, one of Nintendo’s absolute modern masterpieces that will satisfy virtually every fan of the series.

Metroid Prime deftly combines all of the aspects of the series that fans know and love while layering it with interesting new aspects that the first-person viewpoint brings to the table.

Arguably the most interesting is the way the game allows you to literally step into the shoes of Samus. For the first time, you can truly see through the eyes of the Space Pirate bounty hunter, who is sent to the planet Tallon IV after engaging an old foe on an orbiting satellite.

Thanks to the first-person perspective, you can now get “up-close-and-personal” with the games huge plethora of animal-like enemies, lethal Space Pirates, dangerous insect-like creatures and titanic bosses.

Metroid Prime was the first videogame to truly make you feel like you were strapped inside of an armored suit. This is conveyed by the way the glass you see through contours and wraps around the screen (visibly) in the shape of Samus’ helmet, and by the way the game’s various environmental effects, enemies and machines effect your visor.

The visor Samus sees her world through is almost like a character in itself! And this first Metroid Prime conveys this arguably even better than its sequels and better than any game up to this point (and even today, it stands out). And it was a striking sight to behold and still is, the first time your visor is interracted with in a fun (and back then, entirely unique and new) way.

How so? Fog and condensation will build up on your screen if you pass through some steam, rain pelts the visor as it hits if you look up at the cloudy sky above, acid or bug guts will splatter across your face when they attack or you obliterate them with fire, if light hits your visor at just the right angle you can actually see Samus’ human face reflected on the glass from inside the suit, and certain electricic machines and enemies will interfere with your display, causing it to static out like a television!

All of this contributes to Metroid Prime’s expertly crafted sense of “life”, the world around you and Samus herself feel like much more than the cardboard cutouts of a lot of games, here the world is living and breathing and even the world you see and how you see it, play an integral part in the experience; and it all comes together so smoothly that you’ll be amazed at how incredibly cohesive it feels. It all feels natural and every part of the game resonates as if was all built to go together from the get-go (It wasn’t, in fact the game was originally a third-person platformer until Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Nintendo mastermind, demanded the switch to first-person).

Another major aspect of the game is how the Visor ties into the gameplay. One of the newest elements introduced first in Metroid Prime is the introduction of different wearable Visors that the player can switch between at will. Samus starts out with her standard Combat Visor, which is your default view. In this view you can see how much Energy you have, how many Missiles you’re carrying, what Beam Weapon you have selected, what Visor you have selected; and more importantly to combat, a radar in the upper-right that shows incoming enemies and a threat detector on the left that tells you when you are close to incoming danger. You can then use the targeting ridicule to get a bead on enemies before blasting them.

Then you have the Scan Visor, this Visor is avaiable from the start and allows you to take the time (if you so desire) to scan objects, enemies, machines, bosses and any other pertinant information within a room. Scanning will tell you about the object and enter it into your Logbook for safekeeping (you can check the Logbook for TONS of information at anytime by pressing Start).

In addition to scanning enemies and objects (which can be viewed later under your menu, as mentioned above), you can also find stories and journals hidden deviously on walls and in plain site on computer terminals throughout the various lands you will visit. These provide the user with in-depth backstory from the view of both the Space Pirates and the ancient Chozo people’s of Tallon IV (those that build Samus’ spacesuit and provide her with new weapons scattered throughout the game’s worlds).

Important items that can be scanned appear in Red, and scanning important items and logs counts towards your percentage of completion when you beat the game (along with your time). A higher scan count also unlocks additional art galleries upon completing the game.

Scanning however is entirely optional, and some players will find it boring. These players can simply scan just the Red highlighted areas to quickly progress in the game; while those who love more story will enjoy reading the in-depth logs that shed new light on the world and forces of Metroid Prime and will want to scan everything they can get their hands… er, visor focused on.

The controls in Metroid Prime take a bit of getting used to, and will feel really strange to those weaned on Halo and most other modern first-person shooters, with their dual-control-stick navigation. To that end, Metroid Prime is dubbed by Nintendo a first-person ADVENTURE (not “shooter”) and features a unique setup where you cannot move while aiming (an aspect that was “fixed” with the Wii version of the game, where you can move and aim at the same time, by simply pointing the Wii Remote at the screen).

To aim, you must press in and hold the R Button, which causes Samus’ to hold up her arm cannon while standing in place. You can then press the A Button to fire (and rapid fire the quicker you press it, depending on the Beam equipped) and look around with the Control Stick (while R is being held). The B Button is used to make Samus jump and leap from platform to platform (done really well in this game), while the Y Button shoots Missiles and the X Button rolls Samus into her infamous Morph Ball. Since you can’t aim while moving, it gives the game a much slower pace and a completely different feel than most first-person games. Although it works REALLY well once you get used to it.

The Morph Ball is Samus’ trademark ability, the one that (arguably), made Metroid famous. By using the Morph Ball, Samus curls up into a perfect, metallic sphere; which allows her to enter small spaces that are unaccessable any other way.

Like with all of the Metroid games, you start out this Metroid game with only the bare minimum of abilities, and as you progress through the various environments you will pick up all kinds of new items, Weapons, Abilities and Power-Ups. These add to the number of things Samus can do.

The Morph Ball is one such ability and was one of the main concerns players had before Metroid Prime’s release. How would the game utilize the Morph Ball in a polygonal, fully 3D world? In previous Metroid games, the Morph Ball was used to enter small cracks that were previously unexcessable. Additionally, you could lay Morph Ball Bombs to blast holes into walls, floors, ceilings, etc. and enter those crevices to reveal new locations.

Amazingly, this was maintained in Metroid Prime and done FLAWLESSLY. Pressing the X Button enters Samus into Morph Ball mode, and the camera pans out into a third-person perspective (then seamlessly zooming back into first-person when you press X again to roll back out of your ball).

Throughout the game, you will discover certain areas (which when scanned, are revealed to be made of specific allows, which gives you a hint on how the barrier can be destroyed) which can only be accessed by bombing with the Morph Ball, these usually lead to new paths that take you to different areas, or along an unseen track into one of the game’s many hidden Power-Ups and secrets. Be them Missile Packs, which increase your max Missile-carrying capacity by 5 or Energy Tanks, which give you an additional 99 units of health, for example.

New abilities have also been added to the Morph Ball which take advantage of the environments in unique and fun ways. One in particular sounds and seems really goofy (and LAME) but once you do it in the game it just…. works.

The environments in the game run the gamet and cover all of the videogame stereotypes you would HOPE to see, from the jungle-like area full of plant-life and fauna (as you will find throughout) to the lava environment meant to remind fans of Norfair, to the atypical Ice World. One area where Metroid Prime REALLY excels though is in world DESIGN.

Amazingly, similar to Resident Evil Remake (also a GameCube exclusive), each and every room in Metroid Prime is unique. There are no repetitive environments in Metroid Prime and the intricate design is second to none. And unlike the sequel (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, released for GameCube in 2004), the levels (er, areas) do not suffer from the curse of feeling complex just to be complex. In fact, it is quite the opposite, the levels are intricate and crafted with grace; in such a way that the layouts are easy to learn. This is how you do masterful design.

Driving the “master of designing” home is an amazing, fully 3D wireframe map which you can bring up at anytime by pressing the Z Button on the GameCube controller. This map can be fully rotated in any direction and is broken up by room, with a layout that is easily readable, scannable, and extremely helpful. Labels are available that show you locked rooms, what Beam weapons are required to enter certain doors, and where important Save Rooms, Map Rooms, etc. are located. You can also press the A Button to zoom the Area Map out to go into the World Map, which allows you to zoom into a completely different place in the world and enter that land’s map by pressing A again. The C Stick meanwhile allows you to scan from room to room. Metroid Prime really primiered the amazing, intricate, wireframe map idea and it is one of the game’s shining achievements. Which is equally fitting, as Super Metroid also featured a great map, a map system so great that many other games, like the Castlevania series, used the same kind of map design.

Musically, Metroid Prime offers great tunes that will satisfy fans of previous Metroid games, even if it doesn’t feature many of the same famous pieces that fans know and love (There’s also a few annoying pieces, like the Space Pirate theme). The intro music in particular is INCREDIBLE and serves to give you chills from the moment you press the power button. Especially since the menu design is impeccable, with the Main Menu set INSIDE of a Metroid…. it’s very stylized and very, VERY cool. In fact, if you go and play Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii, you’ll notice that they cut out this intro in favor of a new uniform menu for each game… a BIG mistake. It’s worth playing this GameCube version or keeping your GameCube copy just for the awesome intro menu alone!

Metroid Prime also features a few cool extras. You can play a free version of the original Metroid if you own a Game Boy Advance GameCube link cable and a Game Boy Advance or GBA SP system, along with a copy of Metroid Fusion, which released day and date with Metroid Prime. Link them up after you’ve beat Fusion and you will unlock the original Metroid in your Metroid Prime to play at any time. You can even save your game in this version! (without having to write down the password!).

Additionally, you can play Metroid Prime using Samus’ Metroid Fusion Suit by linking the two game’s together.

Beating the game will also unlock a harder difficulty setting along with art galleries based on the amount of important items, enemies, bosses, machines, etc. that you’ve scanned. Beating the game with a quicker time meanwhile will give you a better ending… and allow you to see behind the mask!

Overall, Metroid Prime is game that is NOT TO BE MISSED! While it is easy to forget about the game in this day and age, Metroid Prime still holds up extremely well; even though the graphics are not high definition, the attention to detail shines through, as does the impeccable level design, the intricate world, the fantastic enemies, the awesome bosses (the end boss is one of my favorites of ALL time), the great music, the cool weapons, the interesting story and, most of all, the incredibly fun gameplay.

Metroid Prime is packed to the gills with secrets as well, and you’ll be hard pressed to find each and every Missile Pack, Energy Tank, Missile Combo, et al on your first play through. Much less Scan everything and unlock all of the Art Galleries. So Metroid Prime gives you plenty of replay value.

There is a reason why Metroid Prime recieved the coveted Platinum Award from EGM, garnering a PERFECT score of three 10’s… Putting the game right up there with Halo: Combat Evolved, Super Mario 64, the Grand Theft Auto series and the Zelda series as a game that set precedants and stamped out new territory; while delivering proof that Nintendo could still hang with the best of them. Only masterpieces recieve scores so high.

And Metroid Prime is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all time. Play it!

Note:
The easiest way to get your hands on Metroid Prime is for the Wii via Metroid Prime Trilogy. The Trilogy version however has a few alterations that detract from the overall experience (like the cutting of the intro) while also significantly changing the gameplay by allowing you to aim instantly anywhere on the screen by simply pointing your Wii Remote where you want to shoot.

This also allows you to walk while shooting… While some people will always prefer the GameCube version and consider it superior, if you never played the GameCube version you will not notice these differences.

In which case I’d tell you to not hesitate in picking up Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii and giving the game a go. Just like with Zelda: Twilight Princess (which also has a GameCube and Wii Version, the latter with motion controls), it will really come down to personal preference and whether playing the game in its original incarnation or in an “updated” form is more important to you. But that intro…. You gotta have the intro!

Either way, you really can’t go wrong, as the core game remains the same on both the GameCube and Wii platforms, and it’s greatness shines through however you choose to play it.

Pros: Impeccable design.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: A masterpiece not to be missed.

More Videogame Reviews:
5. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (N64) [Posted: January 31 2013]
4. Resident Evil: Code Veronica Review (Dreamcast) [Posted: October 5 2012]
3. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS1, GameCube) [Posted: September 18th 2012]
2. Resident Evil 2 (GameCube) [Posted: September 3rd 2012]
1. Resident Evil Remake (GameCube) [Posted: August 14 2012]

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9. Between Here & Lost By Love And Death (helmed by Brian “Head” Welch Former Korn Lead Guitarist) [Posted: January 25 2013]
8. I AM By Becoming the Archetype (Posted: September 14th 2012)
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2. Prometheus (Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel) [Posted On: November 25 2012]
1. Warhorse (By Steven Spielberg) [Posted On: November 11 2012]

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