[E3 2012] Jack Is Back
And the award for Most Surprising Action Game With A Terrible Name at E3 2012 goes to...Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Published: June 11, 2012
Raiden's real name is Jack, but it may as well be Napoleon at this point. Never in my remembrance has a character featured in a beloved franchise been so instantly, and irrationally reviled as when Konami pulled the ultimate bait and switch by replacing Snake with Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2. He is in every way the Jar Jar Binks of video game characters - a virtual kick in the nuts to series fans who waited so patiently to inhabit the skin of Solid Snake once more, only to have their hopes dashed by Mr. Tall-Blonde-and-Dumb.
But then Metal Gear Solid 4 happened and we saw Raiden return, in very different form. At first we groaned in remembrance. But not long after, we began to accept and even cheer for him. In fact, by the end of MGS4 it almost felt like Kojima was overcompensating, making him the game's biggest badass to atone for “ruining” an entire entry in the series with him. The crazy thing about it was that it actually worked. Whatever you thought of MGS4, few could dispute that Jack pulled a successful 180, steadily working his way from zero to hero, one 20 minute cutscene at a time. After getting some hands on time with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, it looks like Jack has finally reached the summit, and is ready to cut a bloody swathe through the hearts of action gamers everywhere.
My time with Revengeance was short, but it answered all the questions I had, and most of those answers were positive. My first concern was that the “free-cut” system introduced when the game was first unveiled would be a clumsy gimmick, and under a lesser developer it might have been. But with the action specialists at Platinum games calling the shots, what could have been a throw away mechanic is instead precise, well implemented, and a complete blast to use.
At any time, you can hold the L2 button to slow time to a crawl and use the right analog to slice away. You start by rotating the stick to the position you want the cut to begin from, indicated clearly with a rotating orange line. During this time, you can also change where you are aiming overall with the left stick. Once you are lined up, just release the right stick for a clean slash along the path you've indicated, leaving a clean, cauterized cut clean through your target. If you want, you can place multiple slashes in different directions, shearing enemies into neat cubes of flesh, or just lopping off their head and limbs. Enemies and destructible objects all respond realistically and dynamically, breaking and deforming precisely as your incisions direct. No canned animations here.
As delightful as it is to use, the game would get old pretty quickly if you could walk up to any enemy and instantly cut them down (see: lightsaber syndrome). Most foes need to be put off balance or be otherwise unaware in order for the free-cut system to work. This can be accomplished by softening them up with a quick combo, attacking them while knocked down, or parrying an on coming attack with precise timing. Precision helps when making your cuts too, as slicing vital sections enables special execution moves that allow you steal the enemies power core, killing them outright and recharging your own energy. Combined with other context sensitive special moves, and spectacular stealth assassinations, Raiden becomes a whirlwind of stylish death. Not since I first controlled Kratos in God of War have I felt so lethal in an action game.
Another concern I had after seeing the first gameplay trailer, was that the action simply didn't look smooth. The framerate looked lower than I would have liked, action seemed too busy and clunky...it didn't look like a Platinum affair at all. Thankfully, playing it dispelled all those notions. The game runs smooth as silk, and even when the camera starts shifting around for special moves, and slowing down for free-cuts, everything looks and feels natural and deliberate. Watching someone play, it seems like it would be disorienting, but once you get your hands on it, you feel very much in control. The only exception here is the “ninja run” ability mapped to the R2 button. It allows you to run faster, auto deflect incoming projectiles, and traverse ledges and obstacles. At this stage though, the traversal looks and feels pretty janky. Vaulting over and around objects in the environment didn't look or feel nearly as smooth as the combat did. Hopefully that will get cleaned up before the game hits in the first half of next year.
As it stands though, Metal Gear Rising was one of our surprises of the show. With it making such a large departure from the sneaky, grounded foundation laid by its predecessors, and it being hinged on a character with a spotted past, I didn't quite know what to make of it. But after just a few minutes, it's clear the game knows exactly what it is: a crowd pleasing slice of techno-organic gore porn for anyone who thought Grey Fox was the coolest character to ever grace a Metal Gear game.
But then Metal Gear Solid 4 happened and we saw Raiden return, in very different form. At first we groaned in remembrance. But not long after, we began to accept and even cheer for him. In fact, by the end of MGS4 it almost felt like Kojima was overcompensating, making him the game's biggest badass to atone for “ruining” an entire entry in the series with him. The crazy thing about it was that it actually worked. Whatever you thought of MGS4, few could dispute that Jack pulled a successful 180, steadily working his way from zero to hero, one 20 minute cutscene at a time. After getting some hands on time with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, it looks like Jack has finally reached the summit, and is ready to cut a bloody swathe through the hearts of action gamers everywhere.
My time with Revengeance was short, but it answered all the questions I had, and most of those answers were positive. My first concern was that the “free-cut” system introduced when the game was first unveiled would be a clumsy gimmick, and under a lesser developer it might have been. But with the action specialists at Platinum games calling the shots, what could have been a throw away mechanic is instead precise, well implemented, and a complete blast to use.
At any time, you can hold the L2 button to slow time to a crawl and use the right analog to slice away. You start by rotating the stick to the position you want the cut to begin from, indicated clearly with a rotating orange line. During this time, you can also change where you are aiming overall with the left stick. Once you are lined up, just release the right stick for a clean slash along the path you've indicated, leaving a clean, cauterized cut clean through your target. If you want, you can place multiple slashes in different directions, shearing enemies into neat cubes of flesh, or just lopping off their head and limbs. Enemies and destructible objects all respond realistically and dynamically, breaking and deforming precisely as your incisions direct. No canned animations here.
As delightful as it is to use, the game would get old pretty quickly if you could walk up to any enemy and instantly cut them down (see: lightsaber syndrome). Most foes need to be put off balance or be otherwise unaware in order for the free-cut system to work. This can be accomplished by softening them up with a quick combo, attacking them while knocked down, or parrying an on coming attack with precise timing. Precision helps when making your cuts too, as slicing vital sections enables special execution moves that allow you steal the enemies power core, killing them outright and recharging your own energy. Combined with other context sensitive special moves, and spectacular stealth assassinations, Raiden becomes a whirlwind of stylish death. Not since I first controlled Kratos in God of War have I felt so lethal in an action game.
Another concern I had after seeing the first gameplay trailer, was that the action simply didn't look smooth. The framerate looked lower than I would have liked, action seemed too busy and clunky...it didn't look like a Platinum affair at all. Thankfully, playing it dispelled all those notions. The game runs smooth as silk, and even when the camera starts shifting around for special moves, and slowing down for free-cuts, everything looks and feels natural and deliberate. Watching someone play, it seems like it would be disorienting, but once you get your hands on it, you feel very much in control. The only exception here is the “ninja run” ability mapped to the R2 button. It allows you to run faster, auto deflect incoming projectiles, and traverse ledges and obstacles. At this stage though, the traversal looks and feels pretty janky. Vaulting over and around objects in the environment didn't look or feel nearly as smooth as the combat did. Hopefully that will get cleaned up before the game hits in the first half of next year.
As it stands though, Metal Gear Rising was one of our surprises of the show. With it making such a large departure from the sneaky, grounded foundation laid by its predecessors, and it being hinged on a character with a spotted past, I didn't quite know what to make of it. But after just a few minutes, it's clear the game knows exactly what it is: a crowd pleasing slice of techno-organic gore porn for anyone who thought Grey Fox was the coolest character to ever grace a Metal Gear game.
