Metal Gear Acid 2
Insert clever reference to an acid trip here.
Published: April 13, 2006
He's got brass balls, that Shinta Nojiri. Anyone who takes a series as devoutly adored as Metal Gear Solild and turns it into a turn-based strategy - no a turn-based strategy card game at the risk of ire from millions of nerds doesn't do so lightly. And though Metal Gear Acid pissed off people by the fistful, the folks at Kojima Productions knew they were on to something. Guess what? They were right.
Metal Gear Acid 2 is the culmination of the ideas and concepts of the first game, properly presented in a storyline, mood, characters and presentation that befits the Metal Gear franchise. As someone that suffered through the whole of MGA without ever "getting it," I'm now a convert.
My biggest complaints have been addressed; namely the expenditure of cards for menial tasks like dropping into a prone position or facing a new direction. Not only that, but the overall feel of the game just feels right, there are superpowered bosses (in excess, really), ultra-buxom (and bouncy) leading ladies, a storyline that mixes tongue-in-cheek references with a ridiculous-yet-plausible scenario, and of course lots of hot, hot Metal Gear love.
The game begins with Snake riding with three passengers headed back into the US after overthrowing a dictatorship (sound familiar MGA fans?), though Snake has lost his memory while pocketing a cool $15 million along the way. As the passengers banter about, discussing what they'll do with their share of the cash, the issue of Snake's lost memory comes up, and a bet is wagered on his true past. The pipe dreams are killed and a new dedication to helping the eternally stubbly-faced hero re-learn his past crops up.
This is of course squelched the second they all touch down on US soil. They're wrangled in by Dalton, who claims he'll bring the might of the FBI down upon the amnesiac and his friends unless he carries out a mission. Like all MGS characters, Dalton has an agenda, but he keeps most of it under wraps up until Snake is about to finish his mission at which point the unfalteringly creepy g-man Wiseman suddenly cuts in, usurping Dalton and taking over the operation.
Beyond outing Dalton's true past, he uses Snake in a new, low-key infiltration mission into the very complex Snake had first snuck into for Dalton. According to Wiseman, a key scientist working within the SaintLogic corporation Snake already infiltrated before the government stepped in has taken control. He's seized hostages, turned the security system against any intruders and, thanks to SaintLogic's ties to the government, had commandeered -- what else -- a Metal Gear.
And thus, the grand game of chess begins anew. Except this time, it's far, far more accessible and works much better than the first game did thanks to a number of improvements that game on the hells of fans of the series bitching about stuff like having to expend cards to do something even as simple as crouch or press up against a wall. You'll still use cards, of course, this is that kind of game still, it's just that it feels more fluid, and the storyline feels more like a proper MGS adventure, which is a good thing.
Metal Gear Acid 2 is the culmination of the ideas and concepts of the first game, properly presented in a storyline, mood, characters and presentation that befits the Metal Gear franchise. As someone that suffered through the whole of MGA without ever "getting it," I'm now a convert.
My biggest complaints have been addressed; namely the expenditure of cards for menial tasks like dropping into a prone position or facing a new direction. Not only that, but the overall feel of the game just feels right, there are superpowered bosses (in excess, really), ultra-buxom (and bouncy) leading ladies, a storyline that mixes tongue-in-cheek references with a ridiculous-yet-plausible scenario, and of course lots of hot, hot Metal Gear love.
The game begins with Snake riding with three passengers headed back into the US after overthrowing a dictatorship (sound familiar MGA fans?), though Snake has lost his memory while pocketing a cool $15 million along the way. As the passengers banter about, discussing what they'll do with their share of the cash, the issue of Snake's lost memory comes up, and a bet is wagered on his true past. The pipe dreams are killed and a new dedication to helping the eternally stubbly-faced hero re-learn his past crops up.
This is of course squelched the second they all touch down on US soil. They're wrangled in by Dalton, who claims he'll bring the might of the FBI down upon the amnesiac and his friends unless he carries out a mission. Like all MGS characters, Dalton has an agenda, but he keeps most of it under wraps up until Snake is about to finish his mission at which point the unfalteringly creepy g-man Wiseman suddenly cuts in, usurping Dalton and taking over the operation.
Beyond outing Dalton's true past, he uses Snake in a new, low-key infiltration mission into the very complex Snake had first snuck into for Dalton. According to Wiseman, a key scientist working within the SaintLogic corporation Snake already infiltrated before the government stepped in has taken control. He's seized hostages, turned the security system against any intruders and, thanks to SaintLogic's ties to the government, had commandeered -- what else -- a Metal Gear.
And thus, the grand game of chess begins anew. Except this time, it's far, far more accessible and works much better than the first game did thanks to a number of improvements that game on the hells of fans of the series bitching about stuff like having to expend cards to do something even as simple as crouch or press up against a wall. You'll still use cards, of course, this is that kind of game still, it's just that it feels more fluid, and the storyline feels more like a proper MGS adventure, which is a good thing.
