Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Kojima and co. deliver with one of the PSP's finest. Full review within.
Published: February 12, 2007
There comes a time, over the course of playing it, when a videogame establishes itself as exceptional. Just a defining moment - while not always the most tangible thing in the world - where you can sit there and reassure yourself, without inhibition, "Yes, I do love this game. There's truly something special going on here." What's intriguing is how it often occurs in wholly dissimilar permutations: to be lured in by a story due to your ability to make a personal connection with the protagonist versus just a pure appreciation of concept or execution.
This kind of reverence for a videogame should be no mystery to anyone who's ever crossed paths with Hideo Kojima's handiwork, the Metal Gear series. It holds a certain essence amongst this generation of gamers, due in no small part to its gripping plots -- oft complicated through entangling alliances and political involvement, but nonetheless impassioned 'til the end - and stunningly deep and memorable casts (including a certain gruff-voiced protagonist). To so consistently deliver an interactive experience that pours with as much riveting material as a major motion picture is no easy task to live up to, or moreover, repeat.
But once again, it has been done.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is a game that plays on all fronts, and makes for perhaps the most idiosyncratic appeal of a MGS title yet. And why not? After all, it is running on a portable system that still feels warm in its infancy. The cutting-edge technology and multimedia potential is there, but aside from the standard ad-hoc/infrastructure multiplayer, one can't help feel there's a deeper surface to be scratched here. How promising it is then to witness Portable Ops' almost blanket execution on the PSP, putting the hardware to such great use and leaving no stone uncovered along the way. It's clear the developers took the time to analyze the system's capabilities and cleverly employ them in tandem with the context of the game. It should come as no surprise that it all results in a remarkable handheld experience.
In the spirit of the series, the initial draw of Portable Ops is its solo campaign, but as you'll come to find, the word "solo" becomes far less significant in regards to what this mission's about. Snake may be known for his heroic legacy as a soldier, of achieving the impossible and moreover doing it on his own, but one of the game's prime story motives lies in portraying Big Boss as a leader. We see this concept kind of gradually introduced, both in the context of the narrative and in gameplay, and for good reason. The idea of recruiting soldiers and actually putting them to use on the battlefield no doubt comes as foreign and uninviting to diehards of the series who've become so accustomed to these epic "Snake vs. the world" scenarios, but in reality, it's at no sacrifice to the stature of our beloved leading man. In fact, it betters him, and makes for some truly neat tie-ins and insight into the ever-evolving Metal Gear saga.
This kind of reverence for a videogame should be no mystery to anyone who's ever crossed paths with Hideo Kojima's handiwork, the Metal Gear series. It holds a certain essence amongst this generation of gamers, due in no small part to its gripping plots -- oft complicated through entangling alliances and political involvement, but nonetheless impassioned 'til the end - and stunningly deep and memorable casts (including a certain gruff-voiced protagonist). To so consistently deliver an interactive experience that pours with as much riveting material as a major motion picture is no easy task to live up to, or moreover, repeat.
But once again, it has been done.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is a game that plays on all fronts, and makes for perhaps the most idiosyncratic appeal of a MGS title yet. And why not? After all, it is running on a portable system that still feels warm in its infancy. The cutting-edge technology and multimedia potential is there, but aside from the standard ad-hoc/infrastructure multiplayer, one can't help feel there's a deeper surface to be scratched here. How promising it is then to witness Portable Ops' almost blanket execution on the PSP, putting the hardware to such great use and leaving no stone uncovered along the way. It's clear the developers took the time to analyze the system's capabilities and cleverly employ them in tandem with the context of the game. It should come as no surprise that it all results in a remarkable handheld experience.
In the spirit of the series, the initial draw of Portable Ops is its solo campaign, but as you'll come to find, the word "solo" becomes far less significant in regards to what this mission's about. Snake may be known for his heroic legacy as a soldier, of achieving the impossible and moreover doing it on his own, but one of the game's prime story motives lies in portraying Big Boss as a leader. We see this concept kind of gradually introduced, both in the context of the narrative and in gameplay, and for good reason. The idea of recruiting soldiers and actually putting them to use on the battlefield no doubt comes as foreign and uninviting to diehards of the series who've become so accustomed to these epic "Snake vs. the world" scenarios, but in reality, it's at no sacrifice to the stature of our beloved leading man. In fact, it betters him, and makes for some truly neat tie-ins and insight into the ever-evolving Metal Gear saga.
