Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was developed by Platinum Games and published by Konami for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version released on February 13, 2013 in North America. The PC version released on January 9, 2014.
This review is on the PC version.
Cut What You Will
Before it became the game that is today, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance had quite a strenuous development process. The game was officially announced at Microsoft’s E3 2009 conference under the title Metal Gear Solid: Rising, with Kojima Productions being the developer of the game. Due to the struggle in designing a fast-pace hack and slash with a unique cutting mechanic merged with the familiar Metal Gear Solid stealth gameplay, Kojima Productions cancelled the game in 2010. In 2011, it was announced at Spike’s Video Game Awards that the project was alive again under a new development team, Platinum Games, who is well known for titles such as Bayonetta and Vanquish. The game released last year on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, so how does Rising hold up one year later on PC?
The Plot
Taking place after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, former child soldier turned cyborg Raiden now works for an American Private Military Company (or PMC for short) called Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. He was hired to provide security for N’Mani, a prime minister who is rebuilding his country after a civil war. His team was attacked by a rival PMC known as Desperado Enforcement LLC., led by Sundowner, who managed to kidnap and kill the prime minister. Raiden tried to avenge N’Mani’s death, but Sundowner’s comrade Sam “Jetstream” Rodrigues curb-stomped him in a fight, damaging his cyborg body and nearly killing him. Three weeks later, Raiden has gotten a new cyborg body that makes him more powerful and was out searching for Sam for (hence the title) revengeance.
“This is what happens when you bring a tool to a swordfight…”
Do not go into this game expecting this to be a complex story like the other Metal Gear Solid games. It’s a fairly basic story about good versus evil, with a lot of badass moments coming from Raiden and every member from Desperado. Background on what is happening within the story can be heard over the Codec by pressing the 3 key (or if you’re using the 360 controller, the Select button), which Raiden can talk to his fellow PMC members and flesh out the story. There are several funny jokes and one-liners in Rising, such as Raiden trying to blend in with the crowd by wearing a mariachi outfit and the Doktor discussing with Raiden that he views gory movies as “torture porn”. Depending on how quickly you can beat the game, the game is 5 to 6 hours long, however, there is a lot of replayability by getting a better score in the levels, finding collectables, and completing VR missions.
This disguise won’t make you stand out at all.
The Gameplay
What separates Rising from Solid is that it replaces the slow-paced stealth with over-the-top hack and slash action. Raiden gets a light attack and a heavy attack, which you can mix them up to get combos on your enemies. Additional attacks and upgrades can be bought at anytime in the Customize menu by going into your Codec or through the Title Screen. The unique cutting mechanic, called Blade Mode, slows down time for Raiden to slice and dice his foes into pieces, however, his energy reduces the longer he is in that mode. Cutting at the correct spot allows him to rip their spines out to restore health and refill the Blade Mode meter. Beside running and jumping to avoid most attacks, there is no way to actually dodge. Instead, you must parry incoming attacks by simultaneously pressing the direction where the enemy is at and doing a light attack. The highlight to this game has got to be the boss fights as all of them test your parrying and Blade Mode skills, so it is wise to learn how to use them early on and to perfect your timing and precision.
“Time for Jack to let it rip!”
Now for the bad part, since the game is fast-paced, the camera can get wonky and make it difficult for you to see who is attacking you. It gets ridiculous how much you can slice enemies into many pieces while in Blade Mode, as fun as it may be, it can cause a major drop in framerate until the body disappears. It is rather disappointing that the textures in the game are in low resolution, since they appear the same as they do in the console version. The level design is pretty bland as you run around in abandoned cities, the sewer, offices, and labs.
Lightning Bolt Action
Wrapping Up
For their first attempt in the PC gaming scene, Platinum Games done a decent job in porting Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to PC. It’s an enjoyable sword-slicing hack and slash that is pretty challenging. The fast combat really shines and works absolutely fine for a port. You may need to wrestle with the camera and is a slightly improved version than the console version, but the gameplay completely overshadows the issues with the game. The PC version is available for $30, cheaper than the console version, and also includes every DLC missions and outfits. I recommend you try out this game out if you haven’t last year on the consoles.