Confession time, I've never played a MGS game up to this point. I know I'm missing on some golden games but I've never had a PS up until this point. This game however has added to the guilt I feel for not playing the previous games earlier and I am determined to crack those open sometime soon. Anyway from what I can gather, this game takes place sometime after The Patriots and you're fighting for your right to cut people in half and eat their delicious spine flesh.
The game starts you off as what I can only imagine is Raiden 0.5. You're still pretty tough but you clearly still have some growing up to do. You're working for Maverick Security escorting the prime minister of some place in Africa (they don't really say) when you're ambushed by an enemy PMC. After some swordplay and giant boss battles, you meet the big bad, Samuel Rodriguez who jabs your eye out, cuts your arm off and leaves you for dead. Enter Raiden 1.0. who not only has shiny new black armor, his voice has become way less obnoxious. The story then follows Raiden as he tries to stop Sam and his plans to create anarchy via kidnapping children(I wont spoil what he actually does to the children). Throughout the game you sit through the traditional long flashy cutscences that are so common in Konami and Platinum games, though you do get to participate on occasion. You meet a variety of interesting and sometimes brutally tough enemies along the way that prove to test your skills and patience.
While I'm on it, lets gripe about some of the enemies. This is a fast paced sword game so you'll be correct in assuming that the combat is very unforgiving. At times though it's down right unfair. An example would be a particular enemy you meet near the climax of the game in the sewers. A giant, fast, gorilla like mech. At first glance you think "Pfft, this guy will lumber up and I'll cut him down easy." NOPE. This guy moves faster than any trooper you've encountered up to that point. Not only is he fast, he staggers and does huge chunks of damage when he pins you on the ground. The best part? He can chain stuns and flurries which will leave you deader than dead if you slip up even a tiny bit. It's especially fun when you get thrown two or three of these guys at once. Now I have experience in fast paced gun games, I've played through Bayonetta on Infinite Climax(very hard), so I'm no stranger to getting my ass handed to me for a mistake. The problem with these guys and a few other mid level mechs is that, you don't get a block button or a decent dodge button. You have to rely on a very finicky parry system that works around 30% of the time. You need to point in the direction of the oncoming attack and hold X to parry and you either pull it off or you're spare parts. Trust me, the moment you are surrounded by six or more guys, the last thing you think of is a clunky parry system. Not to mention, most enemies do continuous attacks and you need to execute parries constantly to stay alive especially during boss fights. You do get a "dodge" skill early on, but it takes two buttons and a tilt of the control stick to preform, and it's not so much a dodge as it is a small sidestep. Not exactly an easy thing to pull off when a giant mechanical wolf is cutting your legs off with it's chainsaw tail.
Now the weapons in this game. You get three types of weapons, your main sword, your alternate weapon which you unlock by defeating bosses, and your use weapons. Use weapons are usually military weaponry you find on the battlefield. RPGs, lock-on missile launchers, various types of grenades, all which have a finite number of uses. The problem I find with using some of this artillery is that pulling them out can leave you exposed. They take a second or two to ready up and aim and with so much stuff going on in any given battle, it's sometimes difficult to pull off the shot. Though I will say that in a tight spot, they come in handy. Your alternate weapon is your prize for taking down the sometimes absurdly difficult bosses which you still have to pay for(with BP points you collect via combos, level completion time, skills, kills, thrills, chills, etc)but you can usually afford after the boss fight. I've stuck with the first one you get which is an overpowered bo staff/whip which hits a huge radius and has massive flurries. I find myself using it more than my sword. You can also upgrade both your alt and sword to do more damage, absorb more health or use less energy when you enter blade mode.
Left arm of troopers? Yes, left arm of troopers. Those are the games collectibles. The doctor, Doktor, has you collecting the limbs for something or other, and are treated as your collectibles. Now, trying to actually get a precise cut on a trooper is a huge task, even in blade mode. You need to either be a very good aim and have perfect positioning or flail for your life. The collectible arm wielding troopers are most of the time highlighted when you enter AR mode but since AR mode shuts off when you swing your sword, you need to make sure you don't accidentally kill him when you're swinging around the room.
There's something I need to say about this game that I've noticed the more and more I played. Video calls. Holy crap, every checkpoint, after every mission, every boss, mini boss, walking down a random hallway, every new area, EVERYWHERE! If I were Raiden I would've ripped off my ear radio long ago. Luckily you can skip through it by pressing Y but the thing is, you'll end up losing bits of important information among the continuous calls. I'm not sure if all MGS games are like this but I started to become angry whenever that radio went off. That's not a good thing.
A bright spot through the constant phone calls is the ability to cut through anything. I can say that a good hour of my play time has been cutting up trees into bits. I don't know why it's so satisfying but I've actually gone BACK through a map to cut down a lonely telephone pole. Cutting up a car into so many pieces that it makes your game lag, so good. You can cut anything from bridges to walkways and it still doesn't lose it's charm after the hundredth one.
This game is pretty solid and aside from a crappy defensive mechanic and constant phone harassment, it's a really great game. I recommend it to those that like fast paced beat-em-ups and aspiring chefs who want to learn how to properly dice things.
