Metal Gear Rising Revengeance was announced by Konami back in 2012. For a time it seemed like the game may never be released but in 2014 it finally happened. I played it shortly after it was released and really enjoyed it. I wanted to revisit the game and decided Christmas was as good a time as any.
I like gravy. I don't mean by itself but I like it with certain foods, the classic being a roast. If I had to pick I would say chicken gravy is my favorite. Gravy takes a food that is good and makes it better. That all being said I could never just consume it solo as it would be too samey. Playing Metal Gear Rising Revengeance I found myself asking was I enjoying some tasty gravy with some food or was I just having it solo?
Story
The story has you play as a Raiden, a cyborg who always seems angry. In previous times he had the nickname Jack The Ripper, so clearly a cuddly guy. Raiden works for a private security company called Maverick. They seem like a decent lot and have helped in creating peace in Africa. Which most people would see as a good thing, but not all. Within the first mission peace in Africa is destroyed and Raiden is left a little worse for wear. The main goal is to take down the bad guys and...well that's it really.
The overall story is relatively straightforward, however, there are certain moments in the game that reference the Metal Gear Universe which is fine as long as you are up on all the games. On occasion, the dialogue comes across as cheesy and the monologuing near the end of the game went on way too long. It isn't a bad story but isn't exactly something that is particularly memorable either.
Visuals
It can be tough when talking about the visuals of a game that is four years old and keeping it in perspective. The visuals have aged and the game is in definite need of an HD remake. The game has a futuristic look, so when the visuals age it stops it looking so cool and futuristic. Raiden's design is interesting, he looks more machine than man but still manages to look overall undeniably human. The Sundowner Boss fight was one of the coolest visually, primarily because you are on the top of a huge building and there are helicopters circling around providing light and trying to kill you. The toughest thing about Metal Gear Rising Revengance is the unwieldy camera angles, it can be hard to control and even when you're locked onto an enemy it can be easy to lose sight of them.
Overall the game has aged visuals but has some great backdrops. The biggest let down is the camera angles which are really jarring along with impacting the gameplay.
Music
The soundtrack has a heavy metal feel to it and generally keeps quiet until the action kicks off, which to be fair is quite often. The soundtrack was created by American composer Jamies Christopherson who previous works include, Total War: War Hammer II, Lost Planet 2 and Stranglehold.
The soundtracks run a little over an hour and my favorites tracks were; 'Rules of Nature', 'Dark Skies', 'I'm My Own Master Now' and 'Collective Consciousness'.
Overall the soundtrack works but other times it felt a little cheesy and took away from the gameplay. Not a bad soundtrack but not one that will stay with me either.
Gameplay
There is a lot of fun to be had with Metal Gear Rising Revengence. I mean who doesn't want a sword that has so much precision you can cut a melon into perfect slices. Raiden's primary weapon is his sword, later you get secondary weapons once you start defeating bosses. Outside of this, you have grenades, nano repair kits, and all the standard fare. The sword you have is cool and when an enemy suffers enough damaged you can slice him apart and rip out his energy. While this sounds fun on occasion it can be fiddly as you don't always have enough time to slice and an enemy up the right way before the gauge runs out. During normal combat, this isn't a big deal but on bosses like Sundowner where you have to pick the perfect angle, it can become really annoying.
It is possible to upgrade your primary or unique weapons along with your health, fuel cells and you can unlock moves. Once you have beaten the game new items will unlock which can be really fun. Additionally, you have the option to try out all your weapons and moves in VR missions.
Overall the gameplay can be fun, really fun. Unfortunately, what lets it down are annoying camera angles and sometimes overly fiddly sword attacks. Sidenote, a big shout out to the return of the cardboard box, I managed to avoid and stealth kill many enemies using it.
Final Thoughts
So, after eight hours how do I feel revising Metal Gear Rising Revengeance? Meh. The story was okay, the visuals and music were okay, there was some fun gameplay. Overall the game has aged but that aside from the poor camera angles and sometimes the overly fiddly moves were frustrating. The game could have been good or even great but instead was just okay. This one gets 3 out of 5
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