Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Xbox 360 Review - PAGE 2

Luckily, as mentioned earlier, there are plenty of highly cinematic combat sequences stacked with explosions, sword slashes, and adrenaline throughout Revengeance to make up for the cutscenes – and it's all in-engine. Raiden chopping up a Gekko? That's an in-engine cutscene. Boss death animation? That's an in-engine cutscene. Raiden flying through a crumbling building? That's basically an in-engine cut-scene (with QTEs). It's like with each game Platinum releases, the studio gets a little bit better at figuring out where the best action will be and then shove your face in it.

I don't even want to mention Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's voice work and soundtrack. The random mix of metal and J-rock that turns on during action sequences can be rather distracting, or make the fight a dozen times better. For instance, the theme that plays during boss Mistral's fight is energizing and exciting, but then there's a song that plays during one of the final fights of the game that made me pause and say, “Are you serious?” Similarly polarizing, Raiden's voice work is outstanding, especially when he mixes in some David Hayter-style gravel when he's angry. Raiden's teammates at Maverick Security, though? Wow. I mean, yeah, most of their script is nonsense, but at least pretend to care.

Platinum's Metal Gear

Now for my least favorite part of the review. Metal Gear has always been known for its rather obtuse, overly political and unnecessarily complex storylines, correct? While the original Metal Gear Solid somehow kept its plotline manageable despite extensive subplots involving DNA, viruses, and clones, the franchise then spirals out of control in Metal Gear Solid 2 and by Metal Gear Solid 4 is incomprehensible. It might at first seem refreshing to hear Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance tones that down a bit. Instead, Revengeance's simplicity and directness just makes more evident poorly written and paced the game is.

Raiden's story boils down to his personal quest to discover what sort of person he really is, by way of ultimately seeking vengeance against a rogue Private Military Company. They cut one of Raiden's eyes, mock his fighting prowess, kill his contractee he was sworn to protect, and insult his idealism. Chasing down this PSM while it attempts to pull off some would-be controversial acts is a roller coaster ride of boss fights and puerile narrative that ends with the most nonsensical climax in Metal Gear history. I say “would-be controversial” because if it was possible to take Revengeance seriously in the slightest, people might take offense to some of the game's, err, descriptive language.

Yes, it's all very trivial, but what really makes the story so disappointing is that it's so very little in the style of Metal Gear Solid. It’s if Kojima worked hand-in-hand with Platinum game to make sure the game had that Metal Gear flavor, but otherwise stayed far away from anything related to the future of the franchise. The depth and thought that typically goes into Kojima's work is painfully missing.

What's left is a supporting cast of entirely new characters born of stereotype, including Courtney Collin, who is more cleavage than character, Texan football player and Senator Steven Armstrong, and get this, George, an orphan boy who is written to sound and act exactly like Star Wars: Episode I's Jar Jar Binks. How about that?

I won't even approach spoilers, but story-wise Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an utter disappointment. It may at first seem like another oddball Metal Gear plot, but it is 100% Platinum Games and worse because of it. I’d liken it more to a Resident Evil arcade rail-shooter than a title from the main franchise.

Final Thoughts

Thus, I am entirely torn in my overall feelings for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. By no means is it a great game, but it is filled with great moments and certainly great potential. What’s unfortunate is that Revengeance is rarely able to capitalize on its very impressive assets to create an experience that impresses the entire way through. Immediately after finishing the game, I was more than willing to dismiss it as a frustrating mess, but after further consideration I don't think it's fair to dismiss it entirely when there are some truly unique and wonderfully entertaining portions.

There are these perfect moments where enemy cyborgs roll out and are cut down instantly, almost as if Raiden senses their every movement. Time slows, Raiden makes a single precise cut, and another enemy steps forward to take his fallen comrade's place. Big or small, the enemy doesn't matter, because at this point you're so in-tune with the game that nothing can stand in the way. Raiden becomes a perfect storm and woe to any who step in his path.

Then the camera bugs out and three gorilla-cyborgs smash Raiden into paste before there's a moment to take your palm off of your face and recompose yourself.

As a Metal Gear title, Rising: Revengeance is quite the fiasco, but as a Platinum Games title there's much value to be found within. A healthy balance is struck between frustration and delight, between disappointment and achievement, but don't expect me to make any excuses for the game's story and writing. I will, however, say without doubt that Zan-Datsu is probably my favorite feature to be introduced into an action game in years. Perhaps due to sole feature, I hope Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance gets the opportunity to have a sequel.