Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

THE BAD:
The single player component is lacking, its more of a 'recruit the soldiers' mode to supplement the online play.

SUMMARY:
The MGS series returns to the PSP system, albeit in a more 'expansion pack' form than a true game.

The '+' in the title refers to the plethora of new content included in the game, such as new characters and maps, new careers for your soldiers, new online game modes and new weapons. There is even an option to import your soldiers from a saved game from Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. All of these features do something to add to the depth of the game.

THE GAMEPLAY:
First, and most noticeably, the story mode from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (MPO) has been removed from the + version (MPO+) in favour of the new 'Infinity Mission' mode, where the player must make their way through a non-stop series of levels, recruiting new soldiers along the way. The Easy setting provides a tutorial level, with very little challenge, but the soldiers that are offered up for recruitment are weak in comparison with the Hard and Extreme difficulties.

The health and stamina systems have been tweaked to make the Infinity Mission more difficult. Both health and stamina are drained a lot faster, so the player is encouraged to use stealth over outright force, and to complete the mission efficiently or risk losing their soldier to fatigue.
This means that the health/stamina levels have had to rise, to make high-level gameplay slightly less daunting. In MPO, a character with a health of 200 to 210 was considered a high-level soldier. in MPO+, that number can reach over 400.

THE SOLDIERS:
There are quite a few new soldier types featuring in MPO+, including the infamous Genome soldiers from MGS1, the Tengus which inhabited the Arsenal Gear from MGS2, and the High-Tech soldiers taken from the forthcoming MGS4. Each soldier type has their own feel, and field of expertise, along with 'native' weapons- the Tengu soldiers often carry P-90 sub-machine guns, as well as ninja blades.
There are also more female soldiers present, including the female LYNX (wears tan- coloured uniform) and the female Ocelot soldier, who wears a black uniform with red beret.
New 'Unique' characters make an appearance- Raiden, the katana- wielding protagonist of MGS2 makes an appearance as well as the commanding officer from MPO(this time not in hacked form), Roy Campbell. Solid Snake (or Old Snake in this game) can also be unlocked.
Old types of soldiers make a return, and throughout the game the player will often see the old LYNX soldiers, FOX soldiers, and high- ranking officers mixing in with the new.

THE WEAPONS:
New weapons in MPO+ include the P-90 sub-machine gun, the M4 and M4 (SOPMOD) assault rifles, the AKS-74U assault rifle, the SOCOM MK23 pistol, the FAMAS assault rifle and the Ninja Blade and H.F. Blade (wielded by Raiden)
Each gun has its own unique characteristics, for instance, the P-90 has a clip size of 50 bullets, making it preferable in many cases over the other, older, sub-machine guns. This brings a variety to the online component, as each new weapon has a use and mixes up the old AK-47 vs. XM177E1 battles of MPO1.
The new blades are nifty too, with large swings that dish out some damage. Note that the H.F. Blade for Raiden cannot be unequipped, just as the Ninja Blade for the Tengus can't.

THE STATS:
For those familiar with MPO, the old stat-based system returns, though slightly tweaked- instead of the old 'S A B C' system, it has now been changed to 'S3 S2 S A B C', meaning that to find a soldier with an S3 in a particular field means a lot of searching and filtering possible candidates.
Any soldier's stats can actually be enhanced, providing they are not a 'unique' soldier. A little tab will appear in the upper right hand corner of the statistic's box, indicating that the selected skill cannot be improved.
This enhancement is done by the way of special items called 'Textbooks', which, when used, will boost the corresponding statistic of the selected soldier. IE the player picks up a 'pistol' Textbook- shown by the pistol symbol on the book- and use it on a soldier with an uncapped skill in pistols, that skill will raise from, say, an A to an S. This means that you mayt start out with a real dud soldier but only time and perseverance will determine whether or not he/she is destined for greatness.
Health and stamina increases are approached differently. For completing a round of Infinity Mission levels, the soldiers used are rewarded with experience, giving them a boost to their maximum health/stamina.
This, however, does not apply to the unique characters, which were very strong in MPO. they frequently had 180 to 200 health, and an S rank in their field of expertise, making them deadly opponents online. In MPO+ though, any of these unique soldiers cannot gain ranks, making their S classes pretty low compared to other soldiers that can easily achieve
S2. And their health and stamina remain horribly capped at the original MPO values, meaning that they are second-class soldiers in MPO+. The emphasis this time is not to gain these uniques, but to find and train the best soldiers you can get from Infinity Mission.

THE SOUND:
The audio in MPO+ is astounding, with each sound effect feeling real and almost tangible. every weapon has its own aural characteristics, giving each their own personality. The sub-machine guns have a tinny 'pop' while the assault rifles let off a convincing bang, and the explosions are second to none.
The music is much of the same strains heard in MPO, with a few new tunes thrown in. Suitably melodramatic, it builds up tension without the player realising it, and makes for compelling gameplay. Definitely one to curl up with and break out the headphones.
Though there is no real voice acting in MPO+, the cries and grunts of pain issuing from the soldiers is excellent, with each soldier having his/her own voice, and personality.

THE VISUALS:
Dare i say it, probably the best visuals of any PSP game to date. the draw distance is virtually unlimited, in the outdoor levels you can see craggy hills that are miles away, even at night. Clouds also roll by convincingly, and dust will blow across the screen.
The character models are impeccable, with many polygons and a real attention to detail. They dont handle close scrutiny too well, but high resolution textures and dynamic shading go a long way.
The animations, too, are superb, with combatant rolling, punching, grabbing and running with the smooth grace one would expect from a polished PS2 game.
The gun models are satisfyingly realistic, with proper firing and reloading mechanisms, and the muzzle flashes are spectacular. you may find yourself just firing a newly acquired weapon at nothing, simply for the thrill of it.

THE ONLINE:
This is the most revamped portion of MPO, with new maps including the Ghost Factory and Pillbox Purgatory, as well as the inclusion of 3 new indoors-only maps; Killhouse B, Killhouse C and the infamous Metal Gear REX hangar.
The two new online game modes are the Chat Room, where players can gather to talk tactics, and the Shooting Range, where players compete in teams to shoot the most targets.
The Chat Room is an excellent idea that goes well with the new online-only feature of being able to type out complex messages with the use of an onscreen keyboard. The player can meet other combatants and talk about tactics, the game in specific or just anything in general. There is an option to disable weapon damage in this mode, so players can talk in peace. The Chat Room is also a great venue to try out the new screenshot tool, which enables the player to capture a team photo, a humourous glitch or something rare and unusual, or even to capture the names of unwanted players in case your blacklist is already full.

The Shooting Range is a less-than-spectacular addition, involving two teams firing at floating targets scattered around the level, trying to change the targets to their teams' colour. The first team to have all targets in their colour or have to most targets when time expires is the winner. But rather than attack the targets, game play usually degenerates into shooting the other team as they try to attack the targets. It's worth trying, but most people tend to stay away from Shooting Range.

The old system of VR (Virtual Reality) and RC (Real Combat) matches makes a return, where in VR matches you simply fight, but the RC matches mean that if a soldier dies on the field, your opponent wins that soldier and you lose them from your roster forever. VR is good for just playing for fun, but if you want a challenge you must take part in RC matches. RC matches will also improve your standing in the online leaderboards, which host the scores of every MPO+ player and give ranks, IE. FOXHOUND, FOX, DOBERMAN to those players that have achieved a high enough score.

THE REST:
The Spy, Technical and Medical units of MPO make a return though slightly altered. Instead of dispatching 4 soldiers to every map for your Spy unit, you create 1 unit of 8 soldiers who can raise the detail of the map display and find prisoners on the map. The Medical and Technical Units follow the same format, but improve healing gain/development of med supplies, and ammo capacity/battery life respectively.
The game also moves a lot faster, as in the soldiers run/crawl/stalk faster, and in particular the Athlete careers soldiers make short work of long distances.
The New careers of soldiers are basically only altered versions of previous ones, ie. the Major career now means that soldier is good at spying. The NEW new careers are Headhunter, where looking in first person view with at an enemy soldier will give the player loads of information about what level the soldier could be, as well as strengths and weaknesses. The Acupuncturist career means that if the player shoots their allied soldiers (in cardboard boxes), then those allies will regain health.

THE ROUNDUP:
MPO+ is a worthwhile game to get if you are a fan of the series. It may not have a storyline, and this will hamper anyone who can't get online for any reason, but the asking price of $30 means that you're getting a top quality game for a bargain basement price.