I've slaughtered thousands of men. Run along the side of a building. Flown on thebacked of some winged thingy. Played cowboy samurai on the top of a moving train. Leapt from missile to missle and sliced a stealth bomber in half and yet...I can't say I'm having fun playing this game.
It's difficult to get excited about a game which is going through the motions and throwing you cliché after cliché and doing so with no particular amount of flair or style we haven't seen before. Bayonetta was a complete cliché, but it was fully aware of the fact that it was and this was the charm. Every cut scene, beat down and outlandish physical act from Bayonetta was so over the top and stylish that you couldn't help but become captivated and fall for how ridiculous and self aware the game was. And underneath all of this it had a pretty solid combat system to back itself up. Then you have Rising, which is doing what every other game has done, but about 2 years too late.
As the game progresses you begin to care less and less, to the point where you forget you are playing a Metal Gear game. The Metal Gear series has always been known for its tenacity in story telling, its brilliant directed cut scenes and stand out set piece moments. Rising has none of these. There is no moment in this game which is as exhilarating and 'Whadafuq!?' as the moment in MGS4 when Raiden goes 1-on-1 with Vamp and shanks the shit out of some Gekkos. And there is not aspect of the gameplay which feels as fun or as rewarding as spending 10 minutes sat in a box in MGS1. Rising has the biggest explosions, the most destruction, the most outlandish of attacks amongst all of the Metal Gear games, but none of these moments feel as pivotal or as memorable as the most pedestrian or stoic moments of any of the Metal Gear Solid games. I get that this isn't Metal Gear Solid. But how can you not to go into this game with some the same expectations when it features one of the characters from the series and also two words of the title? After all, it's the use of the franchise name which Konami are using to leverage this game and make Metal Gear Solid fans buy it.
It's difficult to get excited about a game which is going through the motions and throwing you cliché after cliché and doing so with no particular amount of flair or style we haven't seen before. Bayonetta was a complete cliché, but it was fully aware of the fact that it was and this was the charm. Every cut scene, beat down and outlandish physical act from Bayonetta was so over the top and stylish that you couldn't help but become captivated and fall for how ridiculous and self aware the game was. And underneath all of this it had a pretty solid combat system to back itself up. Then you have Rising, which is doing what every other game has done, but about 2 years too late.
As the game progresses you begin to care less and less, to the point where you forget you are playing a Metal Gear game. The Metal Gear series has always been known for its tenacity in story telling, its brilliant directed cut scenes and stand out set piece moments. Rising has none of these. There is no moment in this game which is as exhilarating and 'Whadafuq!?' as the moment in MGS4 when Raiden goes 1-on-1 with Vamp and shanks the shit out of some Gekkos. And there is not aspect of the gameplay which feels as fun or as rewarding as spending 10 minutes sat in a box in MGS1. Rising has the biggest explosions, the most destruction, the most outlandish of attacks amongst all of the Metal Gear games, but none of these moments feel as pivotal or as memorable as the most pedestrian or stoic moments of any of the Metal Gear Solid games. I get that this isn't Metal Gear Solid. But how can you not to go into this game with some the same expectations when it features one of the characters from the series and also two words of the title? After all, it's the use of the franchise name which Konami are using to leverage this game and make Metal Gear Solid fans buy it.
Having barely survived a boss battle which tests the might of this game, I can safely say that I indeed find the gameplay a bit broken and that the camera is every bit as shit as I originally said it was. Despite being able to acquire new weapons, you can't switch between them on the fly, which makes at least two of the weapons you gain as part of the main story useless. And despite being able to upgrade Raiden's abilities, they never feel significant enough to the point where you feel they're having an impact in battle or that Raiden is evolving in combat at all. My life gauge is longer. That's the only discerning thing I can see / say concerning my upgrades. All of the attacks look the same to me and have the same effect on each of the enemies, which is that they eventually end up dead in a shower of blood. The boss battles also get more intense with each encounter and demand a greater sense of spatial awareness, something the camera does not allow. So expect to get hit a lot and work your way through that nano repair paste.
Rising also cements what many of us realized from MGS2, which is that Raiden just isn't interesting as a character. I don't dislike Raiden, but I don't feel anything for him or care a great deal about him. He is completely one dimensional. There are occasional moments when we get an insight into Raiden as a person; but it always boils down to the fact that he is a ninja with a sword which can cut everything. And whilst this premise is cool, the character of Raiden himself isn't because he feels so generic and leaves you feeling no form of empathy. Even when Raiden loses an arm, an eye and gets impaled on a sword, you don't give a shit, because throughout the whole game Raiden is spoken about as though he is an object. Every part of his body is replaceable. He's expendable. He is replaceable. The game doesn't seem to know whether it wants you to be invested in Raiden as a character or not.
I think I'm near the end of this game and I just want it over and done with. At this point I'm wondering how this game got such unanimous praise when it is so generic. With the exception of the blade mode / zan-dastu mechanic, everything this game does, Bayonetta and Devil may cry have done before and done them better.
Oh yeah. And in true Platinum games fashion, the bosses get re-hashed to fuck. I've already had to fight two of the bosses twice. I'm sure I'll be made to fight them again as I edge nearer to the end.
Rising also cements what many of us realized from MGS2, which is that Raiden just isn't interesting as a character. I don't dislike Raiden, but I don't feel anything for him or care a great deal about him. He is completely one dimensional. There are occasional moments when we get an insight into Raiden as a person; but it always boils down to the fact that he is a ninja with a sword which can cut everything. And whilst this premise is cool, the character of Raiden himself isn't because he feels so generic and leaves you feeling no form of empathy. Even when Raiden loses an arm, an eye and gets impaled on a sword, you don't give a shit, because throughout the whole game Raiden is spoken about as though he is an object. Every part of his body is replaceable. He's expendable. He is replaceable. The game doesn't seem to know whether it wants you to be invested in Raiden as a character or not.
I think I'm near the end of this game and I just want it over and done with. At this point I'm wondering how this game got such unanimous praise when it is so generic. With the exception of the blade mode / zan-dastu mechanic, everything this game does, Bayonetta and Devil may cry have done before and done them better.
Oh yeah. And in true Platinum games fashion, the bosses get re-hashed to fuck. I've already had to fight two of the bosses twice. I'm sure I'll be made to fight them again as I edge nearer to the end.
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