Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance by PlatinumGames and Konami

First, a word from the developer: “Developed by Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames, METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE takes the renowned METAL GEAR franchise into exciting new territory with an all-new action experience. The game seamlessly melds pure action and epic story-telling that surrounds Raiden – a child soldier transformed into a half-human, half-cyborg ninja who uses his High Frequency katana blade to cut through any thing that stands in his vengeful path!“

I might lose some “gamer cred” for saying this, but I never played the PS3 original. As such, I don’t have any nostalgia for this game. I picked it up based on the groundswell of memes that’ve cropped up over the last year or two. A convincing YouTube video essayist or two may have also contributed.

What Worked For Me:

The moment-to-moment gameplay was viscerally satisfying. Not only did the cutting mechanic feel fresh, it also played into the power fantasy of the game (ie that the player is a hyper-competent cyborg ninja). What’s more, despite one of the game’s core mechanics focusing on dismemberment, the game was never especially gory. Whether this was a stylistic choice or simply a graphical limitation, I’m glad the developers went for a subtler approach.
Revengeance offers a large move set spread over multiple weapons, and those seeking to master the game will be well-served in learning everything Raiden can do. In a way, the game reminds me somewhat of a fighting game where understanding a character’s move-set and limitations are key to victory.
The plot of the game sits somewhere between high-minded political commentary and B-movie bombast. It’s silly and over-the-top, but it also touches on topics like the interplay between media and government, war profiteering, and child soldiers.
The writing is funny. I can see why the game has spawned countless memes, from taking a DOOMP (a digital-optical output mounted proxy, of course), to, “memes being the DNA of the soul,” and the infamous, “Nanomachines, son!” What impressed me the most, however, was how effortless the humor felt; rather than relying on reference or nostalgia, the writing was able to make me laugh with madcap situations and unabashed absurdity.
The soundtrack goes hard, with a variety of metal sub-genres on offer. I could gripe that I rarely heard the full vocal tracks during boss battles, but that’s what YouTube is for. Standouts include A Stranger I Remain, The Only Thing I Know For Real, and It Has To Be This Way.
I really appreciated the bevy of extra content, from bonus weapons and skins for Raiden to VR missions. The game even includes two additional campaigns, following the stories of other characters central to the plot of Revengeance. If this game was released today the publisher almost certainly would’ve sold this content as DLC to squeeze every penny out of their customers. (Fun fact: both of the additional campaigns, the costumes, and many of the VR missions actually were sold as DLC during the PS3 / Xbox 360 era. Oof.)

What Didn’t:

The max graphical settings on the game were 1080p. I’m not a graphics snob, but the game looked a bit dated on my rig. This isn’t really an issue during gameplay due to how quickly everything moves, but the cutscenes definitely showed their age.
Though the 500-foot view of the narrative was full of delicious action movie cheese, there were definitely some specifics that didn’t quite work for me. Maybe die-hard Metal Gear fans recognized her, but I had no idea who “Sunny” was or her relationship with Raiden (despite the game heavily implying they shared some kind of history). In my mind, she seemed to enter the story more as a way to get Raiden to Pakistan during the game’s climax than to be an interesting character in her own right.
Continuing the story exploration, it’s hard not to feel like they did Jetstream Sam dirty. I guess you could argue that his character fell into the warrior seeking a magnificent death / a worthy adversary trope, but his characterization is so sparse it was hard to know if that’s what he was thinking before his final confrontation with Raiden. He felt like an interesting character at first (especially with the way he forces Raiden to question his beliefs in Denver), but other than that he wasn’t given that much to do. (Minor spoiler: this is addressed in Sam’s DLC.)
The game’s difficulty can be a bit all over the place. I was able to beat some bosses on my first attempt. Others, I only figured out after looking up a guide (how was I supposed to know to use EMP grenades on Monsoon?). Towards the end of the game, some rank-and-file enemies felt stronger than early bosses; the “Mastiff” comes immediately to mind. Also, make no mistake: this game is NOT a button masher; if you don’t engage with the game’s mechanics, after, say, the Denver mission, you’re going to have a bad time (at least on “normal” mode).
Chalk this up to personal preference, but joystick wiggling QTE events can get right in the bin. The same goes for button-mashing QTE events too, actually. Aside from the fact that said mashing and wiggling required me to switch my grip on the controller for the best results (which wasn’t great during a game that asks for finesse), I couldn’t help but wonder if such QTEs made the game less accessible for folks with less strength or mobility in their hands / wrists. (With regards to accessibility, at least the game offers multiple difficulty modes, which is better than nothing.)
It’s annoying that the game only includes three save file “slots.” Perhaps this was a limitation of the console the game was originally developed for, or maybe it was just a choice on the developer’s part. In any case, don’t expect to have save files for all the various difficulties and side stories.
- Update: this isn’t as much of an issue as I originally thought, as you can access individual missions at any difficulty level you’ve unlocked via the “chapters” menu option.
[nit-pick] I’m annoyed the game didn’t include any sort of “new game plus” where I could return to earlier missions fully kitted out. This issue was made worse by the fact that I wasn’t able to unlock all the upgrades even after beating the game (on normal difficulty). As a consolation prize, at least I’m a lot better at the game now, so going back and getting higher ranks and more unlocks should be much easier.
- Update: I got this wrong. While you don’t have access to any of your upgrades during the first mission (featuring Metal Gear Ray), everything comes back after.
[nit-pick] I mentioned before how the story is full of bombast. It wasn’t uncommon for me to go, “wait, really?!” during a cut-scene. My gripe, then, is that Raiden’s actions and abilities during cutscenes felt like they regularly outstripped what he could do during gameplay. Also, though it is almost assuredly a concession for the player, some of the QTE-focused cutscenes (like running up buildings or jumping between missiles) felt slow.
- Raiden during a cutscene: cuts a metal gear in half with its own arm
- Raiden during gameplay: oh no this enemy has armor and all my attacks bounce off
[nit-pick] Perhaps this was a skill issue, but I found the cutting mechanic to be somewhat finnicky; there are definitely times I felt I hit a weak point on an enemy but the game disagreed. The same goes for the parry mechanic; it seemed to deploy inconsistently.
- UPDATE: One of the bosses virtually requires a good understanding of of the “Blade Mode” mechanic to beat (Sundowner). With that in mind, I can pretty confidently say it was 90% a skill issue. With that being said, I wish the UI for the blade’s cut line was a bit brighter / easier to spot in gameplay.
[nit-pick] I was annoyed by the long load times for VR missions. I know the issue isn’t my PC; my best guess is that the load times are hard-coded into the game. Perhaps this was a stylistic choice (or a way to work around the PS3’s hardware)?

Conclusion:

I enjoyed Revengeance a lot. There were definitely frustrating parts, but after beating it I immediately jumped in for more. I’m typically a one-and-done gal with regards to games, so the fact that I wanted to keep playing should say something. With that said, what are my final thoughts on the game? Action movie fans will like this game for its bombast. “Character Action” / “Spectacle Fighter” fans will like the game for the mechanics and the challenge. Political science junkies will likely get a kick out of the ideas and ideals shared by the cast of characters. Oh, and there’s plenty for the meme-lords as well. Check this one out!

Check it out (on Steam) here.