Video Game Vintage Title: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an action hack and slash video game developed by Platinum Games and produced by Kojima Productions, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Although a Japanese release for the Xbox 360 platform was planned, that version was canceled. It is the ninth canonical entry in the Metal Gear series, set four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where players control Raiden, a cyborg who confronts the private military company Desperado Enforcement.

The game focuses on fighting enemies using a sword and multiple subweapons to perform combos and counterattacks. Through the use of Blade Mode, Raiden can dismember cyborgs in slow motion and steal parts stored in their bodies. The series' stealth elements are also optional to reduce combat. The game was originally announced in 2009 under the title of Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and was intended to act as an interquel between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This form of the game was to be produced solely by Kojima Productions. However, the team met with difficulties in developing a game based on swordplay, so executive producer Hideo Kojima canceled it. A solution was found, in late 2011, with Platinum Games taking over development. Under the guidance of the new team, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was revealed, with a significant change in the play mechanics and storyline. Kojima Productions retained responsibility for the game's overall plot and Raiden's design.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was well received by critics with the staff noting a growing popularity despite initial mixed reactions to Platinum Games' involvement. The game was praised for its sophisticated cutting system, its use of Metal Gear elements to complement the story despite the game's focus on action, and its intense boss fights. However, reviewers have criticized the game for its camera and story mode's length.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Plot

While providing security detail in an unnamed African country for its prime minister, N'Mani, Maverick operative Raiden and his team are attacked by Desperado, a rogue PMC involved in terrorism. While Raiden fends off Desperado forces, their de facto leader "Sundowner" manages to kidnap and execute the premier. Sundowner's comrade, "Jetstream" Sam Rodriguez, fights and defeats Raiden, severely damaging his cyborg body. Raiden barely survives, and Doktor later gives him a new black cyborg armor that grants him much more power.

Three weeks later, Raiden infiltrates the breakaway nation of Abkhazia after learning that Desperado is leading a military coup there. He plans to capture Andrey Dolzaev, an extremist leading the Abkhazian forces, to force Desperado into standing down. Desperado anticipates the move and assigns a prototype AI designated LQ-84i to stop him. Raiden defeats LQ-84i in combat, and later has it rebuilt as an ally, naming it Bladewolf. He faces further opposition from Mistral, the commander of Desperado's forces in Abkhazia. After Raiden kills Mistral in combat, Dolzaev commits suicide by blowing up an oil tank he is standing on.

With the close of the Abkhazia mission, Maverick assign Raiden and Bladewolf to investigate a research facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. There, Raiden meets an orphan named George, and learns that George was at the facility to have his brain�along with the brains of several other orphans�surgically removed and shipped to the United States. He learns that Sundowner inspected the facility in the company of Senator Steven Armstrong, creating an alliance between Desperado and World Marshal, another PMC. They plan to condition the children's brains to become killers through VR training and place them inside cybernetic bodies to create new soldiers, similar to Raiden. Raiden rescues George and the unharvested orphans, and takes them to Doktor, killing the facility's lead researcher when he takes George as a human shield and attempts to gas the orphans with a concentrated form of chloroform.

Raiden realizes that World Marshal carefully structured itself so that it is free to pursue these immoral practices in such a way that it cannot be targeted officially, and that he cannot bring them to justice if he continues working for Maverick. He promptly resigns and with Bladewolf at his side, launches a one-man assault on World Marshal's headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Though he is no longer employed by them, Maverick unofficially approves of his actions and provides discreet support throughout. As he fights his way through the city's privatized police force and Desperado soldiers, Raiden becomes conflicted over those he has killed. The longer he fights, the more he starts regressing towards his aggressive child soldier persona, "Jack the Ripper", before finally embracing it when he encounters Samuel Rodriguez and another operative named Monsoon. He kills Monsoon and infiltrates World Marshal's headquarters before locating and killing Sundowner in short order. There, he learns that Armstrong brought World Marshal and Desperado together to exploit Raiden's desire to avenge N'Mani's death. Armstrong used Desperado to distract Raiden while he carries out "Operation Tecumseh": a plan to assassinate the President of the United States during peace negotiations with Pakistan to ensure another War on Terror.

While Doktor recovers the children's brains, Raiden seeks help from the Solis company to reach Pakistan in time to stop Armstrong. He encounters Samuel on the way and the pair engage in a final duel from which Raiden emerges victorious; Bladewolf then confiscates the fallen Samuel's HF-Sword. At Solis, Sunny helps Raiden travel to Shabhazabad Air Base in Pakistan, where he is attacked by Metal Gear EXCELSUS, a quadrupedal tank piloted by Senator Armstrong. Armstrong reveals that he does not need to kill the President for his plan to be successful; killing US military personnel at the base is enough to agitate the American people. Armstrong, with his connections to the PMCs, would win any subsequent election in a landslide. This would give him free rein to realize his vision of a society where only the strong survive, fighting and dying only for what they believe in, not for a company, nation, or anyone else. Raiden destroys EXCELSUS, but discovers that Armstrong has augmented himself with nanomachines that give him incredible strength and near-invulnerability. Raiden is nearly beaten to death, but Bladewolf intervenes and gives him Samuel's sword, which Raiden uses to kill Armstrong.

In the epilogue, Maverick receives approval to create a new cyborg staffing firm, allowing them to shelter the orphans' brains and potentially give them a chance at a better life, while George and Bladewolf go live at Solis with Sunny. Although Desperado is defeated and the brain-taking operation defunct, World Marshal remains in business and the US-Pakistan tensions remain. Raiden informs Boris he will not return to Maverick, stating that " own war to fight".

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Gameplay

Players assume control of Raiden, a katana-wielding cyborg. He is initially playable in his "White" form, which was based on his appearance in Guns of the Patriots, where he is depicted wearing white armor. At the second chapter in the game he switches to the more powerful "Black" cyborg armor variant. Nevertheless the player can alter Raiden's appearance through alternative skins. Unlike previous titles in the Metal Gear series, where players try not to be noticed by enemies, Rising is action oriented, focusing on swordfighting and a sophisticated cutting system to fight and defeat enemies. Although Raiden's main weapon is his high-frequency blade, Raiden can wield weapons such as a dagger or a rocket launcher. Other subweapons can only be obtained after defeating the game's bosses.

The game's cutting system allows players to engage in melee combat, as well as to precisely slash enemies and objects at will along a geometrical plane using the "free slicing" Blade Mode. Virtually any object in the game can be cut, including vehicles and enemies, though elements of the environment were intentionally limited to structures such as pillars and walls to better facilitate the game. Entering Blade Mode produces a special targeting reticule in the form of a transparent blue plane which can be rotated and moved, tracing orange lines across the surfaces of objects to indicate exactly where they will be cut; it can also be used to enter a bullet time state, giving players the opportunity to precisely slash targets during moments of action, such as slicing through a falling target from multiple angles before it hits the ground. These features can be employed strategically, for example disabling opponents, finding weak points and gaps in armor, severing support columns to collapse ceilings or walls onto enemies, deflecting enemy fire, or cutting through objects to remove enemy cover. However, entering into Blade Mode reduces Raiden's energy to the point that if dropped to a certain level, it cannot be used. Across the story the player obtains the Ripper Mode, a state which enhances Raiden's power for a limited time facilitating the use of Blade Mode.

Raiden has the ability to parry attacks even when his back is turned, allowing him to counterattack enemies and perform multiple combos. The player also has access to a stealth mode called "Ninja Dash" which drastically increases Raiden's speed and allows him to climb certain areas. This allows him to strategically ambush an enemy rather than fighting head to head. Another key feature is called Zandatsu (斬奪?, lit. "cut and take"), and involves "cutting" through enemies and "taking" parts, energy, ammunition, items, and information from the bodies of dismembered cyborgs and robots. This maneuver can be employed when attacking an enemy during Blade Mode and helps Raiden gain energy. When completing a mission, the player will be rewarded with a specific amount of points depending on his or her performance and will receive a grade, with the highest being "S". These points allow them to buy upgrades for Raiden's equipment.

The player can carry out reconnaissance using a visor. Through this, the player can verify the areas and proceed to the objective avoiding contact with enemies. Hiding in a cardboard box makes sneaking easier for Raiden. Being spotted by an enemy triggers the "Alert Mode", in which Raiden is assaulted by multiple enemies for a determined time. The player also gains assistance from Bladewolf, a dog-like machine that gathers map information for Raiden.

Reception
Various sites such as Eurogamer, 1UP.com and VideoGamer.com listed it as one of the most anticipated games of 2012 because it distances itself from previous games in the franchise as well as considering Platinum Games' previous work. However, a common criticism echoed by IGN's George Richards has been that its style contrasts sharply with the previous Metal Gear games as a result of the change of developers and player character Raiden. David Hougton of Games Radar noted that Raiden's actions during play were not out of character considering his role in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots where he was able to fight soldiers without his arms. During the E3 2012, both GameSpot editors Kevin VanOrd and Peter Brown were surprised with the gameplay provided by the demo, with the former calling it "fluid third-person action featuring slow-motion swordplay" in place of the stealth style featured in the Metal Gear Solid series. Both writers still found Raiden suitable for the game's style and plot owing to his role in previous Metal Gear games. 1UP's Jose Otero provided similar comments, praising the gameplay's style, but still felt the demo was more like a tutorial rather than a stage of game.

Producer Atsushi Inaba took to his Twitter feed to address fans' concerns over the project. He acknowledged the mixed reaction to the unveiling of Rising, but hopes gamers will spot "a glimpse of the future" in the trailer. Inaba promises its "love and respect will shine through." The negative reactions came from fans noticing the genre switching to a "hack and slash" game. Inaba expressed his dismay at the fans' comparison of Metal Gear Rising with Ninja Gaiden 3, having criticized the latter game. During Games Convention 2012, Kojima Productions noted the demos were well received by fans due to the number of attendees that wanted to play it. They added that feedback for the demo was positive. In September 2012, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was one of the winners from Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association's Japan Game Awards.