[Hands-On] Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Zone of the Enders HD Collection Demo)

“I am the lightning, the rain transformed.”

So, the Zone of the Enders HD Collection came out a few days ago, and as most know, it also came with the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance demo on the disc. What follows are my impressions of the game so far.

First things first, the game looks amazing. The folks at Platinum have made a very pretty game that runs very smoothly. I did notice a few framerate drops here and there, but they were mere hiccups when the cutting was probably a bit too much — I mean, I did just chop up the support of a bridge into hundreds of teeny-tiny pieces. I can forgive a little dip in the framerate for that. The majority of the time, the game ran buttery smooth.

Lip syncing is a little off – but it’s been like that for pretty much the entire series — even the gorgeous Metal Gear Solid 4 doesn’t have perfect syncing.

There are some typos in the subtitles, likely to be fixed before the final game…I hope.

Animations are smooth, and character models look quite nice.

You don’t really get much in the way of a story from the demo. You find out a bit about what Raiden has been up to in the events following Guns of the Patriots, you meet a few characters that will be supporting Raiden, such as Boris, Courtney Collins, and Kevin Washington.

I was hoping for a more “Metal Gear“-esque ending to the demo – a swell in the music, black screen, dramatic reveal, logo – the works. Nothing really happens – the demo just kind of ends (I won’t spoil the ending itself, as it is at least kind of interesting), which was kind of sad but, eh.

It’s a demo after all.

In true Platinum Games fashion, the game plays amazingly. Controls are tight and fluid.

Square/X: deals out quick slashes.
Triangle/Y: deals heavy, slow slashes.
Cross/A: Jumps.
R1/RB: Acts as your sprint/run button and
R2/RT: Attacks with your equipped sub-weapon.
L1/LB: Activates “Blade” mode.
L2/LT: Aims your sub-weapon.
The right analog stick controls the camera, and controls the aiming of your blade in Blade mode.
Left stick moves Raiden and controls the camera in Blade mode.

“Blade” mode is the best part of the gameplay. The standard gameplay feels like your typical 3rd person hack/slash – Bayonetta/Devil May Cry style. Blade mode slows down time when the Blade meter is full, allowing you to aim precisely where you want and slice and dice any and every enemy, or object you come across. If you see it, chances are, you can chop it into hundreds of little pieces.

This also gives you a chance to slice cyborgs enemies in a specific place (marked with a red box on screen) to expose what looks like a glowing blue spinal cord which you can then rip out by pressing the Circle/B button when the icon appears on screen. This refills your Blade meter and health mid fight.

Time ONLY slows while the meter is full, otherwise, you just aim and slash in real-time – but with the control of the right stick instead of button mashing (Though you can use buttons as well!). Got an enemy on a bridge and you don’t want to face him head-on? Slice up the support holding it up and watch both it, and the enemy fall.

It’s seriously impressive. Normal slashes can also cut through objects, but Blade mode is much more fun.

There’s also a quick VR Training tutorial you can take to get you acquainted with the controls. There are also 2 difficulty modes to choose from (3 total, but “Hard” is grayed out) – Easy and Normal. I actually died a few times on Normal, so it’s definitely a challenge – like Platinum is known for. It’s the fun kind of challenge, though.

You can skip cutscenes, just like in MGS4 – pause the scene, then select “Skip” – however, CODEC conversations can’t be skipped here. Thankfully, they don’t take you out of the game completely, and instead appear on the side of Raiden, in-game, and allow you to move around while they go on.

Hopefully the final game allows you to skip these as well, though. I can see it getting pretty frustrating if you die and restart a checkpoint and have to keep viewing the same conversation over and over.

A Note: I never died in a segment that had a Codec beforehand, so I don’t know if the game allows you to skip them after the first time you see/hear them.

You earn “Battle Points” as you fight enemies and can collect parts from them, such as the left hand of cyborgs, which you can spend for Upgrades, however this is not present in the demo (Upgrading, that is.).

The demo ends on a boss fight with LQ-48i, and yes, you DO get to fight it. Even on Easy, it puts up a good fight. Once defeated, the demo ends.

All in all, if you haven’t, I highly recommend picking up the Zone of the Enders HD Collection. Not only are you getting 2 great games, but you’re also getting a chance to try out a great action game set in the world of Metal Gear.

I can recommend, without hesitation, to both fans of Metal Gear and action games in general, to check out the Metal Gear Rising demo included on the disc.

I do so hate that “Revengeance” moniker, though. That’s just awful.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is due out in February, 2013.

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