Metal Gear is one of the highest quality franchises Konami has under its belt, but the game has always been a largely single player series. Starting on the MSX, the game has followed the adventures of grizzled war veteran Solid Snake through deception, espionage, and love triangles.
Back after the release of Metal Gear Solid 2, creator Hideo Kojima expressed his interest in an online Metal Gear title, but said that it would not see the light of day for some time. When the re-issued special edition of Metal Gear Solid 3 shipped (dubbed Subsistence), it came with a free online mode, which Kojima and team called a mere test of the “real” Metal Gear online.
With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, fans are finally getting Metal Gear Online as a free addition. Before the game hits in June, though, players in Europe, North America and Japan have been playing the beta for the past day or so.
After a disastrous launch a week ago followed by a delay, the game has finally gone live with more stable servers. I had a chance to join the Japanese beta, and join in on a few games.
The first step when you start up MGO is creating your character. There are a number of options to personalize your character, including skin color, shirts, pants, an assortment of straps and gear, and even an awesome balaclava. You then select four skills from a list of 15-20 which will augment your character in certain ways. For instance, assault rifle mastery will reduce recoil and reload times when using assault rifles, while Scanning allows you to high jack an enemy’s SOP (more on this later), allowing your allies to see enemies on the map.
Once you have created and named your character, you can enter a training stage and hone your skills on character replicas and moving dummies. You can also jump straight into a game and try your skills. Old school Metal Gear fans be warned though; controls have changed a lot since the last installment.
The biggest difference is aiming and firing. While movement is largely the same, aiming is now on the L1 trigger, and firing is on the R1 trigger. Even CQC has been moved to the R1 button, allowing players to quickly take an enemy down if they appear very close.
Since the thumb has been freed of firing and CQC duty, it is now free to clutch the right analog stick, which you use to look around while aiming. Console shooter fans will be surprised to find that MGO controls a lot like games like Gears of War. Though, while some assault rifle style weapons use the over-the-shoulder camera when aiming, sub machine guns like the P90 use a lock on system (or an optional first person view, achieved by tapping triangle). My character uses sub machine guns almost exclusively, so along with sub machine gun mastery, I also use the increased lock skill, which allows me to lock on to enemies that are further away. it is this kind of customization that makes each character in MGO unique. It feels more like an RPG in that regard than a shooter. When more skills are available in the full game, it will likely play a bigger part in team strategy.
The biggest addition to MGO is the SOP system. An acronym for “Sons of the Patriots”, the SOP system is a nanomachine system that allows each character to “patch” into the rest of the team, keeping an eye on their vitals, and their situation. By simply saluting with the triangle button, players connect to their allies via SOP. Allies are then visible through walls, and status changes like being knocked out, as well as death will be apparent to teammates. SOP can work against players, as well. If an enemy manages to capture you, and use his scanning skill, he can transfer all your SOP information to his entire team, giving them a huge advantage over your team.
Because of this, and the slower pace of the game, MGO encourages teamwork. Team Deathmatch games usually start without much direction and focus, but once players get the hang of the game, they realize that working in groups is much more helpful than it is in other shooters.
It’s hard to see now if the game will become as “casual unfriendly” in the future as the original MGS3 online campaign did. With just a few hours under everyone’s belt, all players are still learning things every time they start a match. For those in North America and Japan, it might be too late to get a beta code, but those in Europe can download the beta from the Playstation Network store right now.
The beta ends on May 11th.
I have played MGO today and I must say I liked it. Changes in game controls are a bit confusing because I’m used to old MGS contols. I think those changes are for good but that don’t change the fact that they are a little confusing ;]
The HUD needs some work. With the colors used (a sandy tan) for all inanimate objects and buildings, and given the usual earth-tone colors, especially in the the “Blood Bath” map, it becomes somewhat difficult to locate fellow teammates unless you’re on the contrasting blue team.
The HUD naming over each player also is too hard to read due to a small font. Small-screen players will suffer even more headaches from this. With a potential 16 players per match, and an emphasis on communication between your fellow teammates, singling out individual squad members becomes crucial for synchronicity in methodical attacks or covering fire.
The quick-switch item/weapon also proves a tad twitchy as it requires the right amount of pressure and speed to go back and forth between weapons. The old pressure-sentitive analog buttons of old in the Dualshock 2 are gone, and are now complimented (or hindered in my case) with the Sixaxis overhanging button with more of a spring-action feel, and a bit tough on the fingers until the controlller is used for some time to “break in” the button.
Overall, still a buttery-smooth movement system, and FPS controls are some of the best I’ve ever played, offering a real sense of natural movement and flow. If these kinks (of which I’ve submitted to them already to review) are worked out, this could very well be an incredibly highly modifiable, deep immersion into tactical online play.
Metal Gear is not great game. imho