System: PSP
When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, all the MGS fans rejoiced. Finally,
the fans do not have to put up with the blaphesmy which is the Metal Gear Acid series.
They are fun in their own rights, but let face the fact: It is not MGS if they don't have
the real time stealth actions, over-the-top character design, beautiful cut-scenes and
thought-provoking story lines. I am not an avid fan of MGS series but I do love playing MGS
on PSX and MGS2 (but the sissy Raiden can just go and die). So, will Metal Gear Solid Portable
Ops (will be called MGS PO hence onwards) fulfilled all the fans' desires? Read on.
The first thing that people will check is the graphic. Despite the fact that this game is
for handhelds, people are still expecting the graphic to be on par with PS2 version. Well,
does it? The answer is yes and no. The character design for the game is very beautiful.
Snake with his new stealth suit looks really beautiful and detailed. The same goes for all
the characters: the soldiers with their uniforms, the villians, the doctors and nurses all
rendered beautifully. Some people claimed that the design of the soldiers lacked in variety but
i would said otherwise. They are plenty enough to keep things interesting. However, the same
cannot be said about the surrounding. i found that the surrounding can be sparse and lack in
details most of the times. There are some exceptions but sadly, you will find that most of
the maps lack the details that make MGS series so outstanding. In fact, the detail level cannot
be compared to Syphon Filter which was released on PSP before this game. Syphon Filter managed
to do what MGS did not; beautiful rendered surrounding of various kind. On a sidenote, I didn't
see any drop in frame rate even when the action is intense. Hopefully, Konami will rectify this
if they decided to release another MGS game on PSP.
For those that looking forward to those beautiful cutscenes in MGS series, you will not find any
here. Instead the cutscenes are replace by black and white inked art styles that are introduced
in MGS Digital Novel which was released on PSP some times ago. I am sure the reason they do this
is to utilise the usage of UMD space which is pretty limited. However, kudos to Konami, they
managed to pull this off. Those cutscenes are done pretty well and it is very refreshing to look
at.
The music in MGS PO is as usual pretty standard MGS-fare. High standard music score with the usual
speeches from the soldiers, the screams of the innocents, the sound of knocking on the walls, the
gunfire and so on. The music can be dramatic and really blend in well with the game. And the voice
acting was acceptable and not irritating. I love the voice acting of Snake. It really bring out
the character. My only complaint here is they take out the Codec speeches and replaced it with
text only. I understand that they need to do this due to space limitation but still, this is a very
big ommision considering the fact that the Codec transmissions have been featured with full voice
acting since MGS1 on PSX. Long time fans will probably be disappointed with this.
Konami has adjusted the controls or MGS PO to suit the PSP layout and buttons (or the lack of
buttons). In order to sneak, you will have to press the Triangle button and move with the analog
stick. Sitcking to walls is also achieved using the same button and move towards the wall. Overall,
the controls will take some time to get used to but it is servicable and did not break the game at
all. However, you will have problems doing precise aiming using PSP's analog nub. Not the game's
fault though. I think Konami already trying their best accomodating PSP shortcoming and I do not
see any game-breaking problems with the controls.
You can't have MGS game without its thought-provoking, complicated storylines. And you have that
plenty here. The storyline in MGS PO is set after the events in MGS3 Snake Eater. The story started
with Naked SNake/Big Boss waking up in a prison somewhere in Colombia, captured by his ex-team
members, Fox Hound. He eventually escapes with Roy Campbell who happens to be captured in the same
prison and together they tried to foil the latest deployment of a prototype Metal Gear (not known
as Metal Gear yet). Sound interesting and seems to be the usual heavy stuff from Kojima but here
is where the similiarity ends. Where as the storyline on the console brethens are kept in a steady
pace, the storyline in MGS PO was paced slower. I am sure the reason is due to the portability nature
it wants to represent but this decision is killing the game a little. The story was break into
small, bit sized chunks and the actual progression of the story only happens once every few missions.
You will find yourself backtracking to previous maps before get to experience the next story plot.
Impatient gamers will be put off by the slow progression of the main plot and might stop playing the
game altogether. Also, the side stories for some of the characters are not fully developed. Good ol'
Roy Campbell, who play an integral part in MGS history was reduced to a one-dimensional truck driving
sidekick. What an injustice. Also, the villians are not developed further causing you to feel
underwhelmed when facing them. Some of the villians are fleshed out quite nice but more works could
have been done here. The tension and the frantic urgency of the story was not felt until the last
few missions. This is not to say that the story is not good. In fact, it is an integral part of the
universe and I am sure hardcore fans would play the game to death to "decipher" the story. But the
important parts will only be felt in the final hours of the game.
The game is named Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. So, it should play like any other Metal Gear Solid
series that you played before on the consoles, right? Well, yes and no. The stealth action from
previous series was kept intact, however the survival mode from MGS3 was left out. You are still able
to stick to walls, peeking from corners, duck, crawl, climb and so on. The CQC system is also in
where you can sneak up an enemy from behind and grab them. Then, you can proceed to integorate them
for informations or choke them to oblivion and get their items. However, a new addition to the game
is the ability to recruit the enemy soldiers into your own team and use them to your advantages.
You are also able to recruit doctors, technicians etc to help in healing or development of weapons
and gadgets. Sound interesting? It can be. I found myself going back to the previous maps and replay
it just to get better soldiers and more items. It is very addicting especially when you made a point
of capturing every soldiers available in the mission. not an easy feat but it can be done. You will
feel the sense of achievement especially when you managed to acquire those hidden soldiers like
Ocelot, Para-medic or the villians (yes, they ARE recruitable) where you have to do certain actions
and clear certain conditions to get them. Each soldiers have their special functions that can be used
in missions or you can just deploy the extra soldiers as spies. The micro-management of this aspect
can be daunting to some but once you get used to it, you can't stop recruiting! Gotta get them all!
Boss fights are also interesting and refreshing. You are no longer confined to a small boxed area
like the console series but the whole map will be your battlefield. You can simply run off to another
part of the map to heal, reload or whatever and come back to continue the fight. That doesn't mean
the enemy can't follow you though
They will still chase after you and try to take you down. However due to the nature of the game where you can take rest before each mission, you might not feel
the frantic urgency of fighting a boss. Also, some of the missions can be boring. Most of the missions
consist of "reaching X place" or "get a certain item then reach x place". There are some minor variety
like rescuing someone or intergorate for some informations etc but it is too few in between. Hopefully,
this can be improved if they decided to make a sequel on PSP again.
BTW, i hate the design of the prototype Metal Gear.
Overall:
Graphics: 8/10 (for the lack of details on the surrounding)
Sound: 9/10 (for taking out the Codec transmission speeches)
Control: 7.5/10 (can be improved. Syphon Filter proved that)
Story: 7/10 (the pace and presentation of the story is bringing the score down)
Gameplay: 8/10 (not everyone's cup of tea)
Overall: 7.9/10
I am sure I will get fried by the MGS fanboys for giving such a "low" score to this game. it is not
a bad game but the flaws can put off some gamers from completing the game. However, this is still
a very good game from Konami and kudos to them for trying to bring the MGS series to the PSP.
A decent outing.
.