To me this seems like an epic fail to me.
Honestly, the Metal Gear series has always largely been about stealth. The manic action and combat bits interspaced with the idea of getting into and out of places more or less undetected, and figuring out what to use in which location at what time.
This does not seem anything like that, it actually seems like a fairly derivitive sword-based brawler... albiet with nice graphics, and some ultra-violence thrown in. Optimizing bullet time mechanics for close combat is cool, but not all that special overall.
I'll also say that using the "Metal Gear Solid" title strikes me as being a problem due to the fact that the "Solid" bit came from a very specific character who is no longer going to be a staple of the franchise apparently, and might not even be appearing in this game.
Plus I will be totally blunt in saying that there is an east vs. west "war" involved here. Going waaay back to when they replaced Snake with Raiden for most of a game, there was a bit discussion about how there were issues in Japan with a game of this sort featuring a Caucasian protaganist, and so the effort was made to replace Snake with a more "appropriate" Japanese character... which didn't go over well with the biggest part of the paying fanbase.
I think a big part of the appeal of the series, was to have a very stereotypical seeming western military/action hero, sort of like a combination of Snake Plisskin and Rambo, taking on military and science fiction type threats. The settings oftentimes involving areas similar to where the US fought wars like various jungle locations, and even at some point actual wars (although the first Metal Gear games involved political parody as the backstory, if you read the instruction manual).
Metal Gear was never realistic, but was ground in a very specific, fairly "Western" type vibe despite the introduction of anime type trappings.
This new game doesn't even seem like Metal Gear anymore, it rather seems like some pretty derititive Japanese action stuff. I mean here we've got a Japanese military cyborg, running around with a Katana, fighting other cyborgs, and ripping out spines to absorb energy in a manner which seems to make no sense at all.
While Metal Gear's storyline has always been very convoluted and insane, it did make a degree of sense, and seemed to be just a couple steps higher than most techno-thriller stuff. It just threw out a LOT of differant stuff all at the same time, where most stories of that genere would have one wierd thing as the focus. This makes less sense than usual.
Besides which part of the appeal was that despite his exotic genetic backround, Snake was more or less just a guy with a bunch of guns and James Bond type gimmicks. The absolutly crazy situations he found himself in, and the enmies he wound up fighting, was part of what make him cool, and a sort of BA underdog you could cheer for, because by rights the dude should have been crushed instantly by any of the freaks he winds up somehow taking down.
I just don't get that from "I'm a Cyborg Samurai-Ninja, who can slow down time, and slash through vehicles and concrete pillars like warm butter".
I mean it's not a bad idea for a game, I've played more than a few games with premises surprisingly similar to that. But that is *NOT* Metal Gear... and Raiden is, and always was, made of epic fail. I've read enough translated stuff where I understand the perspective of the Japanese fan base, however I don't think further easternizing an existing franchise is going to do it much good.
That's my thoughts at least. I've only tinkered with Metal Gear ever since the first "we've replaced Snake" incident (I wasn't kidding when I said I refused to buy the game, and wouldn't purchuse any further installments and give them more of my money, especially given the unannounced manner in which it was done), but really this doesn't seem like a good way to try and win people like me back, or even impress those who had been following the series through every installment irregardless of the desicians made.
Honestly, the Metal Gear series has always largely been about stealth. The manic action and combat bits interspaced with the idea of getting into and out of places more or less undetected, and figuring out what to use in which location at what time.
This does not seem anything like that, it actually seems like a fairly derivitive sword-based brawler... albiet with nice graphics, and some ultra-violence thrown in. Optimizing bullet time mechanics for close combat is cool, but not all that special overall.
I'll also say that using the "Metal Gear Solid" title strikes me as being a problem due to the fact that the "Solid" bit came from a very specific character who is no longer going to be a staple of the franchise apparently, and might not even be appearing in this game.
Plus I will be totally blunt in saying that there is an east vs. west "war" involved here. Going waaay back to when they replaced Snake with Raiden for most of a game, there was a bit discussion about how there were issues in Japan with a game of this sort featuring a Caucasian protaganist, and so the effort was made to replace Snake with a more "appropriate" Japanese character... which didn't go over well with the biggest part of the paying fanbase.
I think a big part of the appeal of the series, was to have a very stereotypical seeming western military/action hero, sort of like a combination of Snake Plisskin and Rambo, taking on military and science fiction type threats. The settings oftentimes involving areas similar to where the US fought wars like various jungle locations, and even at some point actual wars (although the first Metal Gear games involved political parody as the backstory, if you read the instruction manual).
Metal Gear was never realistic, but was ground in a very specific, fairly "Western" type vibe despite the introduction of anime type trappings.
This new game doesn't even seem like Metal Gear anymore, it rather seems like some pretty derititive Japanese action stuff. I mean here we've got a Japanese military cyborg, running around with a Katana, fighting other cyborgs, and ripping out spines to absorb energy in a manner which seems to make no sense at all.
While Metal Gear's storyline has always been very convoluted and insane, it did make a degree of sense, and seemed to be just a couple steps higher than most techno-thriller stuff. It just threw out a LOT of differant stuff all at the same time, where most stories of that genere would have one wierd thing as the focus. This makes less sense than usual.
Besides which part of the appeal was that despite his exotic genetic backround, Snake was more or less just a guy with a bunch of guns and James Bond type gimmicks. The absolutly crazy situations he found himself in, and the enmies he wound up fighting, was part of what make him cool, and a sort of BA underdog you could cheer for, because by rights the dude should have been crushed instantly by any of the freaks he winds up somehow taking down.
I just don't get that from "I'm a Cyborg Samurai-Ninja, who can slow down time, and slash through vehicles and concrete pillars like warm butter".
I mean it's not a bad idea for a game, I've played more than a few games with premises surprisingly similar to that. But that is *NOT* Metal Gear... and Raiden is, and always was, made of epic fail. I've read enough translated stuff where I understand the perspective of the Japanese fan base, however I don't think further easternizing an existing franchise is going to do it much good.
That's my thoughts at least. I've only tinkered with Metal Gear ever since the first "we've replaced Snake" incident (I wasn't kidding when I said I refused to buy the game, and wouldn't purchuse any further installments and give them more of my money, especially given the unannounced manner in which it was done), but really this doesn't seem like a good way to try and win people like me back, or even impress those who had been following the series through every installment irregardless of the desicians made.
