This is my review of Portable Ops, which was published on the Electric Playground website:
As the past has shown, only good things can be expected from a Metal Gear Solid title. I was happy to discover that the handheld counterpart lived up to its predecessors. Hideo Kojima wouldn't have it any other way.
MGS has never failed to deliver quality gameplay. Somehow it always retained the same basic idea, while changing just enough to keep you from saying, "It's the same as the previous title." In Portable Ops, you once again take control of Snake/Big Boss in another epic espionage adventure.
Those who know the original Metal Gear games know that Big Boss became a great military leader. Well, now you can give him a head start by recruiting some "fresh meat for the grinder." Unlike any of the previous MGS titles, in Portable Ops you have not one, but up to four soldiers on the field at once. You can only control one of them at a time, while the other three wait in cardboard boxes until you choose to switch characters--a cheesy idea to the newcomers, but a classic tribute to Metal Gear's origins.
The best thing about recruiting soldiers is that they possess various special skills, such as the ability to run faster or an increased throwing distance. Other types of soldiers can be placed in various units to help you throughout the game.
I found the camera problematic every once in a while. Like in MGS3: Subsistence, the camera is fully customizable, which worked great for Subsistence. The problem is that the PSP is lacking a right analogue stick, therefore you're forced to rotate the camera with the D-Pad, and when you're running from the enemy, it's not that easy. I found myself having to stop every once in a while to adjust it, which gets bothersome. Every other aspect of this game plays great; even loading times are practically seamless.
The entire marketing campaign for MPO focused mainly on the online aspect of it. However, the game has a major story based single-player mode. Without giving too much away, seven years after operation Snake Eater, Big Boss has been captured by his former unit. He finds himself in South America, in a major military compound owned by the Soviets and you just know that there's probably a large nuclear equipped secret weapon involved. The story answers many questions about the MGS mythology and brings up many new ones.
MPO is the first MGS game to introduce non-linear, mission based gameplay as opposed to one continuous storyline. The missions include various tasks, such as recruiting an enemy soldier, or retrieving a valuable item. This makes MPO ideal for PSP, because it is possible to finish some of these missions in less than five minutes if you're on the go. At the same time, it is entirely possible to milk the mission to the fullest, capturing every enemy and retrieving any weapons and ammo that you wish to find. Optional bonus missions are included as well. Sometimes I find myself spending hours returning to old maps to recruit new soldiers.
The story mode has a lot of lasting value. I was also happy to see that--unlike MGS3--MPOs bosses do not resemble a sideshow attraction at a carnival. No more bee-shooting, lizard-tongued, photosynthetic astronauts. These guys look much more believable and use real weapons.
The one thing about MGS that has always been "hate it or love it" is its typical, fifteen-minute (or longer) cut-scenes. However, in this game, you'll find the cinematics pass by significantly quicker. Like the gameplay, they are optimized for a handheld experience. The cinematics are presented in an animated comic book style by Ashley Woods, the artist behind the official Metal Gear Solid comics as well as MGS: Digital Graphic Novel for the PSP.
The best part, however, is the voiceovers. After all, what would MGS be without the voice of David Hayter? Yes, the man behind Snake's trademark voice is back. The voice acting itself is as good as any MGS game. Unfortunately, the radio conversations lack voiceovers, but somehow, my heart will go on.
The graphics in MPO are detailed and attractive, on par with games like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. The 3D models and texture mapping was done very well. The level design was exceptionally well done as well. Each map is complex in its own way, giving you the means to sneak around behind crates, through vents, or on rooftops. And each map is fairly distinctive, not giving you that stale feeling of repetitive levels.
The in-game music is subtle, yet adds a lot to the atmosphere. The music in the cutscenes is as epic as always, highlighting the mood successfully and the sound effects are loud and powerful. There is no issue with sound. It's clean, crisp and without glitches.
Online multiplayer was the major focus of advertising for this game. I'm glad to say that MPO has a solid multiplayer aspect. No pun intended. There are four modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture Mission and Vs. Capture allowing six players at a time. However, the multiplayer mode is often very fast paced in contrast to Metal Gear's typical espionage nature.
In addition to multiplayer, MPO has another online aspect called Cyber-Survival. Here, you take one of your units, and send them into cyberspace where they will battle it out NPC style while you go on with your life. Check back sometime later. If your team wins, they bring back any enemy soldiers that were defeated and vice versa... it's a gamble. Although it's kind of weird, knowing that your team is playing online multiplayer without you.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops delivers everything Konami promised and more. It brings tons of stealth action, a powerful storyline an extensive multiplayer mode, and it does so very effectively. Plus with a non-linear single player mode this game has tons of lasting value that'll keep you playing. Portable Ops is a must own for the PSP.
I'm not out to become a journalist or anything, but having a professional piece of published journalism is always nice, since I'm kind of a jack of all trades.
As the past has shown, only good things can be expected from a Metal Gear Solid title. I was happy to discover that the handheld counterpart lived up to its predecessors. Hideo Kojima wouldn't have it any other way.
MGS has never failed to deliver quality gameplay. Somehow it always retained the same basic idea, while changing just enough to keep you from saying, "It's the same as the previous title." In Portable Ops, you once again take control of Snake/Big Boss in another epic espionage adventure.
Those who know the original Metal Gear games know that Big Boss became a great military leader. Well, now you can give him a head start by recruiting some "fresh meat for the grinder." Unlike any of the previous MGS titles, in Portable Ops you have not one, but up to four soldiers on the field at once. You can only control one of them at a time, while the other three wait in cardboard boxes until you choose to switch characters--a cheesy idea to the newcomers, but a classic tribute to Metal Gear's origins.
The best thing about recruiting soldiers is that they possess various special skills, such as the ability to run faster or an increased throwing distance. Other types of soldiers can be placed in various units to help you throughout the game.
I found the camera problematic every once in a while. Like in MGS3: Subsistence, the camera is fully customizable, which worked great for Subsistence. The problem is that the PSP is lacking a right analogue stick, therefore you're forced to rotate the camera with the D-Pad, and when you're running from the enemy, it's not that easy. I found myself having to stop every once in a while to adjust it, which gets bothersome. Every other aspect of this game plays great; even loading times are practically seamless.
The entire marketing campaign for MPO focused mainly on the online aspect of it. However, the game has a major story based single-player mode. Without giving too much away, seven years after operation Snake Eater, Big Boss has been captured by his former unit. He finds himself in South America, in a major military compound owned by the Soviets and you just know that there's probably a large nuclear equipped secret weapon involved. The story answers many questions about the MGS mythology and brings up many new ones.
MPO is the first MGS game to introduce non-linear, mission based gameplay as opposed to one continuous storyline. The missions include various tasks, such as recruiting an enemy soldier, or retrieving a valuable item. This makes MPO ideal for PSP, because it is possible to finish some of these missions in less than five minutes if you're on the go. At the same time, it is entirely possible to milk the mission to the fullest, capturing every enemy and retrieving any weapons and ammo that you wish to find. Optional bonus missions are included as well. Sometimes I find myself spending hours returning to old maps to recruit new soldiers.
The story mode has a lot of lasting value. I was also happy to see that--unlike MGS3--MPOs bosses do not resemble a sideshow attraction at a carnival. No more bee-shooting, lizard-tongued, photosynthetic astronauts. These guys look much more believable and use real weapons.
The one thing about MGS that has always been "hate it or love it" is its typical, fifteen-minute (or longer) cut-scenes. However, in this game, you'll find the cinematics pass by significantly quicker. Like the gameplay, they are optimized for a handheld experience. The cinematics are presented in an animated comic book style by Ashley Woods, the artist behind the official Metal Gear Solid comics as well as MGS: Digital Graphic Novel for the PSP.
The best part, however, is the voiceovers. After all, what would MGS be without the voice of David Hayter? Yes, the man behind Snake's trademark voice is back. The voice acting itself is as good as any MGS game. Unfortunately, the radio conversations lack voiceovers, but somehow, my heart will go on.
The graphics in MPO are detailed and attractive, on par with games like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. The 3D models and texture mapping was done very well. The level design was exceptionally well done as well. Each map is complex in its own way, giving you the means to sneak around behind crates, through vents, or on rooftops. And each map is fairly distinctive, not giving you that stale feeling of repetitive levels.
The in-game music is subtle, yet adds a lot to the atmosphere. The music in the cutscenes is as epic as always, highlighting the mood successfully and the sound effects are loud and powerful. There is no issue with sound. It's clean, crisp and without glitches.
Online multiplayer was the major focus of advertising for this game. I'm glad to say that MPO has a solid multiplayer aspect. No pun intended. There are four modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture Mission and Vs. Capture allowing six players at a time. However, the multiplayer mode is often very fast paced in contrast to Metal Gear's typical espionage nature.
In addition to multiplayer, MPO has another online aspect called Cyber-Survival. Here, you take one of your units, and send them into cyberspace where they will battle it out NPC style while you go on with your life. Check back sometime later. If your team wins, they bring back any enemy soldiers that were defeated and vice versa... it's a gamble. Although it's kind of weird, knowing that your team is playing online multiplayer without you.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops delivers everything Konami promised and more. It brings tons of stealth action, a powerful storyline an extensive multiplayer mode, and it does so very effectively. Plus with a non-linear single player mode this game has tons of lasting value that'll keep you playing. Portable Ops is a must own for the PSP.
I'm not out to become a journalist or anything, but having a professional piece of published journalism is always nice, since I'm kind of a jack of all trades.
