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It’s only with this generation that online gaming has really taken hold on Sony’s consoles – after the trailblazing efforts of the Dreamcast (God rest its soul), the PlayStation 2 made half-hearted attempts at offering an online service. Now, however, the PlayStation 3 has truly taken online gaming to heart – indeed, the likes of Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4 and WarHawk have ensured that the sound of hostile fire is deafening on the PlayStation Network.
One of the biggest problems faced with those who wish to take their game to the online arena is the current abundance of choice – acquiring the skills necessary to survive in the highly competitive battlefields can be a time consuming experience – and reaching the upper reaches of online scoreboards can require full-time commitment. It’s a brave game, then, that attempts to challenge the tight grip held by the current online kings and try to prize red-eyed frag addicts from their shooter of choice. However, it’s typical of Kojima’s bravura that it is Metal Gear Online, a full-blooded multiplayer experience from Konami, that is looking to steal away the hordes from the likes of COD 4 and Team Fortress 2.
At its heart the game is a vanilla multiplayer affair, and not a whole world away from the online offerings of Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence. On a superficial level all the prerequisites of a modern online shooter are present and correct – capture the base reports in for duty, as does a 16-player deathmatch as well as a handful of other modes. It also seems that it’s taken copious notes from some of the competition – an emphasis on character creation and leveling up brings to mind Call of Duty 4 and it seems that customisation will play a large part in the final game.
Naturally, one of the biggest pulls of Metal Gear Online is its existence in one of the most revered universes in contemporary gaming. Set against the backdrop of the forthcoming Guns of the Patriots, this is a refreshingly cutscene-free exploration of Hideo Kojima’s world, and despite the absence of any of the leading cast from the series, the washed-out near-future look is instantly recognisable.
Also familiar is the repertoire of abilities instantly available to the player: press triangle near a wall and lo!, ye shall push yourself against it as is the lore of Metal Gear. And while you’re there, why not proffer a little tap to attract the attention of your foes. Indeed, all the Metal Gear tropes are present and they work considerably well in the multiplayer space.
There’s a fairly traditional Metal Gear arsenal to choose from, with chaff grenades and Claymore mines both featuring. Likewise, the guns on offer will be familiar to anyone who’s ever spent time attempting to decipher Kojima’s world, with the VZ.83, AK10Z and M4s among others all making welcome appearances.
Of course, some of the Metal Gear gameplay traits work better in this environment than others and, surprisingly, of the more offbeat features it’s 1998’s answer to the Companion Cube – the faithful cardboard box – that fares the best. With each stage littered with empty boxes they prove a readily available tactic for those who wish to take a stealthier approach. The ‘men’s’ magazine – a typically smutty Metal Gear favourite – is also present and is used to distract other players.
Unforuntately our hands-on session was blighted by large periods of downtime, as the temperamental servers stuttered and wheezed and seemed to take a particular dislike to us, kicking us out with the eager zeal of a boorish nightclub doorman. It should be pointed out that this was no fault of the game, nor is it indicative of the final Metal Gear Online experience, and rather was a side-effect of accessing foreign servers. This downtime did, however, grant us the opportunity to not only get a good feel for the loading screens – they’re green! – but also to have a wander around some of the options on offer in Metal Gear Online. A photo album suggests the ability to upload and download in-game images – a nod to the similar feature in Halo 3, and given the comic trimmings of the Metal Gear universe we’re sure it will offer plenty of titillating photo opportunities.
There was also Player Search and match-making features evident, and most interesting was the presence of a Metal Gear Online Shop, though naturally at this stage the shutters were down and it was closed for business.
At last year’s Tokyo Game Show it was announced that the game would feature as part of the Metal Gear Solid 4 package. However, Konami is currently suggesting that Metal Gear Online will be a standalone title. While MGO is certainly a solid package, it may struggle to get itself heard if left all on its lonesome. In the wake of the inclusive mentality of the Orange Box, and Call of Duty 4 for that matter, it makes more sense to bundle the game with Guns of the Patriots, and a threadbare edition of the game featured with Snake’s supposed last outing with additional content available to download over the aforementioned shop would stand more of a chance against the big guns.
Despite our concerns that there might not be enough unique content to tempt all but the diehard Metal Gear fans away from the likes of Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2, the pull of the series is enough to ensure that the game lobbies will always maintain a healthy population, and if anything the move away from some of the narrative excesses of the series serves to highlight what made Metal Gear such a hit in the first place. As you’d expect from Kojima Productions it’s a highly polished and imminently playable experience, though whether it can blossom into anything more than an accompaniment to Metal Gear Solid 4 can only be ascertained after a more extended hands-on.
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I think they should package this game with MGS 4, that way it’s going to open up the series to the masses even more.
If everything works out with the online game and the main game, then a serious amount of people will be willing to invest in a PS3. If they package it seperately though, the game is going to have to be one of the greatest online experiences ever created.
The reason i still haven’t bought Warhawk on PS3 is for the basic fact there is no single player mode. Sure there is serious amounts of fun to have playing against your friends, but sometimes it’s good to break away from that and enjoy the experience of the single player. If they package the online game with the main game then i think we could be looking at one of the greatest games of all time (if everything works out and it lives up to the hype).Twitter.com/scatigno1
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Metal Gear is one of my favorite game series and one of the reasons i’ve held out this long on getting a ps3.
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