‘Metal Gear Solid: Rising’ gameplay trailer impressions

Raiden is back, and he’s a whole lot more interesting than before. He was pretty badass in MGS4, but with no ability to play him (not even in a VR mission, a la the original Metal Gear Solid), I personally felt a little cheated out of the hot property that was his special brand of ninja goodness. Rising originally seemed like a cop out, with the only information on him being revealed in an image of his face on a website that was released months ago. I recall the day it was announced, because I sat with a pony-tailed, bespectacled friend of mine and tentatively waited for it to be unlocked, and then spent a fervent lunch period gushing over the contents – just a pair of portraits – and speculating on what it was about or what it meant.

That was then and this is now. The game has been revealed. Not just with classically well done cinematics, which would not have served to impress me very much, but with the desperately needed gameplay to confirm its legitimacy! The slicing action, which is very Afro Samurai or Samurai Jack, seems like it’s going to be satisfying in its integration into the world by not limiting you to chopping just foes in half, but the rest of the environment as well. He can collapse building supports (architecture or stationary construction) or props such as cars or fruit. Enemies are severed precisely where they are cut, and that makes slicing and dicing take on a whole new meaning. The fighting system is a made up Japanese word, which looks great brush-stroked across a screen, called Zan-Datsu. It revolves around “cutting at will”. However, control is maintained, allowing you to finesse the depth of a cut – allowing you to kill, simply maim or wound an enemy. This precision was demonstrated with the watermelon slicing at the conclusion of the trailer. Zan-Datsu may also extend to the implementation of stealth within this game, focusing on hunting and striking from vantage points or hiding spots. The possibility to hide vertically seems to be present based on the word of the developers on hand. Stealth movement is accelerated, moving past the slow toddling pace of earlier “wait and evade” designs. This game moving in this direction is similar to the way Splinter Cell: Conviction broke away from previously established norms for that franchise, by introducing fluid and dynamic stealth where a flow is created from cover to cover, enemy to enemy, and kill to kill.  Secondary weapons, items, and gadgets are said to be in the works, along with a game advancement mechanic of draining energy from the batteries you relinquish from dispatched synthetics to increase your own power.

The F.R.O.G. soldiers remain along with the P.M.C. (Private Military Company) ones. This game is set between MGS2 and MGS4, where at some point Raiden apparently gets the ORGANS ripped out of him. In particular, I was fascinated by the design of the male F.R.O.G. soldier, handling something like a gorilla with the iconic clawed feet. a machine gun was mounted on his long, heavy arms.  Slowly moving through the area, he brushed expended shells aside with his feet, implying that there was already a lengthy conflict here. I am interested to see any other diversions in the established aesthetic. The combat vest remains a centerpiece, featured on every combatant (save Raiden) – even on the more outlandish opponents like Mr. Gorilla. The hard points, bolted down armor, diagonal lines and jagged edges seem to lend more to the “Cut” theme of the trailer. I enjoy the placement of the bandage over his eye without knowing anything about the origin of the mark. The diagonal swipe of the fabric serves to break up the cold, hard symmetry of his design.

I originally scoffed at the idea of the white synthetic blood that made its debut when he was injured in the last game, but now I see why they chose that colour specifically. In the early concepts for Raiden – which I have deliciously laid out for me in a MGS2 artbook – Yoji Shinkawa, the conceptual designer, said that he wanted Raiden to symbolize purity or innocence. Colour-wise, that means he would be very close to pure white due to his whole life being spent in virtual reality. This showed itself in his hair. The white blood seemed to follow this aesthetic, not only showing the extent of his loss of humanity, but how deep the purity flowed. At the same time, this runs contrary to the battle experience that his synthetic body indicates. His armor does feature an interesting amount of orange to it in this iteration, something the previously monotone Raiden lacked. His eyes are also a predatory and feline orange. Perhaps this reflects his heightened predatory state before he became the “flawless” Raiden of MGS4? Or maybe this is a reference to the white/black/orange colour scheme of Grey Fox? Everything about him channels both the Cyborg Ninja, which was a beautiful expression of design and death all his own, and the long hair that made Raiden pop out in the screen. They kept the hair for two important reasons. First, if they closed off his head entirely it would make him seem to lose any humanity he had left, as the majority – if not all – of his human features are in his face. Sacrificing that would’ve been a step too far and I think the novelty of the design would have been lost. Secondly, the smooth, flowing nature of the hair provides an energetic and lightning-hot contrast with the cold hard lines of his armour. As he moves through the scene, his body moves and whips from side to side as he slashes, but all of the smooth flow of his hair helps to add a serious style to his movements. It almost reminds me of a brush traveling around a page. From a mechanic perspective, it also provides the player with a clear indication of his head the whole time, helping to maintain a spacial understanding that would be crucial during any rapid or confusing movement. Examples of this could be seen in Bayonetta, with her hot pink weapons, or Sam Fisher, with the glowing walkie-talkie and goggles. The way his hair  juts out from his head enclosure (when his helmet is down in MGS4) makes him seem like he’s wearing a sort of  intense tribal mask and the hair is the only piece of his humanity left in combat. He becomes a cold calculating animal, ripping everyone apart with ease that rivals the Cyborg Ninja, but with a distinct excess of mobility that the previous iterations lacked.

That mobility is what has me excited for this next game. I want to be able to leap onto walls and lie in wait for prey, then drop down and rip one apart, leaving the second to fumble with his gun as I run up to him in slow motion, sweeping out his legs and then slicing him in a hard diagonal across his body. It’s moments like that which make me excited for Rising, and also happy they’ve drawn the plot away from Snake, but left it in a fairly familiar, established setting.

One closing note: I think I speak for many of us when I say that during the battle with Vamp and Raiden, where Snake provided cover, I wasn’t the only person who had a friend play it through again, just so I could watch the badassery carrying on to the right of the screen. Making a whole game based on that?

Solid.