Game Review for Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker

Recently, in fact only 4 days ago, I bought Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the latest game in Hideo Kojima's famous Metal Gear series. It should be noted before I continue that this game was originally called Metal Gear Solid 5, before further development occurred, and the reason I mention that is because this game could pass as the sequel to the main series quite easily. Nonetheless, Peace Walker is a game for Sony's PSP, so it's likely that Konami decided that calling it "5" would be met with hostility by western consumers who do not have any where near as many PSPs as they do PS3s etc (in Japan though, PSPs continue to sell like hotcakes even this far into their life).

Now for reviewing the actual game rather than discussing some of the intricacies related to how it was published. Peace Walker itself is an extremely good game, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to any PSP owner. Originally, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core was the game for PSP owners, and it still is a must have, but in graphics, sound, and overall presentation, it does lack a bit now compared to MGS:PW. In fact, MGS:PW has better graphics than many games from the PS2/Xbox/GameCube era. There are some noticeable texture resolution problems, but these should only ever stand out once you've unlocked a certain set of Extra Ops missions (I shall get to that later).

Of course, a game is not 100% presentation (although I suspect that MGS:PW could win alone with just that), and MGS:PW has a brilliant addition to the over-arching Metal Gear plot. In particular, it chronicles the birth of Militaires Sans Frontières, which for those not learned in French, means "Soldiers without Borders". The significance of this being that this group becomes Outer Heaven, which serves as a future plot point in some other games - or should I say, a past plot point, since the original Metal Gear games are rather old now. It also delves into the personal story of Big Boss and his post-mortem relationship with his mentor The Boss. Also covered in the plot are the rescues of some Sandanista members (part of a revolutionary force in Central America), and most importantly the stopping of a new weapons platform.

And this is where fans of the series are in for a treat - this game not only pits you against a new Metal Gear (as per usual), which is quite important as far as the plot goes, but also pits you against various AI machines of similar attributes, while being able to use scrap from defeated bosses to build your own Metal Gear (this actually reflects part of the original Metal Gear plot, which only really gets resolved in Metal Gear Solid: 4). So expect all the fun boss battles from the other Metal Gear games. Not only that, but these bosses also have excellent presentation - the graphics are excellent, as are the animations, movements, attacks, and everything else.

This brings the review to another wonderful quirk about this game - Kojima studios have teamed up with so many different franchises this time round to give fans some extra treats. For the AIs, the voicing is done by Yamaha's Vocaloid tool (done especially for Peace Walker), so expect some funky (OK, "creepy" is a much better word) Hatsune Miku style singing to come from the AIs when battling them (or hearing them flying overhead). This adds to the sense of innocence and naïvety the AIs will give you, making you feel as if you're fighting not against gruff killer machines, but children given very dangerous weapons thinking the fighting's all a game. Another franchise crossover is evident as soon as you start listening to one character's (Chico, one of the Sandinistas) briefing tapes, and start hearing the words "monster" and "hunter" being repeated over and over again. Eventually (you'll probably need help from the internet for this), you'll find a certain Monster Hunter Freedom Unite character in an Extra Ops mission, who, mistaking you for a brave hunter, will take you to las islas del monstruos.

And you'll fight a Rathalos.

The fun part: It's about 1000x times more deadly than in Monster Hunter, and your "bowgun" (lame reference by me to the gun style weapon class in Monster Hunter) is about 1000x more deadly too (well, lets face it, Snakes lock-on missile launcher vs a crossbow with gunpowder?). So expect a very intense battle. And a lot of swearing directed at the weaker monsters running around jumping on you.

So, basically when you buy the game you get:
- The main story's missions (a decent amount at that)
- Extra ops, missions that don't progress the story much but often involve mercenary or clean up work (there's something like 120+)
- A Co-Op mode that allows you to play the above missions in 2-4 player mode (for most missions anyway), but be warned that this requires that you play in person with someone rather than over the internet (Ad hoc only)
- Outer Ops, sort of like automatically-played out pokémon style battles, where you send off troops while you're completing missions then see the results of battles in a fairly well presented format
- Mother Base/Outer Heaven, related to the "RPG" side of the game, where you put recruited soldiers into different departments that help your main game, e.g. R&D who make new weapons and items for you, the Combat Unit used for Outer Ops, a sickbay, a medical team (of course!), and various other teams required to keep the joint running smoothly
- A Metal Gear you get to work on and modify slowly, and then send into Outer Ops battles
- R&D where you go and make new items for the main game, and repair vehicles for the Outer ops

Not to mention in game there are many treats too, like a Sony Walkman which allows the player to listen to MGS music while playing (also upgradeable by R&D to later and later models released by Sony), the fulton recovery system (basically, a parachute you attach to prisoners or knocked out guards to send them to Mother Base and force them to join your team) which ironically doesn't alert enemy guards despite how noisy it is (they must be used to people being kidnapped or something), and various other bonus features.

Anyway, I'm gonna wrap up and say "GET THIS GAME". It's definitely a 10/10 PSP game, and is better than many console games (although the controls, while excellent, can get irritating after 3 hours straight play, due to how slippery the PSP feels in your hands).

If I have time later this week or month or year, I might rewrite this review in French or something...

Stars: **********