Let me tell you the tale of a man that went from 'lame replacement of main character' to 'baddest badass since Ryu Hayabusa'...his name is Jack.

Solid Snake (Left) with Raiden (Right) in Metal Gear Solid 2.

What a surprise it is that anybody anywhere is actually hyped up for a Metal Gear game where Raiden is the main character! The last time he was a main focus was back in the Playstation 2 era when he replaced Solid Snake as the main character: lots of gamers were bait-and-switched for a guy with silver hair, 'pretty boy' appearance to him and a naive outlook of the world. Along with this though, he was on a mission to stop a man named Solidus Snake who ended up never truly being the villain he was thought to believe: just someone at the wrong place and wrong time considering he ended up being defeated by Raiden. Looking at Raiden you wouldn't figure much about him: he had the air of being no more innocent than a rookie in combat but in actuality was a murderous combatant on the militant battlefields and had already earned him a reputation as "Jack The Ripper".

Raiden in MGS 4

Then comes Metal Gear Solid 4, and Raiden is helping Solid Snake in what could be the best performance he's ever given anywhere. He's slicing up enemies left and right, and appears unstoppable even to the point he can defend himself with just a sword in his mouth. His body is now mostly cybernetic leaving just his head as the only 'human' part that's left. Raiden has made a massive transformation (if only in his combat abilities and actually appearing competent in-game) from naive soldier to a hardened 'ninja'.

Then came Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a game that proposed an entirely different kind of action that almost nobody was prepared for because nobody really knew what to expect other than that we'd be playing as Raiden again and supposedly doing exactly what he did in Metal Gear Solid 4. It went originally under the title Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and was a (then) Xbox 360 exclusive...but constant developer issues within Kojima Productions for what the game would entail and how it would work actually made the game get cancelled at one point/put on a shelf for hopes that maybe somehow someone could make the concept work.

What would this game be in the end?

 What was Raiden even doing in that illustrious E3 video? Players and gaming media alike were shown a video with Raiden running around in brand new armor, slicing up what appeared to be a cyborg, then pulling out its glowing spine(?) then crushing it. The idea of this being tied to Metal Gear Solid was too weird in itself because it didn't "feel" that way to a lot of people. Was it going to be an action game? A stealth game? An action game with some stealth, or a stealth game with some action? Most of all...was it even going to come out? People were left with absolutely NO clues on its development until later Platinum Games came forward and picked up Kojima Productions' slack. It was then retitled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and rebranded as an action title. What we got was the fantastic end product of these two companies working together and by God I am so happy I experienced it.

Hello Ray...we meet yet again..

~ How The Game Turned Heads...Then Promptly Cut Them Right Off ~

The story of MGR:R takes place 4 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4. Raiden is now working with Maverick Industries, standing in as a body guard for an African Prime Minister named N'Mani. They share a conversation about how much work has been successful in bringing peace to the country and how Raiden's philosophy mirrors that of the samurai of old Japanese times. All of that of course, gets thrown out the window when a supernaturally enhanced swordsman nicknamed "Jetstream Sam" shows up and starts outright slicing apart the gunmen guarding the limosine where Raiden and N'Mani are at. Before long it appears war has again reared its head and Raiden's at the forefront of it. A group named "Desperado" have come forward to basically bring a "war to end all wars" starting with this attack on Prime Minister N'Mani, and is initially shown to be head by a giant of a man named "Sundowner": a burly Texan-accented cyborg who, unlike Sam, has a bladed weapon named "Pincer" that can act like a pair of scissors when paired up with its other blade.

War has definitely changed, and despite Raiden not wanting to deal with this, he has to; thankfully we have this new game and a completely new mechanic of combat to utilize the amount of CRAZY that can be crammed into this game.

Platinum and Kojima basically sat in a tree together and got BUSY AS HELL because the end result is amazing despite its flaws.

For those not in the know, Platinum Games is the developer that gave us games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and the more recent Anarchy Reigns.  Stylized with a focus on 'larger than life' combat that spawned originally from classics like Devil May Cry, the games that often come from Platinum are known for tough enemies, big bosses, and exciting set pieces for action (sometimes utilizing button prompts) that end in climactic, make-something-explode-look-away-and-pose type of sheer fun that video games should never shy away from. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance continues this trend thankfully, as the game's first boss sequence is Raiden going up against a Metal Gear Ray (which made its debut in Metal Gear Solid 2. In hindsight, it's a nice throwback) sword-to-machine, and although not every boss is a towering 40 foot tall weapon of mass destruction they all feel just so damn fun. There really is nothing else to describe these encounters as just fun as shit.

You fight a robot dog with a chainsaw attached to its tail, only to have it rebuilt and it become a partner. You fight a lady with what has to be 20 arms and defeat her viva la Terminator 2. You go head-to-head with a man who has the powers to separate his entire body AT WILL. You have a final encounter with a boss while he throws massive rocks at your face before going fist-to-sword and it just never. EVER. STOPS.

Other than Sundowner and Jetstream Sam, unfortunately none of the antagonists get much light shone in on them to develop them properly. Thankfully though, each has a decent amount of screentime before their fights to establish a connection: a reason to fight them. Each one does have different ideals and personalities but it is a shame we don't see them much outside their initial pre-fight cutscenes. Akin to MGS games before though, they are often philosophizing freedoms and idealogies for why they are the 'right' in their own ways and Raiden is 'wrong' or at the least too morally grey to have any real reason to fight them.

None of this matters if the control scheme and gameplay don't hold up to make these awesome experiences happen though, right? Well thankfully it is a simple-but-effective system consisting of a weak/strong/context sensitive attack format. The way how fights are done in MGR:R is you build up your combos to weaken or stun the foe. When a part of their body is highlighted in a lighter hue (or the enemy is weak enough) you can go into "Blade Mode" and slice up their bodies at will. You can slice horizontally (Square/X button), vertically (Triangle/Y button), or manually with the Right Thumbstick. The objective when you go into Blade Mode is to obtain their spines to rebuild Raiden's health and Zandatsu meter (the blue meter underneath his health). To do that, you cut within the glowing red square/cursor on an enemy's body. With this Blade Mode mechanic and Raiden's natural ability to just attack most objects and slice them into millions of pieces, you can literally, as the game's promotional quote says, "Cut What You Will".

At times though things can get frustrating only due to how many enemies there can be in one area at a time but I however find this to be typical for most action games...especially when the Lock-On command is present. You can lock on your camera to any given enemy at a time and can focus battling them. Most of the time this mechanic works but it has a tendency to be finicky in its choosing. However Raiden's abilities in-game work just as well with or without it so really your own ability to utilize the ability of Lock-On comes at your own strengths. This is something those who have played Devil May Cry 1-4 can attest to as well.

...what? You never wanted a robot dog companion?

The best part about MGR:R is mostly when you are able to work your own way into a flow of Manual Combat --> Blade Mode --> Zandatsu...and not necessarily within that order. You can still go at many sections the same way you would attack a Metal Gear Solid area: completely 100% stealth. I know purists are no fan of the executions Raiden performs, but still; getting bonus points for killing off everyone within a given area while staying completely unseen
 is something I can't have enough of in this game. Some sequences have you immediately thrown into a fight however despite what you're trying to go for but for the most part stealth can be pulled off in large portions. The point I emphasis here is at least you have a choice. What do these actions all add up to though, anyway? Be it a regular encounter, a boss fight, a mini-boss fight, or a 100% stealth'd section, you are always rewarded "BP" which can be exchanged for rewards and upgrades throughout the game. You can level up Raiden's health, his Zandatsu meter, his weapons, and his secondary weapons that he obtains throughout the course of the game.

For those into collectibles, there's a load of extra material within the package here: Left Arms to collect for Doktor so he can unlock cheats for you, some secret 'Data', items merely there to give you BP, and some guys hiding in boxes...hmmm...

If you're a Metal Gear aficionado you'll also probably be interrupting your own time listening to codec conversations as they are as numerous and funny as they have been in the past...though there is something a bit bittersweet to be felt when Solid Snake is brought up in one Easter Egg of a conversation. 

...and lastly, there's the music of this game.

JetStream Sam is actually pretty likable for being a bad guy.

 Holy shit this soundtrack is absolutely amazing. 

That much can be said on its own but when was the last time you experienced a video game that had themes to bosses that directly reflected the encounter itself IN ITS LYRICS and heightened the adrenaline by playing these lyrics (and the music to go with it) while the battle progresses? There's always been something I love that some video games do, is when they pull off a fantastic synch of 'action onscreen' and 'music': the fusion of these two being done properly can send waves through any fandom or audience and the tunes they got for this game...augh. I only lament that the full versions of each theme is short if only for the fact it has to loop in and out of its instrumental and lyrical version as the game progresses in the battle. Favorites of mine include "Collective Consciousness" and "My Own Master Now", but if you are able to reach the end of the game of this *ahem* cutting edge game you'll be treated to what I think is one of the best final boss themes in a long while.

So I've gone through this gushing quite a bit: I know...it's NOT my style. But honestly other than the finicky camera I don't see a lot where the game needs to be more polished. Certainly the game could have been longer as an average play (with 0 codec conversations being initiated outside of the campaign ones that happen automatically) will net someone 6-7 hours, and the camera issue could have been addressed in the QA. However I don't feel these issues are enough to dumb it down. I also realize that the fighting system, which initially focuses only on parrying attacks (Note: You can obtain/gain a dodge move that simultaneously attacks as well. IT IS there in the game, guys.)may be a bit unorthodox but trust me...it CAN be learned. Anything can be learned and adapted to if you put your mind to it. As someone who enjoys swords being used to cut up enemies, heavy action, great music, and a character that went from "ok" to "awesome"...there's no way I can hate on it.

Matter of fact, I think my highest review ranking, the "Fuck Yeah" stamp needs to be updated for this game has pushed me to re-imagine it.

 

I wonder what the rest of 2013 will bring me? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this review. 

Got a comment, concern, or need to rant at me for this?  Say so in the comment box and yell at me if you wish. I can handle it. :P