Snake my dear, where have you been?

Well you won’t really find him in this game, although you’ll certainly feel like him. One of the biggest franchises and previously unsuccessful version of the ever so popular game is back in online form. Metal Gear Online will appear in a starter pack with MGS4 when it debuts in 2008, but now on to the actual play.

Of course stealth is the absolute key to success in any Metal Gear game, and that is replicated in its online multiplayer. 8 red squad members and 8 blue squad members are situated on opposite sides of the battlefield as the ultimate stand off begins. Now it is not all guns blazing and Rambo tactics, there needs to be an art to this game if you plan on living. Then again, if you die, you can always re-spawn back at your base.

This particular gaming session was set up in a small briefing room, where a hot Japanese playmate dressed in camouflage described to us our mission. We (Stu and I) had a translator to help us out throughout, so we were able to understand. Now your guide probably will not be as attractive as ours, but I’m sure your entertaining experience was.

So with out mission in hand, it was time to break out onto the gaming field and shoot up some Reds. Stu and I were assigned with each other to take a birds eye view at the very well made maps. The gray feel you get with most Metal Gear games was there, as it seemed the entire scene was tinted gray. Your environment is very sharp and interactive, allowing you to push over cartons, crates and make dents in anything that you shoot at.

My particular mission… well at least the mission I declared that I should have was to scope out the enemy base and try to kill a guy or two. Lucky, I did half of that mission, but sadly no kills. From the top level of a ruined building I “practiced” some of my favorite skills, like feigning death, or turning into a box… Then repeated… Then again… Then again… One of my enemies spotted me oft in the distance and dared to fire rounds in my direction, striking me down very quickly. I thought I was dead until a cute little assistant came up to me and said I was stunned to sleep and I had to wake up! Eventually I woke up, groggy, hating my job and I was back in the action. WHAM! I’m a box! An enemy who was literally staring at me, walked by as I turned into a very impressive looking box, which could have easily been shipped out via UPS or FedEx even.

WHAM! I’m not a box! I spring into action, wearing a machine gun, and firing wildly towards my enemies, simply missing every single one. Wham… uh oh… I’ve been shot in the back by someone standing right behind me. Where is my cover Stu?!

The round lasted a very long 7 minutes, resulting in 1 death, 1 sleep, 27 box conversions, 15 feign conversions and surely 200 rounds fired. Stu however managed to kill someone, go Stu!

Not being a particular Metal Gear fan myself (shocking) this game was obviously put together with much care and consideration of its brand, being a stealth bad-ass plowing through enemies, no matter what the cost. And it delivered. I’m sure it was just my controller, but Stu also noted how absolutely difficult it was to hold still. Hey, work in progress right? Overall, I think any Metal Gear fan should be impressed by the latest creation, and we certainly can’t wait for 2008.