![]() Cutting protects Raiden from incoming objects (choppers, missiles, other ridiculous things), and wrecking an enemy’s weapon prevents them from using it. Blade Mode also plays a defensive role, which turns a silly finishing move tool into something more skill-based. Bisecting cyborgs reveals their fuel-filled spines, which Raiden can rip out to replenish his health. Slowing time plays a strategic role in combat. Blade Mode is a fun, sadistic parlor trick, but it’s more than a cheap and easy way to win. You can chop off legs (or one, if you’d rather), decapitate someone at the eyes, and turn weakened enemies into various, disgusting pieces with a flick of the right stick. The results are often uncomfortable and/or hilarious. “Once Raiden slays enough cyborgs, he can briefly enter the time-slowing Blade Mode and slice his sword in any direction, instantly killing (or severely wounding) nearly anyone with precision strikes. Seeing that style is as much a reward as the satisfaction of brutalizing an enemy with a flurry of katana hack-and-slash, sliding underneath someone, redirecting attacks, canceling combos, or letting loose in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s hook: Blade Mode. By the end of the campaign, and as I began my second run through it, Raiden felt like a balletic badass, using his heels as often as his hands to wield his weapon. Raiden’s exaggerated acrobatics lend a hypnotic sense of style to each attack, especially as you unlock additional moves with earned currency. Each combo flows into the next with grace: lifts, knock-downs, stuns, spin-kicks, aerial juggles, and other specialized attacks feel as fantastic as they look. The light and heavy attacks have a natural chemistry that makes every sword slash feel empowering, so combat never feels like you’re budgeting quick but weak strikes vs. The Metal Gear series traditionally relies on stealth and silenced weapons, but the moment-to-moment action of Rising is an aggressive and elegant alternative. This is a tight action experience without an ounce of fat, and Rising’s pace is just as quick as its technical melee combat. Rising propels players toward a boss battle every 45 minutes, introduces new enemy types regularly, and unleashes waves of cyborg soldiers to slice with a sword. The relentless act of actually fighting terrorists is what matters here, and there’s little need for motivation when the action is this fun. Ultimately, the conversations and character cameos are pure fan-service that everyone else can skip without missing a beat. ![]() The geo-political lecturing seem engineered specifically for fans of Metal Gear Solid 4’s melodrama, but it doesn’t connect well with the action. The events of Raiden’s retaliation range from goofy and fun, stylish and cool, to overwrought metaphor. The convoluted plot starts as lucidly as the series has ever been, but spirals out of control almost immediately: the assassination of a recovering country’s leader sends Raiden, a cyborg ninja, after a terrorist cell that’s kidnapping kids and infiltrating America’s political infrastructure. To its credit, you’re rarely made to watch what you’d rather play, but the story bits, interesting though they are for fans, ultimately intrude on the fast-paced flow of combat. The most consistent issue in Rising is its cutscenes. It’s all killer, no filler, with more than enough incentive for repeat play-throughs. Its snappy, responsive combat looks and feels great, and it's wonderfully insane.Developer Platinum Games accomplishes a lot in a short period of time, and while it sometimes gets in its own way, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a tight action game whose campaign moves as quickly as its excellent combat. Those gripes aside, Rising is a welcome sight on PC. It looks nice in places, but there are a lot of sewers and grey warehouses to slog through. The environment design is also drab, and at odds with the extravagant combat and characters. This is a problem when groups of enemies are coming at you from all angles. It's atrocious, and often jerks around erratically when you're in the thick of a fight. The only thing that dulls Raiden's blade is the camera. It's totally mental, with that that distinct, rarely-seen-on-PC spark of exaggerated personality you only get in Japanese games. You'll dance across missiles mid-launch while battling a giant robot, slice tanks in half as they're thrown at you, and wrestle with a superhuman US senator. This is where the challenge lies, and it can be an incredibly tough at times - especially fighting the bosses, which are brilliantly over the top. It's fairly basic on paper, but not when you're being piled on by groups of enemies, all of whom have different timings and attacks.
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