CHIBA, Japan – I took my first cuts at Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, the latest in Konami's highly cinematic action-adventure series of videogames, on the Tokyo Game Show floor last weekend.
Is it possible for a videogame to have too much precision?
The gameplay hook in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, scheduled for worldwide release in February on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, is the ability to carefully direct protagonist Raiden's sword for pixel-precise strikes. It was one of the earliest features shown to the public back in 2010.
As original as the free-slicing mechanic is, I couldn't help but feel like it was getting in the way of me enjoying what was otherwise a riveting action game.
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is being developed by Osaka-based Platinum Games, known for fast-paced action games like Bayonetta and MadWorld. There were moments in the demo that felt very much like those games, when I was dashing from foe to foe and tapping buttons to deliver elaborate strings of attacks.
At one point, I'm positive Raiden used his leg to brandish his sword. That's exactly the kind of unexpected twist I would expect from Platinum.
However, when it comes time to carefully slice an object or enemy, Raiden screeches to a halt so the player can use the left and right joysticks to position his sword just right. It's easy to carefully carve into ribbons the buffet of watermelons, automobiles and cardboard enemies that the demo presents to you, but living enemy characters are another story.
They slow down in the bullet-time mode, but they don't stop, making it a real challenge to adjust your sensitivities and aim the sword strokes in the right place. Odds are you'll have but a second or two to pull it off before something kicks or shoots you, breaking your concentration and sending Raiden flying across the screen.
There's also an issue with Raiden's reach. In slicing mode, the camera zooms in and hovers over Raiden's shoulder. Even though the visual guide for the sword shows a slashing mark on enemies that extends far from Raiden's body, when you actually swing the sword the range is quite limited. In the demo, I couldn't figure out how close I needed to be to something for the hit to register.
It's possible that with enough practice, this feature could feel as effortless as standard attacks. But in the demo, I found the bullet-time mode killed my sense of momentum. I would much rather hack through four enemies in a madcap melee spree, or carefully stalk and kill one enemy in the demo's infrequent stealth sequences, than try to teach myself to juggle two analog sticks while under time pressure.
Fingers crossed that the final version of the game gives players enough time and practice to come to grips with precision slicing.
