Metal Gear Online is, at present, a free multiplayer game that comes bundled with every copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game is described as a 'Starter Pack' by Konami, which leads me to wonder if the stand-alone version of the game, reputed to be heading for shelves in Japan in the near future, will find it's way to stores here in Europe and in the US. Only time will tell I suppose, but considering Sony's sometimes overtly dismissive tendencies towards my fellow Eurotrash, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
First off, let's discuss what you need to do in order to actually start playing the game. Forget your PSN account, that won't fly with Konami. First off, you need to go to their somewhat poorly designed website and sign up for a Konami user account. Then, you have to sign up for a seperate MGO account. Put together the fact that the sign-up page is incredibly picky, and you get quite a needlessly frustrating first hurdle to overcome. It's not too much of a problem, and I'm sure the vast majority of folks won't have been put off completely by it, but suffice to say it seems unnecessarily clumsy and pointless of Konami, particularly to us Western gamers, who are used to primarily utilizing the PSN account rather than secondary or even tertiary accounts.
Great, so you've got your account, and you're all ready to rock and roll. First up comes the character creation screen, and I hope you don't share your PS3 with anyone else in the household because it's one character for every Playstation 3. Want an extra character slot? Then you have to head to Konami's MGO shop and buy one. Now, whilst I can understand Konami wanting to discourage people having multiple characters, I feel this goes perhaps a little too far.
That's not the only financial issue to arise. The first add-on, the Gene expansion, adds another 3 maps on top of the 5 basic ones, adds a new game mode called Survival, with two new special playable characters, and the ability to create female characters. Of course, you have to buy this from the Konami MGO shop, but on the release date, the website was overloaded with heavy traffic and as such, most folks couldn't even log in, let alone purchase the expansion. Some of the few lucky folks who did manage to purchase the expansion in those first few days couldn't complete the download, and had to be refunded by Konami. The website then utilized a random IP ban every hour in order to curtail the heavy traffic and allow at least some players to purchase and download the expansion. Konami has issued a full apology for the problems, but the whole affair felt like poor planning and inexperience on Konami's part, but considering how new they are to the online world, I guess a few teething problems are inevitable.
Aside from the technical issues regarding the expansion, a lot of the content feels like it should have really been included in the initial game from the get go. I mean, paying for 3 extra maps, a new game made and the ability to create female avatars feels a little like a poorly disguised money maker. Perhaps the content in this expansion is destined to be included as part of the stand alone version.
So, you've signed in, and now it's time to create a characters. The customizations aren't huge, but they do allow for a reasonable degree of individuality, including the ability to change your characters voice, even the pitch. However, one should note that once you've chosen your equipment and accessories, you cannot at present go back and change them, only remove them and put them back on again.
From an aesthetic point of view, MGO shares pretty much all the graphical prowess of Metal Gear Solid 4. Sometimes the shadows can look a little dodgy, and on occasion the ragdoll can go completely loco, but all in all these minor niggles don't detract from the overall quality. The sound effects also share MGS4's superb quality, the loud cracking sound of an AK-102 being fired at you almost makes you want to instinctively duck.
It's recommended that new players try out the controls in the solo training option, or they can go online and be coached by other, more experienced players, although the number of actual players hosting such servers are few and far between at best. Your best bet is to acquaint yourself with the controls, read through the various skills you can utilize and jump onto a server and straight into the action. However, those familiar with MGS4 should have few problems, since the controls are almost a direct port from the single player game. This seems a bit odd, and I think perhaps a little revision could have been made to make the control scheme more appropriate to the action-heavy multiplayer game. They work fine once you get used to them, but it is a little complicated to get to grips with, and the odd unintentional manoeuvre in the heat of battle isn't uncommon.
The basic game modes that come with the 'Starter Pack' are Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, both of which are fairly self explanatory, Base Capture, which is all about capturing and holding various zones around the map, and Rescue Mission, a spin on the familiar capture the flag. The two games modes that really stand out are Sneaking Mission and Team Sneak. In Sneaking Mission, it's basically a team deathmatch with a twist; one player is randomly assigned the role of Old Snake. Yep, the croaky old veteran himself, complete with fuly functioning OctoCamo, which renders him all but invisible to other players whenever he presses himself against the floor or a flat surface. Snakes aim is to collect three dog tags off one team; the other players objective is to kill Snake a certain number of times, all while fighting each other. If there are enough players in the game, someone will even get to play as the small Metal Gear Mk.II, a tiny robot equipped with Stealth Camo that can stun other players with his electrowhip to aid Snake in his objective. This mode, I feel, is the most suited to the Metal Gear style of play, and is the closest the game really comes to finding itself. Team Sneak is another interesting variation, whereby one team has to defend an objective, while the attacking team (armed with Stealth Camo no less) has to try and sneak in, grab the objective and return it to their capture point. However, the attackers have a draw back in that as soon as one of their team is spotted, they all loose their Stealth Camo for a short period. This game mode makes for some very tense stand offs, and once again utilizes Metal Gear's style of game play as it should.
Game play wise, there are a few problems. The controls can, at first, feel somewhat awkward to new players and be a little confusing. However, if you stick with them, and possibly customize the control scheme in the options, after a while you'll find yourself rolling, diving and sprinting around with a surprising degree of agility. Players can take quite a lot of punishment before being dispatched (with a somewhat loud and occasionally annoying scream I might add), meaning shootout's can potentially take a while to reach their conclusion, but a headshot with almost any weapon will take down most players in a single hit, making headshots in this game surprisingly common. There is a small but varied array of weapons to choose from, and if Drebin Points are enabled in a game, many can be customized just like the in MGS4; silencers, hand grips, scopes and grenade launcher attachments are all available, giving players the ability to change their weapons on the fly to suit their play styles.
The skills can all be levelled up through usage, and the limit of only 4 skill points keeps the player base reasonably balanced. For instance, you can either take Lvl 2 Running skill to increase your movement speed and Lvl 2 Assault to increase you accuracy with Assault rifles, or you can take Lvl 3 Blade, which enables you to execute players with a slash to the throat, and Lvl 1 CQC, which allows you to grab others players in a hold and even choke them till they are unconscious.
A few other quirky items make an appearance, in true Metal Gear style. The cardboard box is available to all players, making for some somewhat comical and surreal moments in game; adult magazines can be placed on the ground to ensnare other players temporarily, and let's not forget the Man-o-pault's; devices which can propel players to strategic spots around the map quickly, although it's not exactly the most discreet mode of transport. Lag can be an issue in some servers, but I never experienced it on a regular basis, and never to such a degree that it spoiled the game.
All in all, I think Metal Gear Online is a game that could have achieved truly great things, but is limited by a sometimes inappropriate game play dynamic and hampered by the odd nuisance and minor frustration. However, it is a great deal of fun, and having already acquired a considerable user base, I think this game will be an experience that Konami can learn from in terms of online multiplayer.
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