Story: As far as Metal Gear games go there has always been some sort of story, usually a convoluted one involving Nukes and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (From here on MGR) is no exception to this.Taking place four years after the events of MGS4, the game revolves around Raiden and his return to the battle field as a cyborg ninja. The actual story is as you would expect somewhat convoluted confusing at times, especially on a first play-through, but thats not the problem here. The actual time it takes to finish the story and game is somewhere between five and six hours. This is quite short for a full Metal Gear (From here on MG) game especially when your not skipping cut-scenes.
Characters are introduced very quickly into the story, especially when it comes to the rivals in the game. E.g Two Rivals are introduced right before you fight them, two are seen but not actually met till right before the fight and two are met very early on in the game. Overall this isn't much of an issue as each one gets a cut-scene or two and explains their somewhat forgettable back-story (Not all forgettable) Its when you compare this to previous MG games where we usually meet and learn about rivals before hand, or we at least see and hear them speak. With that in mind the story and its tone and themes still fit in to the MG franchise quite nicely and it works as a MG game no doubt.
Gameplay: This game unlike previous MG games is not exactly about stealth but its more hack and slash, but for any fans of stealth out there, there is stealth in the game. MGR controls quite well and the quick sword movements are quite fluid and the numerous combos you can use depend on your own choice of going simply with Raiden's blade or the secondary weapons which open up some slightly different game-play.
Also included in game-play is the use of quick-time events. A lot of these are mandatory and some can be triggered depending on the moves you choose to use. Thankfully these are mostly used for taking down bosses or getting one up on a larger opponent, tho that is optional and isn't shoved in your face every five seconds. The inclusion of a First person blade mode is also quite a fun and unique feature, but can take some time to get use to if you choose to use the analog control( Which is more fun) over the buttons. The camera during play can be a little off at times and annoying causing you to maybe miss your target in a quick paced fight or results in you getting hit, however this really isn't a major concern.
There seems to be some slowdown during game-play when you get a codec call. The real slowdown seems to be a loading issue with these calls, however it could just be my games console rather than the game. MGR has fun hack and slash game-play which is not something I usually go for.
Presentation: Visually the game looks great, realistic and fits in perfectly with the rest of the MG series as one might expect.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is a fast paced rock and metal mix. Nearly every boss fight includes lyrics within the soundtrack. I personally had no idea what was being sung during these fights but it certainly upped the tension and overall feel of each battle. MGR's soundtrack works great within in the game but its not one I'd have on my ipod.
Cast and Characters: The cast, with whom I'm not really too familiar with apart from Quinton Flynn who voiced Raiden in MGS2 and MGS4. Quinton Flynn delivers his lines perfectly along with the rest of the cast. Every character had a voice that suited them perfectly and none of them seemed out of place in any way.
As noted earlier in MGR we are introduced to characters very fast, some of these characters seem interesting and have certain quirks about them, one is constantly moving a cup placed by another character so it won't be knocked over while another wants you to cut off and deliver the left hands of your enemies. Sadly we don't get to know too much about these characters and this game really is focused on Raiden. One great aspect of this is the fact that Raiden was a main character in both MGS2 and MGS4 so we don't need to learn his back-story all over again because we know it. There are a few times his past is talked about and his nickname of 'Jack The Ripper' is tossed around but its not in your face and we don't have to listen to Raiden whine about it constantly, or just whine in general (I'm looking at you MGS2)
One problem with the quick introduction of characters is that bosses are introduced and then we fight them, they get a cut-scene to babble on about some stuff but we don't see any growth with them. Its as if some of them were born had something happen and then were in a coma up until this point in time. One other thing to note about the characters and especially Raiden is some of his actions, I wont go into detail on this but just think of it as, saying one thing and doing another. On the topic of characters overall there are two returning characters from the previous game one is Raiden and the other you will know when/if you play for yourself.
Final Thoughts: The game is very enjoyable, high speed hack and slash with plenty of extras to collect, if thats your kind of thing, mine personally is PS3 trophies of which there are 51 set across, I believe 5 difficulty settings from Easy up to Revengence.
Score:8/10
