The year is 2001. The anticipated sequel to the smash hit, Metal Gear Solid, has just been released. Immediately, outrage is sparked and the game becomes the bastard child of the franchise, for one primary reason:

The fans hated Raiden.

It’s been 21 years since then (Insane, right?), and where’s all the hate gone? People actually LIKE Raiden now? Why’s that?
This game is why, and here's why you should definitely get it.

Platinum Games, famously the creators of Bayonetta and Nier: Automata, are no strangers to fast-paced hack and slash games. In fact, they’re probably the best developers in the genre. When Kojima asked them to make a hack and slash game based in the Metal Gear universe with Raiden as the lead, they delivered in spades.

Gameplay is actually very simple. Unlike Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, where the player is buried in weapon types to switch in and out, MGR gives you a single sword and says “Go nuts kid.” You have light attacks, heavy attacks, and all the combos that gives you. Very easy to pick up, very easy to get into.

What makes the Metal Gear Rising stand out from the pack is its emphasis on parrying enemy attacks and using your high-frequency blade to cut through anything in your way, enemies included. A properly directed light attack in the direction of the enemy deflects their hit, preventing the player from taking what could potentially be crippling damage on higher difficulties. Considering there is no block button, and dodges are slow and unreliable, parrying is the only decent way to avoid taking damage. MGR did it before Sekiro made it cool, although it's not nearly as demanding in the timing as Sekiro was.

Equally, healing items are incredibly scarce, requiring players to utilize MGR's unique combat mechanic of “Zandatsu”. By either stunning or damaging an enemy enough, players can slice them open with blade mode and rip out their fuel cells, refilling his health to full. Knowing the proper time to slice n’ dice and having good precision in your moves is the key to success, and on Revengeance difficulty, it's often the only way to stay alive under the onslaught of enemies thrown at you.

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To further emphasize how beginner-friendly this game is, unlike some hack and slash games that give you no warning and expect you to memorize all enemy attack patterns to dodge, Metal Gear Rising gives you a fair chance to react to what’s coming, leaving it up to the player to respond. Parryable enemy attacks are indicated by a red flash in their eyes, while unblockable attacks (Usually grabs) are indicated by a yellow glow.

The gameplay is fast, engaging, and easy to get the hang of. The bosses also take full advantage of this system to deliver memorable battles that I still hold in high regard to this day.

The only iffy part of the gameplay loop is that, probably due to being a Metal Gear game, Platinum Games included an incredibly minimalist and half-baked stealth system. While Raiden can see enemies through walls, and can “backstab” them, he has no sneaking mechanics, or really any way to hide. At best, it's a way to take out a few enemies before you inevitably get spotted and the massive brawl breaks out. At least there’s not really a penalty for getting spotted, unlike in MGS; you can just chop them in half.

The game also has a high level of replayability. Although the story and setpieces don't change, the rating system pushes players to improve their performance throughout, and every new difficulty level can change the enemies one encounters in each area. On normal, the first fight of the game is just against a handful of soldiers. On Revengeance difficulty, you're immediately thrown against a Gekko mech, along with several dogs.

This is a Metal Gear game. Those that have played the Metal Gear Solid series know what this means. To those that have not: This entire game is both a serious political commentary, and an absolute joke at the same time. The topics can often be very serious, such as terrorism fueling the war economy, creating jobs, and being unpleasantly good for a nation. This is true; World War 2 actually pulled the American economy out of the Great Depression.

But then the next minute, you have a cyborg ninja debating philosophy with a sentient robot dog, Raiden wearing a mariachi band outfit, and most famously, a terrorist declaring that “Memes are the DNA of the soul.”

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On the surface, the combination of dead-realism and complete absurdity seems incompatible, but the game owns it by being acutely aware of how crazy it’s being, embracing it, and running wild with it. It’s the same writing logic that propelled Metal Gear Solid into being rated one of the best series of all time.

In the end, it creates an incredibly fun way of discussing genuinely serious topics, though sometimes the absurdity overshadows the horror of what’s happening in the moment.

However, this IS a canon part of the Metal Gear universe, meaning it makes numerous references to the events of the other games. If you haven’t played the other games, you won’t understand what people are saying every now and then, but thankfully the majority of the dialogue is self-contained within Rising, preventing too much confusion. If you’re one of those people that really loves their lore or needs context, I would heavily encourage you to play or watch the Metal Gear Solid series, as they are equally excellent games.

The game looks great, plain and simple. The game is somewhat dated by today’s standards, having come out in 2013, so you don’t have to look hard to find some rough edges, unrefined models, and simplistic architecture. It makes up for this with good art and character design making them visually memorable and interesting. MGR especially loves its particle effects, so expect lots of those.

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Even the biggest detractors of Metal Gear Rising never deny one thing: The music in Rising is AWESOME. The intense electric metal perfectly suits the cybernetic themes of the game, and the boss themes are incredible, both lyrically and musically. “Rules of Nature” was the go-to edgy meme song before “Bury the Light” from DMC5 took its place 6 years later. In fact, you’ve probably heard Rules of Nature at some point if you haven’t been living under a rock since 2013. I still listen to the boss themes when working at my PC.

GeForce RTX 3050Ti 4GB | Intel i7 | 16GB | Windows 10
Obviously a game from 2013 better run on my specs, but it’s important to note it also ran perfectly fine on my old PC from 2013, which only had a GeForce 840m 2GB and 8 GB of RAM. Unless you’re still using your 2005 Windows XP PC held together with duct tape, you should be able to run this game on good settings with good frames.

A controller is HEAVILY recommended due to the precise omni-directional nature of the game. Keyboard and mouse parrying is so difficult in comparison that MGR was the sole reason I bought my first PC-compatible controller.

Metal Gear Rising isn’t necessarily a one-of-a-kind experience; you can get the same story from Metal Gear Solid, and the same general gameplay from any hack and slash. However, the combination of the two styles, great sense of visual design, amazing soundtrack, and ease of accessibility make it a worthwhile purchase for any gamer. It can drop down to less than $7 on sale, but it’s worth the full price.

Get it when you can!

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