NYCC '08: Metal Gear Online Hands-on
April 18, 2008 - The Metal Gear experience has always been a solitary experience. It's been great and we've embraced it for the awesome single-player gameplay that it has brought to the table, but there comes a point in a series' lifespan when it's time to expand. Time to break the former boundaries of one's youth, spread those wings and fly into the world of online gaming. Beta keys are currently making their way into some lucky gamers' hands, but at this year's New York Comic-Con Metal Gear Online was on display for anyone to come up and play for themselves.
The setup was simple. Eight LCD screens, four facing one side, four on the other. It was red vs. blue in a classic team deathmatch scenario on Blood Bath, one of the five maps that will ship with the game. The introduction to the game was very simple. Being someone that has never played Metal Gear Solid 4's single-player game, I had absolutely no problems jumping in, setting up my primary, secondary and projectile weapons and kicking things off. There's also an interesting option that lets you pick different sets of music. There were only two available in our version. One featured thumping rock tunes that felt a little out of place when things slowed down, and the other track was much softer and stealthier sounding.
Want to play the beta? Click the photo and get your Beta Key now!
Want to play the beta? Click the photo and get your Beta Key now!
The gameplay is obviously classic Metal Gear fare, but with seven other humans running around. I found it interesting that there is no free-fire option. Pressing down on the right trigger alone is a melee attack with your gun, while pressing the left trigger brings up the aiming reticule for you to aim around as you see fit. There's a togglable auto-aim feature that didn't work for me at all. I was taken down repeatedly while trying to make use of the auto aiming feature. Maybe I wasn't using it right, but for me the targeting reticule was the way to go.
As any Metal Gear fan would expect, there's a cover system for players to utilize in Online. It doesn't work as in other third-person shooters, but it serves its purpose. The one escape maneuver is a dive move that will undoubtedly be used like crazy by online players. There were pieces of cover throughout each of the three levels in Blood Bath – catwalks are above, there's a middle level where the bulk of the action takes place and a lower sewer-like level – and people constantly dove behind them to evade my barrage of bullets. In other deathmatch games I would have just lobbed a grenade at the press of a button but in true Metal Gear fashion you'll need to select grenades from a menu to use them.
My character also came outfitted with a box in his tools menu that could be equipped at any time. There are also random box shells sitting around the environment that are indiscernible from what players can equip. There were a few occasions when I found myself feeling a little paranoid and wound up blasting the hell out of a few innocent boxes. Of course it was the one that I didn't annihilate that housed the guy with a combat knife. Live and learn.
There's no question that Metal Gear Online is a different breed of online shooter. It's not fast, it's not based around reflexes, no, it's much more thought-out than that. Your player doesn't move with blinding speed (I kept looking for a sprint button), nor will you find rocket launchers laying around for you to pick up and play with. You'll need to play the angles, keep behind cover and work worth your teammates to be successful. In my brief play session I didn't have enough time to get into the intricacies of the game, but felt as though I had just played exactly what fans have been asking for. It's Metal Gear Solid 4, but it's Online. Same graphics, same gameplay, same awesomeness.
Keep an eye on the PS3 front page later in the weekend or early Monday for a much more in-depth preview on the Beta and what features you can expect to find in the final Metal Gear Online release in June.
Source: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/867/867855p1.html
The setup was simple. Eight LCD screens, four facing one side, four on the other. It was red vs. blue in a classic team deathmatch scenario on Blood Bath, one of the five maps that will ship with the game. The introduction to the game was very simple. Being someone that has never played Metal Gear Solid 4's single-player game, I had absolutely no problems jumping in, setting up my primary, secondary and projectile weapons and kicking things off. There's also an interesting option that lets you pick different sets of music. There were only two available in our version. One featured thumping rock tunes that felt a little out of place when things slowed down, and the other track was much softer and stealthier sounding.
Want to play the beta? Click the photo and get your Beta Key now!
Want to play the beta? Click the photo and get your Beta Key now!
The gameplay is obviously classic Metal Gear fare, but with seven other humans running around. I found it interesting that there is no free-fire option. Pressing down on the right trigger alone is a melee attack with your gun, while pressing the left trigger brings up the aiming reticule for you to aim around as you see fit. There's a togglable auto-aim feature that didn't work for me at all. I was taken down repeatedly while trying to make use of the auto aiming feature. Maybe I wasn't using it right, but for me the targeting reticule was the way to go.
As any Metal Gear fan would expect, there's a cover system for players to utilize in Online. It doesn't work as in other third-person shooters, but it serves its purpose. The one escape maneuver is a dive move that will undoubtedly be used like crazy by online players. There were pieces of cover throughout each of the three levels in Blood Bath – catwalks are above, there's a middle level where the bulk of the action takes place and a lower sewer-like level – and people constantly dove behind them to evade my barrage of bullets. In other deathmatch games I would have just lobbed a grenade at the press of a button but in true Metal Gear fashion you'll need to select grenades from a menu to use them.
My character also came outfitted with a box in his tools menu that could be equipped at any time. There are also random box shells sitting around the environment that are indiscernible from what players can equip. There were a few occasions when I found myself feeling a little paranoid and wound up blasting the hell out of a few innocent boxes. Of course it was the one that I didn't annihilate that housed the guy with a combat knife. Live and learn.
There's no question that Metal Gear Online is a different breed of online shooter. It's not fast, it's not based around reflexes, no, it's much more thought-out than that. Your player doesn't move with blinding speed (I kept looking for a sprint button), nor will you find rocket launchers laying around for you to pick up and play with. You'll need to play the angles, keep behind cover and work worth your teammates to be successful. In my brief play session I didn't have enough time to get into the intricacies of the game, but felt as though I had just played exactly what fans have been asking for. It's Metal Gear Solid 4, but it's Online. Same graphics, same gameplay, same awesomeness.
Keep an eye on the PS3 front page later in the weekend or early Monday for a much more in-depth preview on the Beta and what features you can expect to find in the final Metal Gear Online release in June.
Source: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/867/867855p1.html
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