Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance tries to be consistent with other Metal Gear Solid games by attempting a war-themed plot moved through by a war-torn hero, but falls short of those expectations and what's left is a game that doesn't know what it wants to be.
The plot feels like it wants to be as deep and philosophic as its older brother, Metal Gear Solid 4, by touching on heavy concepts and trying to portray complex characters, but it fails in the execution. Instead it feels more like a fan-fiction, which is awkward for when the game does take itself seriously and tries to convey drama. So when you talk about a plot that has bad guys harvesting brains from orphans in order to re-purpose them as cyborg assassins, and then jump to Raiden psychologically battling his past instincts of killing, you're left with some major tonal whiplash. And by briefly mentioning themes from other games, they somehow the weight of them automatically gets carried over is not the case. You'll hear the same language and terms thrown around in dialog that you might hear in a Metal Gear Solid game, but they don't carry the same impact. It's not even clear what Raiden is revengeancing about since none of the antagonists had any effect on him before the events of this game.
If you didn't like Raiden as a character before, you're not going to like him after this either. Perhaps in an attempt to endear us to the game by imitation: the voice actor does his best to imitate the gravelly-delivery David Hayter gave Solid Snake. But the imitations feels like the game is desperately shouting "Please like me! Look, I'm just like the other games in this series!" but lacks the subsistence to pull it off.
All the combat mechanics work well, including surgically slicing everything into tiny bits and the parry maneuver, but the latter of these things relies on one condition: the camera behaving itself. When it's not, instead of framing the action it'll be staring at a wall or getting caught up in a set piece, leaving you to guess at where your attackers are coming from and when to parry. Even locking onto an enemy doesn't guarantee they'll stay in sight for too long since the camera has issues keeping up with something when it's moving in either direction side to side. But what's most jarring is how the game tries to work in stealth which feels more like an obligation because of Metal Gear being in the title rather than it being a good idea.
While swinging your sword around is fun, the combat doesn't change much over this short game. New upgrades are available for purchase after each chapter of the game, but new moves aren't performed by button combinations like in other action games, they just work their way into your normal button mashing and fire off when the situation fits. All the other upgrades are standard and unimpressive: you have health, costume, damage, etc. to upgrade but nothing stands out.
Committing to the less serious side of things, the soundtrack provides the player with mindless rock to slice things to regularly, upping the ante in boss fights. In a more serious game, I would complain, but honestly, the soundtrack fits the game rather well. It's shallow, its corny, but its also fun and entertaining.
Metal Gear Rising will run you about seven to eight hours on your first play through on normal, which feels a little short. A few more ideas with the combat would've been welcome since there is a good amount of entertainment value from it.
In the end, this game was torn between two directions and it failed to commit to either. On one hand, parts of it really wanted to be like Metal Gear Solid and talk about the effects of war and the tragedies that develop afterwards, but on the other hand, it wanted to be less serious and have fun with itself, and those two directions don't go hand in hand. My opinion is that it should've chosen one path and ran with it. Considering the subject matter and the game play, I would've liked to have seen this game go nuts and have fun. Don't bog people down with stealth and drama, give them unbridled action and silliness.
If you're a Metal Gear fan and don't mind a less delicate execution of what you're used to, this game might be right for you. For everyone else who just wants action involving swordplay and guns: Bayonetta and any Devil May Cry game that doesn't have "2" in the title are better. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance isn't a bad game, its just a confused and un-impressively-executed one.
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