#100 Metal Gear: Portable Ops
August 19, 2010#100 Metal Gear: Portable Ops
Game Info
Publisher: KonamiDeveloper: Kojima Productions
Genre(s): Action Adventure
Platform: PSP
Players: 1-6 Players
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: December 5, 2006
Intro:
A slideshow intro of screenshots gives way to a story-establishing cut scene. We become aware that this will be the story of Big Boss/Naked Snake and exactly what the mission is about.
Getting Going:
You have to wander around a base. You’re told that there are ducts to crawl through and that the HUD in the upper right corner is a sound-based display. This is how you find your exit in each level. It’s also how you know how much noise you are making and the location of moving guards.
Fun:
This is not your average Metal Gear game. The graphics, humor and familiar characters are in keeping with the established franchise, but play and controls are completely different. It keeps you involved simply because you are playing a whole new game and can’t immediately dive right in.
Visuals:
It was actually rather difficult to find the ducts and then to find your way through it. I was always wondering where I was and there were no maps. The environmental backgrounds are a bit more simplistic than is usually found in a Kojima Production, but the character graphics more than improve on this. Since everything looks pretty much the same, especially in the beginning levels, navigating by the sound meter in the corner is very different.
Sound:
Portable Ops depends heavily on sound, as players are following a ping to find each level’s exit. They also have to depend on it to find enemies. I was occasionally spotted before was even aware that an enemy was there. Playing on a PSP, sound effects tend to be rather subtle and difficult to notice unless you are playing with headphones.
Intelligence:
Enemies will be very aware of your presence if you make noise and it can be difficult to find places to hide in which they won’t search. These are definitely not stupid NPC’s.
Immersion:
I was a bit confused by the whole game. It’s not your ordinary Metal Gear Solid game. Very little about the way this game is played is familiar. It is still a stealth game and players will experience the familiar exclamation and resulting high alert. There is still the familiar “Snake” character, eventually. That is where the similarities seem to end. In Metal Gear: Portable Ops, the player creates a unit which will include medical and information specialists who carry supplies, and bring captured enemies back to the truck where they can be recruited to the ops team. The screen is difficult to navigate and it seems hard to remain in stealth mode while trying to see enemies. Therefore, the game is not very immersive.
Cameras:
It is difficult to look around in Metal Gear Portable Ops and is occasionally difficult to get your bearings, as well. The game lacks the usual map and enemy features. The PSP also seems to limit the menu options that make these features available on other consoles.
Controls:
You may have to look in the manual to find your controls since they will be different in this Metal Gear game. The game also lacks a real tutorial which would familiarize the player with the controls. Once learned, they are easy enough to use, however.
Ideas:
I actually enjoyed the game for the bits of humor. Adding a personal touch, such as this, can endear a game, or a well-known designer, to the player.
Memory:
In the end, Metal Gear: Portable Ops was simply not my kind of game and I ended up giving it away to a hardcore fan of the franchise.
Posted by Shelly Warmuth. Posted In : Action/Adventure
The DP Challenge is a research project in which you play and analyze the top 100 games ever to hit your console(s). At the end of this project, I hope to be a better writer with a host of ideas for my own projects. I anticipate that I will learn more from the games that are in genres that I don't usually play or simply from games I wouldn't usually pick up than from the games I love. I'm looking forward to that education!
Information on the DP Challenge can be found at: http://www.dpfiles.com/dpfileswiki/index.php?title=THE_DP_CHALLENGE
**Note: As it takes a long time to evaluate 100+ games and new games are constantly being rolled out, my top 100 list continually changes. There will undoubtedly be discrepancies in the numeric rating of my list. As I catch them, I'll try to update them, but, I want to play all of the great games, so I know I'll be changing the list often.
