Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: Review

Recently, while scrolling through youtube and reddit, I saw a lot of memes focused around a particular 10 year old game that I’d never played before: “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.” Quite frankly, it intrigued me. The gameplay looked fun, the graphics looked nice, and the memes, even without having played the game, were still funny. To be able to understand them more and laugh even harder was something I was looking forward to. Eventually, I bought the game during a sale and played it. Not only did it live up to everything I’d heard about it, it actually far exceeded every expectation I had.

The Story

In the game, you play as the infamous cyborg samurai: Raiden. Raiden is a sort of vigilante who helps those who need help and aren’t strong enough to provide it for themselves. One day, out on a mission to protect a bureaucrat in case of assassination attempts, things go horribly wrong due to an elite military group’s (DESPERADO’s) arrival, and Raiden’s protectee is killed. Throughout the game, Raiden must work his way up through desperado, killing not only to get Revenge(ance), but to stop DESPERADO from hurting more innocent people. Although at surface level, this story would seem typical of any fighting game: Someone dies, the protagonist wants revenge, kills people. However, this story goes much deeper, as the protagonist not only has to go on a spiritual journey to remember what he’s done in the past, but also acknowledge the price to pay for what he’s doing now.

The Gameplay

Throughout the entire game, you constantly feel like a badass. Whether it’s playing normally, slicing and dicing through enemies, or playing against difficult bosses, and acing quicktime events, you’re able to be in a constant state of fun and enjoyment, no matter how many times you have to die. The game just plain and simply never gets dull, going so far as to give you tons of different weapons/playstyles with which to toy. I personally like to use the polearm you acquire for defeating a certain enemy, as it allows you to move quickly and strike with accuracy. If you’re looking for a game where your heart rate never goes down, even in the cutscenes, then MGRR has gotchu covered.

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack is something which I cannot talk about enough. Every single song on the list, whether from the very beginning boss fight to the end, is amazing, and will be sure to get your blood pumping. Every song on there starts simple and instrumental – guitars strumming, drums beating, pianos playing – however, when you get to a certain point in a fight, be it when you disarm your enemy or bring them to the next phase, the music suddenly hits a lyrical peak, full of soul, desire, determination, burning passion, and every other emotion a song could ever convey. These are the kind of amazing songs that will get stuck in your head for DAYS on end, leaving no room for things like Lang, or lit, or maybe even AP Gov (Just spitballin’ here).

Concluding

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an AMAZING game, with an intriguing story. It hits every check box on my list: graphics, music, fighting, characters, or story. Throughout the game, not only will you enjoy it, but you’ll become so entranced in its greatness that I’m sure you’ll want to share it with each and every one of your friends. This is Aiden Bryson, signing off.