$20 Game of the Week: Metal Gear Solid – Portable Ops (PSP)

PSP Metal Gear Fans have a reason to rejoice, for now there is an actual factual Metal Gear Solid game set within the series’s canon. The two MGS Acid games were nice, but their card game style can’t replace the stealth action that the series is known for. With the PSP’s control scheme, some big changes had to be made to the actual gameplay. Even so, it’s the same style of Metal Gear that we know and love.

Set a few years after Snake Eater, this game follows former Foxhound member Snake, now known as Big Boss, as he wakes up in a South American prison. Snake is brutally interrogated by a member of Foxhound about the whereabouts of the “Philosopher’s Legacy” (a large sum of cash for anyone who didn’t play MGS 3). Meeting up with fellow prisoner Roy Campbell (A name which should be familiar to MGS fans), it is up to Snake in order to get to the bottom of a conspiracy involving the Russians, his former employers, and the rebels on the island.

As mentioned before, a few things were done differently due to the interface. For instance, the camera is now placed behind the character, kind of like Resident Evil 4. Also, the menu system has been replaced by a cross system. Instead of being one big open world, the game is hashed up into different stages. You’ll select an area from a menu and complete an objective there. You can also do side missions to gain access to more resources. This system helps break up the action into smaller chunks that are suitable for portable play. Another big difference in this game is that the cinematic interludes have been replaced by comic style panels, reminiscent of Max Payne. These sequences are done by comic artist Ashley Wood, known for his work on the MGS graphic novels, Silent Hill comics, Uncanny X-men, and several others.

This game’s big feature is in the way you’ll recruit more soldiers to your cause. By knocking out a soldier and dragging them back to Roy Campbell’s truck, you can ‘convince’ them to join your team. You can then use the new recruits to infiltrate certain areas where Snake would have trouble getting into. Even cooler, you can use the Wi-Fi features to scan for new recruits to download. You’ll have to visit various places in the real world in order to find some of the strongest warriors in the game. Multiplayer mode is also available, and you can trade soldiers with your friends online. Unfortunately, the game uses only one save, so if one of your teammates is killed during battle, they are gone forever.

MGS Portable ops does an excellent job of tiding gamers over until MGS 4 hits next year. It may not be on the level of the console entries of the series, but it can still hold its own against them. For series fans especially, this serves as one of the few must have games for the PSP.