Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance DLC Story 02 - Blade Wolf

Spoiler Warning: Due to the nature of this DLC, there will be unmarked spoilers regarding the events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. You have been warned.

Since I’ve reviewed the first DLC story for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Jetstream, it’s only natural that I look at the second one, Blade Wolf. Like the previous story, the idea behind Blade Wolf is that we get to know more about its title character, in this case what life was like for Blade Wolf, aka LQ-84i, before Raiden came along and freed him from Desperado. Once again, the reason I’m going over this now is because recently I discovered that it was made free (I slip up every so often when it comes to news about stuff). Blade Wolf runs into some of the same problems as Jetstream, in that a lot of it is recycled, however, it actually makes more of an effort to stand out from the main game.

Before the events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Blade Wolf was a robotic canine with the name LQ-84i, suggesting that he had advanced AI compared to the other LQ-84 robots in the PMC. At the point in time the DLC takes place, he is to go on a mission with Khamsin (the desert storm, which continues Desprado’s wind-based naming convention), but Mistral wants to give LQ-84i VR training to not only prove that he is capable of the mission, but also to try and make him more subservient. As he goes through each training exercise however, LQ-84i wants to obtain something that he’s never had: freedom; he learns just how far he is willing to go to experience it for the first time.

He is also very capable of kicking ass.

The events of this DLC turned out to be better written than Jetstream, which is a huge step up in fleshing out a rather unique character. Blade Wolf’s backstory is easier to empathize with, since he is a thinking machine yet unable to know what certain concepts are like to his rather limited world. Mistral’s treatment of him is somewhat standard villain stuff, but when you see LQ-84i take control of his own life for the first time, and fight for it, it makes him a character worth rooting for, making you wonder if he’ll finally feel freedom and get to keep it. However, the main problem with the story is that Khamsin, the final boss, feels underdeveloped (although the Metal Gear Wiki seems to state otherwise). I hardly knew anything about him before, during or after the fight with him, but then again he’s not really the highlight of this DLC; he’s simply someone from Desperado forced to try and kill you. There’s indication that the story goes into the Abkhazian Coup from the beginning of the parent game, creating a much better transition than Jetstream, which simply ended with Sam suddenly in Abkhazia.

Once again, a lot of the Blade Wolf DLC is recycled from Raiden’s campaign. However there is a surprising amount of work put in an attempt to feel different. About half of the story is LQ-84i going through VR training, which allows for the opportunity to do more than just fuse a few levels together and shove as many enemies in it as possible. Indeed, the levels flow much like how a series of missions would and there is actually a very interesting 3D platforming segment at the end of the training that requires some different skills than slaughtering everyone in sight, although there is a lot of that. Blade Wolf has more of a stealth approach, granting bonuses for Hunt Kills, meaning you sneak up behind the enemy and dispatch them with a quick thrust of his chainsaw. It’s still very likely that you’ll get into combat, but the fact that you can approach a situation more than one way is a sign that they were sticking truer to how the main game worked. When you do get in a skirmish, it’s actually a bit fun. Controlling LQ-84i is more varied from Raiden due to the difference in body type and the sorts of attacks he was designed for. In times when the chainsaw isn’t in use, you can use heat knives as a sub-weapon, the only one in the DLC actually, which shows effort in staying true to the depiction of the character in the parent game. In general it was just very interesting to watch the animation and see just how much more unique of a character LQ-84i is from Raiden in every way.

During the final act of the campaign, you end up having to dispatch quite a few enemies via stealth or head-to-head combat, but unlike Jetstream there aren’t any recycled bosses. In fact, it’s a little refreshing that the final boss, Khamsin, is a very original sequence that takes skill and cunning to successfully get through in one piece. The fight is very well constructed and the only real shame is that you have to play through the entire DLC just to fight him again (also you can only fight him as LQ-84i).

Khamsin (right) is one of the most original things in the DLC.

Other high marks would be the voice acting and music. Mistral and Blade Wolf/LQ-84i show off how fitting the voice actors are for them and Khamsin has a pretty good performance behind him. I’ve always liked the music of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and continued to do so throughout Blade Wolf, including the DLC-exclusive tracks and remixes.

Blade Wolf is a bit of DLC definitely worth playing through. The way the story ties into the main game is interesting and Blade Wolf is an interesting character (especially one to base an entire campaign off of). Some things are the same from the parent game, but there is a lot more effort put into making the campaign feel very different, even if one section is just a mirror of what Raiden goes through, and overall it’s a very fun experience. Those who already have Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance are encouraged to try this out, especially if they felt burned by Jetstream, as this will almost certainly wash away the feeling of sameness from that campaign, In general, after playing through something that felt very much the same as its source, it felt really good to play something completely different.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance DLC Story 01 – Jetstream

Spoiler Warning: Due to the nature of this DLC, there will be unmarked spoilers regarding the events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. You have been warned.

While we wait for the eventual release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, there’s an opportunity to look at more things Metal Gear. In this case, we will be looking at the DLC stories released for Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, more specifically the first one, which revolves around Jetstream Sam. Sam was a very interesting character in the main game, and an important one, as he is the one who drives Raiden to become stronger before taking down all of Desperado Enforcment, LLC. PMC and posthumously assists Raiden during the climactic battle with Senator Armstrong. With this DLC (which I finally got around to playing because I noticed it was free instead of “free in exchange for money” like before), the idea is that we finally learn how Sam became involved with Desperado and becomes one of MGR:R’s greatest antagonists. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot to say about that here.

As I explained, the idea is that we see what Samuel Rodrigues was like before he became affiliated with Desperado and what exactly he was doing before his fight with Raiden in the main game. Well, the answer is somewhat of a contrivance. Armstrong and Monsoon are in the main building of Desperado waiting for Sam, or Minuano as Monsoon first calls him, to show up since he is a prime candidate to join their PMC. Sam arrives on his motorcycle and, after a run-in with the cops, enters the sewers and makes his way through the building from the bottom up. And…that’s kind of it. Aside from the Codec calls Sam receives during the mission, that’s all we ever know about that. We don’t really even know that much more about him apart from a confirmation that he is Brazillian (Minuano refers to the cool Brazillian wind, thus continuing the wind theme naming of Desperado members). Sam is characterized as someone who travels all over the world dispensing justice like a vigilante, which actually sets up some parallels with Raiden, strengthened by him having certain tendencies mirroring Raiden during the story. I really wish there was more we could see or learn in this one to two hour adventure, but sadly I’m left hanging and wanting more.

Jetstream Sam has a few parallels with Raiden.

One thing that’s been noted, that I have to agree with here, is that every asset for Sam’s story is recycled from the main game. Levels, setpieces, enemies and bosses are all taken directly from Raiden’s campaign, the only really noticeable difference being the Depserado logo plastered on Metal Gear RAY; the other bosses Sam fights are a more aggressive Bladewolf and a similarly structured Senator Armstrong. They do manage to seamlessly connect the sewer, building and rooftop levels together into an interesting string of environments, but it doesn’t do much to reduce the feeling of déjà vu from playing. If there were one or two original sections thrown in then it would be more forgivable, but as it stands it feels more like playing through parts of Raiden’s story again.

Where Jetstream Sam and Raiden begin to differ a bit is the combat. Sam’s moveset is very similar to his rival’s in a lot of ways, but he does have a couple attacks that stand out. These are his famous quickdraw ability as well as a charge move that is surprisingly effective (Protip: Spam it against Bladewolf and Armstrong). His animations are also similar in some ways, but there are a lot of subtle differences that give the feeling you are actually playing as a different character, such as how Sam draws and retracts his sword or the way he runs. Also notable is that his overall style is like Raiden’s total offense, but Sam is focused a little more on the air and less on flash. Also, instead of having Augment Mode to see more deeply into the environment, Sam has the ability to taunt enemies to temporarily enrage them; taunting increases your score. This change suits his personality, but trying to find certain things was made a little harder as a result. Speaking of which, you can still find a lot of things in the environment, though items like the cardboard box and oil drum feel a little less useful thanks to the more action-oriented approach of Sam’s levels. You also have to find your upgrades manually, so you really have to look around if you want Sam to be strong enough to take down the enemies (Protip: You start with no upgrades every single time you play).

This actually sort of ties into a problem I have with the DLC: you must do everything in one shot. There’s no ability to pick a segment that you want to play, which means that if all you want to do is fight Armstrong, you have to start from the beginning every time. It’s not exactly easy either, since no matter what difficulty you pick, you’ll be faced with a good degree of challenge. Because of this, it’s also annoying to play the VR missions, which surprisingly will allow you to use any items (including Repair Nanopaste) that you’ve collected during normal play. Unfortunately, if you use any items, you don’t get them back, so you have to play at your own risk. However, the VR missions can only be accessed while you play through the entirety of Sam’s campaign, so if you want to try again, you have to suffer through the long grind to get to it and hope that you’re not too weak in the end. It may not be worth the trouble though, since four of the five missions are of the “kill every enemy in the room” variety and the last one is a platformer. While the last one is unique in its presentation, the lengths you have to go through to access it in the first place are just nuts.

Despite the differences, Jetstream Sam is kind of the same.

On the upside, the (recycled) music is great, including a DLC remix of one of the themes from the game. I also liked the voice acting, though Armstrong’s voice and Jetstream Sam’s delivery sounded a little off to me. I know they’re the same people behind the scenes, but still. The only one who didn’t sound off was Monsoon, who has a pretty good presence in the events.

As free DLC, Jetstream has some pretty cool ideas, but squanders them a bit through the mass recycling of scenery and gameplay. There are some small touches that show dramatic bursts of creativity, but, at least on consoles, there isn’t much incentive to keep playing the campaign, not even for the VR missions. There are some missed opportunities, especially in terms of story and the idea of being able to play as Sam during Raiden’s levels, so that bogs it down. In the end though, if you want to get more out of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on consoles, this is a good way of doing it, if only to get a glimpse of what playing as Sam would be like.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Lightning Bolt Action

In case you haven't been keeping up with this blog, I've recently become a huge fan of the Metal Gear franchise. The series has been able to demonstrate truly masterful storytelling ability and have stealth-based gameplay that only seems to get better and better with time. While I had known of the legacy and impact of this series on gaming culture overall, to the point where it made a sort of cameo appearance in Wreck-It Ralph, this recent exposure has gotten me hooked on trying to explore as much I can of this series. This led me to be even more excited about the two announced Metal Gear projects, the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and the recently released Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the subject of this review. Having begun life as Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the project was to be a balance of stealth and action, but Kojima Productions could not get the original vision to work the way they wished. To alleviate this, the project was handed over to Platinum Games, who is perhaps best known for creating the action game Bayonetta, itself a product of the original creator of Devil May Cry. As a result, we now have a game that's attempting a blend of Metal Gear's storytelling, Kojima Productions' original ideas and Platinum Games' brand of style-based gameplay. So now, you may be asking, does it work? I would say: Yes, yes it does.

For curious readers, here's the logo for the original project.

Spoiler Note: Before I continue, I must warn you. Due to the placement of the game within the Metal Gear timeline, there will be unmarked spoilers regarding the premise. I'll try to keep spoilers from the game proper to a minimum, but keep in mind that I won't be using white text due to its nature.

It is four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Since the fall of the Sons of the Patriots System, the world has mostly recovered from the war economy and is rebuilding toward a more peaceful state. In an unknown African country, Raiden, who now works for the PMC Maverick, is acting as a VIP guard for Prime Minister N'Mani. Everything goes smoothly until a group of cyborgs from Desperado Enforecement LLC. show up with the intent of kidnapping the Prime Minister. Though they succeed, Raiden follows after their leader, Sundowner, and arrives at a train. There, N'Mani is offed and a mysterious man named Samuel Rodrigues, aka Jetstream Sam, fights Raiden as the train passes through a tunnel, the end result being the latter's loss of both his left eye and arm. Before Raiden can be killed however, the train leaves the tunnel and Maverick arrives to provide assistance, forcing Desperado to leave. Three weeks later, Raiden is supplied with a brand new and improved body and deployed by Maverick to Abkhazia to prevent Desperado from leading a military coup against its government. As the mission continues, Raiden soon finds himself as part of something far bigger than anyone could have realized, as well as his past coming back to haunt him.

Raiden, somehow even more badass than last time.

What follows is actually pretty well-written. It's not on the exact same level as some other Metal Gear titles, but the string of events still suit the universe well. Having Raiden confront his past as a child soldier nicknamed "Jack the Ripper" was interesting, as we get a look into his past and just what effect that has on him in the present day (2018 in-game). There are still some good twists and discussions on the theme of revenge, as well as tackling the subject of child soldiers in general, mainly how wrong it is, and just what benefits certain entities that deploy such soldiers see out of it. I also like how it tackled the issue of the war economy from Guns of the Patriots and just what it meant for the world when it ended, like the fact that there are some people like Desperado Enforcement LLC. who enjoy the business end of an endless war. The rhetoric given by the final boss on this subject is also worth listening to, as it is a perfect example of just how extreme people can become about their ideals and what they'll do to accomplish them, even if it means dooming the entire world. Within all of this, I also felt that Raiden's character was fleshed out pretty well. His goals and motivations made sense to me and, for the most part, his character is consistent with his portrayal in Guns of the Patriots. I know that some may disagree, but it is, in my opinion, a story that wouldn't feel out of place in the Metal Gear franchise.

If there's anything wrong with the story however, it would be how much sense it makes in the long run. Players will still be able to follow what happens just by watching the cut scenes and listening to mandatory codec calls, but that only gets you part of the story. If you really want all of the details, you're going to have to make a lot of codec calls yourself while playing, since it's an action game and having any more cut scenes would only really get in the way. By listening to these codec conversations, you'll better understand where everyone is and what's been going on in the world for the last four years. Even if you just want to constantly cut people up, I would encourage you to make as many codec calls as possible until they begin to recycle, then do it again in any area you could possibly hear more info.

There's also the fact that Metal Gear Rising makes plenty of nods and call backs to previous games in the franchise, so anyone starting out with this game will be a little confused as to what people are actually talking about. To remedy this, for those who actually care about story in a video game, I would suggest waiting on this game and first playing, on PS3, Metal Gear Solid off of PSN, the PS3 version of the HD Collection and then Metal Gear Solid 4; you could also just play Metal Gear Solid 4 and read the downloadable Metal Gear Solid 4 Database into oblivion. If you don't really care about the story though and just want to slice soldiers into little pieces, then you can get along just fine, but you'll miss on a pretty good action game story.

Jetstream Sam: Raiden's main rival.

As this is an action game however, there's one of the most important aspects that needs to be discussed: gameplay, more specifically combat. There's the standard light and heavy attack buttons, complete with special moves that can be acquired through spending BP earned by doing certain actions. Combat is fast, fluid and fun, but there's one mechanic that makes it all worth it: dynamic cutting. While it seems that some observant gamers have pointed out the Afro Samurai video game possessing a similar mechanic, it should be noted that not only does Metal Gear Rising use this mechanic, it improves upon it dramatically. Wherever Raiden cuts on an object, that object will be cut in that exact direction and respond with the perfect physics to match. This is taken one step further with the Blade Mode mechanic, which slows down time and allows control over the precise angle that an object can be cut, especially against enemies. Blade Mode is most useful with the Zandatsu technique, which allows Raiden to slice an enemy at a specific point on their body to grab a fuel cell and replenish his health and fuel cell gauges, the latter of which is required for Blade Mode to work to the fullest. I absolutely love this ability, as it's something people have probably been waiting decades for a game to finally do. To see it in reality is simply miraculous and I honestly can't get enough of it.

Memorable bosses are one thing that Metal Gear has been known for, and Rising: Revengeance is no exception. Almost every level ends with a boss fight against one of the Winds of Destruction, a specialized group within Desperado whose members are all named after a type of wind that is also indicative of their nationality: Mistral, Monsoon and Sundowner. Each fight is tailor made to showcase their unique abilities and serves to not only display how ridiculously awesome the game can get, but also test the player's skill with Raiden's abilities. The fights can get very tense and thrilling, though Monsoon stands out for being rather annoyingly difficult on a first play through thanks to his spectacularly broken moves (he can stun you and then attack you while you're trying to break it, which can make you stunned again, allowing him to attack you in your stunned state to extend it, etc.).

Beating each boss will also net you a unique weapon, which can be equipped in addition to the High Frequency Blade Raiden starts out with. Another annoyance here though is that the newly equipped weapon will replace your heavy attack moves, which means you can't do everything you'd like to at once and will need to get used to whatever weapon you equip. For this reason, I did actually use the Pole Arm, gained by beating Mistral, to advance better through my first run and then abandoned it later on to test my skills with the sword alone. This felt better to me in the long run, so I'd suggest doing the same thing.

One unlucky soldier on the receiving end of a Zandatsu strike.

While action is the name of the game here, there's also still some of the signature stealth action the series is known for. It is possible to sneak past enemies with a cardboard box or drum can, or even sneak up behind them and perform a stealth kill so you can try and get fuel cells without anyone noticing. Keeping this element in helps the game retain the Metal Gear identity and presents a different route that players can take with completing missions, which also offers its own rewards. Variety can help a video game become all it can be, and in this game it certainly helps.

Also useful is Augment Mode, which rolls Thermal, Night Vision and Infrared Goggles all into one package. It's a little like the Detective Mode from the Arkham games, since it scans the environment and provides Raiden, and thus the player, with all kinds of useful information, most importantly the locations of items and objects that can be cut.

Graphically speaking, this is the Metal Gear franchise looking the best it ever has in the current generation. Everything feels more lifelike and seems to be a little more stylized without sacrificing the iconic look of Yoji Shinkawa's art style. Colors are also more vibrant than previous entries, with a great lighting system that helps the levels all look different from each other as well as realistic. While the level design is much more linear than the Solid titles, this doesn't really prevent the game from being any fun, as it's more about what awesome things happen along the way than anything else.

Augment Mode, a very useful tool in the game.

As for the music, I'd like to boldly declare that it is one of the best action game soundtracks I have heard in quite a while. There are a lot of vocal tracks during combat, which I feel was integrated really well, especially in regards to the boss fights, which seem to feature an instrumental until a certain phase causes the vocals to kick in. The songs not only have a great beat that goes well with the action, but the lyrics also match the situation perfectly by discussing the main ideas of each encounter. It is for this reason that the final boss music is actually one of my favorite boss tracks of all time and will be hard to top.

The game also features some pretty good voice acting, with solid performances that bring each character to life and display a good range of emotions. My one complaint in regards to this however would be the amount of f-bombs that are dropped. While I should clarify that it's nowhere near the same galaxy as, say, Bulletstorm, there is still a rather disproportionate amount compared to earlier entries. Guns of the Patriots introduced international fans to the first ever f-bomb in the franchise (there were two f-bombs if you lived in Japan), spoken by Laughing Octopus to induce shock in the player and show just how serious she was about killing Snake. Here though, they throw the word around more often to the point that it loses some of the impact it might have had, though I'll admit that it did help at least one speech out.

The world can offer enemies a very colorful death.

The only other thing that I can find wrong with this game would be the length. It is a bit too short, no doubt due in part to its troubled development. If the end result screen is any indication, it is possible to beat this game in six to seven hours, though I am aware that the game doesn't count retries in this score so make of that what you will, with further runs of the game allowing you to lower this time and beat it even faster (and improve your grade for a better overall score). I think that it could probably have gotten away with maybe a couple more levels to help it not feel so short and still not take away from the story.

As an action game, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is one of the best of its genre. As a Metal Gear game, it is an interesting genre shift that feels right at home. It manages to do a decent job combining the styles of Kojima Productions and Platinum games, with a fun combat system combined with a fascinating story that gives us some insight into the aftermath of the downfall of the Sons of the Patriots system. I highly recommend this to fans of the Metal Gear franchise, especially if they enjoy action games or are accepting of a genre shift that suits Raiden perfectly. As for action game fans in general and newcomers to Metal Gear, if you know nothing outside of Solid Snake, Cardboard Boxes and Giant Robots and you'd actually like to follow the story and not be confused, follow the advice I gave above in my story paragraph. It'll help you out immensely.

TL;DR: Go read this.

Grammar Note: In case you're wondering, "Revengeance" is indeed a real word. It is actually an archaic word, which was split off into "revenge" and "vengeance" since they mean basically the same thing. If my research is correct, the reason "Revengeance" is the subtitle is to show that the game is getting revenge at the failure of the previous incarnation, Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Now it makes more sense, doesn't it?