You will be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of the Metal Gear series than I. In fact, you can check around this very website to find a handful of articles further proving my point (and to nerd out for a second, my ringtone is the MGS codec noise). So when a demo for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker hit the PSP in late September during the Tokyo Game Show, I was quick to jump on the chance to play it. However, it turned out the demo I'm referring to was only really playable by those who could read, or spoke Japanese. Bummer. But luckily for those who couldn't, Kojima Productions got hard at work on an English version of the same demo and it's finally come out. However, there are a lot of aspects of Peace Walker that don't really sit well with me.
But before we rush right into the bad, let's cover the good first. Firstly, the game looks amazing for a PSP title. When you get to see the in-game engine rendering cinematics you'll be blown away at how good Peace Walker looks. The demo's opening does a great job of setting the stage and really puts the game's engine to work, rendering an impressively detailed Big Boss and fellow Militaires Sans Frontières troops (Soldiers without Borders) on a beach during a rainstorm. It looks like the PS2's Metal Gear Solid 3 in the palm of your hand. It's that impressive.
But when Peace Walker gets into more dialogue heavy cinematics, the in-game engine takes a backseat for animated comic frames with overlaying voice work. And while the motion comic approach works in some respect, due mostly to the amazing artistic talents of Kojima Productions' staff, I still would have preferred the in-game engine do all the heavy lifting for delivering the story. Because, in all honesty, watching Peace Walker's motion comic cutscenes makes me feel like I'm watching those exposition heavy, stock footage cutscenes from previous Metal Gear Solid titles. And while those expositional cinematics were always informative, they were also very dry and boring. And that's how I feel about Peace Walker's cinematics, there just isn't any punch to the drama that transpires. And what's the point of a Metal Gear Solid game if it can't deliver an emotionally gripping story?
Another thing I was curious about with Peace Walker is how well the standard MGS controls would transfer over to this portable version of the franchise. Peace Walker takes the same approach as Metal Gear Solid 4 with it's "action" controls, making Peace Walker more like a third-person perspective shooter instead of a top down view, sneaking game. However, playing this way on a PSPgo is pretty horrendous. I'm not going to lie, it's mostly due to the horrible layout of the PSPgo's buttons, making me feel like I need to be a vulture to feel comfortable holding the thing. So in a way, Peace Walker does the best with what it's given, but I did find myself pausing the game every ten or so minutes in order to flex my wrists because I felt Carpal Tunnel creeping in as I played.
Another way Peace Walker suffers because of the controls is through the terrible AI. Because the controls are really hard to get use to and feel comfortable with, even after logging quite a few hours into the game, the AI has been dumbed down to near retard level to balance everything out. You can literally be standing out in the open with an enemy starring at you three feet away and he won't alert other enemies. He'll pretty much just stand there and let you walk up to him and choke him out. Peace Walker poses no challenge what-so-ever when it comes to enemy interaction.
Truthfully, I came away from Peace Walker much more disappointed than I ever thought I would. Sure, the game looks phenominal and the mission layout is great (giving you ranks and incentive to revisit levels and outperform yourself), but the controls and motion comic storytelling approach leave much to be desired. I'm fully aware that Peace Walker is a vital chapter in the Metal Gear Solid saga, but if experiencing it means I have to choke down more of what I've played, I might be better of passing on it, in all honesty.
