MGS: PO (Piece of [Sex])

Yesterday I bought Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Today I played it for hours and hours, because I'm sick and basically had nothing better to do other than to lie around in bed, panic about college, and smell really bad.

It's a different game than I had expected, quite different indeed. I had basically forgotten about the whole premise of capturing soldiers, actually, so that was an interesting surprise, and I also didn't know about the mission-based setup, which is a new turn for the franchise. Unsurprisingly, it all works really well and it's a lot of fun thus far. The gameplay mechanics lend themselves well to shorter bursts of play, which is appreciated given that it's a title on a handheld system (not that I would ever really take my PSP outside), but it's also a game you can sit down and really pour long amounts of time into. Collecting new soldiers, re-equipping them, and putting them into new roles (spies, technical and medical squads, etcetera) is pretty addictive, and it's quite possible to pour in great amounts of time scouting out new locations and progressing the story. Online play is also quite a bit of fun, and I love how there are a lot of different ways to use Wi-Fi (outside of the multiplayer deathmatches, you can also use access points to get new soldiers and send squads out on the internet on their own to recruit new people).

But there are problems. The camera is pretty bad and quite a bit more frustrating than Subsistence's, since you can only adjust it via the control pad. I still think it's a bit too challenging to play through the game being totally sneaky, much as it was in MGS3, perhaps because the radar isn't all that useful and because the camera is shitty, as mentioned. I've tried to really take my time and sneak around as Snake, and when I really invest myself in it, I can manage to evade the guards (sometimes), but that takes an awful long time and doesn't really feel reliable anyway. I much prefer switching to one of the soldiers I've persuaded to my side and just walking out in the open (since soldiers you capture oftentimes have the same uniform as enemy units, they aren't targeted), blasting anyone who spots me. It's still fun, but I honestly miss the simpler mechanics of MGS1 and MGS2. Complexity does not always equal success. There's also the matter of equipment; 4 slots per unit simply isn't enough. "Realistic," perhaps, but not enough.

Honestly, though, the flaws aren't all that huge, and PO is a great addition to the franchise. If you have a PSP, I don't see why you wouldn't buy this. It's totally on par with the other MGS titles. Yum.