Minimum Tempo

There are no spoilers in this review.

This article was originally published on Gamer7.com which is now defunct. April 25, 2005.

The Metal Gear series has long been considered the benchmark for stealth/action games. The likes of Metal Gear Solid, and its sequels (Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater) are some of the best stealth games every created, so you’d hope every subsequent title would be superb and receive critical acclaim.

Fans were certainly happy that a Metal Gear game would be available for the launch of Sony’s new PlayStation Portable (PSP), though many were later crushed to hear the title would be a “card-based” game. Nevertheless, Japanese reviews were positive, so I picked up this game hoping for the best.

This time, our hero Solid Snake is called to investigate/take down a terrorist who has hijacked a commercial airliner and taken its passengers hostage. A commander by the name of “Roger” calls Snake to infiltrate a facility that terrorists have taken over on “Lobito Island” near Africa. Roger, and a psychic named Alice, will aid you in battling the terrorists, and Acid will introduce the usual barrage of characters and plot twists. Unlike the home-console Metal Gear game however, storyline is this time represented purely through artwork and text.

The graphics throughout are excellent, rivalling Sons of Liberty (PS2), with detailed models/battlefields, and sleek menus. On the downside, there are a few frame-rate problems when too many items appear on-screen, and the in-game camera has a few problems on some of the multi-level missions.

Most of Acid’s action take place from the top-down view, within environments that are remarkably similar to previous Metal Gear titles. Gameplay, however, has taken a very different course; it’s now turn-based, on a board arena, not unlike Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics. Strategic planning is as important as stealth; your enemies will move around on cue, and if spotted, guards will alert the facility, resulting in - predictably - more guards appearing.

“…Acid feels like an average excuse for a Metal Gear game…”

The actual ‘card’ system is Acid is fairly complex, and regularly dull. You are given a selection of six cards each turn, each one enabling you to do something - to kill, to move, to take an extra turn, to perform various actions etc. Cards each possess a number of Cost points - and how many such points you use determines how long you have to wait for your next turn. You build a new deck before every mission, which seems simple enough at first, but grows ridiculously complex as the game goes on.

The whole system gets very repetitive, and you’ll often find yourself longing for something else to do; waiting for the enemy AI to finish its turn is especially frustrating, and some missions are just too difficult and time consuming. You don’t expect much realism in any card-based game, but considering the realism of previous Metal Gear titles, Acid just seems absurd. Shoot down an enemy and he’ll drop down in pain, but get right back up to fight when its his “turn”. Many enemies can take dozens of bullets, simply because of implausible ‘armor’ or defense.

It’s not the Metal Gear we know, and it just doesn’t feel right. To make matters worse, missions are constantly interrupted by Roger on the Codec, and you often find yourself unable to proceed in a mission due to lacking the right card, which just adds to the tedium. A new feature, not present in the Japanese version, is the Ad-hoc link mode that allows two players to enter a VR mission (annoyingly, this isn’t available at first; you have to unlock it by playing through the single-player mode). This feature is a little disappointing, though: Your goal is to locate three “Pythagorus” discs, obtained by killing enemies, before your opponent. The biggest flaw is that your character can only see enemies if their in his vision area. You can’t see them if they’re behind you, so end you turn in a vulnerable state and you’re likely to get shot in the back. It feels unfair, and spoils the experience. Also, multiplayer is not for the novice; it’s very tough at the best of times, and requires two skilled players to get any real joy out of it.

(Verdict:) Overall, Acid feels like an average excuse for a Metal Gear game. It’s got the graphics and the storyline, but not the gameplay. Hardcore Metal Gear fans may well adore the string of references Acid has to the previous games (like the collectable character cards, for example), but ultimately the stagnated action and dreary card-play will turn all but the most optimistic players off.

Rating: D

This post is tagged Metal Gear, Metal Gear Acid, PlayStation, PSP, Review, Solid Snake, Sony

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