Great on the go tactical game that delivers in spades!
The game follows the typical/expected Metal Gear premise. You are a skilled soldier (Solid Snake), you’re forced to infiltrate a heavily guarded area, and eliminate “Metal Gear” before a nuclear crisis occurs. Of course, insert a bunch of awesomely “slap you upside the head” twists. Even on a handheld, the narrative is still convoluted and entertaining. Unfortunately, there is none of the engaging voice work from the console games found here, just plain text. I personally, didn’t mind (and actually enjoyed to an extent) reading everything, but I can understand why a lot of people being put off by this. Nevertheless, the dialogue is still well translated and flows nicely.
Unlike the console Metal Gear Solid games where you watch the game almost as much as you play it, much of your time in Metal Gear Ac!d will actually be spent with gameplay. While the gameplay seems similar to a turn-based tactics game, there is actually a lot that makes it stand out. For starters, since your mostly on your own, you can’t just run in guns ‘a blazing. The game encourages you to use your wits and keep your gun as a last resort. Even to the point of, -in Metal Gear tradition- where the game rewards you for completing a mission without killing an enemy. So, you have to be very strategic and plan out your moves. While this can be hard and frustrating at first, the outcome of a successful mission is very rewarding. Later on, another character will join you and then you can pull off some satisfying new strategies (ie setting traps) or be a little more forceful.
Interestingly, Metal Gear Ac!d incorporates a card-based system in it’s stealthy tactical design. While it may seem silly and a mockery to the Metal Gear franchise, it’s actually very deep and well thought out system. I am sure, MGS fans (like myself), enjoy that the cards include a large list of icons from every Metal Gear game to even Snatcher -- which seems to be a part of the Metal Gear universe. You’ll find cards cover almost all the equipment and moves from Metal Gear games; like MGS 3’s CQC attacks to Snake’s trusty SOCOM –even various forms of the classic cardboard box are present. On top of that, there are Character cards, which temporarily gives the user a special power relating to that character. Suffice to say, with of these cards available, it’s a ton fun to make these desk if you are a fan of strategy and/or Metal Gear.
While it does lack voice acting, the rest of the sound is pretty rock solid. It does sound a little “hissy” and compressed, but all of the familiar Metal Gear sounds can be found. The music isn’t very memorable, aside from the subtle main theme, but it very much sounds like Metal Gear.
Graphically, the game is pretty impressive. Although, it is a little dark in places, the framerate drops during heavy combat, and there’s a little clipping here and there, it’s hard to complain watching it on the PSP’s big, bright, portable screen.
On the replay value side of things, the multiplayer is pretty much dull, but there is a lot of replayable in the single player game. After beating the game you can choose to play on extreme, replay any level, and continue to build your best deck.
All in all, Metal Gear Ac!d is a solid strategic experience. Sure, it bores a lot of action gamers, but players looking for a strategic game that makes you actually *think* won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t.