Revengeance - The Verdict On The Re-Reveal

Revengeance - The Verdict On The Re-Reveal

OPINION

The Metal Gear series is one of the most well known and well established in gaming history. With the reveal of the latest iteration, Rising Revengeance, there are clearly some deviations. Are these for better or worse?

E3 2009. Metal Gear Solid 4 had been released just a year earlier, and the gaming world was abuzz with what Kojima Productions would come out with next. However, nobody was quite prepared for what they were about to be shown. MGS loyalists were satisfied with Peace Walker for the PSP, an honest-to-goodness Metal Gear Solid game if there ever was one, which would be released just a year later in 2010. But another game was shown - Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Fans were shocked by Kojima’s decision to bring Raiden, MGS2's wimpy Solid Snake wannabe turned MGS4 cyborg ninja badass, back to centre stage. An undying faith in Kojima led many to believe that he would steer the project towards a satisfying final product, experimenting in a new action based (but still stealthy) style, whilst also filling in an important plot gap between MGS2 and 4.

Skip forward two years to December 2011, and the Spike Video Game Awards revealed a new trailer for Rising. Gone was the familiar element of stealth and the subtle but striking style, and introduced was a new developer in Platinum Games. It was also revealed shortly afterwards that Metal Gear Rising would be set not before MGS4, but after. Oh, and the title was changed to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Yes, really. Revengeance.



The Title


Revenge. Vengeance. How is it possible that two words that mean exactly the same thing, when combined, lose all meaning? Let’s just accept at this point that Revengeance is an instant member of the terrible game name hall of fame. That said, 'Revengeance' is exactly the type of quirkiness that Kojima injects into all of his titles: Policenauts, Peace Walker, Solidus Snake. Kojima has a rich history of quirky but meaningful names. Even Raiden means lightning in Japanese, which is a theme that has stuck with the character ever since his ninja rebirth. Perhaps this style of quirky naming is a sign that Kojima himself will still be involved in the game.

The most interesting thing about the title is that it drops all pretext of being a Metal Gear Solid game, replacing the ‘Solid’ (titled so both because of Solid Snake and the leap to 3D or ‘solid’ graphics that came with the initial Metal Gear Solid) with Rising. Certainly this indicates a huge leap in the direction of the game. Is the title silly? Yes. Undoubtedly so. Is that a bad thing? Probably not, but it is attention grabbing, right? What is worrying is that the title is the first major indicator of the drastic new direction the game is taking, which is sure to make fans uncomfortable at the very least (and rabid at the very most).