Metal Slug 3

"You can cheat him..."

Poor General Morden. The guy never catches a break. First, he tries to assassinate the president and lead a rebellion against the American government, only to get his ass kicked into military prison. Then he broke out, reestablished his army, and made a deal with some Martians to gain even more power for himself. The aliens kidnapped him, strapped him to a table, and did God knows what kind of sadistic experiments on him. Now that Morden is back on Earth, he's faced with the cruel reality of his actions; he's become a recluse dictator hiding in some far-flung corner of the world, his military has been severely weakened, and the aliens are continuing their covert invasions of Earth.

Meanwhile, the Peregrine Falcons Special Forces continue on their mission to quash General Morden for good. Marco, Tarma, Eri, and Fio, the heroic quartet of the Metal Slug series, are still roaming various locales in search of their target. Their adventures are no longer focused on urban dwellings and jungle habitats; the latest quest will lead through treacherous ruins, desolate tropical islands, murky ocean depths, and even into vast reaches of the cosmos. Not only will they have to fight through Morden's diehard soldiers, but a slew of armored tanks and planes, giant enemy crabs (no joke intended), man-eating plants, horribly mutated insects, and an army of Night of the Living Dead rejects. Needless to say, our heroes are going to have their hands full.

All of this new stuff doesn't matter, though. No matter where they go or who they fighter, this band of heroes is all about one thing: kicking ass. Stealth is for the weak. There's no finesse or gracefulness involved here; they'll simply charge into enemy territory with their guns blazing. Or rather, with anything that can kill the armies of soldiers, tanks, robots, and mutant freaks descending upon them. As per the previous titles in the series, the default weapon is a single-shot pistol. Since that's only useful for sniping one enemy at a time (which means they're practically worthless), our heroes will have to nab whatever armaments laying around. Eventually, you'll be mowing down dozens of soldiers with a brief spray of machine gun fire, turn monsters into charred corpses with the flamethrower, and riddle alien bodies with laser beam holes. Then there are all the grenades, shotguns, Molotovs, homing missiles, Bouncy Balls of Doom, and the rest of the weapons that made the first few Metal Slug installments so fun. Tommy Vercetti's got nothing on these guys.

You can't forget about all the vehicles you'll get to commandeer, either. In the first game, you were only able to drive a small tank armed with a semiautomatic. Since then, operable machines have been expanded into fighter planes, combat choppers, submarines, spaceships, and mechs. There's nothing more awesome than mounting a war-ostrich (because we all know that ostriches are the most badass combat animals in existence) and annihilating your foes with the laser cannons mounted on its feathery hide. You'll need all the help you can get, too; each level isn't just incredibly long, but also crammed with foes poised to kill you with extreme prejudice. The game makes a few new spins on older concepts, forcing you to fight a small army of the living dead (and turning into one of them if you aren't nimble enough), blast entire legions of squid aliens into extraterrestrial paste, and even take on old General Morden in a fight that Metal Slug fans will be sure to appreciate. That's on top of all the new soldiers you get to prey on; Morden's fellows have upgraded to rifles, gatling guns, sabers, and plenty of other weapons of minor destruction. With so many new additions to virtually every aspect of the game, Metal Slug 3 is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Though the enemies have become far more outrageous (as if the regular baddies weren't weird enough), they still all have the same weakness. It doesn't matter if they're horribly oversized mechas with missiles and flamethrowers, godforsaken H.P. Lovecraft creatures with flowing tentacles and beady eyes, or a bunch of random alien giants that look grotesque beyond comprehension; they'll all die after getting shot enough times. As you slay foe after pathetic foe, their blood will spew out of their wounds and send the ground awash in gore. There's something satisfying about grabbing a machine gun, climbing onto the head of the nearest mutant crab, and spilling its slimy guts all over the beach. Since the game features several alternate routes for its various levels, you'll have to endure some incredibly long and difficult levels and play through again to experience everything. You'll get to witness the Earth's military might climb into the stratosphere to engage the aliens in an epic dogfight, zoom through a thick forest on a jetpack, and slaughter more pathetic green-clad soldiers than ever before. From plodding through a scenic coastline at sunrise, to exploring the fiery recesses of a steel mill, and ascending decrepit pyramids, this game offers an atmosphere that makes the best of what the Metal Slug series has to offer.

Indeed, Metal Slug 3 is arguably the best title in its respective series. It continues the story of the Peregrine Falcons' struggle for survival, the tragic ambition of an evil (if not utterly hilarious) mastermind, and the impending doom of mankind at the hands of a bunch of squids. No longer are the enemies limited to mere foot soldiers; the sheer amount of zombies, killer plants, giant bugs and mutated sea creatures make the combat far more varied and intense. The expanded levels and various paths make for an incredibly long and satisfyingly brutal gaming session. You'll never see a UFO battle quite as epic or as fast-paced as the one you'll have to fight through here. The rampant bloodshed and fast-paced gunplay are smoothly executed and delivered in a wonderfully vivid and gory package. This is what Metal Slug is all about.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/07