Metal Gear Acid

"I Need Scissors! 61!"

I need scissors! 61!

Metal Gear Ac!d is a non-canon Metal Gear Solid game. One of the first PSP games, it was a great game, but earned many criticisms for its card-turn-based gameplay. In order to play this game you draw 'cards' which allow you certain abilities. Like equipping Body Armor for example, or shooting a FAMAS. You get a set amount of turns before you have to 'rest'. During your 'rest' stage the enemy takes their turn. The gameplay, while not wholly original, is still innovative and fun. One of my gripes with the game is that some of the levels are ridiculously long, I mean that they take a couple hours to finish. It's a port-able game. Unless of course I was just uncommonly bad at the game. The story starts out with two Killer Puppets hijacking a plane. (No lies) They want-in return for the passengers of the plane - 'Pythagoras'. What Pythagoras is, remains a mystery. The government brings Solid Snake out of retirement to infiltrate a base ( Ever heard of this one before?) and recruits help from a psychic in order to rescue a ‘Dr. Flemming', who is the mastermind of ‘Pythagoras'.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are so-so. They aren't bad by any means, but they're not the greatest. Although for a launch title they must have looked hot. The animations however, are a different story. They look pretty good. In particular when you knock back one guard into another guard it looks especially cool.

Sound/Music: 7/10
This game lacked voice-overs, which was a major bummer for myself. It could have been much more interesting if you would have been able to hear the Killer Puppets talking. David Hayter has a killer voice as well. He sounds pretty badass if I say so myself. The theme and background music is pretty good but again, nothing to get your panties twisted in a knot over.

Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay on this game is for the most part – hate it or love it – I was a bit skeptical at first, but it turns out to be pretty fun. It keeps things fresh, ya? The card-based play turned out very well, adding a different kind of strategy not typical to the other Metal Gear Solids. Each turn you draw 2 new cards, with a max of 6 cards possible. By default you get to use two cards and then you go into ‘rest' mode. A team-mate that you gain later in the game has the ability to use three cards and you can increase your number of turns (Turns meaning number of cards able to play) using special cards, up to a maximum of 4.

Replayability: 6/10
You are able to unlock new cards by beating the game on more than one playthrough but the game itself is pretty long, spawning over a dozen levels almost all taking a fair bit of time to complete.

The Story: 9.5/10
Typical of MGS games is to have a great story with many plot twists and revelations. This game is no exception. It starts out with two Killer Puppets hijacking a plane and asking for ‘Pythagoras'.
Solid Snake is sent in to retrieve it but, oops, can't spoil the story now can I? The twists and turns of this game are excellent and has plenty of ‘Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?' moments.

Final Comments: If you haven't played this game yet, and are a fan of the MGS series, go out and buy this game. Now. It's dirt cheap and may be a Greatest Hits title by now.

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/06