"This is NOT the Snake we know."

I've been a MGS fan for several years now, with The Twin Snakes probably being my favorite, but they have all been great, all the way back to the original on NES. Hearing about a MGS game for the PSP really got me excited and I was hoping it would have the same great story and gameplay as the previous ones. Upon reading farther into the issue, I was dissapointed. This was not going to be another MGS game as we know and love, but a cash-in on the popular card-based game genre now. So we get a polished up version of Yu-gi-oh with Snake tossed in.

Still, I tried to go into it with an open mind, thinking maybe that Hideo could resurrect the dead and hopelessly boring card genre into a fun MGS experience. Sadly, he only succeeded on one part: Story. The game has a great and involving storyline like all the MGS games, but the gameplay frankly sucks.

Story: 10/10
Best part of the game. Two insane dolls hijack a plane carrying a presidental candidate, Senator Hatch. They have paralysed everyone on the flight with gas, and threaten to kill them all if they don't get "Pythagoras", some mystery substance/thing hidden deep in a lab. Of course, Snake is the only person that can sneak in and obtain it, saving the day once again. Little on the zany side, but keeps the player intrested for the next tidbit that the game reveals.

Music,Graphics: 8/10
Another highpoint of the game. Visuals are eye candy and everything looks stunning considering this is a first-gen game. Voices are crystal clear and sound like they are supposed to, although I think Snake's voice lost its "edge" from console versions. Music is sparce and hardly noticable, but it doesn't detract from anything.

Gameplay: 3/10
Here's where the game falls on its face. Despite my best attempts to keep and open mind, I just couldn't force myself to like this game. Console versions were touted as "Tactical Espionage Action". Ac!d is "Tactical Espionage Waiting" because you do at least a third of the game waiting.

Let's break it down. A mission starts, and 6 cards from your deck(customisable, but not in-game) are shown on the screen. Some are weapons, some are power-ups(armor, extra move spaces, better accuracy, ect), and some are movement cards. Almost every card can be used to move or to use its function.

Let's say you decide to move. Upon selecting the card a grid appears around Snake showing you where you can move within x spaces(varies with card). Select a space and move.

Using said card had a "cost" value. Per turn you have a cost limit which starts as 2, but can be expanded per mission with power-up cards. Once you use up all your "cost" points, you can not play any more cards. If you are in an adjacent square to an enemy you can punch them, otherwise your turn ends.

WAITING TIME! Now the computer takes its turns on all the enemies on the play grid. Some rarely ever move, and others patrol frequently. If one sees you on their turn, they radio for help, causing all the other guards to move towards you on their next turn and often times many more appear. Now Snake is standing there stock-still while 6 baddies take turns shooting him in the face, while you can do absolutely nothing until your turn comes up again. In a game that is known for and tries to be realistic for tactics and gameplay, this just seems silly and rediciously out of place.

Now rinse and repeat several dozen times until you get to point X or eliminate person Z or whatever.

The game constantly tells you to aviod conflict at all costs, but that's pretty hard when the computer follows you around like a hawk and then calls 10 more to come blow you away.

But wait! It's your turn again, you can fight back! Wrong again. You play a FAMAS card on the guard right next to you. Doesn't matter that he is right next to you, Snake still only has 80% accuracy(which can only get worse with distance). It doesn't kill even a weak unarmored guard. Okay, you've slightly damaged one of 6 baddies waiting for their turn to shoot at you. Now you play a SOCOM card on the same guard. After missing several times, Snake finally manages to land a hit and kill ONE guard. Whoops! That's the end of your cost points, time to have 5 baddies blow you away instead of 6. Doesn't that seem just plain stupid? Snake, the legendary badass, has to stop shooting and let other guards "take their turn"(what is this, preschool?) shooting him becaue he ran out of "cost points"? What the hell?

That's baisically the flow of this game. No matter how careful you are, you always get caught at least once because you didn't have the card you wanted. You're trying to make a dash for the door, but you have all weapon cards that have a limited movement range, and no movement cards. You need to shoot a guard before they move and see you, but you don't have any weapons cards in your hand at the time, so Snake is incapable of shooting. Guard moves, spots you, radios for help, see above.

It boils down to a fancy game of chess that Big Blue probably couldn't beat. If you haven't caught my drift, this game is HARD. Sure the first 2 missions are fairly simple, but after that prepare for hours of frustration at having to do the whole mission over because Snake missed one too many times and the guard saw you.

It is a bizarre mix of being hopelessly bored and frustrated at the same time. Even the great story can't keep you playing this game, and great graphics and sound only carry a game so far.

Buy/Rent/Don't Bother: Rent.
Apparently some people like this game, as it is getting rave reviews from some sites. I just can't see the attraction here. Wait 5 minutes for your turn, be helpless because you don't have the right card, die. Repeat. It's not MGS in any way shape or form. Its a cheap cash-in on the booming card genre and little more. If you are a die-hard MGS fan, give it a rent. Who knows, maybe you like being hopelessly frustrated. Otherwise, stay away.

Bottom Line: Frustrating and hard due to poor gameplay mechanics. The game is like chess, but less controllable. In chess, if your pawn in diagonal to anything, you can take it. In this, if a guard is diagonal to Snake you get to play the lottery whether or not a random number generator will make Snake hit enough times to kill. Its a big game of chance.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/06