Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

"Metal Gear Solid:Sim Army"

Metal Gear Solid:Portable Ops can be seen as just another Metal Gear game, or a completely new idea. The game incorporates ideas from old Metal Gear games, and adds brand new ideas to it. Was it a good idea?

Storyline
-----------
The story of Portable Ops picks up a few years after the events of Metal Gear Solid:Snake Eater. Naked Snake/Big Boss has been detained in a prison, and is interrogated by a FOXFOUND member, who questions Snake about the Philosopher's Legacy. Snake doesn't give in, and soon starts a conversation with another prisoner, Roy Campbell. Together, the two devise a means of escape, and are soon investigating the area. They begin to unveil the mystery behind Foxhound's plan.

Gameplay
-----------
At the beginning of the story, the game plays similar Metal Gear Solid 3. You control Snake with the Analog Nubby, and rotate the camera with the directional pad. The right button switches Snake to a first person view. An added feature is that players are now able to move while aiming in first person with the d-pad. The left button readies the weapon the player currently has equipped, and also centers the camera behind the player. Circle is the Close Quarters Combat button, which can be combined with the analog nubby to perform different moves. Square uses a basic melee attack, and fires weapons when holding down either the left or right button. The triangle button is used for Sneaking Mode, pressing the character against walls, and opening doors quietly. The X button is used to go prone, crouch, or to perform a rolling attack. The radar has been modified to include sound, and direction. The health and stamina bars now appear at the bottom corner of the screen.

Beginning with the second stage, you will be able to start recruiting enemy soldier to assist you in your cause. The system is quite simple: Knock out an enemy with a non-lethal weapon, or choke him with CQC, then drag him back to Campbell's truck. The first soldier to grab will trigger a cutscene, showing how Snake and Campbell convert enemies. All enemy units captured after this point will take a certain period of time to convert after capturing them. The time it takes to convert a person depends on their rank, pre-war profession, and skill. A generic soldier with "C"s in all his skills, and no pre-war profession, and has the rank of private should be quickly converted, while a major who had politician as a pre-war profession, is an arms specialist,and has "B" in many of his skills will take longer to convert.

Once you've converted a unit to your side, you can choose to do many things with him. You can equip and unequip him/her with weapons, rename him, heal or feed him or her, and place the member in a unit. The units consist of the Sneaking Unit, which consists of 4 teams of 4 members, the Spy Unit, which consists of 4 members per spying location, the Technical Unit, which allows you to create and upgrade technology, as well as increase maximum supply capacity, The Medical Unit, which houses your doctors and nurses for healing units, and your nutritionists for increased stamina recovery. The Independents Unit houses your troops which do not belong in any of the other categories. The Rookies unit holds new recruits until placed into other categories, and the Prison holds units that have not been converted. Snake may recruit up to 100 characters to assist him, including himself. This means that a total of 99 characters can be recruited. Special characters can also be obtained in a number of different ways.

Each member of your army will have strengths and weaknesses. Some will excel at pistols, while others make be excellent with CQC. C represents the lowest skill levels, while S represents the highest skill level. You will have to occasionally check your members to see if they have any hidden talents, such as technical knowledge, and place them in the right squads to best benefit you. Other units will have a pre-war profession, which allows them to excel at certain things, such as sprinting, throwing, or dragging.

Audio
--------
The audio of Portable Ops sounds very similar to Metal Gear Solid 3, and players might recognize some remixed tunes, though Portable Ops has plenty of new audio content for players to enjoy. For newer Metal Gear players, the audio is mostly a very dark theme, with a little military music mixed into it, for suspense and sneaking sections. For shootouts, a loud orchestra will begin to play quickly, adding to the dangerous feel of being discovered of being involved in a massive firefight. The sound effects of weapons have been improved, especially the silenced shot of the MK22.

Voice acting for a Metal Gear game has arrived on the PSP, and David Hayter does an excellent job at voicing Snake. Young Campbell sounds much better then his older counterpart. Unfortunately, voice acting does not including the codec scenes.

Video
-------
Graphically, Portable Ops is one of the best looking PSP games on the market. While the game does not try to emulate realistic life, it has a slightly cartoonish feel to it. The structures feeling well modeled, and the characters models include much detail. The outdoor scenery is stunning, with a realistic sky overhead, and tree that do not seem like a brown rectangle anymore.

While numerous cutscenes are included in Portable Ops, they are all down through the artwork of Ashely Wood, and the cutscenes feel like they re animated versions of a graphic novel. While this is an excellent way to tell the story, it could have been much better with "real" cutscenes.

Replayability
---------------
With all the different ways to customize and equip your army, as well as the different units to capture, Portable Ops has an extremely long lifespan. Multiplayer modes include the classic Team Death Matches, as well as the Capture Mode, and an ability to trade your units with other players. You can also send your squad online to battle with other squads other players have sent out. As with other Metal Gear games, playing the game a second time through with unlockables will surely be entertaining.

Metal Gear Solid:Portable Ops has to be one of the best PSP titles to date.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06