Metal Gear Acid 2

"Comprehensive Metal Gear Acid 2 Review"

During the launch of the PSP, I picked up two games, and my favorite of the two was Metal Gear Acid. By far. While still being a stealth game, the gameplay mechanics were completely different from its console counterpart, Metal Gear Solid. Instead of your ordinary MGS game, Acid was a stealth/turn-based strategy game, where your actions were replaced with cards. Fans were skeptical, but those who tried the game should've been surprised with its weaving plot and deep strategy. While it has taken a mere year for the sequel to be released, it is an extensively polished title.

Like all Metal Gear titles, Acid 2 gives the player the role of Snake. Acid 2 opens up with Snake and some pals on a plane after a long mission. Everyone voices their input on what their going to do once they get back home, and Snake states that he wants to get his memory back. As the plane lands, they are greeted by an FBI agent who arrests everyone on the plane, and briefs Snake on a mission that he, Dalton, is leading: a stealth mission into a weapons facility, SaintLogic. The reason being that children are getting illegally shipped from Africa to the SaintLogic. With such an odd and intriguing plot, it's unfortunate that the player doesn't learn much information gradually, but instead you learn a bundle towards the end. Although when you do indeed learn more information regarding SaintLogic, it just gets weirder and weirder; the game's called ‘Metal Gear' for a reason.

Unlike the Solid series, there is no voice acting during the cut-scenes, so there's a decent amount of text you must read to comprehend the plot. It is unfortunate, as it would be a lot more interesting if we heard the amazing voice of David Hayter on our PSP's. Alas, that day has not come, but the dialogue is varied enough, from silly to overly dramatic, to keep your interest. What do accompany the cut-scenes are some nice anime-esque art interpretations of the cast, thus making the game feel unique. And it is.

Controlling and plotting Snake's movements are much more refined this time around, while also giving the player a decent tutorial at the start of a new game. Most of your actions are executed by using specific cards. Each card lets you move three spaces, but movement cards let you move even further, so you're never in a jam in terms of positioning yourself. When moving, other actions can be used, such as crawling, hugging walls, tapping walls to lure enemies in, and performing CQC (close-quarters combat) on enemy guards once per turn. The first Acid made it troublesome to pull off some of these actions, so there are thankfully no more mini-menus to activate these actions; all of these listed actions are activated at the push of a button. The only flaw for the controls sake is the camera; it can wedge itself in peculiar places, and rarely make understanding your area a tad difficult.

Other cards consist of equipment, where you can equip vests and evade cards to reduce or completely avoid your enemies fire. Use type cards are the most commonly used, due to the wide variety of different Use cards there are. These include rations, firearms, traps, links, and special character cards. Firearm cards tell you their hit percentage, damage, ammo, and any other additional effects. Traps cards can be planted anywhere on the field, so luring enemies onto them can give you the upper hand in battle. Lastly, linking cards work like equipment, but don't have to be equipped to use; they're automatically used if the requirements are met. Trap and linking cards are new additions to the series, and are gladly welcomed, as is the staggering amount of cards to be within Acid 2: over 500, more than double the previous installment.

Each card posses a certain number of ‘cost,' which basically determines the order of turn. This is in no way a constraint in what cards you use, it just makes you be careful with how much cost you use. Let's say you used 13 cost in one turn, and on the guards' turn, one of them only uses 9 cost. At the end of their turn, you'll still have 4 cost, so your enemy has a whole other turn to do whatever he pleases. What first might seem like a complicated system, it actually works incredibly well, and balances out the powerful cards.

The levels you play and move along are all multilayered, but more interactive unlike the previous Acid. Throughout the maps you'll find sludge blotches (make you catch on-fire when shot), fire extinguishers (can't see your hand of cards, explosive canisters, trucks, and ‘slants' on the corners of walls. Getting covered in sludge turns you into a burning fireball of pain when shot, and fire extinguishers make your hand of cards unreadable. These ‘slants' can be shot so your bullets will ricochet off of it, and move in a 90˚ angle. With all of this polish, Acid 2 feels a lot more like the Metal Gear series we all love, and the spectacular mission variety only helps. From eliminating every enemy, protecting the innocent, to finding secret sewer openings, this game never fails to surprise. But due to the varying missions, deck modifications are constantly being made, and it's annoying that you can't hold two different decks.

Upon beating a mission, you'll be ranked on the amount of cost used, damage taken, etc. The better you do, the more points you'll acquire. These points can be used to purchase new booster packs for unlocking new cards, or even upgrading cards you've already obtained. Obviously, the better the upgrade, the more points it costs, but this new system works seamlessly, and it's a nice alternative to trying to get lucky and receive a good card in a booster pack. If you return to the level you have just beaten, new challenges appear, for extra replayability.

The most disappointing aspect with the original Acid was the lack of boss fights. And to make matters worse, two of them repeated themselves. We all know Metal Gear's boss battles are fantastic, but Acid never shined in that spot; Acid 2 changes that. With eight boss battles, you'll never know when you'll fight another psycho. Trust me, they're all psychos, ranging from a ceiling-walking hypnotist to a giant, green ape with detachable, grapple-like arms. And that's only two of them. It's a shame that they don't much or any plot behind them, but they're all extremely chaotic boss battles that fit perfectly in the Metal Gear universe.

The most blatant departure from any Metal Gear Acid 2 offers is in its graphical style; what were once dark, gray levels from the original Acid have evolved into a very vibrant color palette. Even the character models are rendered differently, using the popular cell-shading technique. So instead of making Acid 2 look like a portable ‘Solid' game, Acid 2 has a new, more fitting personality that helps the series feel much different from its console counterparts, and rightfully so.

As a bonus little gimmick, every copy of Acid 2 is packaged with the ‘Solid Eye System.' This peripheral, or goggle-looking cardboard box, is basically a pair of 3D glasses, giving the game an extra dimension of style. You could essentially play the entire game wearing it, but due to its nature, can create a headache within 10 minutes. While it shouldn't be used whenever you play it, it is worthwhile to activate Solid Eye mode once and a while to see a particular boss in full 3D. This peripheral can also be used to view special unlocked videos, such as the Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer. Now that's fan service.

The first time I saw the trailer for Metal Gear Acid 2, the item that automatically stuck out was the music, and thankfully, the trailer was a good indication towards the sound direction in Acid 2; the techno soundtrack works wonders. From the ambient noises and themes, to the action packed and intense bass battles, this game really creates a sense of urgency for the player: making it more tense. The first Acid was relatively slow paced and the soundtrack didn't help the way it does in Acid 2. It's a shame there's no voice work during the cut-scenes, because that would bring this great, yet lacking story to new heights.

An entire new mode has also been added to Acid 2, Arena Mode. Here, you'll be able to test your skills and your deck up against two random classic Metal Gear bosses, such as Revolver Ocelot and The End. While the incentive to play this mode is to obtain more points, the bosses don't have the same amount of diversity in play style unlike the ones you play during the story mode. Sure, they're fun, and easy to pick-up and play, more depth should have gone into these characters personalities. Wouldn't it have been more fun to have a boss rush mode with the new bosses from Acid 2?

Fans looking for another Acid game will be extremely pleased with Acid 2, for it polishes and fixes almost every problem from its predecessor. And thanks to more than 500 cards to collect and the Arena Mode, there's much more than just the 15-hour story mode, with an engaging, yet slightly disappointingly slow plot. With all this extra polish, Metal Gear Acid 2 becomes a must buy, but it's unfortunate that so little was done to revolutionize the formula, instead of just improving it. That being said though, the improvements are noticeably better, resulting in a highly polished title with fantastic audio/visual enhancements.

Fun-Factor: 8.9-
Polish goes a long way this Acid 2, making pulling off actions much easier and more fluid. Great mission variety, and constant outstanding boss battles make playing through this a joy, along with the slow, yet weird plot. Not too many improvements that change the formula.

Presentation: 9.4-
Fantastic audio/visual work has been done for Acid 2, with a more vibrant color palette, cell-shaded characters, and engaging, fast-paced techno. Now all it needs is voice work…

Addictiveness: 9.3-
With more than 500 cards to collect, a 15-hour long story mode, sub-missions for each completed mission, and the new Arena mode make this package very addictive and constantly rewarding.

Overall: 9.2-
The insane amount of polish Acid 2 has gone through makes it a more accessible package with excellent tactical gameplay, fantastic audio/visual enhancements, and an overwhelming amount to do. If only more was done to let the gameplay evolve, this would have been an unforgettable title.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/06