Metal Gear Online review

So Metal Gear Solid 4 was a worthy title on the PS3 despite having overly-long cut-scenes and when you add it all up, not many actual gameplay hours. Metal Gear Online comes as a freebie with Snake’s solo outing and now you can sneak about and kill real people online in the multiplayer game. At least that’s the idea because so far, if I try to sneak about I get killed by someone rushing me with a machine gun.

Think of it like playing SOCOM or even Gears of War, but with the Metal Gear weapon selection system, looks and themes. Unfortunately, what works when you’re being Snake doesn’t necessarily translate to the twitch-reactions gameplay needed online.

Before you can actually play the game you need to patch it (which took me about half a day to download), then set up a Konami and Game ID - yes, two separate IDs with different passwords via a web portal on your PS3. This is a process which almost stops you trying it out - persevere though and you can save the info so you don’t have to remember your ID or enter your details again.

Then you make a character - you only get one free character per console and you actually have to BUY new characters and accessories online. Something I know I’m not going to do. Game choices in lobbies see you playing deathmatch, team deathmatch, rescue missions and sneaking missions where one team has stealth suits and the other has to stop them - or one person is Snake and must collect tags off other soldiers by holding them up or searching their bodies.

My major gripe is weapon selection. The game doesn’t pause like in the single player game and you can’t throw a grenade until you’ve selected it - so you fumble through the menu to select it and get shot in the head in the process. So most people just run about with a machine gun and shoot anyone not on their team. I’m sure this isn’t how Konami intended the game to be played. However it is free and there is some limited fun to be had with it - just don’t expect anything on a par with Gears of War of Call of Duty 4. Because it’s more-or-less free, Metal Gear Online gets a good 6 out of 10.

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Related: Metal Gear Solid 4 review, Metal Gear Solid 4 Xbox 360 version, Metal Gear Online review