MGR:R is at its best a blood-pumping, adrenaline-fueled ride, with moments that are some of the most spectacular in gaming to this day. When the first boss is more memorable than a lot of its contemporaries's final bosses, you know you're in for a treat.
The combat is great, though I could never get a grip on the combos as I would like, but it seems to be a common complaint of mine for Platinum Games's titles, so I've just come to accept it by now.
Everybody with a cursory knowledge of the game knows the stealth is half-baked, but if you play it you know it's just broken, a vestige of the mainline series this game would have been better without. I also didn't particularly enjoy the basic movement of the characters; walking is slow, but I found running to sometimes be unreliable and jumping feels awkward.
Story-wise, the characters are remarkably fleshed-out for a ~10h game (plus DLCs) and the story has a lot of care put into it, especially with the motivations of its villains and main character.
That said, when a hammy mercenary speaks to a room of harvested brains of children abducted from poor countries about reliving the glory days of post 9/11, I have to wonder if this thrill-ride is a suitable vehicle for commentary on the horrors of war or if it's just struggling to be both a stylish Platinum action title and a Metal Gear Solid game at the same time.
The combat is great, though I could never get a grip on the combos as I would like, but it seems to be a common complaint of mine for Platinum Games's titles, so I've just come to accept it by now.
Everybody with a cursory knowledge of the game knows the stealth is half-baked, but if you play it you know it's just broken, a vestige of the mainline series this game would have been better without. I also didn't particularly enjoy the basic movement of the characters; walking is slow, but I found running to sometimes be unreliable and jumping feels awkward.
Story-wise, the characters are remarkably fleshed-out for a ~10h game (plus DLCs) and the story has a lot of care put into it, especially with the motivations of its villains and main character.
That said, when a hammy mercenary speaks to a room of harvested brains of children abducted from poor countries about reliving the glory days of post 9/11, I have to wonder if this thrill-ride is a suitable vehicle for commentary on the horrors of war or if it's just struggling to be both a stylish Platinum action title and a Metal Gear Solid game at the same time.