Metal Gear Online Hands-On

Konami's multiplayer-only Metal Gear spin-off entertains, but will it have enough to justify purchase?

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By Alex Wollenschlaeger

There is perhaps no modern action series that is as defined by its singleplayer as Metal Gear Solid. That's still the focus of the fourth instalment, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which is due this summer on the PlayStation 3. But Konami is also building an online mode around the game's engine that will be released as a standalone experience in Metal Gear Online.

First, the obvious question. No, you cannot play as Snake or, our playtest of the game suggests, any of the other main characters from the series. That may come as a disappointed to those fans looking forward to playing as Naked Raiden, but it's just as well, because keeping things on an even footing has allowed Konami to concentrate on making a game that's genuinely fun to play. Instead, you're offered a bulging bag full of customisation options that let you tailor the look of your character as you please.

The good news is that the parts of Metal Gear Solid that really matter, the guts of the now-refined gameplay, are intact in Metal Gear Online. There's generally less of the stealth that characterizes the series, but Metal Gear Solid has always had a solid action-based gameplay engine anyway, so that's hardly a point to complain about.

Switching between the multitude of selectable weapons is still tied to the trigger buttons, allowing you to rapidly change to one of your other weapons should you run out of ammo on your first choice. That's a good thing, because we found the characters to be quite hardy.

An accurate shot to the head is still an effective way to get a quick kill, but the layers of body armour that characters are cocooned in make for longer-than-expected shootouts. How long depends on the weapon you're carrying. None of the many sniper rifles is going to be your weapon of choice at close range, but a weighty shotgun in your hands altogether changes any stand-off. There's also an auto-aim option you can toggle in-game - a good addition if you're terrible in shooters, but it's mostly an annoyance that most people will want keep off.

The game is at its most familiar in the omnipresent deathmatch and team deathmatch modes. Just as in every competitive shooter that's come before, these modes are all about escalating kill counts, which in turn are tied to how intimately you know the maps.

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