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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We got to play just a couple of the six maps that will be playable in the final version of the game. If there's a problem with them it's that they can sometimes feel overly large. The game has been designed with 16 players in mind and because of that the maps are roomy, offering the sorts of nooks and crannies that allow a dozen-plus people the space to outwit each other. If you're playing with a fewer people, though, there's an awful lot of downtime involved as you hunt down gun-shy rivals. There's no scaling of the maps either, which means the map you rip apart with 16 players is exactly same as the one you and your handful of friends spend the evening on.

The unique modes added to Metal Gear Online are where the game really comes into its own. Our favourites where the ones starring duckie Ga-ko and his equally cute compatriot, the frog Kerotan, who serve as beacons in a Capture The Flag-style mode. You pick up Ga-ko and Kerotan from the field and carry them - on your head, no less - to special zones you need to occupy for a certain amount of time. Once you're in there, you're literally a sitting duck as rivals come after you to get the mascots for themselves.

The backbone of the game, the online play, was spotty in the version of the game we played in early February. Konami is working to ensure a smooth online experience, no doubt, but the combination of the test-unit PlayStation 3s we were playing on, the early nature of the game, and the added stress of international play (against other players in France) oftentimes proved too much for our uptime, causing crashes - even with only six people playing.

Metal Gear Online is still a few months from release but you'll be able to get a taste of it in April. As part of a pre-order campaign for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Konami is offering a guaranteed spot in the closed beta test that will precede both games' release. Konami has said that Guns of the Patriots will include a Starter Pack of some sorts, but there's no clear indication of exactly what that will include.

From our early look at the game, though, even if those wanting the full experience have to buy a full, standalone disc to play Metal Gear Online, it could be well worth it. As long as Konami can take care of those pesky network problems, that is.

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