"No way!" I hear you say, "There's no way in hell a bad Metal Gear Solid exists!". Well before you start getting upset with me for slagging off Metal Gear, I'm not, I love Metal Gear but MGA is a fucking mess.
Story wise it's a pretty classic Metal Gear setup. There's a bunch of terrorists who have invaded some place and they are after something that isn't called Metal Gear but is blatantly Metal Gear and it's up to you to stop it. Since I'm writing this so long after finishing it I've kind of forgotten some of the plot. Mainly it involved Metal Gear, some shit on a plane and child experimentation but the fact I've forgotten the plot might clue you in to just how forgettable and lack luster it was.
But the story isn't the reason Metal Gear Acid is a fucking mess. No, the story is just a bit dull but it's the gameplay that really makes this game just unenjoyable. In case you're not aware, Metal Gear Acid isn't played like any other Metal Gear game because this is a card game.
That's right, a fucking turn based CARD game.
You have a deck of cards that fall into different categories such as weapons, items, actions and special effects that are represented by different characters. Every card is used to move around the board and lets you move 3 spaces, while special movement cards will allow for greater movement. Every card also has a cost, so the better cards cost more to use and that means that you have to wait longer between each turn.
Now the reason this game is a load of bullshit is because everything you do is dependant on what kind of cards you draw. It's fine at first but there are certain points in the game where you NEED specific cards to do specific things and if you don't get lucky and draw your card then you'll just be sat there discarding shit for 5 or 6 turns until the card you eventually DO want shows up.
An example of this is there is a level where you are required to snipe flying cameras so that you can cross a bridge. By that point in the game I had maybe 3 or 4 sniper rifle cards available, but I lost the mission multiple times because the game wouldn't give me the fucking cards to use, so they would just eventually move into my half of the map and spot me, calling a bunch of guards to enter the level and fuck me all up.
Now I guess you could just say to me "well why didn't you go and get more sniper rifles then?", but the problem with that is the only way to really get more cards quickly without having to tediously grind out old levels is to buy booster packs. A booster pack gives you 3 cards, and usually it gives you 3 shit ones. Through my entire playthrough I only got one rare card in a booster and the rare was so shit that I ended up never using it. The one good thing about the boosters is the variety in the packs. For example, at the start you only have access to Metal Gear Solid 1 themed cards, but as you progress you unlock MGS2, 3 and even Metal Gear 1 and 2 themed cards, so if you're the kind of person who enjoys collecting digital cards then you have a lot to work with here.
I'm being overly harsh when I say Metal Gear Acid is a fucking mess, but it's certainly frustrating and sometimes VERY unfun to play with certain levels being made an absolute chore by the games fucking stupid card thing. Still though, it's a unique take on the Metal Gear series and maybe the sequel that I've not played is way better, so it's at least worth a quick go on your PSP.
No comments:
Post a Comment