Metal Gear Ac!d 2 – PSP – Review

When the first Metal Gear
Ac!d was announced for the Sony PSP, gamers imagined the gameplay style of the
console game and, considering the fact that Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror made it
to the PSP with flying colors, it could very well have pulled it off nicely.
However, Ac!d featured a turned-based card playing style that was an interesting
novelty that made for an interesting game worth playing. Now Metal Gear Ac!d 2
brings us back into the role of Solid Snake as he goes up against a new set of
enemies as well as some familiar ones.

Metal Gear Ac!d 2 finds
the famous Solid Snake aboard an airplane with some new friends he met during a
revolutionary uprising in the fictional South American country of the Serena
Republic. He has no memory of why he was there and why he and his friends are on
their way to America with money they have stolen from a drug lord named Escobar.
Upon their arrival, they are all arrested and detained by the FBI who offers
Snake a proposition. Seeing as he has no choice, he goes on a mission for the
FBI as he infiltrates the facilities of SaintLogic, an illegal arms merchant
business fronting as a legitimate corporation. It is inside the facilities that
Snake discovers familiar foes as well as the threat of a new Metal Gear.

In the classic Metal Gear
Solid tradition, Snake encounters new foes endowed with special abilities that
make them troublesome enemies but thankfully, you’ll be joined by an amnesiac
assassin named Venus who can hold her own during battles. Of course, Snake and
Venus will see plenty of battles in this game despite the fact that stealth is
still a preferred approach. You start the game’s story mode getting use to the
game’s various cards and their functions as well as performing familiar routines
like knocking on walls to get the attention of passing guards or crawling into
vents.

For those who are new to
the gameplay style of the Ac!d games, here is a quick recap for you. The game
shuffles a deck of cards (later you can edit your own deck of cards you want to
use for each specific chapter) that possess different abilities, items to be
used or movement cards used only to move along the environment. You will only
get to move in the highlighted areas that vary between each different type of
movement card and you’ll have the option to face Snake wherever you want him to
face. Since this is a turn-based game, you only get a certain amount of choices
so you’ll have to wait for your turn to make a move again. Each deck comes with
cards that have items like rations (for health) or weapons (pistols, machine
guns, knives, chaff grenades, etc.) you can use to dispose of an enemy. Some
cards have the picture of recognizable characters from the Metal Gear Solid
universe like the Ninja from Metal Gear Solid card; these unleash some truly
lethal moves. Other selectable cards allow you to evade enemy attacks, place a
chokehold on enemies facing away from you or increase your weapon accuracy.

With more than 500 cards
at your disposal, including the ones stored in your save game file for the first
Ac!d game, you’ll have enough cards to chose from in the Card Editor. The Card
Editor function is introduced in the game’s intermission between chapters.
You’re also introduced to the strange yet interesting Solid Eye Theater that,
along with the 3D Solid Eye viewer that comes included with the game, allows you
to check out trailers for Metal Gear Solid games, both Subsistence as well as
Metal Gear Solid 4. In 3D, you’ll even get to see such odd yet hilarious
snippets of attractive female Japanese models cleaning guns or poking at the
screen with their finger. The best part is that you can use the Solid Eye Viewer
to play the entire game in 3D, but I highly recommend against it since an hour
of it had lead to a pounding headache. These are but some of the little extras
that make this well worth the purchase price alone.

Aside from the interesting
story, the game throws a variety of mission objects that go way beyond the
take-out-bad-level-bad-guy or get-to-Point-A-to-Point-B. You will be facing a
number of bosses, many of them just as brilliantly unique as the ones introduced
in the console games. Facing off against each original new boss is really one of
the biggest treats since each adding their own oddball quirks in a battle. The
good news is that you can unlock Arena Mode, a mode that pits you against bosses
from Revolver Ocelot to Vamp. One of the best aspects of the game is switching
between Snake and Venus who can play off the same card types but she looks good
pulling off many of Snake’s cool moves. 

Graphically, the game has
changed the visual style and now sports a cel-shaded look that goes rather well
with the game’s cut scene character art. The new look is not only more colorful
in a comic book sort of way but it adds more detail to the character models,
environments as well as add more style to the combat. Even the game flows a bit
faster and the movements look a tad more natural than the last game. As far as
the 3D Mode is concerned, the actual 3D does look amazing through the Solid Eye
viewer.

The game’s soundtrack is a
departure from the console game’s amazing Harry-Gregson Williams soundtrack but
the new techno soundtrack isn’t that bad nor does it get too repetitive to want
to turn down the volume. Once again, though, the dialogue is handled through
text so don’t expect to hear David Hayter voice Snake or any voice acting for
that matter. At least the sound effects feel like they’re a part of the Metal
Gear series.

For those who have enjoyed
the game the first time around, Metal Gear Ac!d 2 is like a second serving of
your favorite meal in that you know what to expect. The game’s story is an
interesting one and, in true Metal Gear style, it gets stranger the more you
dive into it but the game is also on the short side. Still, this is a PSP game
worth playing if you’re a fan of Solid Snake and don’t mind the change in
gameplay style. If, however, turn-based card games aren’t your thing, this game
might just change your mind.

#Review Scoring Details for Metal Gear AC!D 2

Gameplay: 8.2

The turn-based, card-flipping action is still the same so returning gamers will
quickly pick this game up and start playing with no trouble. There are more boss
fights but the addition of Venus just makes things even more better.

Graphics: 8.0
The new cel-shaded look actually
does fit in well with the series and the good part is that everything from the
characters to the environments look nicely detailed. The cut scenes are
beautiful and using certain cards treats gamers with short sequences from past
Metal Gear Solid games.

Sound: 7.0
The familiar Metal Gear Solid
soundtrack is replaced with a Euro-styled techno soundtrack that isn’t annoying
but not as great as the old soundtrack of the console games. The lack of voice
acting is inexcusable especially since the trailers have actual voice work.

Difficulty: Medium

Much like the console games, it is all about stealth but since cards are used
you’ll have to strategize and make good use of individual cards. The boss
battles aren’t incredibly difficulty but they do provide a great challenge.

Concept: 8.0
Being able to import cards from the
save game file from the first game is great and the introduction of secondary
playable character, Venus, just adds more to the game. Connectivity between the
PSP and the PS2 version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is a good idea that
really goes nowhere here. 3D Mode is a nice touch although using the
accompanying 3D glasses too long will result in one splitting headache.

Multiplayer: 7.0
A two-player Link Battle mode is
unlocked after finishing the fifth chapter that basically has you playing a
head-to-head battle against a friend on a map. It’s not bad stuff at all and it
could have made for an excellent online multiplayer mode.

Overall: 8.0
Metal Gear Ac!d 2 plays in the same
field as the last PSP original and this isn’t a bad thing at all if you’re
willing enough to play an action-packed turn-based card game. While the game
still strays from its console roots, the good story, interesting characters and
fun extras are enough for returning gamers to go back for more.