**May contain spoilers** I try not too but it’s hard writing a review without spoiling some things, read at your discretion. Feel free to ask questions or comment if you have something to add.
Over all I give Metal Gear Survive a 4 of 5 stars. *NOTE* I have not beaten the game yet. I will update this review if it needs it upon completion. I feel I have played enough hours to write a good review for someone who is curious about picking up the game.
Let me first say, I am a huge fan of Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear Solid video game franchise. I appreciate how the tight mechanics, mature military sci-fi story, superb graphics, and excellent voice acting come together to create thought provoking video games with great content. I was a little skeptical after Hideo Kojima, the main producer of the series, left the game studio Konami. I have read a lot about what caused the split but that is another article entirely. I simply want to give an honest review of Konami’s Metal Gear spin off, without devolving into the Kojima/ Konami fanboy critique.
First and foremost i have read several reviews for the new game and most of them do not say if it is a good game or not. Most reviews I have read simply devolve into how it is NOT Metal Gear.. I got fed up with reading about what people think of the series or the Kojima/Konami situation. I don’t think a single reviewer, actually reviewed the game. It was more about what they didn’t like about it or the story or characters. Still most reviewers put way too much emphasis on the game not being Kojimas Franchise and a cheap cash out by Konami. Most reviews online will tell you all about this. I want to actually discuss the game and why I more or less enjoy it.
It is not a direct prequel or sequel. Metal Gear Survive is an off shoot that happens sometime between the end of Peace Walker and the start of The Phantom Pain in the main story chronology. It is a military story in proper Metal Gear fashion that involves wormholes and other dimensions, combined with infected, zombie like creatures, in a mysterious survival setting. Your character is a silent cuztomizable soldier. You do not directly play as Snake or any of the main characters that you may know. Survive is an entire side story consisting of entirely new characters and some new and old ideas.
That being said, I enjoy this game because of the many formulas at play. Metal Gear Survive is more or less a base building sim that plays a lot like Tom Clancy’s: The Division. It is a well crafted loot-shooter, that combines all of the better mechanics of Metal Gear series, with the looty goodness of The Division, and with a sprinkle of your favorite zombie games peppered in. You have certain amounts of time you can stay out in the environment and you collect materials, food, water, blueprints, and other stuff that you have to take back to a base to count as acquired. You can extend your exploration by preparing yourself with more survival gear, weapons, ammo, food, and water. This allows you to stay out in the harsh environment much longer than if you venture in unprepared. The entire game plays like one huge subsistence mission, where you are entirely un-equipped at the beginning and every single item you use is procured from the environment.
The beginning of this game is not easy. It is a survival type game where the first enemy you encounter is the environment and elements themselves. You have to struggle to find water and keep hydrated as well as cook food. I have read other reviews that described how much of a difficult slog the beginning of the game is and I can definitely agree. I died a lot in the beginning because I was constantly starving to death, either for lack of water or food. Keep at it though because it is deeply satisfying when you start to learn how to keep yourself healthy, well fed, and watered. I was not looking for a game to hold my hand so I enjoyed this steep learning curve. However, people who don’t like slower paced action and stories in general will most likely be put off by the pace of the beginning of the game. This game rewards persistence, and learning from your mistakes.
The action plays well, definitely at a slower pace, compared to the traditional Metal Gear games. I have experienced and played with styles combining run and gun tactics, (once I finally found the blueprints to build a gun) to the quiet and stealthy strategy of the core games. Both work well and the game does a good job balancing and dealing with tension.. A great sense of panic and urgency builds as the zombie like creatures become alert and scream, thus alerting all of the enemies around you. I could feel my excitement rise when I realize a whole hill of those things turns to me and starts running toward me in a large mob. In this game you get to decide whether to take the fight or flight approach, both of which are warranted at different times, a decision which becomes crucial to survival during some parts.
I really enjoy the “Dust” aspect of the game. All around the main base is an ominous cloud called “the dust” . Most of the adventuring is done by gearing up at base and then venturing out into the dust to find, survivors, gear, new materials, or blueprints to craft new things. This brings to mind the Dark Zone of The Division. This area sets up a need to prepare and form a strategy before just casually trekking to that wormhole irregularity. The game does a great job of making the dust disorienting with only small visual clues to help you find your way around. You literally have to make note of direction and recognizable landmarks in order to keep your bearings. This gets more difficult when enemies require you to fight or take alternate routs to avoid being spotted. The lack of direction combined with the fact that you are on an oxygen timer creates quite a tense “oh shit I have to get home” feeling. I think they did this wonderfully it is a great aspect to the game in my opinion.
There is an extensive tutorial menu so every mechanic of the game can be re read to better understand or if you missed some information. I also particularly enjoy that it gives you the option of recovering lost items when you die. You can choose to start right before that last mission started before you left the base, or you can start from base and go try to recover the box full of your items that you lost when you perished. This choice greatly relieves the sense of loss when a game over inevitably happens. I don’t like games that try to waste your time, while in the game.. (that is why I play video games for entertainment). Losing everything for not preparing yourself or making a mistake kinda bugs me but this game gives you an option at least. This is not an easy game so expect to die a lot, especially in the first segment of the game, it is pretty normal, and you aren’t doing anything wrong.
I do have some complaints about the game but none of them are cause enough to make it a bad experience, just something to be desired.
I had hoped the Co-op play would have been in the main quest part of the game. So I could team up with friends to secure the base and loot for materials. For now I believe there are only select staged areas that players can take on cooperatively. I haven’t played too much in Co-op so I will probly update this section a bit when I finish the game.
The characters are decent but not as instantly lovable as the main protagonists of the Core games. Many people will be put off right from the start because you don’t play as snake or one of his colleagues. For the first several hours I found it hard to take the characters seriously, However, after I played for a while I actually kinda started to care whether this group of random characters will ever get home. Also the main conflict, why the characters are stuck in this world, is fairly thought provoking and I want to know who is behind everything and why/how the characters are being manipulated. All of these things, coupled with the inclusion of aspects from the Core metal gear series, make for a pretty compelling survival game with the soul of it’s name sake.
The Metal Gear series is known for it’s tight gameplay, chiseled graphics, and mature (sometimes ludicrous) sci-fi / military stories. Metal Gear Survive definitely embraces these qualities while giving something a bit different. Overall not perfect but pretty good in my opinion. Definitely worth a play through if you like good looking, tight playing, survival games. I highly recommend this if you desired more from The Division. This game feels a lot like that. If you are looking for another Metal Gear Solid game, don’t bother. It is a different experience overall and uses a bunch of new mechanics and other story drivers that may not satiate the common Metal Gear fanboy.
Well I hope this was informative. Please comment or share if you fancy. Much love and Happy Gaming!