TGS 2012: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance gets new trailer

This year’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is in full swing, and lots of information about games is popping up. According to Games Thirst, Platinum Games has released some screenshots of its upcoming game – Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – along with a story trailer.

The screenshots show off some new characters, along with the HUD of the game. The trailer of the game shows off much of the story elements, though it’s not really very decipherable, considering that the video is in Japanese. The trailer does show off some of the bosses of the game though, and Platinum seems to be taking the ‘insanity’ route with this game’s enemies. There will be bosses with extendable limbs, and bosses with ten arms, among other things. The trailer also shows that there will be some stealth segments in the game.

Platinum had released a gameplay trailer for the game back in August. The trailer shows off some of the over-the-top action sequences that will be in the game, such as hopping on missiles that have been shot at you to get to a helicopter so you can destroy it with your sword. The trailer also mentions some of Raiden’s back story and makes references to him being a child soldier and having been mind controlled.

Raiden, ripping out an enemy's spine

The game is set in the near future, where cyborg technology has become commonplace throughout society. Three years have passed since the collapse of the Patriots system that had been secretly controlling the global power balance from the shadows. However, peace remains elusive. The dissemination of cybernetic technology has triggered instability and conflict as those who control the trade gain increasing power. Furthermore, large ‘Private Military Companies’, or PMCs that had been supported and controlled by the Patriots have collapsed, spawning countless rogue entities with origins to larger criminal organisations. These renegade PMCs employing cyborg technology have become increasingly more disruptive, shifting policy and power at will. As a member of the peace-keeping PMC ‘Maverick Security’, Raiden lives by the mantra of protecting and saving lives. But as the world plunges further into asymmetric warfare, the only path that leads him forward is rooted in resolving his past and carving through anything that stands in his way.

The game marks a big change in the Metal Gear franchise. Instead of the stealth gameplay and badass protagonist the series is famous for, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance goes for more of a spectacle action game with big flashy combos and intense fights, much like games like Devil May Cry, God of War and Platinum’s previous game, Bayonetta. As for the protagonist, the game is forgoing anyone named Snake and instead, is choosing to go with Raiden.

And cutting enemies to bits

Raiden first made his debut in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game had Solid Snake as a decoy protagonist for the first couple of hours of the game and switched the focus to Raiden for the rest of the game. Raiden was widely hated for being an extremely whiny character, as opposed to the extremely badass Solid Snake, who is the main protagonist of the series. Not much is known about what happened to Raiden between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, where he returns halfway through the game as a cyborg ninja.

During the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, Raiden helps Solid Snake defeat the Patriot system who have taken over the world and are spreading war and panic all over to drive the new “War Economy” that would be run by mercenaries and soldiers buying weapons.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be released in February, 2013.