So after all the controversy between iconic game designer Hideo Kojima (Silent Hill series and Metal Gear series) and Konami subsided, The entertainment company has returned with a zombie spin-off set in the Metal Gear universe.
Story:
Survive’s story is a little hard to process as a fan of the series, I say this because the series has always been about deep and complex issues set in a puesdo-historical setting. Survive looked back at the series’ timeline and decided to disregard it entirely by creating it’s own universe. It starts you off immediately after the events of Metal Gear Soild 5: Ground Zeroes. Mother Base is under attack as MSF forces defend against an ambush. Big Boss and a small handful of his crew managed to escape to continue on in the events unfolding in Metal Gear Soild 5: The Phantom Pain. Meanwhile back on the crumbling base, a large portal opens up above and begins pulling in the remains of the base. Your character manages to escape the portal only to be considered ‘Killed In Action’ by your comrades. Once your character who will only be known as ‘Captain’, he or she awakens to be greeted by a man who goes by the name ‘GoodLuck’ instantly recruits you and sends you in through a replica of the portal into another world known as Dite. The world is filled with crystalized zombie-like beings called Wanders, they act like the infected from the movie ’28 days later’ as in they viciously and indiscriminately attack anything in their path. Later on the player will meet ‘Virgil’ an AI that will be your guide and main hub for all of your explorations.
Gameplay and Mechanics:
Basically the controls for the game is the same as MGS5, which were revamped to allow the player to access their gear much easier in the open world surroundings. In addition they added a new improved melee system which allows the players to finally use a variety of melee weapons. The game utilizes a survial aspect, which is somewhat familiar to the survial features in ‘MGS3: Snake Eater’ were brought back such as curing various symptoms and a food meter. If the player isn’t careful about being savvy in conserving their items, they will be met with a ton of difficulties such as stamina loss caused by sickness, hunger, and dehydration. The entire world map is covered by a dense toxic fog called ‘Dust’, exploring in these areas serve as the main task in the game but exploration also comes with the risks. While venturing into the Dust, the player must keep an eye on their oxygen meter and large amounts of Wanders roaming the area. The player can use the resources gathered in the world to upgrade their main base and gear set. The multiplayer aspect of the game focuses only on Co-op with a defend the objective/ Hoard mode, which surprisingly is pretty entertaining with friends or in solo mode. The multiplayer allows the player to still access the crafting options in the preparation stage in which the players can craft ammo, defences, and food. Each game consists of three rounds of defending the objective known as the ‘Wormhole Generator’ and at the end players will be rewarded with high level crafting resources and gear, as well as players being rewarded based on their performance.
Overall:
This game could’ve been marketed as an expanison to MGS5 and at a lower price of thirty dollars or at the very least included with ‘Metal Gear Soild 5: The Definitive Experience.’ (A goty verison of the title) Konami even had some backlash earlier about this title with fans. Metal Gear Survive feels like a copy and paste of its previous title, as well micro transactions where you must pay $10 usd for each character slot, as well as charging for boosters to maintain your base camp. That being said the freedom the game gives the players as well as the zombie aspect is actually refreshing and entertaining. Storywise, if you aren’t familiar with the series this game be prepared to be confused by the events in the beginning but to fans of the series.. it just seems like a mini game just like the other recent spin-off ‘Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. I personally would recommend this title to friends looking for a fun co op experience set in the MGS Universe but its not bad for streaming and Co-op play.
Metal Gear Survive is available now on Steam (PC), Xbox One, and Playstation 4 for $39.99 USD.
