[Review] Metal Gear Survive

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Metal Gear Survive is an action and adventure survival game developed and published by Konami. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in February 2018. It is the first game of Metal Gear developed after the departure of Konami the creator of the series, Hideo Kojima, at the end of 2015, and the first from Snake's Revenge to be done without the entrance of Kojima. The game takes place between the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and follows the Captain, an MSF soldier who enters a parallel dimension and establishes a local command center to unravel the Mysteries of a strange virus that turns people into zombie-like creatures.

The pre-launch reception of the game was generally negative, in response to its design and Konami's recent business decisions. However, after its release, Metal Gear Survive received a mixed reception from critics. Most of the positive responses were given to its gameplay, with its rewarding sense of progression in a single player and the satisfaction of the multiplayer and the cooperative that received praise; however, concern was expressed about some of the mechanisms, with the majority of the complaints directed to the story, the characters and the inclusion of microtransactions.

 

Gameplay

Metal Gear Survive is an action and adventure survival game with tower defense elements and minor stealth mechanics, which is played from a third person perspective. It has a multiplayer cooperative mode, in which the player can be joined by up to three other players to complete the missions.

A big part of the game is that the player explores the world that is covered for the most part by "The Dust", a mysterious toxic cloud that obstructs vision, deactivates the map of the game and requires the player to control their oxygen level . Players venture to gather resources such as food and processing materials, as well as to activate the various portal generators scattered throughout the map. These generators serve as the rapid game travel system and are unlocked by completing a tower defense segment. Metal Gear Survive the tasks of the players with the management of thirst and hunger by collecting water and hunting animals for food. Then, players can return to the base camp to cook and then purify the water to drink safely. There is also a system of injuries, which requires players to use different medical supplies to cure diseases such as bleeding or food poisoning.

The main enemies of Survive. Are creatures similar to crystalline zombies called "vagabonds", with many variants introduced as the story progresses. Enemies in Survive can be defeated using stealth or a variety of weapons and gadgets gained gradually through the search for craft recipes or broken weapons. Players begin with access to melee weapons, such as spears, machetes and shock sticks. Finally, arcs are acquired with various types of arrows and firearms, such as pistols, shotguns and sniper rifles. Due to the difficulty of attacking enemies head on, players are advised to use a device that allows them to erect several fences, barricades and other structures. Available devices include grenades, Molotov cocktails, lures, automatic turrets and a large number of traps. Kill enemies win players "Kuban Energy", the game's currency that can be used to level up and acquire new skills. After completing the main story, four additional "subclasses" are unlocked that have their own set of skills acquired when leveling up. Classroom skills range from direct statistics bonuses, special attacks, mobility skills and even sneaky camouflage.

Players can improve their base camp by building defenses, advanced processing stations, farms, animal cages and rainwater collectors. Other survivors may be rescued from The Dust to provide support personnel to the base camp. The base staff can also be organized into an exploration team and sent to acquire resources automatically. Eventually, players can initiate a tower defense segment in the base camp, allowing them to defend against attacks and earn rewards. Players can buy "Survival Coins" that can be used to unlock several features, such as a resource booster, a base defender, emotes, additional scouting teams, and additional cargo spaces beyond the initial four. Players can unlock spaces of characters that act as the new game Plus of the juegomodo. Survival coins can be earned as rewards in the game and also as sign-in bonuses.

 

Plot

After the Ground Zeroes incident, the surviving members of MSF bury their dead at sea with the help of the UN. A UN member requests to take the body of a fallen soldier. Shortly after the attack on MSF, a large wormhole opened above the base. Although the soldier could avoid being sucked into the wormhole, his left arm was cut when it closed.

Six months later, the soldier awakens in a facility run by Wardenclyffe Section, a government research group that investigates infectious organisms and wormhole technology. Goodluck, member of the UN, one of the main investigators of the Wardenclyffe Section, recruits the soldier to enter another wormhole to reach Dite, a hostile and desolate alternative dimension. The soldier was chosen because he was infected with a Dite organism through contact with the wormhole, which restored his amputated arm but put them at risk of becoming a Wanderer, former humans turned into zombies of the disease. Goodluck gives the soldier the nickname "Captain," and tells them to find a cure and rescue other people transported to Dite through the wormholes.

In Dite, the Captain goes to an established Base Camp, and allied with Reeve, an XOF soldier sucked the wormhole on the Mother Base. They find the Base Camp abandoned, except Virgil AT-9, an artificial intelligence, part of an investigation team known as the Charon Body that was sent to Dite before the arrival of the Captain. Due to an emergency stop after his disappearance, Virgil remained inactive, with much of his memory dispersed in the Corps. Virgil instructs the Captain to locate memory tables. Along the way, the Captain rescues several human survivors, including a paraplegic boy named Chris.

Finally, Virgil uses a device to generate a wormhole to transport them back to Earth. However, the wormhole collapses, which requires Iris, a pure source of energy, to work. Joseph Gruen, head of the Wardenclyffe section, contacts the survivors and discovers that Goodluck acted against the orders and orchestrated the captain's mission before committing suicide. The placement of a secret black box inside Virgil supports these claims, but Gruen swears to bring the survivors home. A wormhole is opened with Iris energy, but Gruen prompts Virgil to unnecessarily maximize the production of energy, attracting the Lord of Dust, a huge creature that resides within the Dust. Survivors are forced to enter and close the wormhole before it can continue. Transported to a wooded area, they find that it is another area of Dite instead of Earth. From the black box, Goodluck orders them to find a weapon capable of destroying the Lord of Dust. They deduce that Gruen had hoped to bring the Lord of Dust to his timeline to use it for his vast source of energy.

The Captain rescues an MSF soldier, Seth, from being killed by a survivor of the Corps, Dan. The survivors assume that Dan was a traitor to the Body and caused his disappearance. The Captain locates the weapon, a Metal Gear, but is confronted by Dan, who is allied with the survivors after learning of their situation. Seth betrays and takes hostages from Base Camp, revealing that after being absorbed by the wormhole during the Zero Earth Incident, he was captured by Charon's body. It was left infected by the dust and caused the dissolution of the group. Seth begins to infect the Captain, but Reeves shoots and apparently kills Seth. Seth then becomes a Wanderer, forcing the Captain to eliminate him.

Virgil reveals that he had become infected while Seth was with the Corps and quarantined his programming with the emergency closure. However, the contact with Seth reversed these countermeasures, which gave Virgil access to his data on Body and Dust, but it accelerated the infection for both the captain and himself. They learn that Dite is also actually Earth in the 22nd century, caused by the Lord of Dust. Formed from energy and "Dread Dust", the self-replicating nanomachines of the future, the Lord of Dust feeds on the energy of the Iris and creates wormholes to transport matter and consume it. Once Dite is devastated, the Dust Lord transports himself in time using a wormhole to begin the process again, becoming more powerful and causing a time loop where the planet is trapped in a cycle of rebirths and destructions.

Securing the Metal Gear, all but Chris are left to destroy the Lord of Dust, who is the one chosen to escape from Earth. Attracting the Lord of Dust with a wormhole, the survivors use the Metal Gear to catch it. Chris is taken through the wormhole, promising to rescue them. From here, the story has two endings depending on the player's actions. If the player decides to follow Chris, the Captain leaves the survivors and goes through the wormhole. The Lord of Dust escapes the trap and the remaining survivors are presumed dead. The Captain reappears in a desert dressed in his MSF uniform, picks up a photograph that appeared at his side and walks away. When the screen turns black, the roar of the Lord of Dust is heard. [a] If the player decides to stay, the Captain shoots the Lord of Dust with the Metal Gear gun, mutilating the creature, but it reforms. In a final Goodluck message, he explains that he failed in his promise. It is revealed that Goodluck is Chris, who went through the wormhole and ended in 1943. Committed to fulfilling his promise to the survivors, he made his way into the Wardenclyffe Section and made his recordings for the Charon Corps and possible survivors to receive with hope They could destroy the Lord of Dust.

Being composed of nanomachines and having no notion of death, the Lord of Dust can not be killed. Virgil volunteers to enter the creature and present the concept, having created his own understanding from his experience with people. Virgil throws himself at the Lord of Dust, before the Captain shoots the gun and destroys it. Survivors return to base camp.

A scene after the credits shows Virgil launching himself from the corpse of the Lord of Dust and returning to Base Camp, explaining to the Captain that, although it is damaged, it still works and will be able to continue helping them in their mission to return home.

On an alternate timeline, Joseph Gruen is heard berating Goodluck for his mistake that it was predicted that the next wormhole will open above the Mother Base during the Zero Earth Incident. After Gruen's departure, Goodluck deduces that the survivors have destroyed the Lord of Dust and reaffirms their vows to take them home.

Developing

Metal Gear Survive was announced on August 16, 2016 during Gamescom 2016. It was not the first time it was played with the concept of a zombie game, since Hideo Kojima said on April 29, 2013 that he always wanted to make one during Metal Gear Solid V's development, and Kojima would have requested Platinum Games that the metal sequel Gear Rising: Revengeance have Gray Fox fight against zombie-powered zombie machine. The development of the game was hinted at on December 17, 2015, when Konami began recruiting a new Metal Gear development staff. The game uses the Fox engine.

The president of Konami Europe, Tomotada Tashiro, described Metal Gear Survive as a "new version of the famous stealth elements of the series", with a "unique cooperative setting that is designed for a truly fascinating multiplayer experience".

In an interview with Dengeki PlayStation, the development staff stated that the player can customize his character, use various weapons and develop his own equipment to suit his style of play. They also affirmed that although it is possible to stealthily maneuver around enemies when they play alone, it is much more difficult to face them compared to the cooperative game.

At the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) in September 2016, a demonstration revealed that the Fulton Cannon would make an appearance. Optionally, the player can recover the creatures for the creation of resources, acquire resources, heal himself in the main menu and can develop several things from the collected resources, from defensive measures to offensive measures. The players can also be divided.

During a theatrical presentation at TGS 2016, Hideo Kojima was asked if he had anything to do with Metal Gear Survive. He claimed that the game had "nothing to do with [him]", the Metal Gear series is about "political fiction and espionage", and the zombies do not fit into his vision of the series, despite his previous comments on a sequel to Metal. Gear Rising: Revengeance with zombies. Yoji Shinkawa also said he was not involved in the game. In a joking tone, he said that Metal Gear Survive would even have mechs if he worked on it.

The game was launched on February 20, 2018 in North America, on February 21, 2018 in Japan and on February 22, 2018 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

reception

Metal Gear Survive received a generally negative response after its announcement, in part due to controversies surrounding Konami's recent business decisions and Kojima's departure from the company. The complaints focused on the genre and theme of the game (which were described as "generic", since they revolved around the fight against zombie enemies through cooperatives and multiplayer), recycled assets of Metal Gear Solid V, microtransactions, constant requirement of Internet connection and the output of The general feeling of the previous Metal Gear games.

When published, Metal Gear Survive received "mixed or average" reviews, according to the Metacritic review aggregator. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation classified it as the third worst game of 2018 "for all his greedy corporate problems, the misuse of the beloved established intellectual property, and being simply boring ... playing.

Sales

In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version sold 31,359 copies in its first week of sale, placing it at number three in the sales table of all formats and number one on the digital sales lists. In the United Kingdom, Survive debuted sixth in the sales chart in all formats, selling 85% less copies than Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and 95% fewer copies than Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain .

As of 2018, Konami's earnings report did not mention Survive's total sales, unlike previous entries in the series and other games made by the company. Ultimately, critics felt that the game had a lower sales performance.

notes

It is implied that the desert is Afghanistan and that the Captain becomes one of the wandering soldiers of the Mother Base, as shown in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.