Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

attacking an enemy in Blade Mode. The top-left bars indicate Raiden's health and remaining time in Blade Mode. The counter on the right tallies the player's number of hits. Players assume control of Raiden, a katana-wielding cyborg. He is initially playable in his "Standard Body" form, which resembles the body used by Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 4, but with a more natural-looking face. The player can alter Raiden's appearance through alternative skins. Unlike previous titles in the Metal Gear series, where players try not to be noticed by enemies, Rising is action-oriented, focusing on sword fighting and a sophisticated cutting system to fight and defeat enemies. Although Raiden's main weapon is his high-frequency blade, he can also use other replacement blades, sub-weapons, and secondary weapons. Raiden's sub-weapons include two kinds of rocket launchers, four kinds of grenades and several other tools, such as the iconic cardboard box, an empty oil drum, and a 3D photo frame. The game's cutting system allows players to engage in melee combat, as well as to precisely slash enemies and objects at will along a geometrical plane using the "Blade Mode" game mechanic. Virtually any object in the game can be cut, including vehicles and enemies, though elements of the environment were intentionally limited to structures such as pillars and walls to better facilitate the game. Entering Blade Mode produces a special targeting reticle in the form of a transparent blue plane which can be moved and rotated freely, tracing holographic orange lines across the surfaces of targets to indicate exactly where they will be cut; it can also be used to enter a bullet time state, giving players the opportunity to precisely cut targets during moments of action, such as slicing through an airborne target multiple times before it hits the ground. Blade Mode can be employed strategically: for example, disabling opponents, finding weak points and gaps in armour, severing support columns to collapse ceilings or walls onto enemies, deflecting enemy fire, or cutting through objects to remove enemy cover. Throughout the story, the player obtains "Ripper Mode", a state which greatly enhances Raiden's power for a limited time as it quickly consumes energy. Raiden has the ability to parry attacks even when his back is turned, allowing him to counterattack enemies and perform multiple combos. Another key feature is called , wherein parts, energy, ammunition, items, and occasionally data are taken from the bodies of dismembered cyborgs and robots. This maneuver can be employed when slicing an enemy through a small indicated red box during Blade Mode, and fully restores Raiden's health and energy. The player can carry out reconnaissance using Raiden's visor, which can highlight enemies through walls. The player also gains assistance from Blade Wolf, a canine-like robot that scouts and gathers intel for Raiden. ==Synopsis==

Setting and characters The events of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance are set in the year 2018, four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The Patriots, a powerful deep state running the world's war economy, have been destroyed, and PMCs have splintered into numerous factions. The player controls Raiden (Quinton Flynn), a former Liberian child soldier turned into a cyborg that now works for the PMC Maverick Security Consulting, Inc. Rival PMC Desperado Enforcement LLC serves as the game's main antagonist; Desperado aims to destabilize peaceful nations and preserve conflict, allowing them to reap the financial rewards and technological advancements of the war economy. Desperado operative Samuel Rodrigues (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez), also known as Jetstream Sam, serves as Raiden's rival, with a conversation between the two in the beginning influencing Raiden. Mistral (Salli Saffioti), the team's only female member, whose frame can support multiple additional arms, some of which combine into a staff that she can use as a whip; and Monsoon (John Kassir), who wields dual sai and uses magnetism to manipulate large objects and separate his body into individual components, while retaining control over each part. The IF Prototype LQ-84i, later named Blade Wolf (Michael Beattie), is a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence housed within a quadrupedal combat robot who serves initially as Raiden's Desperado-controlled enemy, but it is later reprogrammed to aid Raiden and Maverick. He plans to capture Andrey Dolzaev, a Chechen extremist leading the forces, to force Desperado into standing down. Desperado anticipates the move and assigns a prototype AI robot designated LQ-84i to stop Raiden. Raiden defeats the LQ-84i in combat and later has Doktor rebuild it as an ally, naming it Blade Wolf. He faces further opposition from Mistral, the commander of Desperado's forces in Abkhazia. After Raiden kills Mistral in combat, Dolzaev commits suicide by blowing up an oil tank he is standing on. Raiden rescues George and the children to Doktor. Furious at their unwillingness to take action against World Marshal, Raiden resigns from Maverick and, with Blade Wolf by his side, launches a one-man assault on World Marshal's headquarters in Denver, Colorado. While Doktor recovers the children's brains, Raiden seeks help from Sunny Emmerich to reach Pakistan in time to stop Armstrong. He encounters Sam on the way and the pair engage in a final duel, from which Raiden emerges victorious. Sunny helps Raiden travel to Shabhazabad Air Base in Pakistan, where he is attacked by Metal Gear EXCELSUS, a hexapedal mecha piloted by Armstrong who takes down Blade Wolf. He reveals that Operation Tecumseh was a false flag operation, and that his true plan was to frame Desperado for killing American military personnel at the base to turn the American people against them and in favor of World Marshal. Armstrong, being a primary shareholder of the latter, would win the subsequent Presidential election in a landslide, giving him free rein to realize his vision of a social Darwinist society, where the strong will thrive and the weak will be purged. Raiden destroys EXCELSUS, but discovers that Armstrong has augmented himself with nanomachines that harden in response to physical trauma, destroying Raiden's high-frequency blade. Blade Wolf intervenes and gives Raiden Sam's sword, which allows him to defeat and kill Armstrong. Doktor receives approval to create a new cyborg staffing firm, allowing them to shelter the orphans' brains and potentially give them a chance at a better life, while George and Blade Wolf go live at Solis with Sunny. Although Desperado is defeated and the brain-taking operation defunct, World Marshal remains in business. Raiden decides against rejoining Maverick, resolving to fight his own war. ==Development==

As Metal Gear Solid: Rising After Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was released, game designer Hideo Kojima started coming up with ideas for another Metal Gear game. The game was meant to feature The Boss and her comrades, the Cobra Unit, as main characters. However, the lack of experience from the younger staff in charge and the lack of involvement from Kojima resulted in this project being scrapped. Afterwards, a member suggested turning it into a sidestory focused on Raiden since said character was featured in Guns of the Patriots and the staff agreed to develop Metal Gear Solid: Rising. The narrative was meant to chronicle the series of events that resulted in the transformation of Raiden into his cyborg ninja persona in Metal Gear Solid 4 Prior to the announcements of the game, Kojima Productions featured a countdown timer on their website until the day that Rising was announced. The series' traditional tagline of "Tactical Espionage Action" was also altered to "Lightning Bolt Action," a play on the fact that Raiden's name is Japanese for "thunder and lightning." The game was initially only announced for the Xbox 360 but was later confirmed for the PS3 and Windows platforms. It would use a brand new game engine, rather than the Metal Gear Solid 4 engine. The game's original cover artwork was leaked on Xbox Live on June 10, four days before E3 2010. During Microsoft's E3 press conference on June 14, Kojima introduced the game's original lead designer, Mineshi Kimura, who unveiled a new trailer which included cutscene and playing footage. Kimura stated that Rising would carry on the series tradition of encouraging players to progress through the game without killing. Kimura noted that he wanted Raiden to be able to move like he did in the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers, and to show "the stealth of the sword, and the strength of not even losing to the gun, and the fear and power you have with this blade." In January 2011, several pieces of concept art for Rising were displayed at Yoji Shinkawa's two-week exhibit, The Art of Yoji Shinkawa, hosted by the Konami Style Shop in Tokyo. During late 2011, it was announced over that Matsuyama had moved to a different division within Konami and that Yuji Korekado had taken over as the game's lead producer. Additionally, Kojima said Metal Gear Solid: Rising is "moving forward"; Kojima had stated the game remains significantly different from existing Metal Gear games, although he has retained an element of control over it and will not let it stray too far from the series' roots. He advised fans to try it even though the game would not focus on stealth. Move to PlatinumGames of PlatinumGames was requested by Hideo Kojima to work on the game.|259x259px Despite having thought out stories and scenarios for the game, Kojima Productions were finding it difficult to design the game around the cutting concept. The project was quietly cancelled in late 2010, and whilst Kojima had considered moving the project to developers abroad, he felt that a Japanese developer would be more suited to produce a ninja action game. In early 2011, Kojima met PlatinumGames' Atsushi Inaba, who asked him about the state of Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and Kojima later requested him to work on the game. This new version, titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, was first revealed via a trailer shown at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 10, 2011. PlatinumGames requested a change of setting in order to have less restrictions on the creation of the game. Shortly after starting development, PlatinumGames discarded the stealth element, with Kojima noting that the original staff did not find it to fit with high-speed action. 2012 The first trailer confirmed that Raiden would once again be voiced by Quinton Flynn, who had previously stated that Konami had not contacted him regarding the game. The game's title was changed to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, with "Revengeance" coming from Kojima Productions' desire "to get revenge or vengeance on the original failed Metal Gear Solid: Rising project" while the stating "Rising" represents Raiden's character. Kojima also confirmed Rising would run at 60 frames per second, a requirement he personally requested of PlatinumGames. Konami's Martin Scheider assured the game was "in safe hands" owing to the collaboration between Metal Gear veteran Yuji Korekado and Inaba, the former supervising the game. As in the original scrapped version, Korekado stated that the staff's objective was to make Raiden's action scenes from Metal Gear Solid 4 playable. The first Japanese language trailer was released shortly afterwards. Inaba stated that the PlayStation 3 would be the lead platform. This decision was made in order to avoid a repeat of the performance issues that Bayonetta had on the console. The game was playable for the first time at E3 2012 during early June, with Kojima having been involved in its production. In promoting the game, during April 2012, Konami sent a replica of Raiden's severed arm to various video game publications. The arm contained a small teaser from the game in the form of a live-action scene. In following weeks, the official Metal Gear Rising website was launched, showing a longer version of the scene as well as new ones. Artist Yoji Shinkawa worked on the game but only to design Raiden, while freelancer artist Kenichirou Yoshimura is the character designer whose objective was making his work fit with Shinkawa's style. The rewrite of the game's script took two months for Kojima Productions to make, in contrast to the original one (which took ten months), though his new design was also meant to show a darker side which resulted in the staff calling him "Black Raiden". Meanwhile, the final villain, Senator Armstrong, was loosely based on Raiden's rival from previous games, Vamp, as both are characters who contrast the cybernetic bodies explored in the games. Kenyu Horiuchi returned to voice Raiden in Revengeance, taking a liking to it, as he acted as the lead for the first time but was still glad that he got meet new actors who appeared in the game, most notably the actor behind Doktor. The actors also liked the inclusion of Raiden's sidekick, LQ-84i (later renamed Bladewolf), as they believe that ninjas like Raiden obligatory need dogs as allies. Another relationship the actors liked was Raiden's exchanges with Courtney due to few female characters being present in the game but felt they made the characters get along properly. Horiuchi felt confident in being in doing Raiden's voice as the lead, believing his thirty years of experience made him suitable for the role. Quinton Flynn felt honored for taking the role of Raiden again, having received a "Behind The Voice Actors" award for his work. In recording, Raiden did three types of each line, respecting his own character to get the best voice out. He wanted the character of Raiden would take after Solid Snake's death who is said to have died after Guns of the Patriots. He also enjoyed the series' sense of humor when Raiden dresses as a mariachi in Mexico. Music The game's score was composed by Jamie Christopherson, with additional music by Graeme Cornies, Brian Pickett, James Chapple, and David Kelly, and directed by Naoto Tanaka. As a result of the game being focused on action rather than stealth like the previous Metal Gear games, the music has a different style. Director Kenji Saito proposed the idea of heavy and fast music featuring lyrics to Kojima Productions. When the studio accepted Saito's idea, the two developers started composition together. Christopherson also contributed by writing thirteen vocal songs. The soundtrack features vocals by artists including John Bush, Tyson Yen, Free Dominguez, Jason C. Miller, and Jimmy Gnecco, with contributions by Logan Mader, The Maniac Agenda, and Ferry Corsten. An album featuring themes from the game was featured in a limited-edition release. ==Release==

The demo version was initially released as a bonus included in the Zone of the Enders: HD Collection, which was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 30, 2012. A public demo of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was released in Japan on December 13, 2012, on the PlayStation Store. The North American demo was later released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store on January 22, 2013. The full version was released in North America on February 19, 2013, and in Europe on February 21 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Although it was also planned to be released for both consoles on February 21 in Australia, shipping issues delayed it to February 26. The game was released in Japan on February 21 for the PlayStation 3, with the Xbox 360 release there cancelled. While a Windows version of Metal Gear Solid: Rising was initially planned, release for this platform was put on hold. However, Kojima Productions said they would consider it after the release of the console versions. The Windows version was then announced in May 2013, and released on January 9, 2014. The PlayStation 3 version was added to PlayStation Plus in November 2013. In Japan, Konami released two collectors' editions. The first one, the "Premium Package", contains an artbook by Yoji Shinkawa and a soundtrack album. The second limited edition is the "Premium Package Special Edition", including all the contents from the first package with the addition of an action figure of Raiden. The English collector's edition features a soundtrack, a steel case, and a lamp containing a small-scale replica of Raiden's sword. An exclusive download edition titled the Ultimate Edition was released on the PlayStation Network on May 21, 2013. This edition includes the full game plus all downloadable content. The same version was released in stores with the label of Special Edition on December 5, 2013, in Japan. The Windows version was released on January 9, 2014. The version briefly required online connection until a fix was issued on January 10, 2014. It was claimed that the requirement was an accidental bug. The Windows version has been region locked, making the game unavailable in India and Japan. The game was briefly unavailable for purchase in Ireland. The game is also not available for purchase through Steam in Indonesia and Malaysia, but is available in disc format for the PlayStation 3. The game also has region locked serials and cross-region gifting. In January 2017, the OS X version of Revengeance became unplayable due to an issue with its DRM after Transgaming, who developed the port, went out of business. In July 2024, a DRM-free version of the game was made available on GOG. ==Downloadable content==

The downloadable content for Rising consists of five cyborg body types for Raiden, a set of "VR Missions", and two story-based campaigns starring a different character each. The DLC armours were available as pre-order incentives through different participating retailers that varied between region. The VR Missions set and bonus campaigns were made available during the months following the game's release. All the downloadable content has since been made available for general users on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and are included as standard features in the Windows version of the game. Body types Campaigns ==Reception==

Producer Atsushi Inaba took to his Twitter feed to address fans' concerns over the project. He acknowledged the mixed reaction to the unveiling of Rising, but hoped players would spot "a glimpse of the future" in the trailer. Inaba promised its "love and respect will shine through." The negative reactions came from fans noticing the genre switching to a hack and slash game. Inaba expressed his dismay at the fans' comparison of Metal Gear Rising with Ninja Gaiden 3, having criticized the latter game. During Games Convention 2012, Kojima Productions noted the demos were well received by fans due to the number of attendees that wanted to play it. They added that feedback for the demo was positive. Inaba noted on his Twitter account that several Western gamers believed the game was too short based on a results screen that showed a clear time of five-and-a-half hours. He clarified that the screen did not count cutscenes or failed attempts to beat the game, only taking in account when players pass the stages. This system had been used by PlatinumGames since Bayonetta in order to evaluate players. As a result, Inaba felt disappointed by people's attempts to criticize the game based on a single screen. In September 2012, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was one of the winners from Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association's Japan Game Awards. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Eurogamer writer Rich Stanton was pleased with the creation of the Metal Gear spin-off expanding the franchise. It was noted that the game was close to receiving a perfect 10 were it not for camera issues. Shortly after its release, Hideo Kojima mentioned having been pleased due to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance selling well around the world, but did not share numbers. Among the Famitsu 2013 Top 100, a listing of the top 100 Japanese retail software sales for the year of 2013 from data collected by Famitsus parent company Enterbrain, the PS3 version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ranked 11th with 470,597 physical retail sales within Japan. The game received a Gold Prize from the 2013 PlayStation Awards, for the PS3 version selling more than 500,000 units in Asia. During its debut in the United Kingdom, it was the second-best-selling game following Crysis 3. , Steam Spy estimates the game sold more than 2 million units on Steam. ==Legacy==

Hideo Kojima mentioned in January 2012 that depending on the game's popularity, the staff would make a franchise based on it. He has viewed the relationship between Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames as very positive and suggested that a sequel to Metal Gear Rising may be possible in the near future. However, Kojima would only approve of a sequel if PlatinumGames were to develop it, stating that "no one else could [do] it". Following the game's release, Kojima was impressed with PlatinumGames' work in the game, stating the franchise had a "lot of hugely, insanely critical fans" who would harshly scrutinize issues. As the original project was a prequel to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima would like the concept to be revisited, although he thought that PlatinumGames would have problems with it as a result of being an "interquel." As a result, he was unable to confirm if such a story could be developed in the future. On February 22, 2013, Hideo Kojima told SPOnG that he would like to make a sequel of Metal Gear Rising, stating that if it does happen, he would like PlatinumGames to develop it. Kojima also stated that he would like the sequel to star Gray Fox and have him battle "nano machine-powered zombies." He also stated that he offered to write the story himself, but PlatinumGames did not seem interested. Etsu Tamari, chief story writer for both Metal Gear Rising and the original Metal Gear Solid: Rising, has expressed interest in reusing the original idea for a potential sequel. In August 2013, Konami posted a survey for Metal Gear Rising on their official site asking fans if they want a sequel and what they would like to see in it. On January 31, 2015, a trailer for upcoming PS4 games at the 2015 Taipei Game Show teased a brief image of the number 2 in a similar font design to that of Revengeance. However, Kojima Productions later made statements that the "2" was unrelated to the Metal Gear franchise. Writer Etsu Tamari expressed joy in the final product and expected that in the future, the team could make another game focused on Raiden. Quinton Flynn stated he was pleased with Raiden's role in Revengeance and stated he would have liked a new sequel with him as the lead. However, the dispute between Konami and Kojima Productions had left him worried as to the sequel's future. Several video game publications, as well as Armstrong's voice actor Alastair Duncan himself, have praised the game's prediction of the resurgence of right-wing populism in the United States, comparing Senator Armstrong to United States President Donald Trump. Similarly to Trump, Armstrong uses reactionary and anti-establishment rhetoric to win over the American public, as well as the slogan "Make America Great Again" (which had also been used by Ronald Reagan), with the game having been released years before Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The narrative, characters, and soundtrack were noted to contribute to the game's resurgence in popularity as a result of Internet memes, including the handling of politics and characters reacting in comical fashion to set pieces and dialogue, the most prominent example being with main antagonist Senator Armstrong, as well as Jetstream Sam. As a result, concurrent players for the game are believed to have gone up by ten times in a month in 2022. == Notes ==