Starring Raiden following his cybernetic transformation in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Rising is an Action-Adventure Hack and Slash like Devil May Cry and Platinum's own Bayonetta, with a particular emphasis on clean cutting enemies and the environment itself apart.
#METAL GEAR RISING REVENGEANCE SERIES#
Using the game’s soundtrack as an example of providing support to the game’s narrative through unconventional methods, I feel many games would benefit from a more holistic approach to making games, where every aspect of the game – be it the visuals, soundtrack, gameplay or anything else – would benefit the overall experience or message of the game instead of just fulfilling its individual purpose without furthering the overall objective of a game.Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a 2013 Stylish Action spin-off of the Metal Gear series developed by PlatinumGames in collaboration with Kojima Productions. The use of vocals and lyrics in MGR:R – especially due to different vocalists – thus manages to provide a very personalized feel in all of the boss battles. The theme song of the final boss enemy in the game features lyrics that delve into the antagonist’s fatalistic, history-is-written-by-the-victors-view of the situation, further elaborating on the antagonist’s worldview behind the clash of ideals before the fight. In it, the battle is preceded by several lengthy cutscenes, containing the clash of the protagonist and antagonist both in the physical sense and in the sense of ideals clashing through heated verbal debate.
The songs giving the bosses more depth also balances their often regrettably brief roles in the game.Īn especially fitting example of the use of lyrics would be the final battle of the game.
Some of these things are implicit and/or explicit in the game and its add-ons, but as a whole, the song adds to Mistral’s character greatly. “A Stranger I Remain”, for instance, – the theme for one of the first boss enemies, Mistral – concerns her past, need to belong and newfound conviction along with a sense of identity crisis. While this does not apply to all of the songs, most of the boss-specific songs have lyrics that add to the bosses’ narrative and lore. MGR:R, unlike its peers, utilizes the song lyrics in a way that complements the narrative. While many hack ‘n’ slash games – such as the Devil May Cry series – have a soundtrack featuring vocals, the lyrics of the songs are often not that relevant to the game itself. This brings us into a specific aspect of the vocals: the lyrics. Despite this, the fact that MGR:R uses vocals for this purpose – instead of the song changing – is worthy of note. This mechanic of the soundtrack being sensitive to the combat situation has, to some extent, been utilized before in games such as Shadow of the Colossus in 2005. The soundtrack works especially well in boss battles, where the songs loop over and over again, first instrumentally and then adding vocals into the mix if the player is starting to gain the upper hand. The quality of the songs, however, is a question of personal taste and is not the only factor in the brilliance of the soundtrack in the game.Įven though there are some short stealth sections, MGR:R focuses on fast-paced combat. The soundtrack has been well-liked in general, the track “Rules of Nature” even spawning a widespread internet meme. Utilizing the area-specific exploration phase music – battle phase music formula present in many other action-adventure games, MGR:R’s soundtrack does its adrenaline level-raising job excellently.
The soundtrack is done in an electronic rock/metal style with heavy drum & bass influences. There is another aspect of the game that will here receive a very much deserved closer look: the soundtrack. While the game has been understandably lauded for its smooth and agile hack ‘n’ slash gameplay, arguably surpassing that of developer PlatinumGames’ earlier action feast Bayonetta, this article will not focus on that. Substituting the Metal Gear series’ subtitle “Tactical Espionage Action” with “Lightning Bolt Action”, Revengeance is a whole different beast altogether. As enormous a deviation as it was from the usual Metal Gear formula in narrative, style, and gameplay – practically everything – it still delivered an immensely enjoyable experience of its own. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (abbreviated as MGR:R) is an action game that surprised many skeptical Metal Gear fans, myself included, with its unprecedented quality upon its release in 2013. Image © PlatinumGames and Konami Digital Entertainment The soundtrack of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is much more than just palatable background noise.
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