Metal Gear Solid: Rising Message Board

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance made its Steam debut earlier today and players have already discovered a major flaw in the port, according to user reports on the Steam forums.

"[W]henever I lauch [sic] the game while I'm connected to the internet, if my internet goes down (which is often because it's pretty bad) the game will just immediatly [sic] crash," writes Steam user "Howl," before asking other players to report any similar issues. The comments that follow are nearly unanimous: Losing your Internet connection while playing the PC version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance causes the game come to an abrupt end.

Following this discovery a fan asked Platinum Games producer JP Kellams about the issue. Kellams seemed taken by surprise. "No idea. I'll ask first thing," he replied.

While this is currently the biggest flaw in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, it isn't the game's only problem. Earlier we reported on an apparent region-lock issue preventing players from gifting the game to others living in certain parts of the world.

We've attempted to reach Konami for more information on what the publisher is doing to fix this oversight, though we have yet to receive a response.

Amazon, the Brobdingnagian online retailer, is now allowing players to pre-order the PC iteration of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for $20 - $10 less than its suggested retail price - in expectation of a January 9 release date.

VG247 claims to have even more information on the release, stating that both the Blade Wolf and Jetstream Sam DLC will be included by default with the PC release. That's not too shocking, as Konami recently bundled the game's DLC in with its console version at a new $30 price point.

If you need further proof of the price drop, Steam's holiday sale currently offers the game at a $20 price point while also corroborating Amazon's January 9 release date. It fails to mention when Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will begin to pre-load, but at least we the release date seems nailed down. Of course, if $20 is too still too pricey for you, you could take the advice of this CheapAssGamer forum post and score the game for $15 by using a coupon code at GameFly.

[Thanks Roger!]

You can have your Revengeance for half the original price, after Konami announced it's reducing Metal Gear Rising's tag to $30. If you're still unmoved by that reduction, Konami is chucking in two bits of free DLC in the form of the Jetstream and Blade Wolf side-stories.

It's unclear if the free DLC will be bundled with copies sold at the new price, or if they'll simply be made free on the Xbox Games Store and PlayStation Network. At the time of writing, we're didn't see online retailers reflecting the reduced price with any detail about the DLC. Also, Konami's announcement doesn't touch on the downloadable PC port, which we last heard about in June when it was coming "soon."

Revengeance was one of 2013's first big-name (and silly-name) arrivals, and Raiden's return was a happy homecoming according to our four-star review. As Ludwig put it, the Platinum Games-developed hack-and-slash is "seriously sexed up Fruit Ninja fan-fiction," a phrase we're still reeling from eight months later.

Metal Gear series producer Hideo Kojima announced that Platinum Games' Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will see a DLC-bundled PlayStation 3 re-release in Japan later this year.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Special Edition includes the previously released "Blade Wolf" and "Jetstream" DLC packs, along with 30 VR missions, five alternate costumes, and a custom PS3 theme. The package will hit retail in Japan on December 5, and will also be available as a downloadable release on PSN.

Joystiq asked a Konami representative if the bundle is set for release stateside. We will share updates as they're available.

Konami confirmed Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is on its way to Windows PCs in the west, and said it's releasing the Platinum Games slicer through digital distribution networks "soon." We're still waiting on further details, but Konami noted Revengeance runs at 60 frames per second on "most modern PCs."

The port was first announced by series creator Hideo Kojima on his radio podcast last month. At the time, Platinum Games creative director Jean-Pierre Kellams immediately asked fans to direct their queries about the port to Konami. That either suggests Platinum isn't involved with the port or that a lack of tolerance for questions isn't limited to the company's boss. We've reached out to Konami to find out which it is.

If you can spare the gigglebits on your Xbox 360, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and DMC: Devil May Cry are both available through Games on Demand on Xbox Live for $50 right now. Each will consume 7.34 GB and 6.57 GB, respectively.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is the slice-em-up starring series cyborg Raiden that Platinum Games took over from full-time from Kojima Productions in 2011. DMC: Devil May Cry is Ninja Theory's reboot issued earlier this year, which re-imagines Capcom's world replete with a new Dante.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Ultimate Edition is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. This edition bundles the Platinum and Kojima-developed game with five character skins, additional VR Missions and two DLC side-stories that focus on Raiden rivals Jetstream and Blade Wolf.

For a limited time, the package will cleave $64 from your wallet. The deal has some more chops for PlayStation Plus users, who can get it for just under $45.

Series creator Hideo Kojima announced Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is coming to the PC. Speaking on his HideRadio podcast, Kojima confirmed the upcoming port. We'll have further details as we learn them.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance's upcoming DLC stars Blade Wolf, who is sure to be recognized as this year's best chainsaw-tailed robodog character. It's due in Japan on May 9, Konami announced today, which suggests it won't make the April date originally given for the North American release.

The preceding Jetstream Sam DLC was met with complaints that it wasn't actually that different from the base game. We're holding out hope that this new pack will be a more varied experience - after all, Blade Wolf is much less similar to Raiden than Sam was, what with the four legs and all.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will unsheathe the "Jetstream" DLC tomorrow, on both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace. This $7 side-mission puts players in the shiny metal boots of Samuel 'Jetstream Sam' Rodrigues, nemesis to Rising protagonist Raiden.

Following the "Jetstream" DLC will be another side-story mission focusing on Blade Wolf, the bestial bot outfitted with a rail gun, chainsaw on its back and, of course, the requisite cache of spring-loaded knives. If you think any of that sounds odd, then clearly you haven't seen the half of it.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is already almost maxed-out with wacky DLC additions, but we're getting two more in April: Jetstream and Blade Wolf. Both will run $7 on PS3 and Xbox 360. Jetstream is a side story featuring Sam as a playable character, while the other puts players in the metallic, bestial body of Blade Wolf for his own tail tale.

The VR Missions DLC pack is available now on PS3, free through April 3. The VR Missions pack is exclusive to the PS3 for now in the US and Canada, though in other regions it's available on Xbox 360 for 240 Microsoft Points.

March may be stuffed with new releases, but that won't stop Dead Space 3 or Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance from chucking new content at your eyeballs today. The first to impact your irises is the story-continuing 'Awakened' DLC for Dead Space 3, and it's now available on XBLA for 800 MSP. It hits PSN and PC later today, priced $9.99.

Also due on PSN later today are the 30 additional VR missions for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and they're completely free until April 3. In an odd twist, the DLC is exclusive to PS3 in the US and Canada for the time being, but outside those regions it's now available on XBLA for 240 MSP - a slice of curious console exclusivity to get the morning started.

It may be difficult to tell from the beginning of this video (after the title screen loads, duh), but it's a trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance DLC. The VR missions are exclusive to PS3 and drop on March 12, free through April 3.

There are 30 VR missions in total, including one with a wooden sword that speaks - yes, speaks - in Solid Snake's voice when in use. Get a taste of the action above.

Starting March 12, PS3 Metal Gear Rising players will be able to graft 30 new VR missions onto their games like a cyborg gets equipment to process robo-spine juice. The PS3-exclusive downloadable content will be free through April 3. These VR missions precede some weirder missions still to be dated.

If you'd like to get the whole game on PSN instead of just a slice of it, you can totally do that. As of yesterday, Revengeance is available on PSN for $60.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance was already pretty crazy, being a sci-fi character action game about a cyborg cutting people up into pieces, based on a military stealth game. New DLC announced by developer Platinum Games brings the insanity into uncomfortable new levels.

For example, "VR19: Unarmed Combat Training" contains side-scrolling, unarmed brawling gameplay. That's part of 30 new VR missions, including one set in a dark room. These are the PS3-exclusive missions we'll be getting in North America.

"Soul of the Snake" is a special wooden sword ... that speaks in Solid Snake's voice when used. "Passionate feelings are alive and well for the cardboard," according to the Google Translation of Platinum's post. We'd translate it more naturally, but that's too wonderful to change.

The second announced DLC puts you in the shoes of enemy cyborg, and sneering jerk, Jetstream Sam. And the third DLC lets you play as LQ-84i ... the robot dog. Platinum didn't offer a timeframe for these, except for the DLC missions due in Japan in April, and noted that all the images were of content currently under development. All we know is that Platinum won't be accused of saving cut content from the main game for DLC, since we don't know where that "and now you're the Blood Wolf" chapter would have fit in.

Hideo Kojima knew what he was doing when he handed development of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance off to Platinum Games. Platinum knows the importance of cutting, which is essential for an action game about a cyborg ninja.

Cutting is perhaps not a part of Kojima's own skillset, as evidenced by this trailer edited by the Kojima Productions head himself. It is almost seven minutes long.

By now you've probably read Liquid Ludwig's review of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, in which he doled out four stars to the tight gameplay and equally tight suits of Platinum's slice-and-dicer. While we appreciate Luddy's fondness for the game, the very thought of "seriously sexed up Fruit Ninja fan-fiction" is, frankly, more than a bit scary to us. Then again, sometimes love should be... terrifying.

Moving on from fan-fiction concerns, other reviewers also had their say on Rising's unusual brand of Metal Gear. Here's a brief slice of their thoughts:

• Polygon (90/100): "Platinum Games has done something incredibly rare: honoring a beloved series while successfully broadening its reach into a whole new genre."
• Eurogamer (90/100): "If Revengeance didn't have camera issues this would be the easiest 10 I've ever given. As things stand it's still brilliant, staking out new territory in the genre and adapting certain Metal Gear characteristics so well that it makes the competition look outrageously bad. This is simply the ultimate one-man show, worth its ticket price many times over, an experience that improves exponentially as it gets faster and as you get better."
• Giant Bomb (80/100): "A thrilling and engaging experience. The swordplay is fun, and it's really fascinating to see the different spots where either Kojima's or Platinum's signature styles shine through. It also has a wild final confrontation that shows elements of both."
• Game Informer (78/100): "If you have any hopes for this story building on Metal Gear lore or giving you a chance to reconnect with characters you care about, you will be disappointed. The new characters are uninteresting and poorly developed, and the old characters are practically non-existent."
• OPM: (70/100): "Sadly, the combat doesn't have enough depth to trouble the genre's best (it certainly can't touch Ninja Theory's DmC reboot), and there's a disappointing disposability about the whole experience. This is a project that has been rightfully and respectably salvaged, but one that can't quite cut it at the top.

Once you know what you're doing, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance goes from power fantasy to full-on power arrogance. Maniacal is the best way to play this cutting game, dashing into gunfire and shoving your sword through any obstacle, no matter its size or perceived deadliness. The supporting characters occasionally plead for planning, stealth, restraint - hesitation - but their calls come across as denial against the true nature of Revengeance. They're right in the middle of some seriously sexed up Fruit Ninja fan-fiction.

The silly portmanteau is the prelude to a starring role for Raiden, the formerly feeble stand-in for Snake in Metal Gear Solid 2. Following the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, which turned him into a twirling killing machine and redeemed him in the eyes of bros everywhere, the fair-haired cyborg works for a protection outfit called Maverick Security Consulting. Their first presidential client in Revengeance is butchered and thrown off a moving train, so I wouldn't recommend them.

After an ignominious defeat, Raiden's body is rebuilt with augmented strength, a pristine cyber-butt and a critical reliance on electrolytes, which must be absorbed from glowing enemy spines (unnaturally). It sounds gruesome, but extracting power cords in battle is a clinical process in the mind, and a brilliant hook for an action game.

Raiden's cybernetic digs from Metal Gear Solid 4 will be available as a day-one dose of downloadable nostalgic costume content for both Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Konami has announced. The suit, originally revealed as a Japanese promotional/pre-order bonus early last month, will cost $1.99 when the game launches this Tuesday, February 19.

Costumes based on the Metal Gear mythos are becoming somewhat of a theme, as a Grey Fox/Cyborg Ninja costume is also available to those who pre-order Rising at GameStop. Personally, we think the game could benefit from the addition of Raiden's Metal Gear Solid 2 suits, both "Sneaking" and "Birthday."

The amped-up transition into gameplay (bwaaaaaaaaaahh) and cheesy narration of this Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance commercial take us back to the classic in-your-face game ads of the 1990s. Good times.

British would-be buyers of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance may want to get their collective butts to the Westfield White City GAME store in London, because Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is attending the game's official launch there on February 22.

Kojima will be joined by Konami lead artist and MGS character designer Yoji Shinkawa, and will be taking part in an interview session on the night. He'll also personally serve the first 200 in the queue their copies of the game, while the 201st person gets to watch on. As long as that person comes in Solid Snake box cosplay, at least he or she will have somewhere to hide their tears.

A pair of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance trailers attempt to sell us on the unique weapons and impressive technology of unmanned gears in the game. Instead they promise bosses with a flare for the dramatic (yes!) and robots who look like they're a shoplifter running out of The Leg Store.

As reported last month, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be receiving extra VR missions as downloadable content. Specifically, the PlayStation 3 version of Rising is getting 30 exclusive missions that promise "pure, uncut gameplay that pushes Raiden's Cyborg body to its limits." Ironic, as Raiden leaves very little uncut.

There will be both action and stealth missions. Some missions will even allow players to control a Dwarf Gekko (AKA "the little ball robot with arms sticking out of it"). We're guessing those are probably stealth missions.

Platinum Games will support Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance with downloadable VR missions. Japanese mag Dengeki PlayStation (via Siliconera) published the news, noting additional content that will revolve around some of the game's supporting cast.

VR missions are an apt addition to the Metal Gear series, being included on-disc in the original Metal Gear Solid and receiving top billing in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions here in North America.

If you'd like to undertake your own VR mission, a demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is available right now, free for Gold subscribers on Xbox Live and for all PlayStation Network users. It's not virtual reality, but if you sit way close to the TV it's kind of similar.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance launches on February 19 in North America, February 21 and February 22 across Europe and the UK, respectively.

Staying hydrated is key, and while sports drinks can be a good source of electrolytes, so too can the liberated spines of your enemies.

Hideo Kojima's transition from game designer to game producer is one steeped in compromise, the Metal Gear mogul explained during a recent interview with IGN. Specifically, Kojima would have preferred that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance star series mainstay cyborg ninja Gray Fox, rather than Raiden.

"It was my staff in Kojima Productions that insisted on Raiden, and I respected their idea," Kojima said. "In my personal opinion, I wanted to go for Frank Jaegar or Gray Fox. But if we had gone with that, I would have had to write the script and then be really committed to creating the game."

In the end, passing the torch of crafting Metal Gear's universe to the next generation of developers was of greater importance than ensuring Gray Fox as the star. "I want to pass game development to the younger generation in my team, and have been trying to do so for quite some time. Before I never could give complete responsibilities for other games, but for Revengeance, they are fully in control. Besides, if I had created the game and directed it, it wouldn't have been this game."

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has a new developer and a new style of gameplay, but it's not as far removed from other Metal Gears as we may think. Case in point: the bosses are still total windbags.

In this new trailer, we see a collection of cyborg monstrosities deliver monologues at Raiden in Japanese, before rearranging their bodies into various kill modes. There's a bunch of high-speed combat as well, reminding us that this is still a different game. But if you come to Metal Gear for the dialogue, it looks like you still have something to look forward to.

The Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance demo slices up Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on January 22. Platinum Games revealed the date on its blog, where you can also find a new seven-minute trailer, as edited by Hideo Kojima.

This is the same demo as included with Zone of the Enders HD Collection, released last year in October. With a week left to wait, buying that now just for the demo is inadvisable.

This video shows off some of the flashy Raiden skins available in Japan with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The first one, the Cyborg Ninja skin, is available in the US with GameStop pre-orders. The other four, including the MGS4 Raiden skin, are apparently limited (for now) to Japanese promotional campaigns and pre-orders.

We know how much you kids these days like the Metal Gears, what with the Raidens and the nanomachines and all that, so we figured you'd appreciate an early look at Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's North American box art.

The full monty is tucked away in that gallery below (make sure to hit the "high-res" button for the full effect), and we have to say we like this new cover a heck of a lot more than the macro shot of Raiden's gross robot face that other territories will have to look at all the time.

Unless you kids are into that sort of thing now. Are gross robot faces cool now? Did we take our medicine this morning? Are you Carol's daughter? Where's our soup?