Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops +

Solid Snake has been sneaking around on the PSP before but the adventures weren’t exactly the way we remembered it. No, Metal Gear Solid Ac!d and its equally interesting sequel were turn-based stealth/action games that used cards and your sharp wits rather than your quick thumbs. Still, fans just couldn’t help but wish they would take the gameplay style of the console games and fit it on a UMD. Thankfully, fans got their wish last year with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops … a true Metal Gear Solid game and one of the best PSP action games available. Instead of rolling out a sequel, though, Konami brings us a stand-alone expansion called Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus that is comes to us at a budget price.

 
Raiden: “Boy, did I make a wrong turn.”

Still, the budget price does not mean we’re getting all the bells and whistles of the original. You see, Portable Ops Plus doesn’t offer the same experience the original game offered nor does it fix any of the problems that plagued the first PSP offering. This is, of course, simply an expansion. This means this one simply offers more multiplayer maps, a few single-player missions and new characters to recruit. You can even import your favorite characters from the original Portable Ops to add more characters to the already plentiful lineup of characters.

Like the original, the expansion continues to take place in the same timeframe. That is, it takes places directly after the events seen in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Portable Ops brought together the familiar elements that make up the Solid Snake era such as the FOXHOUND unit and the man who Solid Snake will come to know as Colonel Roy Campbell. In the single-player mode, you can import your old experienced unit or start anew with a fresh team as a young Campbell offers new missions via Codex. Really, the single-player missions are simply training exercises for the multiplayer game. It is here where you will learn the finer points of stealth, completing mission objectives and “recruiting” enemies (you can knock out any enemy and drag them into a truck where the enemy will be persuaded to join your side).

As I mentioned above there are new characters to recruit. In fact, the new characters come directly from Hideo Kojima’s past Metal Gear Solid games as well as soldiers and characters from the upcoming fourth title, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. That also includes the Guns’ version of Solid Snake who has aged considerably. There are new weapons to use as well, many of which make stealth kills far more effective or sniper rifles with a better range for those who prefer to take out the enemy from afar.

 
“Um, mommy, Grandpa’s doing that crazy war flashback thing again.”

Control-wise, the game remains the same. You can still flatten yourself against a wall, perform a throw down when you catch your enemy off guard or even use an enemy as a human shield. You can still drag unconscious enemies where patrols won’t find them or eliminate them with precision by going into first-person view. Once again, you will also have to struggle with the awful camera you have to manually move around. Mixing and matching a four-member squad that includes personnel from the medical unit, technical unit, spy unit as well as a sneaking unit. Each specialist plays a key role in helping his or her team in any given situation in both the single-player and multiplayer mode.

Online, the game still flows smoothly and without framerate stutter. Up to six players can still take each another on in game modes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture Mission and Team Capture Mission. There’s also Shooting Range, a mode that allows you to improve your shooting skills. The game modes allows players to use characters they used in the original game or ones they manage to unlock and upgrade from this expansion. As an expansion, there are new maps - many of them great additions that will surely be fan favorites for returning gamers.

Graphically, Portable Ops Plus looks just like the original game and that’s not a bad thing at all considering the fact that the original looked a lot like the PS2 Metal Gear Solid games. Everything from the character models to the backgrounds and visual effects are true to the series and there are a number of cool surprises for fans including characters and elements from nearly every game in the series (and, yes, that means the upcoming PS3 game). What also makes a return, however, are the heavy clipping problems that have body parts disappearing into walls or other graphical glitches like passing right through unconscious enemies.

 
“When I said everyone get dressed to kill I didn’t mean it literally.”

If the visuals are familiar territory for fans of the franchise then so is the game’s soundtrack. The score is still wonderfully cinematic and dramatic enough to make enemy encounters even more exciting in the single-player game. The dialogue, sadly, is still done in text rather than use familiar voices but at least the sound effects are wonderfully detailed and come out nicely through the PSP speakers.

For those gamers and fans of Kojima’s much-loved Metal Gear Solid franchise who enthusiastically played the living daylights out of the Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus adds more of the same but there just isn’t enough to rival the main game. As an expansion, Portable Ops Plus simply inserts a few extras that will extend your Portable Ops experience so this one is more for the hardcore fan who just couldn’t get enough. Everyone else can just pick up a copy of the main game and decide for themselves if this bargain-priced add-on is worth the money.

Gameplay: 7.0
The game plays just like Portable Ops did and this includes the flaws and glitches found in the original. Still, there are some mouth-watering single-player missions to tackle and it’s a blast unlocking and playing Metal Gear Solid 4  “old” Solid Snake. The heart of the game is it’s multiplayer mode and the new maps and action make for a good time.

Graphics: 8.0
Visually, the game looks as good as the PS2 games and that’s saying a lot. Not only do the character models really stand out but so do the environments and visual effects. There are still some clipping problems and a few pop-up issues that show up frequently.

Sound: 7.5
The typical Metal Gear Solid-styled soundtrack can be found in Portable Ops Plus, which is a very good thing but the game still could have benefited from the voice cast such as David Hayter as Naked and Solid Snake. At least the sound effects will be familiar to any MGS fan.

Difficulty: Medium
This is still a surprisingly challenging game no matter what difficulty setting you pick or what rank you happen to fall under in this game. As a single-player game, the AI is bright on occasions and you will certainly come to learn that stealth is a key to your survival.

Concept: 7.0
All the major elements from Portable Ops is back including recruiting enemies to your cause as well as managing your own specialized squad in single-player mode. You can import characters and other goodies from the original as well. There are also more maps, weapons and a number of other characters from all the major Metal Gear Solid games including the upcoming fourth title.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Like the original game, online multiplayer is the main mode and it is here where you’ll play alongside a squad of friends. There are new maps and characters you can use and things run smoothly enough. Still, you won’t help but feel that the original had more depth to the action.

Overall: 7.0
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus for the PSP might not be as deep or as juicy as it’s core game but this expansion has enough extras to make this budget title a worthy addition if you’re a MGS fan. Still, even with the reasonable price tag, you won’t help but feel that there could have been more to this title or at least it could have ironed out all the problems found in the original.