The unique and enjoyable Sneaking Mission mode that debuted with Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence is returning in the new Metal Gear Online, due out with MGS4 on June 12th. Kojima Productions has taken the unique and enjoyable mode and revamped it, making some extensive changes to improve it further.

With the MGO beta nearly upon us now (along with the re-launch of the online PlayStation Store, the release of the Dualshock 3 controller and the arrival of the Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVDs), a few more details on Metal Gear Online have begun to seep out.

While the two-week beta will be limited to a couple of stages, Ryan Payton has revealed during the Kojima Production’s Podcast that the Sneaking Mission from MGS: Subsistence will be returning with some exciting changes for the full release.

In Subsistence, the Sneaking Mission was a lot of fun and a very fitting mode for Metal Gear’s multiplayer debut. It was also quite unique among multiplayer online offerings, Behind Enemy Lines from the original Call of Duty being the closest comparison.

However, things often deteriorated into Snake being able to sprint for his goal if the opposing team was even slightly unorganized, or the opposite, with Snake being systematically hunted and shutdown fairly easily if the guards communicated and combined firepower. The new Sneaking mode looks to address some of these issues and add layers of complexity.

First of all, Snake’s ultimatum will no longer be to reach a set location alive; instead, he will be responsible for collecting a set number of dog tags. The number needed for Snake’s victory can be altered, but he will always attain the tags by incapacitating enemy soldiers controlled by other players. In turn, the enemies will be trying to kill Snake, needing to do so three times to succeed. The real twist though, is that there will be more than one enemy team hunting Snake.

Two teams will compete against each other to be the first to eliminate him and win the match, no doubt creating a nice backdrop of chaos for Snake to fade into—attempting always to complete his own objective. If no team eliminates Snake, the side that did the most damage to the opposing team will come out on top.

It seems Snake is chosen at random, which should help alleviate the tendency among players to compete against each other for the kill instead of working together to make sure their team is victorious as a whole.

Snake will of course have special tools at his disposal, including his Octocam. If the game is well-populated, someone can even control the Metal Gear Mk.II to support Snake. It will be fascinating to see how this scenario plays out—kudos to the guys at KP for continuing to be inventive with the Metal Gear universe.

MGO will also feature online matchmaking, so you can more easily find players of your skill level to play with.

Payton reiterated that more content will be coming for MGO in the future. He spoke of expansion packs including not only new levels, but new game modes, weapons and characters as well. No pricing has been mentioned, but let’s be thankful we’re getting the starter pack with MGS4 itself, which will include 5 maps.

Nostalgia should be in full effect with MGO, so here’s hoping for some fun stuff down the line. For those who feel they can’t wait, you better get out to pre-order MGS4 and hope you can snag a beta code while they might still be available.

I, for one, am lamenting the impossibility of going back and playing Subsistence some more. June 12th isn’t so far off!

Source: Konami

Tags: Metal-Gear-Solid-4, online

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• Metal Gear Solid: Rising not exclusive to Xbox 360
• Konami’s Metal Gear Online Update Brings New Map and Old Snake
• MGS4 Limited Edition Info
• New Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer Confirmed And In Position For E3 2007

3 Comments » 3iscasity on April 6, 2008 2:26 am crappy graphics… Patrick Steen on April 6, 2008 7:47 am What has crappy graphics? MGS3 Online? Because that’s where the image is from. That’s a PS2 game… shamon on April 6, 2008 6:29 pm I got my saga disc with the code from gamestop the disc was not all that good but the beta code is worth it. I also brought the mgs essential collection boxset worth it but i still have to get a dual shock 3 just to make things even better. RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.