Metal Gear Solid: Rising is expected to be much more action-oriented than previous installments in the series, so it only makes sense that it won’t be using the same engine.

Instead of using the engine from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the Kojima Productions team plans to build a whole new engine to achieve their “lighting bolt action.”

While I’m definitely looking forward to Rising – and really, how can you not get excited about lightning bolt action – I’m saddened that stealth won’t play as big of a part as usual. Still, they would never abandon stealth completely, so maybe I’m getting all fussed over nothing.

PSX Extreme

Remember the announcement in Hideo Kojima’s keynote at GDC? The one where he teased the new Metal Gear? Yeah, that was an April Fool’s joke. The video above was posted here, and it details the true extent to which Kojima was having us on. By the way, Kojima-san, you’re doing it wrong. You’re supposed to do the fool on the day; that’s how it got its name, actually. I still salute you for riling up your own fans, though. Good show.

The next time you attend a gaming convention like GDC, make sure to pack some gaming related costumes. Throw them on and beg a few recognizable developers to cameo in your own handheld movie. If done correctly, you too can be internet famous.

Hit the jump for the video.

Source: Mega64 Via: Patrickzine.co.uk

Confession time: I’ve never actually played any of the Metal Gear Solid games. Well, to completion anyway; I own a copy of MGS2: Substance for the Xbox, but I’ve never actually played it past the the first level. I got confused towards the end of it, and I just never picked it up. When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Touch, I thought it would be a great way for me to finally get into the MGS franchise.

I knew they’d worked hard on it, because they mentioned how Kojima actually scrapped the entire game and started from scratch halfway into development. Konami said it wouldn’t be a lot like the console games, and I didn’t expect it to, but with such a great legacy, how would Metal Gear Solid Touch live up to the Metal Gear games before it? Would it finally get me into the Metal Gear series? Hit the jump for the full review.

Metal Gear Solid Touch is set up like a shooting gallery, where you’re ducked behind a barrier, only to come up often to shoot strategically placed PMC soldiers, Haven Troopers, and Gekkos before they shoot you. The game gives you a life bar to make things fair, and adds a circular meter around your enemies’ heads, which is like a countdown until they begin to fire at you. It starts off in the yellow, and makes it’s way to the cautionary red, when you should probably begin ducking behind the barrier.

The controls are super simple- drag your finger across the screen to move the aiming reticule, tap the screen to fire, pinch your fingers to switch to the sniper, spread your fingers to move back to your M4, lift your finger to duck behind the barrier. They’re easy to pick up which makes it a simple game to pick up at any time. One thing I didn’t like about the controls was how sluggishly the sniper reticule moved. It’s easy to move the M4 reticule from one side to the other, but it takes a couple of drags with the sniper to aim at someone across the screen. This can easily be fixed by zooming out THEN moving, but it’s still a hassle to do so. It also took me a while to find out how to pause the game. Turns out that you just have to turn the screen from a landscape position to a vertical position, but Konami didn’t bother to mention this in the explanation of controls.

Some of the first things you’ll notice about the game are its graphics. They’re fantastic, especially for an iPhone game, and rival anything you’d see on a PSP or DS currently, but this could be because the models barely ever move. Snake only tilts to aim, and the PMC troopers only move when they fall. One of the second things you’ll notice is that there are missionaries in the game. You probably shouldn’t shoot them. I learned that the hard way.

MGST takes you into 12 missions across 2 acts, and Konami’s promising the addition of 8 more levels soon, too. The game has a story that (according to Konami) is similar to that of MGS4, even though the story is in no way essential to the plot. As a matter of fact, it’s all presented through text-based cutscenes that can be easily skipped. If you’re still annoyed by the story, you can play the Survival Mode of the game, which is just a straight shooting gallery, where you play until you lose. The main mode of the game has a rather lengthy boss fight at the end of the game with Raven, and it’s one of the only two boss fights in the game, the other being one with Laughing Octopus. The boss fights are confusing at first, as you have to figure out how to defeat them on your own, which is a nice change of pace from the usual “shoot the giant red spot on their chest” boss.

The UI of the game is very clean and minimal, with only a lifebar, a timer, a counter of remaining enemies, and a label showing which mission you’re in, tucked away in the corner. One of the cooler parts of the game is the way you procure extra life and different weapons. By shooting yellow chickens placed across the map (yes, chickens) you can get more life, and shooting green little frogs gives you either a rocket launcher or invisibility for a short time, though it’s much more common for rocket launchers to be present when Gekkos or helicopters are attacking you. It’s a case for PETA for sure, but still very useful.

If you get sick of the game, you can always take a look at some of the extras the game has. For those of you like me that don’t know much about Metal Gear Solid, the game has the entire history of Metal Gear Solid so you can catch up, complete with art from the games. There’s also Drebin’s Shop, which allows you to buy 3D art of characters for the Drebin Points you’ve accrued over the course of gameplay. Unfortunately, that’s as far as it goes for the game’s extras, and the 3D art is kind of lame.

Overall, Metal Gear Solid Touch is a great game, even if it’s not a lot like other Metal Gear Solid games. The shooting gallery format works great with the iPod touch/iPhone format, and the lack of an important story means more gameplay, less winded cutscenes. At $7.99, it’s a biiiiiiit pricey for a shooting gallery, but still something any iPhone owner should check out.

In an interview with Kotaku, Assistant Producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, Ryan Payton, announced that he is leaving Kojima Productions and heading back to North America in order to be closer to his family who lives in Washington.

When asked about what he will miss, Ryan said:

“It’ll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I’ve got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines.”

So while rest and relaxation seem like the current plan for Ryan Payton, it appears that Kojima may be hard at work on another solid sequel.

Having been away from my family for nearly ten years, I can empathize with Ryan, and fully expect to see him resume his role as plaid wearing producer when he feels the time is right. Until then, he has left us all with a nice little nugget to chew on.

Check out the full interview over at Kotaku.

In an interview published today with Eurogamer, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima (who just turned 45) stated that he is tired of people asking him about the PS3/360 hardware, and wishes people would just focus on the game. He went on to say:

“Sometimes I even feel like [Metal Gear Solid 4] should be on a PC so that people don’t ask me about hardware and platforms,”

Kojima added that in the near future he hopes that people stop asking him about formats and instead ask about their company and future projects.

Despite his statements, Eurogamer pressed for an answer regarding PS3 exclusivity, to which he stated that “MGS4 was optimized for the PS3″ and that in part, he felt the modern day success of the game was closely linked the PS3 console itself.

Source: Eurogamer

Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, is 45 today, and we here at Ripten would like to wish him a very Happy Birthday.

Turning 45 doesn’t mean Kojima is old by any means, it just means that he’s got one less year left to give us more great games like Metal Gear Solid 4 before he retires. Happy Birthday Hideo!

Hideo’s coming to good ole’ Blighty! Naturally not for a holiday, but to please all the Snake fans. On Monday 2nd June, Metal gear fanatics will be able to meet Hideo Kojima and series’ artist Yoji Shinkawa at HMV’s Oxford Street store in London’s West End.

Hideo and Yoji will be in the store from 12 noon to meet fans and sign HMV’s exclusive MGS4 pre-release sleeves.  Sadly this will be an exclusive affair. Only those who have bought one of only 300 sleeves (via an MGS4 preorder) will get the chance to meet Snake’s creator. If you want to try your luck, the sleeves will be available from 9am on the day.

London won’t be Kojima’s only stop. On June 11th, he’ll be signing copies of MGS4 at the Times Square Virgin Megastore in New York.

In other MGS4 news, PSW magazine is reporting that some (yes, plural) of the cutscene’s will reach 90 minutes in length. That’s a collection of full length feature films tucked into your Metal Gear. Thankfully they can be paused, skipped and even interacted with.

Worried if it’s all style and no substance? Never fear, journalists who have played through the game have reported it to be 30 hours in length, with two thirds consisiting of pure gameplay. New screenshots can be found in our gallery.

*Update* - Sid Shuman of Gamepro is reporting that the “90 minute cutscene” comments from PSW are greatly exaggerated:

Like the other MGS games, MGS4 definitely has a cinematic quality. And yes, some of the cut-scenes in the game are elaborate and occasionally lengthy. But not a one, to my recollection, even approaches 90 minutes.

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Remember that Assassin’s Creed/ MGS4 April Fools mash-up? Well, this is nothing like that. Okay, the warning screen is similar, along with the Kojima “Did you like it?” at the end. This trailer may contain minor spoilers, but for what it’s worth, I personally didn’t find it going too far into spoiler territory. I felt it was more of a hype-builder, and boy, did it build some hype. Those that are to remain firm, move along. Nothing fun to see here.

Check out the trailer on Youtube here.

If you’ve watched it, you more than likely know the implications of it. For those that are still on the edge of their seats debating furiously amongst themselves, it goes through a series of footage chronologically from Metal Gear Solid to a scene of Snake smacking down some Mr. Game and Watch.

Then, the climax arrives: “This year, MGS REvived?” and it proceeds to show what looks awfully familiar to one of the early scenes in the original Metal Gear Solid. And finally ends with “Is it possible to REplay MGS!?”

Touche, Mr. Kojima. Very cryptic indeed.

News has been flip flopping over whether Metal Gear Online will be included with MGS4, or whether it will be purchased separately. In an interview with Gamespot, Konami’s director of marketing, puts the rumours to rest. A Metal Gear Online starter pack will be included in the shipped MGS4 game.

They haven’t yet disclosed how many maps there will be in the pack, but “there will be an element of the online component within Metal Gear 4, to capture that online experience.”

What does this imply? Does this mean the fully featured Metal Gear Online will be available separately, where MGS4 owners will own a fraction of this? It’s my belief that MGS4 will be the sole way to purchase Metal Gear Online, where the starter pack will then be fleshed out throughout 2008, adding new maps through downloadable content. If this is the case, then it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Getting a Metal Gears Solid game and an online component that will be further supported, is a dream come true. If the fully featured Metal Gear Online was available separately from the get go, it would make Metal Gear fans buy two games instead of one.

Konami’s director or marketing supports my suspicions that Metal Gear Online will only be purchasable through MGS4 in her following statement: “Within the rest of the year we will be stragically providing content.”

Kojima’s MGS4 is set for release in Q2 of this year.  The interview can be found here.

In an interview in Famitsu magazine, he says:

When you hit someone or inflict pain, faces get disfigured for example, and I want to make games that show that sort of thing.

If you don’t see the pain, you can’t understand what you’ve done, and you’ll pass through battles without taking responsibility for your actions. I don’t want to ignore that. I want players to think, even if it’s just a little, about what violence and war are.

It’s good to hear a heavyweight getting behind the industry for producing mature content, but it’s also clear to see that he means this with a caveat. Earlier in the interview he stated that he doesn’t think many games tackle violence head on.

He reinforces this point by adding: “I think there are fewer developers around today who think about making a good game.” Manhunt 2 and its ilk aren’t getting any love it seems.

As for Kojima’s vision; Metal Gear’s well established penchant for existential debate means we’re going to get a fair dose on the morals of war, but facial disfigurement? Is this some curious new IP brewing in his brain? We can’t wait.

More to the point, why is he being interviewed by Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond?

Read the interview here.