As a huge Metal Gear fan, I'm excited, yet torn on this one.
For those who've not seen yet, here's what it looked like , , and
I'm on the fence with this because I liked where it was going, and I'm warming up more and more to what it's becoming now. Looking at it from the storyline point of view, I did want to see how Raiden became a cyborg ninja between MGS2 and 4, but I wonder if there were any suitable enemies for Raiden then, considering how only Vamp and a large tanker gave him trouble; btw for all intended purposes, he beat the boat - with his back.
It's sad to see another game that divides the MG fanbase, staring Raiden again, but I'm seeing more pros than cons here.
I can definitely see how people were pissed off at the trailer; I was shocked myself. Switching from Snake to Raiden in MGS2 shocked. It wasn't terrible, but it was a different direction. With all the information out there now, it's probably best it happens this way anyway.
My ideal version of this would've been the following:
-Platinum Games consulting or co-developing with KojimaPro
-left on the FOX engine (I loved how the cutscenes were mostly the same as the in-game graphics)
-have the story revolve around before and after MGS4
-more of the percision cutting and effects from the old build
-sped-up gameplay, varied gameplay (stealth+hack'n'slash+other)
-replace 'Revengance' with 'Lightning Bolt Action'
-and a more serious atmosphere and musical score.
That last point especially. Revengance could be much better received if it's actually closer to MGS4's tone than the trailer's tone, being philosophical about war and conflict versus being too gratuitious.
But between the production team, fans, and hardcore fans, the only way everyone was going to be happy with Rising would've been if they turned it into an extra MGS4 minigame where you're running around act 2 and maybe 4 as Raiden. Cutting up soldiers, gekkos, and the enviroment, playable boss fight against Vamp, cutscenes with Shinkawa art explaining Raiden's story, and done. A 2 to 3 hour chance to play the guy that no one wanted to play in MGS2 when they had to, and everyone wanted to play as in MGS4 when they couldn't.
With all that said, I can't wait to throw Ray in the air and whale on him in mid-air; I'm willing to overlook a lot to do that, hopefully I won't have to overlook much though.