METAL GEAR SOLID: portable ops

T he Playstation Portable launched, had it's share of the spotlight, and has been on the decline ever since. At the same time, its rival (the Nintendo DS) suckered the non-gamer\retro-gamer\faggot for it's success. And for all this time, I've expected Hideo Kojima to bring the Metal Gear series to the hand-held system. Metal Gear fans couldn't help but ask for more when Metal Gear Acid was announced for the PSP (and though we're gullible as hell MGS card games won't win us over). The wait is finally over with the comming of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops(MGSPO).MGSPO plays out in 1970, roughly 6 years after the events of Snake eater, where Snake (sickening name if you ask me) defeated the Boss, split away from the FOX unitand gained the title of the Big Boss. He proceeded to start a misspelled reality show that grew to become the second best programme on TV (right after Takeshi's Castle of course). But for this game, but for this game snake wakes up in a prison with no particular memory of recent events and learns much to his horror FOX unit colleagues have stolen nuclear warheads (yawn, koosh-koosh balls are far more interesting) and plan to start a war. Snake has been accused of treason and must get out of prison, stop his former comrades and clear his name.A loosely strung history, over-the-top drama and a Hollywood style presentation are just some of the things we expect of MGS games and MGSPO would do well to feature them all. Graphically, MGSPO seems to be pushing the PSP to it's limits just as MGS 3 did with the PS2. The game will have comic-book styled cutscenes done by Ashley Wood, artist of Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel.It will be interesting to see however, if Kojima will stick to see his old top-down perspective, or go with the 3rd person view introduced in MGS3 subsistence.Gameplay-wise, things are pretty much the same (except for the fact that we won't be selecting a 'shoot' card to take out enemies), which is probably a good thing. The game will have you sneaking around, snapping necks (YaY!!) and watching really long cutscenes. The biggest difference in MGSPO however, is the decision of allaince (sorry ladies, snake isn't geting married). In the numerous outings of snake, he is always preferred working alone-teaming up to complete missions isn't the snakey way of doing things. Time around the swirls, snake can capture enemies, interrogate them and make them do his dirty work (Laundry, etc.). You can form your own army of disposible goons, though only three will be usable at a time. Allies will gain ranks as they complete missions alongside you. However, if you lose an ally in the heat of battle, he is lost forever.But the real highlight of MGSPO is it's multiplayer. evidentely, kojima discovered the Wi-Fi capibilities of yhe PSP! and now he is allowing you to team up with other humans(which is great since you blame them for your loss). Apart from this, the game will also have an onlinemultiplayer mode which is identical to MGS3: subsistence. The regular DM, Team DM and CTF (dubbed capture the frog) modes will be available to quench your online thirst.MGSPO could very well be the game that revives the PSP. In the recent trailers, the story seems to be good with the expected quality of dialogue and graphics. If you're an MGS fan, you've possibly decided a purchase quite a while back. And if you haven't, I suggest that you save up for the UMD and watch the Tokyo game show trailers to create an appetite... after all, not all of us are snake eaters (sic).