Metal Gear Survive: A Blemish On The Franchise?

As a person that grew up playing the original Metal Gear games on the NES & played every single entry in the series, I was skeptical that a Metal Gear game that included zombies could work. This is a series that embraced its tagline "Tactical Espionage Action". How can Konami produce a game that does a 180 on how the series made its name?


The biggest reason why I didn't believe this game could work is the fact that legendary developer Hideo Kojima recently left video game company Konami after 30 years due to creative differences. When the creator of the series isn't in charge anymore, you almost have to question the direction of the game. Metal Gear is known for its insane boss battles (which Kojima is mainly responsible for) & it remains to be seen if Konami can re-create anything that fans of series would enjoy.


Metal Gear is one of classic video game series. It was on the Nintendo Entertainment System & still going strong today on PS4/Xbox One. It is one of the few series that has stood the test of time but the latest entry in this series takes it in a new direction & it remains to be seen if the fans support the idea. 


Throughout the series, we have filled the boots of the battle-hardened Solid Snake & Big Boss as they thwart countless terrorist groups from destroying the world. The lone exceptions in the series where gamers didn't play as the aforementioned was in Metal Gear 2: Sons of Liberty & Metal Gear Rising: Revengance where the main protagonist was a new recruit named Raiden. 


The formula for the game hadn't changed for over 30 years. We play a soldier, we use stealth tactics, we stopped terrorists. That's Metal Gear. Now Metal Gear is a crazy storyline to begin with but MG: Survive is over the top. See, a wormhole opens up over the Militaries Sans Frontieres' Caribbean forward operating base & we are introduced to a new zombie-infested dimension where players are forced to well, survive. Fans of the series will recognize that this base is also known as "Outer Heaven". 


Now I'm not sure exactly what this game wants to be. It wants to be a horror/stealth/base builder/survival sim type of game. It takes the soul out of the series since its trying to be so many different types of genres. It doesn't help that the main character doesn't feel like the legendary Solid Snake or Big Boss. Seems like IGN & Gamespot agree, this game IS the lowest rated Metal Gear game in the series. A lesser series couldn't survive these negative reviews. For Metal Gear fans, let's hope that the loss of Kojima doesn't impact the franchise long term. I'll give this one a pass, a dropoff was expected with the loss of a legendary producer such as Kojima. Hopefully next time around, Konami actually produces a game that gamers deserve. 


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