Metal Gear Survivor impression

Mehtal Gear

This game released to mixed reviews. It’s not like this game is top tier amazing but I cannot say it is a bad game.  The problem is… I played this game the wrong way for a while. However, after plugging about 10-20 hours into it, I think I can give some impressions.  Apparently… 10-20 hours is more than enough time to get through the plot.  Like I said, I’m playing this game the wrong way.

See… I heard a crazy rumor that it was a survival game… and it is… for single-player sadists. I thought… like in most survival games, I thought they would drop me into a world and I could just fool around with the “story” just being breadcrumbs to give me some sort of arc.  I also thought the structures you place in the open world would stay put after I leave and they don’t.

TL:DR – Stick to the glowing circles on your map.

After I smartened up and tackled the tasks in front of me, I started to get the hang of things.

Oh yes!… There will be menus

The time you spend going through menu/craft screens should be noted because if you ignore the tutorials for them you will spend a lot more time than needed trying to figure out what to do.  The passing of time will make your hunger, thirst and even oxygen levels deplete rapidly…even in the menus.

The menus however are easy to navigate… sort of.  A lot of the items blend together because of the font and you may spend precious seconds looking for some wolf steak.

The game itself has its flaws but once you start playing it the way it was designed, there is some rewarding gameplay here.  It is however a tough grind.  A grind I don’t have the energy for some days.  Some days you’re up for tactically taking on a horde of zombies and other days you want to play Skyrim in VR… OK, most days *I* want to play SkyrimVR… or Monster Hunter World.  Are you playing Monster Hunter World?  I was… still kind of into it.

Metal Gear Survive is less fun than the games I mentioned above because of the risk and reward involved.  MGS has too many scenarios where you will deviate from your path because you spot a shed for looting and it will be empty.  Hunting trips yield low rewards if they take too long because you end up needing to eat your catch and then go hunt even more.  However, if you can power through the opening few hours, once you acquire the pot at the campfire to bottle water, sustaining yourself becomes a lot easier.

Other than that… the game plays the way you would figure.  You have a “Base of Operations” which you will have to expand and defend.  You will do this gradually over time. At first you will just have a few work benches to use but quickly expand to farms and water storage in no time. Pretty soon, sustaining your health is not such a pain in the ass.

However, you will most likely have to adopt an offensive method of playing that compliments your defense.  Some weapons, like machetes can’t be used on the other side of a chain link fence but spears and arrows can. At first, the player is restricted to only being able to hold two of each secondary item but can hold more as they progress.

Then there is.. “The Dust”

The dust is a giant fart cloud that covers way too much of the map and obscures your vision a lot. You will spend a lot of time in the Dust. You will not like the Dust.  I am not your King.  Fast travelling helps but unlocking a fast travel point requires a lot of work and a bit of planning every time… and then it will go to shit and you’ll have to improvise.  Unlocking a fast travel point has the player power up a generator and defend it for a various amounts of time.  Every single defense requires effort.  Allowing the zombies to overpower you is very dangerous.  You can however almost instantly build defense to put some distance between and even do damage to the oncoming horde.   It can be fun but eventually feels like too much effort to unlock a fast travel point.  Sweet loot, maybe. But a fast travel point seems a little much.  Especially because the plot excuse for doing so is powering it up attracts the zombies en mass but when it is on, the area surrounding it is basically a safe zone with some common/uncommon respawning items.

All in all I actually want to play more of this game but most likely on the weekend when I can focus.  This isn’t a game that lends itself to quick pick-up and play sessions.  The combat can also be frustrating.

I’m sorry to report that this isn’t the Metal Gear game you’re looking for but it is a good use of the engine and an interesting spin in the franchise.   Some have remarked this is a cash grab.  Those people are assholes.  This is the franchise with two Metal Gear Ac!d games in it. MGS at least is an action game.

Unless your curiosity is really peaked… you may want to skip this game for now.

Blake Roundhouse AKA The Jaded Gamer

Twitter: @IamFN2K
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