Metal Gear Survive is a Pure Survival Game, and It's Really Hard Work
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Wednesday, January 17, 2018 @ 01:05 PM
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Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Metal Gear Survive isn't anywhere near as bad as you might think it is. Its core game mechanics are effectively lifted straight from Metal Gear Solid V, so you already know that it plays well, and its survival components are pretty well conceived, placing an emphasis on exploration and resourcefulness. The problem is the whole thing feels like a thankless chore; a horrible slog that suffers from more than a few flaws.
It's all the more disappointing when you consider how many good ideas are on show here: from the crafting to base-building, Metal Gear Survive is an interesting proposition, even if its reason for being is a load of old arse. Picking up after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, as Big Boss escapes from Mother Base while watching it fall into the sea, a series of wormholes open in the sky, sucking soldiers and chunks of the base into an alternate dimension.
So far, so stupid. Once you've dispensed with the narrative guff – which is no better once you're actually into the meat of the game – the gameplay loop at the centre of Metal Gear Survive is ostensibly quite interesting. Akin to a sort of roguelike version of Metal Gear, in which you have to gather resources, and eat and drink to stay alive, Survive is actually a proper survival game. But it all feels far too much like hard work.
For starters, your customisable character gets hungry and thirsty much too frequently, which in turn impacts your health and stamina limits. Consequently, getting into a scrape with the crystalline zombie-like 'Wanderers' will result in a swift death if you're not duly nourished, and any attempt at retreat will drain your stamina rapidly, leaving you standing on the spot like a plum while the meter recharges.
It's conceivable that Metal Gear Survive improves immensely once you've made yourself a proper gun and managed to build yourself a sustainable farm that provides a constant supply of food, but during the early moments we played, covering any sort of distance across the bland desert environment is boring and having to constantly manage the needs of your character is a headache. Early missions are dull too, as you locate and return Memory Boards to Virgil - your base's computer terminal - which means finding breathing apparatus to brave 'The Dust', a vision-impairing cloud of toxic, well, dust, obviously.
Gathering 'Kuban Crystals' (KUB) is also an ongoing concern, as it's the currency you need for practically everything, be it crafting, levelling up, or for building defences like barriers or fortifications for your base. Of course, you'll need the requisite components to create items too, including medical supplies for when you're injured – like in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, but less fun. Less fun because you can never find the elements you need to patch yourself up, so inevitably bleed agonisingly to death, the blood dripping down the screen just to add to the annoyance.
Reactivating wormhole machines opens the game up somewhat, as you're able to fast travel across the map and use wormholes as a Fulton Recovery System of sorts that whisks things away to your base via portals. The game's co-op multiplayer, too, could be a saving grace, with Metal Gear Survive being always online so that you're able to share resources and items earned across single-player and co-op. Perhaps it'll be sensible to play a lot of online multiplayer to make life in the game's solo mode a little easier.
Whatever the case, Metal Gear Survive's co-op is enjoyable stuff, pitting your 4-player squad against three increasingly demanding waves of Wanderers that come in all shapes and sizes. Together, you can fortify your position and come up with the best strategy for staving off the onslaught of enemies, ensuring you're able to deploy your digging machine and mine the maximum amount of Iris Energy. Success reaps a whole stack of rewards that can be taken into single-player and are shared between the solo and multiplayer modes. Side Missions can also be completed in multiplayer that can grant bonuses like access to your own Metal Gear Walker, which is a nice touch. Compared to single-player, Metal Gear Survive's co-op mode is a blast.
While it's possible that Metal Gear Survive might be enjoyable in small doses, in its current form the game's solo experience is severely lacking. Wanderers are too unpredictable (they're not soldiers with patrol routes) making stealth a far less viable option, and resources are so scant that fighting can often be a bad idea. Given the number of factors you need to pay attention to and the sheer amount of legwork that's required, only those with the patience of a saint could persevere with Metal Gear Survive. Maybe the full version will be a little easier to get into, but in its present state, the simple act of existing in Metal Gear Survive might just prove to be too much like hard work. Unless you're a massive fan of survival games, that is.
Metal Gear Survive is out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on 20th February 2018.