IGN: Metal Gear Online Beta Impressions

It's been hampered by pre-order DVDs that were released without key codes as well as codes that were incomplete. It was held back by a registration process that brought Konami's servers to their knees. It was delayed a full five days longer than it was originally scheduled to be released. Yet, with all of the issues that have plagued the Metal Gear Online beta, its surprise rollout earlier this morning finally gave Metal Gear Solid fans a taste of what they can expect when the game is released in June.

IGN enlisted in the beta, jumped online, and blasted their way across the two maps to test the gameplay out.

[Fishy Fingers]

"couple of things that need to be worked out, such as players taking a full clip of bullets to the body and not dying whereas one head shot will instantly drop them"

Agree with that, but that's why we have beta's.

[EZCheez]

It feels like a clip and a half.

I hope people really aren't trying to use auto-aim in this. That's just asking to die.

[hazeblaze]

Yea, that's the only issue with the game for me... and even then it's freakin fun as hell!!! Headshots fix it fine... with the right gun, bodyshots aren't as big of a problem either. The gameplay is awesome... I love CQC too!

[gamesR4fun]

games way slow dont like it at all so far.

[Tarasque]

Be nice if my game would update so i could play =(.

[xionpunk]

Yea the full clip thing is true. but it makes headshots much more rewarding.

[MikeGdaGod]

it takes alot of body shots to drop someone. that definately needs to be changed.

but its alot of fun.

[RecSpec]

Although the body shot thing is an issue, that's how MGO has always been. Headshots are everything.

[supahbad]

he's right once you get good at headshots you guys will find out that body shot kills are for noobs. trust me its annoying

[warhawk1234]

Awesome videos

[niall77]

the graphics arent AMAZING but there some nice little things like footprints being left in the mood and the "man cannon"

But im sure we can expect a a little graphics upgrade and better balanceing in the final game

also.. can you roll on you back like in the single player gameplay vids? how do you do it

[AlterEgo]

hold down X to get on the ground in a laying position, then hit TRIANGLE to flip over onto your back

(new feature...hold down TRIANGLE while laying on back OR stomach to play dead)

[The Closing]

I'm a huge mgs fan, but I just had the feeling the short bit I played that mgs is best left a single player game. I obviously know it's not going to go head to head with the major multi player games, and maybe I need to give it a bit more time? I think the main problem is it seemed to be big on cooperative effort, which I think is the best way to play an online game, but the issue was no one on psn likes to really communicate. On the other hand the customization was a huge plus.

If you disagree thats fine, but leave your opinions on why please.

[jwatt]

how the hell do you talk?

[Spinner]

hold select down for 2 secs i think

[Greysturm]

You need a dedicated team/clan or group of people that want to use tactics.

With my friends i find it easier and faster to use the dpad talking options than using our mikes it keeps it short and efective.

[hazeblaze]

Actually, I've found it to be more fun than most other online games this gen. With a little balancing to address the clip to the body issue, this game could be online bliss! The deep customization options and weapon selection (plus, inclusion of Drebin points online) will really make this an addictive experience.

I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow so that I could play all day!

[The Closing]

I'm liking it more, and more as I play.

[TheWickedOne]

I love rolling around in the barrels and watching your guy throw-up. Which actually stays on the ground for a while. And what is up with the "dirty" magazine decoys. And the capture the flag is a rubber ducky.

For a beta it's pretty good. The graphics are great, just not amazing. It's hard to found out what's going on sometimes. But that's probably due to just having to playing more. I'm not a huge fan of the Bloodbath map, it's a little small. I'm sure thats what they were going for. The other map is awesome though. Fun times.

My favorite mode would probably be Capture. It's early in the beta, but I have a little more fun playing Warhawk's Capture. I know ones more stealth and the others an all out war, but on a fun level IMO Warhawk takes it here.

[xtreampro]

the MGO BETA got my elder brother pissed off, he said its sooo slow gameplay machanics and that if MGS4 is like this then he wont buy it, we've played every MGS game and when we played the MGO-BETA u can easily notice the game-play changes...it just did'nt feel like MGS

[The Closing]

All mgs have been this exact pace. You guys are only noticing it now because you're not used to this type of pace while competing online.

[mattnz]

It makes your play more 'tactical'. You don't just want other COD4 do you? I like this game more each time I play.

[darkstar]

This beta feels more polished than most retail releases. My opinion.

[The Closing]

What's great is I've yet to find any lag. *knocks on wood

[abc123tyler]

I'm getting extremely pissed off as to how long it is taking to download this f'ing thing. I have spent 3 nights/days trying to download it and still am at only 90% (P2P).

[Booyah]

it took me like 30-45 min ...

[KingKirchner]

I am having a lot of fun with the Beta, but they do need to change that whole clip to kill a person thing.

[DarkArcani]

The way some people who are 5 feet away somehow knife you to death. And the ability to change the aiming radical color. I'm slightly color-blind and that thing can get hard to see sometimes.

[Qbanboi]

I loved it so far.

BTW: A found some dude called "X-Play" was he/she the same from the G4TV show?

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

Not that great. You move way too slow and it takes forever to kill someone. Grenades only take off 1/2 of someones life. Graphics are ok but they aren't that much better than snake eater!

I wish they would have incorporated snake's auto-camo from the game, that would have brought out the stealth elements more. As of right now, that's my biggest complaint. The levels really don't enhance the stealth mechanic that much.

Anyways, I laugh at people who say this is better than COD4. I wouldn't buy a next gen console to play MGO. I bought a next gen console to play games like COD4.

[RecSpec]

Wow, not to question your intelligence or anything, but you would have to be pretty stupid to rate a game based on a beta.

Just saying...

[poopsack]

damn im still getting the 1million ones and a 9 error

[callahan09]

I have a question that I was unable to figure out the answer to while playing the Beta:

Is it possible to get your health back after it's been depleted? I found no rations, it didn't seem to automatically recharge, and I just felt like it was extremely difficult to do much better than 1 kill per life because even if you won a battle against an enemy you'd come out damaged and then lose the next battle unless you got fortunate enough to be with a group and not get targeted. Anyway, I really would like to know if it's possible to regerate health in the battle?

Honestly, I don't even know if I like the game. My impression of the graphics is that it looks great, but the maps are so sparse and plain, and quite frankly boring as hell. I just don't see any inspiration in the map layouts and design. I can't wait for the single player experience in MGS 4, it's going to be my game of the year, I predict... but I highly doubt that MGO will take over the spot that is currently occupied by Warhawk as my go-to online game. There was nothing at all impressive about the maps, and that's unfortunate, but I really didn't expect it to be great because this team of designers is skilled at making a story-based game and they don't have much experience with multiplayer map design. I think it's clear they have a lot left to learn about multiplayer map design.

The mechanics of the online gameplay are excellent, with the skill points, drebin points, the way you set up your character and voice, the communication methods, the controls. It's quite good. If only the maps were the slightest bit interesting to me. Am I the only one that feels this way?

[cr33ping_death]

i like slamming a person to the ground then unloading on them :) this game has lots of potential. its fun the way it is but a few tweaks here and there wouldnt hurt

[FourtyPoundSteak]

Ive been playing for awhile now and i really like the concept, just wish theyd ass a few things in.

1. Please add a sprint button of some sort... I can be chasing a guy trying to CQC and would never catch him bcuz were both running at the same pace.

2. I cant add my PSN friends to my list without knowing theyre MGO name (lame)

3. Level designs are bland. (I need more noise in the background lol, birds chirping or something)

4. Bullets to the chest really needs adjusting.

It is only a beta so hopefully theyll get it down-pact.

(btw DID ANYONE SEE THE GTA IV ONLINE!!!?!?!? BANANAZ!!!!) cant wait

[WeZz]

The gameplay was fun as hell and loved the CQC!It just lacks that next-gen feel that COD4 achieved. I know its only a beta but I've played all MGS games, waited for too long and I'm sure as hell not gonna settle for anything less than perfect from Kojima san.

My long list of complaints...
well here it goes..

-I found the grenade taking 1/2 your health weird.
-Too many shots to the body to kill an enemy.
-There should be a sprint button somewhere.
-You should be able to lean against the small railing on the bridge and pop up to shoot people at the bottom. (we can lean against walls and pop out either from the left or right. so they should be able to enhance the players flexibility a bit further)
-The minimap seemed almost useless cuz its transparent and makes it really hard to make out the details when its on a bright background.
-Charachter facial expressions are nonexistent.
-Graphics need improvement.
-The boxes disappear after they brake.

KOJIMA FTW!!

[achira]

i think the beta is very awesome! super graphics, super gameplay and super controls! i have no problems with the beta, it is really really good. and gets better than more you play it. it makes so much fun, and the pace is exactly correct, its not COD4, and i love it for that reason!

[The Closing]

Honestly I wasn't even expecting online with this release in the first place so it's an extra little bonus for me. MGS4 should easily take my goty, but I honestly don't see myself playing mgo much if at all.

[CBaoth]

Cuz MGO is far from perfect. The beta has some glaring needs. Yes, it's fun but extremely slow.

1. It needs a sprint option. Simple enough. See fortypoundsteak's point 1 example.

2. Mappable control scheme. Although good for a single player espionage game, it feels clunky in MP modes. Why can't the FPS sniper button(triangle) be placed in the R3 position? Why can't I place the crouch/prone on L3 and call it a day? God I can't stand all these devs who force you to adopt some sh1tty control system. Mappable control button layouts (whatever) should be standard on ALL shooters. Devs sometimes lose sight of the fact a player shouldn't be hindered by the control. It is integral to the fun factor yet always seems overlooked.

3. Rebalance the damage system. A clip to the chest only too see them knife you after shooting your wad is frustrating to say the least.

4. Remove the auto-aim (square) completely from MGO. I mean isn't auto-aim and multiplayer almost together (in the same sentence) like an oxymoron? Auto-aim should NEVER be in a MP game.

[Keowrath]

Even being the huge MGS fan that I am, noone deserves to lose bubbles for honest comments.

The Beta is in place to see how the game works, Konami are wanting feedback from it's users to make an even better game.

Your first comment about sprinting I completely agree with. LOL I've just finished Dark Sector which has a sprint with the X button. I kept finding myself wanting to press it or seeing my character do forward rolls. A sprint would make the game a lot faster and CQC MUCH more deadlier.

Two, I'm sure a mappable interface wouldn't be a hard thing to add.

Three, a lot of people agree the damage system needs rebalancing.

Four, from personal experience, auto aim isn't as deadly as being able to control the aim yourself.

Log onto MGO's forums and make yourself heard, you don't like these things (all of which are perfectly reasonable complaints) let Konami know so that the beta does what it's designed for.

Bubbles up for your honesty.

[AliC]

I think that most of the points have been covered allready in regards to taking whole clips from assault rifles to take someone down.

But aside from that I really enjoyed it. The controls take a little bit to get to grips with but once you played it a little you soon start to use the stealth approach against the enemy which is something I've not seen in a online game at least not done in this way.

I've only played the bloodbath map which I felt was a little to small but all in all I'm enjoying what I've seen so far.

I however are uncertain if it's something I would buy when its put on the PSN.

[Skerj]

Headshots are the order of the day in MGO, I rarely try to shoot for the body. I get a lot more out of the game when playing with an organized team, this isn't "everyone run for themselves" online. Because if the other team knows what they're doing and you guys are all running around without a plan, they'll dominate.

[Booyah]

Yeah I knew that after my first try... god knows how i was owned.

[fablib]

This game has a very terrible graphic, very old generation!!!
It seems also very slow and boring…
Is it possible that none notice this?

[SIX]

and I felt the same way. Just give it some more time. If you play a guy named trouserSNAKE....that's me :P

[eddierivera]

There should be blind fire, faster gameplay, and less bullets to kill someone. Pretty much everything that call of duty and Rainbow six are , but more.

Man I cant believe Hideo let something like this out. It embarassing to me as a ps3 user. The xbox has their Gears of War, and thats what I was looking for in this game, specially Metal Gear online. What a rip off.

How do you even talk in this game?, I can hear people but they cant hear me. I hope you dont have to press a button to talk. I swear to god im not dealing with another UT3 voip problem again.

[frank jaeger]

the gameplay looks like metal gear portable ops with a mix of mgs3 , and that was not wat i was expecting from the ps3 verison... the crouch-stand up still looks dumb as ever , im just hopeing that atleast the story will b gud in mgs4 or will the ps3 disappoint us again...

mgs4=disappointment >maybe

[SIX]

What I noticed right off the bat is frame rate drops. There's lots of them, but not to the point where it's unplayable. Another thing is that the graphics could be a little tighter. The textures are kinda low res IMO. Still looks nice though. Also found the comment about the body shots vs head shots accurate. I sucked really bad when I played last night. Picked it up this morning for a couple hours and though the game is really fun and addictive. I actually can't wait to play it again. I find it's a game where you have to give it time to get used to. The level up system of your guns is also very cool. My only wish is that they tighten up the frame rate. Over all I love this game, but the REAL game will be in the single player.

[xtreampro]

all the game-play machanics are slow cus its ment to be a 1 player stealch action game thats ment to be played slowly, i think thats why it feels different, its no suited to online play cus its got slow machanics, i'll still buy MGS4 but i wont play online EVER!!, thers no point cus its so boaring and slow but since its a BETA they might speed up the online part of the game, ifso then i'll five it a try when the full game cums out other than that NO!!...not playin

[TechnicalBS]

I played it for three hours, and well.. It's boring. I'll probably give it another go tomorrow, but so far it's a boring experience. It is true what they say, Live is a hell of a lot better than the PSU network. Nobody even chats!

[xtreampro]

i deleted the entire BETA cus i was'nt real going to play it, but i will always buy an MGS game no matter what cus its got one of the best stories i have ever seen in a game!!