GS said: "Multiplayer, you say? That's right: Metal Gear Online, first introduced a short while ago in the special edition Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, will be integrated into Portable Ops, with both ad hoc and infrastructure modes. So you'll be able to wirelessly compete against other players over the Internet, playing a game that looks as good and plays as well, if not better, than Metal Gear Solid 3.

We got to go a few rounds in a four-player deathmatch mode as the producer of the game provided some detail about some of the differences (often while shooting us in the face--he was playing along with three others). Essentially this is the Metal Gear Solid 3 gameplay you'd expect if you've played Metal Gear Online as part of Subsistence. The underlying mechanics are nearly identical to the PS2 version, and we were relieved to find that the camera controls already seemed quite good. The analog stick is used to run in any direction, while the D pad is used to rotate your view around your character. The left trigger snaps the view behind your back if you need to reorient yourself, and when the character would obstruct the camera angle (such as when his back is to a wall), he becomes transparent so you can see.

We noticed one interesting change to the controls, which is that the triangle button is used for sneaking. Pressing and holding it makes your character walk instead of run, and pressing it while moving toward a wall causes your character to flatten his back against the wall stealthily. Also as in MGS3, it's possible to shoot either from a third-person or first-person perspective, though you can't move while in first-person mode. Switching to first-person viewing is as simple as holding down the right shoulder button.

The biggest new feature we noticed in this version was the addition of an onscreen radar, but it's not what you think--it represents sound. As you run around, the middle part of the radar scrambles, implying that you're being noisy. And as other players run around near you, let alone fire, the radar scrambles in whichever direction the noise is coming from. It seems like quite a smart system--it's not nearly as blatant as a visual radar that simply points out enemy players, and it may give you good reason to sneak around rather than go stomping from place to place. We didn't find ourselves relying on it too much while playing, but then, it's a tool that probably becomes much more useful with practice. One other cool little twist we spotted that's related to this is, whichever player is in the lead during this deathmatch mode gets flagged with a kerotan frog--basically a toy froggie--floating over his head. (If you don't understand, don't worry about it.) The frog croaks every few seconds, generating some noise and making the winning player a little easier to spot, putting him at a slight disadvantage. "