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Sep 21 2005
Metal Gear Acid Review
PSP Game Review | Strategy
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| Summary: Good strategy game, but cut to the chase please!
80
The graphics in Metal Gear Acid are rather impressive for the Sony PSP. While newer games may take fuller advantage of the PSP's GPU rendering power, Metal Gear Acid is a release title and should be given special consideration as such. In-game graphics are good - sprites are well-rendered and textures are acceptable. Of course angles look jagged as a result of no Anti-Aliasing, but this is expected of all PSP games.
What surprised me was seeing points in which the game ran slowly. It seemed to me as if Konami didn't take the time to completely optimize graphics performance given the PSP's limitations. This is most evident when several characters are rendered on-screen at the same time and a sprite (grenade explosion) plays at the same time.
While the graphics are not perfect, the faults do not detract from gameplay.
I'm sure everyone has played a card game on a handheld at one point or another, be it Pokémon or, well, that's all I can think of right now. Metal Gear Acid requires strategy in order to win. Gameplay starts off slow to aid gamers in learning the basics. While this may be helpful, it is an annoyance at times when you just want to get through a quick game. Unlike other Metal Gear games, Acid is a turn-based card game and is best played when you've got time to burn. In order to enjoy the game, you have to sit down and take your time.
Obtaining new cards for your deck can be accomplished by either finding Metal Gear Solid (MGS) packs while on missions or by spending points in the Card Shop. Points are earned for successfully completing missions and bonus points are awarded for "Speedy" completion or complete stealth. Deck building is made easy through the game's .
Each mission begins with a cutscene and dialog outlining the mission objectives. Objectives are generally straightforward and clearly marked, although they do change in the middle of missions when Snake runs into complications. This leaves you with a sinking feeling every time you <i>think</i> you've completed a mission but really haven't 
The bad thing about gameplay in Metal Gear Acid - camera angles. The game is plagued with camera angle problems. Sometimes you won't be able to see an enemy because a wall is directly in your way. While the game does allow you to change angles by pressing the Left and Right shoulder buttons, you can't keep a zoomed in view. There aren't view settings to toggle between when controlling Snake. The analog stick does help remedy angle problems at time because it gives you control to focus the camera on a general direction.
Another problem - you can't skip those damn cutscenes! They are all over the place, yet you can't skip them with a click of the button. I'd like to be able to save in the middle of a cutscene so I can get back to it later, but I really don't like being forced to read through them. Very little text is displayed on the screen at a time so you have to keep the text moving by tapping "O".
If you can't stand card games, you probably won't be able to stomach Metal Gear Acid.
The soundtrack is rather limited but at least it sounds good. Music changes based on what's happening in-game. If you've been detected, it becomes faster in tempo until you manage to get Snake back into hiding. Metal Gear Acid needs what every other PSP game needs - user customizable soundtracks. Unfortunately, it doesn't have that so you'll just have to do with the music that's already there.
Very easy to navigate through game menus. Options are straightforward and simple to understand. It would be nice if you could simply skip through the cutscenes with a click of a button. Metal Gear Acid gives the user no control over button mappings so you'll have to stick with what's been assigned.
A nice feature with Metal Gear Acid is the save files - they show how much time has been spent ingame and what mission the player is on. Handy dandy.
Metal Gear Acid is a great game if you have time to spend and if you enjoy thinking while you play The price should fall soon as Konami will be releasing a reissue. Do give Metal Gear Acid a try at the very least. Bear in mind that it is a PSP launch title and there are some problems in gameplay. Hopefully these issues will be resolved in Metal Gear Acid 2. No feature to skip cutscenes and dialog make this game a drag at times, but Metal Gear Acid is a great game for long trips.
I recommend Metal Gear Acid to anyone looking for a fun yet challenging game.
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Comments
09/22/05
7 
yetieater
| Malaysia
09/24/05
6
peanut
| Kansas USA
i did not like at first but when you start to get into the game it is very fun
+
09/25/05
7
yetieater
| Malaysia
Indeed it is. bahhhhh humbug.
+
10/20/05
6
Klarkus
| UK
I'm sure everyone has played a card game on a handheld at one point or another, be it Pokémon or, well, that's all I can think of right now.
lol pokemon isnt a card game. Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game lol this quote is quality
+
10/31/05
7
yetieater
| Malaysia
Of course there's a Pokemon card game. I still have a binder full of those things. They're absolutely worthless now, but yes there is a Pokemon card game.
+
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