Metal Gear Online

[Placebo Headwound]

"At its Metal Gear 20th Anniversary Party earlier today in Japan, Konami revealed a brand new Metal Gear game for PS3, this one entirely focused on online multiplayer. Based on the MGS4 engine, Metal Gear Online borrows many of the same characters, sounds, and environments, but will also feature completely new content. The control scheme is basically the same as MGS4 -- auto-aim, lock-on, and moving and shooting in first person, if you choose to do so -- but it's very customizable, as seen in Kojima's live demo video. Chances are, if he does it there (grenade tosses, planting nudie mags, leaning, over the shoulder aiming, etc.), you can do it in MGO.

Like previous MG games online, MGO is less about just killing the other guys, and more about working as a team and co-operating with each other. The SOP system (what that stands for is yet unknown) is activated by hitting triangle near your teammates. You salute each other, and for a time (until you die and need to sync up again) you all have access to information on each other. Your teammates' silhouettes appear every few seconds in a "pulse," like a heartbeat, even through walls and cardboard boxes, so you can see them anywhere on the battlefield, while icons and colors tell you other pertinent information. This is explained in the fiction as you "syncing" with each other's nanomachines (natch!). It's kind of a MGS spin on the icon system in multiplayer Halo 2.

And syncing has another cool use. If you sneak up and grab and hold an enemy the right way for a few seconds without getting shot or interrupted while you tap into their -- you guessed it -- nanomachines, you get the same read outs on the enemy team. So, you can spot where all your enemies are and have access to crucial battle information. This is especially interesting because it creates a system where it's probably tactically better overall for you to be killed rather than be captured, giving up data on your whole team.

Up to 16 players can be in a game at once, though the demo we saw today was 6 on 6. The match took place in a broken city, but not dusty like MGS4. It was more dark dirt and pale gray concrete -- a completely war torn city. The two players on stage were the leaders of the two factions (red team versus blue team), while the rest of the players were back in the Kojima Productions offices nearby. When the game came on screen, five players were visible, all in third person; four of them had their name and "kojipro" above their heads. Up top, the time remaining, 11:02, and the score for each side was displayed. It looked like it was all tied up at 99.

As the teams began to move, someone spotted mines planted by the enemy and shot to take them out. Series producer Hideo Kojima explained that the game system allows you to gather information by scouting, and you can automatically share it with your teammates. The game is usually viewed from a detached third-person perspective, but zooms in close when you aim your weapon, ? la Splinter Cell. You can also go into first person. Orders are barked back and forth between soldiers via an auto menu, and a map in the upper right of the screen shows the level close by and the location of the teammates.

After death, players get a menu of items and weapons to choose from before respawning. Kojima chose a nudie mag and planted it -- an enemy quickly fell for it. While he was busy looking, another solider jumped on him just like Snake did in the MGS4 demo, strangling him until he was unconscious. While he was down, the victor rubbed it in by actually "spanking" the other player.

Kojima Productions is planning on setting up tournaments that only players of certain ranking levels will be able to join. The ranking will be mostly based on what skill levels players have achieved (which should be a pretty good indicator of how experienced they are). The plan is for all different territories (Japan, America, Europe) to be able to play against each other, but that depends on how manageable the lag is. It's unknown if there will be voice chat support in addition to the "quick chat" system of pre-made communication choices ("Roger!", "Go! Go! Go!", etc.).

Konami announced that they would start a closed beta test (Japan only) today, starting July 24th and ending on August 6th, limited to 3,000 people, but unfortunately, there was no information about a release date or a price. Stay tuned for more information as it comes."

Article: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3161471&sec=PREVIEWS

[Commander Fuckass]

This is another reason I need to get me a PS3.  navi;