PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Metal Gear Online

by Majed Athab { Apr 20th 2008 at 10:30PM }

PS3 Fanboy attended New York Comic Con this weekend and got the chance to play several upcoming games, including Metal Gear Online. Konami's booth hosted the game with four-on-four action on the "Blood Bath" map. Andrew, two friends, and myself took on four other gamers excited to play MGO.

The first thing we saw before hitting the battle map was the weapons screen. Here, you need to choose one riffle type weapon, a sidearm, and grenades. There's a good selection of weapons within each category; however, it's still unclear whether all 70 plus weapons promised in MGS4 will make their way into MGO. Once we finally hit the battleground, we proceeded out in a unified team formation. Playing around with the controls, we noticed that MGO was pretty much a standard shooter experience -- which is a good thing as it felt very natural.

Gallery: Metal Gear Online

Click for high-resolution image.

Close-Quarters Combat was a bit tough to pull off. The difficulty stemmed mostly from trying to sneak up on crafty human enemies as opposed to static AI; however, it's this thought-stimulating interaction that makes MGO a unique experience. Now, one thing that we noticed that was sorely needed was the lack of a run button. This slowed things down considerably, and does become noticeably annoying if you want to get back into the battle quickly after the usual death-respawn.

We also got a brief look at the leveling system where you hone skills in specific areas such as sniping or CQC. It's quite a long list of abilities which ultimately means that players can create and customize a unique character and focus primarily on a specific fighting style. So far, we enjoyed our time with MGO and we do believe it'll be a title most MGS and multi-player fans will agree to like. Since the MGO beta officially starts tomorrow, April 21, we hope you'll be able to give the game a go and experience the fun for yourself.

Stay tuned. We'll have a brand new interview about Metal Gear Online for you later this week.

Tags: joystiqfeatures, konami, metal-gear-online, metal-gear-solid-4, mgo, mgs4

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lavat @ Apr 20th 2008 10:40PM

Thanks. My only question is, Can you switch your abilities beforehand? Instead of staying on one set of chosen abilities with your character.

On the case of slow pace, yea what else can you expect from a game that is not a fast pace FPS game. We are all going to have to deal with that and make use of the advantages that come with it. Otherwise you can get the increased run speed skill.

Da @ Apr 20th 2008 10:46PM

http://konami.jp/mgo/us/manual/index.html

Matt @ Apr 20th 2008 11:46PM

MY question is: when (time of day) is the beta going live?

I don't know if anyone ever said, actually. I'm on East Coast USA and don't know when to log in...

Ghost inthe Shell @ Apr 21st 2008 12:07AM

k im in toronto and its 12:08am and i just tryed loging on and its still no dice

Burke @ Apr 20th 2008 10:57PM

I can't wait to try out the ol' beta for myself. I'm looking at this as another reason that MGS4 is going to be the PS3's biggest title of the summer.

Ghost inthe Shell @ Apr 20th 2008 11:10PM

just a quick question about the beta i know it starts on thw 21 but will it start say midnight on the 20 or whats the deal im just curious

kevin @ Apr 20th 2008 11:13PM

ah idc prob. 2% of the people will actually get to play since the other 98% dont have the damn konami id yet

Ghost inthe Shell @ Apr 20th 2008 11:16PM

the site is actuly working pretty good now i just got mine so i would sugest trying again

mathab @ Apr 20th 2008 11:19PM

There shouldn't be any problems now. If you are still having trouble making Konami and Game IDs, try to make it when the beta launches the web browser and not do it on your PC.

If you have network issues downloading the update, make sure everything else connected to your internet connection is not sending/receiving information. Just turn them off and you shouldn't have any problems. Also, try reinstalling MGO.

Excelryu @ Apr 20th 2008 11:25PM

Yeah Kevin. Konami site is completely operational know. The inactivity errors and server crashes are gone. Now all that remains is.....tic toc.

mavbsbll21 @ Apr 20th 2008 11:32PM

Will this game be going live @12 A.M eastern time?

mathab @ Apr 20th 2008 11:27PM

We'll find out in about 30 minutes now won't we? =P

mavbsbll21 @ Apr 20th 2008 11:32PM

When will this game be going live?

Zombie Huggles @ Apr 20th 2008 11:29PM

So when does this thing go live? It's 11:30 pm, 20th my time right now. I tried to "sign-in" but it gave me an error message, 090B:00000001. Not sure if it's because nothing is active or they found out I'm an american trying to get-in with a European account...

TaintedEon @ Apr 21st 2008 12:06AM

So...I still haven't gotten my new key emailed to me...is that normal?

John McPoop @ Apr 21st 2008 12:42AM

weird ... just got a different error message than the usual string of code

PSN johnnynumber5

Seasarsee @ Apr 21st 2008 12:45AM

I called the number Konami had on the site 310-220-8330, and all the guy asked me for was my 9 digit code. He gave me a new code and I used that to download the beta. Try doing that if you still haven't gotten your new code via-email.

Pawsie @ Apr 21st 2008 12:47AM

I'm going to make an intelligent guess and say it won't be ready until some time in the afternoon.. or 12 am pacific time.

Autopsy15 @ Apr 21st 2008 12:47AM

I suspect that the beta will launch at 12:00am because all other countries on the MGO site state that the beta lauches at 00:00 in their respective time zones. So, I think the beta is going to launch at midnight...I have no idea as to what time zone though /:|

Autopsy15 @ Apr 21st 2008 12:49AM

But, I'm hoping for Central cause that's my time zone!

John McPoop @ Apr 21st 2008 12:51AM

same here ... running on central

John McPoop @ Apr 21st 2008 1:00AM

I bet its PST... then it the 21st everywhere ... oh well will play tomorrow

mashinkun @ Apr 21st 2008 1:48AM

beta delayed.. goto sleep guys.. wont be up until 23rd

http://www.konami.jp/mgo/jp/index.php

JBuRrkE @ Apr 21st 2008 9:32AM

OMFG im an idiot, didnt click english XD

yeah.. delayed

how shitty, they wait till the last SECOND to tell us.. damnit >__

JayFight @ Apr 21st 2008 3:16AM

i just checked the MGO site and this is what it said

We would like to thank all players for their keen interest in taking part in the beta test.
However, we regret to inform you that due to extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe, we have been unable to run the service to the level we expected.
As a temporary measure, we will be deferring the start of the US public beta test until we are able to stabilize our server.
We would like to apologize for all inconveniences as well as confusion caused.

We would like to add that due to the above reasons, we will be making the following changes to the schedule:
1) Starting date: TBA. We will be making another announcement on 22/4/2008 23:00(PDT)
2) Beta Test closure: This will now be on 11/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT) rather than 06/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT)

and so everyone can check for updated info for them selves go here http://www.konami.jp/mgo/us/index.html

MJ @ Apr 21st 2008 3:40AM

Same thing for Europe as well.

Surely Konami realised the immense interest that this would generate, if not then why not?

Maybe they would have been better not offering this beta in Europe to everyone with a PS3, as I think that this is what's caused all these problems with the Konami ID site, a pre-order method like the US (though that hasn't been without its problems either) would have been better (and perhaps we might have got the Saga dvd over here then as well).

Either way, I don't think this bodes well for Konami or the full release of MGS online. I know if this doesn't get up and running, without any further problems, I won't bother with the full release (MGS4 can't come soon enough).

Kojima/Konami may just see all the hype and anticipation for MGS slip through their fingers and waste away after this and those comments by Kojima last week in Edge magazine.

Way to stamp on the momentum of a title at the last min lol!

Chubbs @ Apr 21st 2008 2:48PM

You have to remember, it is a BETA. So that means they want to test server stress and such so it will be ready by the time MGS4 comes out. Stuff like this happens, that's why there is a beta, not just to wet our pallets.

MJ @ Apr 21st 2008 3:09PM

I know that the this is a beta, not a demo, but it has been promoted as something they wanted everyone to try (at least in Europe with it being the star attraction of the recent store redesign).

So in a way they are using it for both a beta and also a way to whet peoples appetites for Metal Gear (especially since they won't release the demo used at various conventions onto the store).

I understand that as a beta, this is the best way for problems like this being ironed out before a full release, though it still doesn't explain why they weren't half prepared for the numbers especially having it open across Europe. Plus when this was announced, then why not say about the Konami ID/Game ID stuff? Would have got rid of the website probems if this was common knowledge and spread out the numbers of people trying to register over a longer period.

And beta or not, the bad publicity from this cannot do any good.

Zombie Huggles @ Apr 21st 2008 7:46AM

I think Hideo is just a bit modest. He complained that though the game advanced, it didn't advance to the level he had hoped. When hasn't that happened in a video game's development? Just because your write down on a piece of paper that you want to do "this, and this, and this" doesn't mean you'll be able to do any of it. But I guess we'll see.

snake79 @ Apr 24th 2008 1:42PM

wow~ and I thought kojima said that the graphic was not as he expected... god~! what is he expecting?!

updawazoo @ Apr 22nd 2008 4:28PM

well, as usual with game reviews, there is really no explanation as to how the ps3 controller handles character movement except to say "the usual......". thus buyers are left to guess whether they will continue to need to be thumbalinas to control movement. keep ignoring the ease of use controller for Wii, and Sony game sales will remain as flat as thier stock prices. talk about dumb marketing. sony will need more then gameboys that grew up with thumb controls to gain market share. IMHO, of course.

tom nicholls @ Apr 28th 2008 12:59PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIevRzNO-4Y watch this too laff
but also i played the beta earlier 2day the gronsney grad map is amazing! its so like the grozneygrad on mgs3 minus a couple of things but still i love the new stun knife!!