Metal Gear Survive Is An Interesting But Tedious Diversion For The Series

I’m going to come right out and say it, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was a bad Metal Gear game. There. I said it. The open world nature of the game made an absolute mess of the narrative, and while the plot of Metal Gear Solid has always been convoluted, it was even more so in MGSV. That being said, MGSV still remains one of the best stealth games I have played this console generation, as it delivered on the claim many developers make, yet fail to deliver on, in that their game will give players absolute freedom with how to approach objectives.

With Kojima’s departure from Konami, I had hoped that the Metal Gear Solid series had concluded, so when it was announced that MGSV would be followed up by Metal Gear Survive, a squad-based tower defense style game, I was perplexed. Not only by its concept but by its early gameplay, which didn’t provide the clearest vision of what the game would entail. After spending the weekend with the Survive beta, it’s more clear to me the vision that Konami had for it, yet I still have doubts as to the longevity of its multiplayer.

Before delving into Survive’s gameplay, I hope anyone and everyone who is even considering checking it out is aware that this is a multiplayer focused game that does not continue the story of Big Boss. In fact, on the surface, Metal Gear Survive looks like a game mode cut from MGSV, and even at a reduced price of $40, I was skeptical that it would be able to justify its price point.

Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Survive is a co-op free-roam tower defense game that tasks players with defending a drill site from hordes of zombies for a predetermined number of waves. Several different difficulty settings allow players the opportunity to earn rarer resources, though at the expense of facing more challenging enemies.

To combat enemies, players have both ranged and melee weapons. There’s a fairly standard arsenal, though less traditional weapons such as a fire bow and arrow to ignite a group of enemies was infinitely more satisfying than using firearms. Ranged weapons often feel like the last line of defense given the low amount of ammunition the player can hold at one time. This places the focus more on melee weapons such as spiked poles, sledgehammers and battle axes. Survive gives the player deadly means to get up close and personal with enemies yet at the cost of coming into claws reach of deadly foes. Death in Survive comes quickly, as a miscalculated swing of a machete or charging into the center of a horde can be fatal for the player. Making sure teammates are on the same page is crucial to teams surviving a wave, and must bolster one another’s defenses.

But it’s the player’s ability to place defensive structures and traps around their drill site that separates Survive from any of the previous Metal Gear games. This is where the tower defense aspect comes into play as strategically placing defensive barriers around outposts is crucial to success. Players can craft and set structures such as wooden walls, steel fences, or barbed wire barriers amongst others to impede enemy movement as they pick off zombies one by one.

Metal gear Survive

Aiding this are numerous traps that help to dispatch enemies. These run the gamut of traditional explosives such as mines or Molotov cocktails to the more bizarre such as a spinning blade or air cannon turrets. Discovering how different defensive traps or structures compliment one another for maximum zombie carnage is one of the more enjoyable aspects of Survive.

For example, I found that placing a spinning blade trap behind a steel fence was very efficient, given that when enemies are climbing the steel fence would eventually knock it over they would fall on top of my blade trap.

Despite traps effectiveness in stopping zombie hordes these traps and defenses come at a cost, and this is where Metal Gear Survive’s metagame comes into play. Survive has a Minecraft centric approach to scavenging resources which are then used to craft weapons, ammo, defenses, and repair item durability at stations in between rounds. This encompasses a more significant part of the early hours of Survive, as the player’s resource pool is scarce and thus can make later levels difficult without adequate defenses.

Survive has a very regimented match progression of scavenging, building defenses, and repelling waves which can quickly become tedious. Granted, these scavenging phases are brief, only lasting for five minutes before the first wave of enemies begins, but they were long enough that once I had sufficient resources, I found myself standing around with nothing to do.

So far, this is my biggest issue with Survive as given the content made available in the beta, after several hours I found myself simply going through the motions. Sure, at time there are overwhelming and chaotic moments, especially when a teammate randomly leaves a match, but I found that time and time again I was relying on the same tactics over and over. There was no real progression in my tactics or in the way I could use defenses.

There’s the option to level up my character and purchase new abilities with skill points, but after five hours, I didn’t feel compelled to endure more matches in chase of that grind.

As with a majority of multiplayer games, Survive is best enjoyed with friends, as planning a joint defensive strategy is of course ideal though this isn’t an option for all gamers. In a game that is all about strategic defense and communication, playing with strangers can result in a mixed bag. Having a player unexpectedly drop out has the potential to screw over their squad, as every ally is essential in ensuring their defenses remain intact.

Furthermore, after my weekend with the beta, I still wasn’t sold on its retail price of $40. As with any multiplayer mode, there is the worry that should initial sales fail to meet expectations, the game won’t garner the high level of continued developer support required for games of its nature. I’m critical of Metal Gear Survive because there is potential for it to be enjoyable, it’s just that at the moment there seem to be far too many conditions required to ensure that its potential is delivered upon. Making matters worse the most recent news of it featuring micro-transactions as well as it requiring a constant online connection isn’t exactly a combo for the success or longevity of its multiplayer mode.

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