Comprehensive Metal Gear Acid 2 Review

Reviewed by GameGulch on September 03, 2006  |  report this review

During the launch of the PSP, I picked up two games, and my favorite of the two was Metal Gear Acid. By far. While still being a stealth game, the gameplay mechanics were completely different from its console counterpart, Metal Gear Solid. Instead of your ordinary MGS game, Acid was a stealth/turn-based strategy game, where your actions were replaced with cards. Fans were skeptical, but those who tried the game should’ve been surprised with its weaving plot and deep strategy. While it has taken a mere year for the sequel to be released, it is an extensively polished title.

Like all Metal Gear titles, Acid 2 gives the player the role of Snake. Acid 2 opens up with Snake and some pals on a plane after a long mission. Everyone voices their input on what their going to do once they get back home, and Snake states that he wants to get his memory back. As the plane lands, they are greeted by an FBI agent who arrests everyone on the plane, and briefs Snake on a mission that he, Dalton, is leading: a stealth mission into a weapons facility, SaintLogic. The reason being that children are getting illegally shipped from Africa to the SaintLogic. With such an odd and intriguing plot, it’s unfortunate that the player doesn’t learn much information gradually, but instead you learn a bundle towards the end. Although when you do indeed learn more information regarding SaintLogic, it just gets weirder and weirder; the game’s called ‘Metal Gear’ for a reason.

Unlike the Solid series, there is no voice acting during the cut-scenes, so there’s a decent amount of text you must read to comprehend the plot. It is unfortunate, as it would be a lot more interesting if we heard the amazing voice of David Hayter on our PSP’s. Alas, that day has not come, but the dialogue is varied enough, from silly to overly dramatic, to keep your interest. What do accompany the cut-scenes are some nice anime-esque art interpretations of the cast, thus making the game feel unique. And it is.

Controlling and plotting Snake’s movements are much more refined this time around, while also giving the player a decent tutorial at the start of a new game. Most of your actions are executed by using specific cards. Each card lets you move three spaces, but movement cards let you move even further, so you’re never in a jam in terms of positioning yourself. When moving, other actions can be used, such as crawling, hugging walls, tapping walls to lure enemies in, and performing CQC (close-quarters combat) on enemy guards once per turn. The first Acid made it troublesome to pull off some of these actions, so there are thankfully no more mini-menus to activate these actions; all of these listed actions are activated at the push of a button. The only flaw for the controls sake is the camera; it can wedge itself in peculiar places, and rarely make understanding your area a tad difficult.

Other cards consist of equipment, where you can equip vests and evade cards to reduce or completely avoid yo