Metal Gear Rising demo shows sickening act of violence – Is it a step too far?

TVGB: At the time, the concept of slicing through anything in any way you see fit seemed like a fantastic innovation. But it wasn’t until a demo of the new version of the game (found here) was shown off at this year’s E3 that I realised the much darker and completely unnecessary implications of this system.

[RedDead]

No.

Blackpool, have you seen the new vid? http://www.gametrailers.com...

It's gory enough, specially the beheading at the end, although it's definitely not close to some other games like God of war.

This game looks awesome anyway, the gameplay is somewhat unique. It's not a hack and slash the way ninja Gaiden, DMC etc are. It has other elements.

[blitz0623]

this guy probly doesn't know about the original Ninja Gaiden games

[firefoxprime]

If you grew up on Mortal Kombat, then no :P

[Andreas-Sword]

Ninja Gaiden is better than this Metal Gear RISING shit!

[Gaming101]

lol I know right, can someone get this "author" a tampon please? lol I mean with all the slicing of enemies in Rising, that was the one part that harmed your high-estrogen brain? Oh no, he killed someone who was defenseless, they would've done the same to him a hundred times over if they had the chance, so please, get your vagina surgery and get off the internet.

[Laxman]

The original Ninja Gaiden games? 8-bit NES didnt have very graphic violence at all, sorry to say.

[Shadow Flare]

Did nobody in this thread even read the article?

He's not talking about the level of violence in general videogames.

He's talking about the level of violence shown here compared to other metal gear's, and how it doesn't fit into what metal gear is all about.

Whether you agree with the sentiment, whatever. But he isn't talking about general violence in videogames. But of course that's what everybody has jumped on

[Shane Kim]

N4G in a nutshell. Read headline, post comment. He even states that videogame violence don't offend him but it's the comparison of past MG games. To be honest, I completly agree with the author. This game shouldn't be allowed to have MG written on it. It's just another hack and slash game. Greedy fucking corps.

[Shadow Flare]

I know. It's incredible how people on the Internet are.

This is what the article is about:

"Videogame violence rarely surprises or offends me, but in the context of one of my favourite gaming franchises, (let alone one that so obviously prides itself on anti-war themes) I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. Past Metal Gear games have allowed you to toy with the enemy so to speak, shooting arms and legs, but that was of strategic importance, allowing you to prevent enemies from running away or using larger weapons. Here the brutal act was met with a cheer and laughter from the audience in a sort of Grand Theft Auto-style of violent joy.

I’ve long defended Rising’s different take on a long-running franchise, but this was a move that made the game feel more distant from its predecessors than ever before. Would the Raiden I know, that I’ve spent two games with, really perform such a horrible and needless action? I know for a fact that he wouldn’t, especially after his peaceful resolution in Guns of the Patriots. Suddenly I got this sickening feeling in my stomach that my confidence in Platinum Games to handle the franchise with respect (despite the exaggerated action) was ill-placed."

So just to recap,

- videogame violence rarely offends him

- his issue with the violence is how it's been used and how it is straying away from what the metal gear franchise is about

But here on n4g he's being admonished for claiming this level of violence is too excessive for the entire videogame genre???

Ok.....makes sense.

The Internet never fails to surprise me

[antz1104]

First gameplay I've seen. As a Metal Gear game Im disgusted.....if they'd named it anything else I'd be fine with it.

[gaffyh]

We get it, it's not a Metal Gear game, and I'm disappointed with that, but it still looks good as an action game. At least they got rid of Solid in the title, because now you don't actually expect stealthy gameplay so much.

[Dee_91]

hmm in gta vice city i would go on a rampage with aa katana beheading and watching people hop around on one leg...
Maybe its a step too far for raiden but I do remember him having some pretty gory kills on cyborgs and I think killing people is optional so..

[Gaming101]

Ah yes, we have never seen this kind of violence, where a ninja goes around slicing guys up with a sword.... oh wait...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Ever heard of Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes? Nuff said.

[VileAndVicious]

......I personally think it could use more violence/

But seriously this is no more gory than GOW3,

[lastdual]

But Raiden isn't Kratos.

It makes sense for a raged up Kratos to do hyper-violent acts. That's in character for him. For Raiden, however, it seems out of character.

The game itself looks fun, but the author of this piece does make a decent point.

[CarlosX360]

Whoever wrote this article possibly haven't played a GTA, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, or any First Person Shooter title. What a douche.

Obviously trying to troll for hits.

Ah, yes, I also forgot Mortal Kombat.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

I'm not disagreeing he's trolling for hits, but I can see how some people may actually believe this is too much if they are coming from other Metal Gear games.

There's hardly gory moments in other Metal Gear games and when it's there, it's not glorified violence.

But even so, personaly I like it, it fits well within the superpowered robot ninja design they gave Raiden and the whole revenge theme... In fact, I'd say the gore in needed, the guy defeated multiple Gekkos in MGS4 without breaking a sweat, slicing through humans and cyborgs like butter make a lot of sense considering his power.

And it's not like he's trying to give his enemies a fighting chance, he's a ninja, so of course he mostly try to catch 'em out of guard.

[CarlosX360]

@bishop-br There ARE some gory moments in MGS2. Some, not a lot, but some.

And just remember, MGS2 was heavily cut due to 9/11, had that not been the case it would have been a much more gory, controversial title [more than it already was].

[BlmThug]

Ive seen worse, MK, Manhunt, Ninja Gaiden etc.

[Snookies12]

Manhunt... Killing someone with a plastic bag. That game was just perverse lol!

[soundslike]

Noob Saibots fatality comes to mind.

*Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip*

[HammadTheBeast]

Considering in Sony's E3 I saw Kratos slash the brain out of a giant elephant-man, I'll kindly say no.

[MrMister]

I dont give a damn about this exceedingly lame article. I'm just glad that Rising has some of the hunter-style stealth we were originally promised. I'm also glad the dismemberment is back. This looks like its not going to be some stupid hack and slash game after all. It looks like a bunch of genre's seemingly blended in one game.

[pomoluese]

God this trailer just makes it look terrible, the gore isn't even the worst thing about it.

Who at the studio actually thought that narration was good?

[Haha123]

SO F*CKING AWESOME AND VIOLENT!!! xD

and people didnt want a spinoff MGS game for some odd reason lol

[younglj01]

Lol so you never played an old mortal kombat game?

[DeFFeR]

Lol so you never read the article?

[Vaud-Villian]

Most dont like to give hits to rather shotty looking articles... like this one. Needs to learn to actually write properly, throwing "sickening" into the title implies disgust in the violence alone. It's just poor basement reporting.

[younglj01]

umm yes I did and the Mortal Kombat franchise wasn't mention so the big question is did you read the article?

[IcarusOne]

umm the guy says right up front that he has no problem with video game violence. He was writing about violence within the metal gear franchise specifically.

so your snarky mk comment is kind of retarded. and your sassy follow up even more so.

[DeFFeR]

"umm yes I did and the Mortal Kombat franchise wasn't mention so the big question is did you read the article?"

So, because you "read" the article, you'd know that it wasn't about comparing the violence of all video games, but only violence within the Metal Gear series, and how RISING is much more violent and gory than previous titles in the series... and how it has nothing to do with other games (like Mortal Kombat...).

I guess if you really did read it, you should work on fine tuning your reading comprehension so you don't come out looking like a dumbass again.

[younglj01]

umm you made the statement that i didnt read the article and I was making it clear why I mention the mortal kombat franchise.Even though this game have alot more glory then the early Metal Gear games.It still have nothing on the gory for the old days.So even if you factor all of that in it shouldnt matter if MSR have more gory then early titles because RISING is not an "Metal Gear Solid" title.

So maybe you need too comprehension better and understand that MGR and MGS are too different games and can't be judge as the same.Now do you understand or should I break down my logic even more?

If not 1 game is about stealth and the other is about gory.

[ddurand1]

was this your first video game ever?

[ENDERSPROJECT]

I will only say this only once and I have said it to my kids..

ITS ONLY A GAME.

[Blackpool]

Wth? raiden is killing cyborgs most of the time...

[SageHonor]

And from what ive heard, killing humans is completely optional

[Kran]

Indeed. In most shooters, its not. lol

[consolez_FTW]

Story Quality: WTF
Like This Website: NO

and that's that..crap article is crap.

[GUYwhoPLAYSvideoGAME]

i'm not assuming anything yet, but i'm just scared that it will ruin raiden's character for me. as in he's a sick killing jerk, or that he was. i really dont know what to think about that game. Again, not going to assume anything yet though

[Summons75]

Psh you must live a sheltered life if you think that was violent...

[TotalHitman]

Why does Raiden wear High Heels?

[MacDonagh]

Because he can pull it off?

[Raider69]

Cyber tech boots!

[specialguest]

How can he NOT wear such FABULOUS boots to match the silky platinum mane and those mysterious and piercing shadowy eyes?

[Sevir]

Ninja's with stiletto heels are the new fashion crazy over in the land of the rising sun! :-) He movies faster than even bayonetta! LOL Its just a Kojima thing! I wouldn't fault him! Japs need to keep their quirky-ness!

[Tainted Gene]

to hold swords

[Yangus]

Awesome game.....day one...

[Rashonality]

fishing for hits huh....
short answer: no
longer answer: HELL NO

[Raider69]

Wheres the demo footage,i only saw the intro trailer two days ago.

[MacDonagh]

A Serbian Film is violent. This game is nowhere near as terrible as the torture porn that is pumped out by the horror film industry on a regular basis.

[Killman]

Exactly, has this person ever seen the Saw films? Horrible and pointless movies. All they are (after the first one at least) is a bunch of people getting killed in horrifyingly gruesome ways. Saw III is beyond f*cked up. I mean, I am not against violence in films/games, except when it is so pointless like in the Saw films. It is up to the player to do such a killing that the author described. It actually gives you control over the character. Now, if the entire game was just torturing people with no other choice (Oh, like a Saw film!) then I can see the complaint. I can kinda see what he is trying to say, but the argument just doesn't make sense here.

[aNDROiD17_]

only for little pussies who wrote this article

[Blink_44]

Oh please.

[belac09]

looks fine to me.

[Flewid638]

This guy clearly has never played God of War III.

[Kratoscar2008]

I agree with the article, Kratos actions are part of the character (I would be mad if he didnt) but Metal Gear was never this gory and i agree that the game is to violent for what the series have been.

[ChipChipperson]

Oh boy, another one of these complaints.

[Kratoscar2008]

Snake died and took the Stealth genre with him, at least Raiden isnt a pussy anymore HOWEVER this isnt Metal Gear, the series died with snake.

[JeffGUNZ]

It's still Metal Gear, but it's a spinoff. It's suppose to be different. That's why the next MGS will be MGS5. This is just a side game and should not be taken as it will play and feel like every MGS before.

[Kratoscar2008]

At least i hope that the next Metal Gea can be a stealth game not like the new Splinter Cell wich is not an stealth game.

[JeffGUNZ]

Yeah I hear you. I actually enjoyed the last splinter cell, it was an exciting game. If they could mix that with a hybrid of the classic style with the modern, it would make for an awesome game.

[turgore]

did you see god of war ascension and the elephant brains ??? that was too far

[Lord_Sloth]

Since it's the player's option, no. NG3 allowed you to kill people who were begging for mercy in much more painful and slower ways. The primary complaint about that game was that it wasn't violent enough.

[arbitor365]

its called "war."

[dude63]

Jack Thompson has a suedo name...seriously its a video game. Ive seen more violent things in gaming. Especially in the hack n slash genre. The demo intrigued me and really its a exciting thing to the hack n slash genre. It looks pretty awesome.

[DivineAssault]

Well its a Mature rated game.. U wanted censored violence, go to nintendo

[Sevir]

I see nothing wrong with the gore, yes past metal gear games have been about stealth and avoiding people, but this isn't MGS. Its MGR! Raiden isn't stealthy the same way Snake is and he a different character from Snake so i dont mind it! The game looks top notch! I cant wait to play it next year along with NT's DMC... cautiously optimistic about that one!

[SAE]

Looks amazing !
But i have few points i wished they made it .
Like in the first trailer , the gameplay was slow which i liked because raiden doesnt run and go fast all the time , he only do that when there is danger or he need it , now it feels more like ninja gaiden 3 , they also need to make things need skills like when he jumped from the roof and killed the soldier , this is more like ninja gaiden 3 but if they adjust the sword to be controlable then it would need skill to hit that guy and things like that

Im not comparing it to ninja gaiden , these things are in ninja gaiden 3 , i just wish they change it because i loved the first trailer alot more but this still looks stunning ...

I advice you people especially mgs fans to forget mgs when they play this , it would be alot more fun , thats what i did to Ng3 and i had fun even though it sucks compared to the first one

[ShaunCameron]

No. God Of War III was a step too far. Max Payne 3 with ladies and gentlemen alike getting their heads blown off in graphic detail was a step too far. I bet'cha the author was probably amongst the vocal minority who whined and bitched about the removal of the ability to see/do decapitations in Ninja Gaiden 3. If anything, Metal Gear Rising is par for the course with the violence.

[izumo_lee]

The ending to the Last of Us demo had Joel blow a guys freakin head off with a shotgun. The crowd went nuts over that!! So no MGR demo was tame compared to that.