The Metal Gear Solid franchise is one of the most beloved series in all of gaming. Headed up by Hideo Kojima, the title told a tale of war, conspiracy, life, and death. With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the saga wrapped up, and so did Kojima’s tenure with Konami. But, Konami didn’t want the series to die, so, they went to work on a new take on the franchise. One that’s very different from its predecessors. Metal Gear Survive.
Metal Gear Survive does take place in the Metal Gear Solid universe in a way. As it follows the events of Ground Zeroes, where a group of soldiers find themselves sucked through a wormhole and end up in a different dimension. In this dimension, there are monsters everywhere, and you have to build, scavenge, and find allies in order to make it through each day. And that’s the easy part.
The beta for the game launched today, and will continue until the 21st. In it you can expect two maps to explore, and three co-op missions to partake in. If you do participate in the beta, you’ll get special in-game items once the full title launches in February.
Needless to say, the game has a massive hill to climb in order to impress both fans and critics. The fallout of Kojima’s “firing” from Konami was front page news, and earned a lot of bad publicity for Konami. What’s more, reception to Metal Gear Survive has been lukewarm at best. Some have even described the game as more “survive” than “Metal Gear”.
The Metal Gear series was a stealth game mixed with action. Here, it’s much more action-oriented, and the focus on characters isn’t as important, which is a big turnoff for some.
We’ll just have to see how it does when the game releases on February 20th.