Metal Gear Rising: Revengence Review

 This isn't my sword

Sometimes all it takes is a good meme to bring us back to something that we love. And given the game in question today, that seems like a rather fitting sentiment: no? When first I happened upon Metal Gear Rising Revengence, it was in the deadly serious context of spin-off to my beloved Metal Gear franchise which looked like it would forsake everything which made the series a phenom. None of the ground-breaking stealth gameplay, none of the all encompassing game detail wrapped into every gnat of code by a passionate auteur director, and no Snake. Didn't we try this before? Removing Snake? It didn't go too well as I remember. And yet to say that MGR won me over is an understatement; I consider it one of the best action-adventure Hack'n'slash games to this day. I adore the game, love the characters, and that was my mindset back when I played this far too young to understand what the story was even about. (And too young to be playing a game so violent, probably.) So maybe I'll love it even more today!

My attention was turned back onto this title after the absolute deluge of memes around this game just from reposting bits of the cutscenes; because they carry enough gold material in them raw. Then there's the parody Youtube channels who make fantastic voice acted spoofs of moments in the game, and the rediscovery of the soundtrack which sounds typically rock-heavy for a game of this type but actually carries a smart edge behind the headbanging melodies. Basically the Internet has been rediscovering what an incredible little gem that Metal Gear Rising is and that encouraged me to renew my vows and pick up the high-frequency blade once more. Thus what is coming your way is not a fresh-faced review, but an old friend meeting with his buddy once more, and the observations I have to make will be coloured by that old fondness as well as the recent playthrough I snuck in during Halo 4 downtime, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm going to go full spoilers here so if you just want my thoughts without the spice, you can find them in the summary at the bottom of the page.

Raiden Returns

To this date, MGR remains the furthest along in the Metal Gear timeline out of any game in the franchise. Further than 'MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots', far beyond Kojima's last game 'MGS 5: Phantom Pain', and in a whole other universe than that abomination Konami turd 'Metal Gear Survive'. And of course, Platinum games, in their infinite wisdom, chose to expand the story of a well established former protagonist, Raiden: the undesignated Snake. All the way back in Metal Gear Solid 2, (2001) Hideo Kojima would pull one of the most successful bait-and-switches in history when he advertised a game featuring Snake through every level only for the actual game to feature Snake leaving after the prologue of MGS 2 and anime-blonde kid, Raiden, taking his place. Fan reaction was- negative would be putting it kindly. Fans hated Raiden, from his anime-school kid haircut, to his toothless youthful persona and just for the fact that he wasn't the gruff solider fans had come to love. They rejected Raiden. And Kojima took that personally.

Kojima really liked Raiden, so much so that when helming the first 'last game of the franchise' (Kojima made that promise a few times) MGS 4, he decided to do everything he could to make Raiden too cool to be ridiculed. He made Raiden a superpowered Ninja with a high-frequency sword capable of cutting through the Gecko UGs in the game like butter. He also had one of those cool automatic eye-visor things that slid over his face by itself and made the noise with the glowing red LED for effect. (So cool!) And Kojima didn't make the little twerp the surprise main character this time around, all of which helped fans get over themselves about Raiden and even somewhat like the white-haired punk with his inexplicable faux happy ending. So the image reform was complete and Raiden was finally an alright guy. "But that's not enough" I can only presume Kojima said when selling this Metal Gear Rising to Platinum Games. "Raiden might be likable now, but that's not going to cut it anymore, oh no! They made fun of my baby, and now... now they're going to worship him! We need to go... further." "But Mr Kojima sir; are we sure his character can handle anything else thrown at it? He had his happy ending off in the sunset with his wife and son." "He can be more, I feel it- don't you? We can rebuild him, make him- cool. We have the technology." And thus; Metal Gear Rising's Raiden was born.

Mr Lightning Bolt

Raiden of Metal Gear Rising Revengence undergoes your typical act 1 evolution after a crippling loss, turning from a retro-futuristic swordman into an actual cybernetically-enhanced metal-high-heel-pumps wearing ninja one-man-army. They redesigned him totally, and can anyone argue with the results? Focusing purely on the way he is framed in the cutscenes, Platinum Games fall over themselves to show you how cool this guy is, from the way that he picks up a freakin' Metal Gear by the arm, catches a molten-hot knife with a high heel, slices a flying air drone neatly in two, and reads one of the most epically stupid final boss lead-in lines of all time. In so many ways it could have come across like the team were trying too hard to make their protagonist badass, thus reversing all that hardwork into points against his cool, (like Sunset Overdrive does) but somehow in the earnest way they just kept piling on layer after layer of cool tech, visuals, actions and lines; they pushed past the contrived-feeling. Raiden is just super badass now, it's the way things are.

Which isn't to say they bungled him down into some impeccable images of coolness that could never be touched. An iconic 'hero character' who's too precious to undergo any real hardship and is attributed only likeable traits and favourable actions to the tune of what is most commonly known as 'the mary sue model'. No, they don't do things like that over in Platinum. Jack has actual substantial character growth, moral challengings and questionable path changes that make him a deep and fleshly little protagonist. He actually has a more believable transformation story over the course of this game than Venom Snake does in Metal Gear Solid V; but the Kojima fanboy in me absolutely can not let it be known to anyone that I said that; so that opinion stays between you and me, got it? Surprisingly great main character work in this game, Platinum, even for you this game surprised me.

Jack The Ripper

But this isn't a character study game, it's an action title, and thus the gameplay is of key 'make or break' importance to the package here. In that style that Platinum Games know so well, Metal Gear Rising is formed to be a typical Devil May Cry-style hack'n'slash game with battle zones, missions and boss fights at the end of every level. But there's a gimmick too. Back in this game's previous iteration (known just as 'Metal Gear Solid: Rising') the stand out feature was the ability to enter a special slow-motion 'blade mode' in which you could slash in any direction you so choose and cut something in any way you want. This carries over to the Revengence version of the game with added visual flair and a handy counter which announces how many pieces you've cut your assailant into. Oh and when I say 'cut any way you want', I am indeed talking about people. And Melons if you want. But the draw is people. So it's fair to say this is one extremely violent and bloody game.

And yet I wouldn't call it gory. Aside from one example right at the end, all the organs stay inside the neat human chunks you cut up, making this more of an cartoon-style anime blood fest, rather than a squelching gut-spewing massacre with actually disturbing carnage going on. At the heart of these games you're supposed to have a fun time, and enjoy cutting through things, so this fictionalised approach to ultra-violence does help keep the tone of everything up and the adrenaline pumping rather than leaking out of your body in cold sweats as you contemplate the virtual warcrime you've just performed. That sort of introspection needs to be reserved until the story bears it down upon you for key-character-arc-moment effect. Only be horrified at the cue card please.

The actual fighting itself, however, just feels so good. Raiden has your light attack, heavy attack two button spread with a bevy of cool combos spread between a mixture of those presses, a speedy agility to all of his actions which encourages players to whip around the battlefield at top speed and overwhelm their enemies and a super intuitive parry system where all you need to do is identify an attack coming your way, push the analogue towards the attacker and hit the attack button just before the attack connects; instant cool parry move. (And it's very important for that parry to be so intuitive and easy to pull off, because it becomes integral to the flow of the boss fights.) My only gripes are Raiden's lack of aerial options and substantial juggling, and his dodge move which needs to be unlocked and activated at the start of the second level of the game. Woe be on you if you buy it without realising that you needed to activate it too, otherwise you'll do what I did on my first playthrough and suffer throughout the entire game without realising there's a dodge button. (But I did beat it. Don't even ask me how I took down Armstrong without a dodge; I don't know.)

We're all Sons of the Patriots now! 

The story of MGR picks up after the events of 'Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' now that the Patriots legacy have been destroyed and the world is carrying on with it's war business as usual. Okay, I guess things aren't as bad as they were under the Patriots, but it's very clear that the world they built hasn't just disappeared overnight. Raiden stars in a tale that delves into the aftermath of this world shift and, in typical Kojima fashion, delves into the psychology of those who believe in extremism for the good of their own ends. The difference between this and usual MGS games, is that at it's heart Metal Gear Rising is an action slasher game, which means the story is relegated to tiny cutscenes here and there rather than full hour long speeches. Of course, a 'tiny' cutscene by Kojima standards is pretty much the industry standard length- so you're still getting a total full narrative playing out before you, just with the involved characterisation of a normal Metal Gear to spruce things up. 

The first time I played through I'll admit to having absolutely no idea what was going on or what the game was about, and I still had a total blast. Now I can see that the whole game was following the set-up of a conspiracy to cause an international incident in order to change the world precedent, a purpose neatly embodied in the names of the various co-conspirators who are identified as 'The Winds of Change'. That's literal, by the way. You have one boss called Mistral, the southern French wind from over the alps, another entitled Minuano (Aka Jetstream Sam), a cold wind that blows over the Rio Grande, and then there's Monsoon, who's pretty self explanatory. Of course each one of these characters has their own world views and goals which they're more than happy to chat about before your deathly duel, once more highlighting the levels of detail and love that always goes into scripts like these from Kojima. He never does a half hearted job, does he?

Of course, at it's heart the purpose of the narrative on a grandscale is to have Raiden confront his upbringing as a child soldier and question if the influence that has had on him as an adult made him a good person. There's no real consensus and Kojima is far too smart to land on one definitive decided for the audience, but instead we're treated to a buffet of ideologies and world views that assault our sponge, Raiden, until one manages to worm it's way past their moral split and lay seed, even whilst they've duelling under the setting sun. Characters like Sunny retain their faith in Raiden being a hero, however those lingering final few post-credits scenes paint a delightfully ambiguous picture for whatever could be next in our platinum kid's adventure. Really solid character work here, similar to how RGG Studio built up the iconic image of Kiryu Kazama through the narrative of Yakuza 0.

Nanomachines, Son!

But I can't feasibly give an entire review to Metal Gear Rising without dedicating a whole section just to the big bad, now can I? (It wouldn't be right.) So can we just put our hands together for MGR, the game that managed to take something as boring sounding as 'a US Senator in a suit was the man behind it all', and turn that premise into one of the most iconic villains of the entire genre. Senator Armstrong is a confidant, totally self-absorbed, larger than life character bubbling with so much glee and anger that you can genuinely see this man being the cult-like head of the extremist cell he created. There's this utter unshakeable belief behind his ideals that's just infectious, even when the 'dream' he's laying out to you is, in stark reality, that of a brutalist hellhole. In his dream and performance alone this character is unforgettable and the internet has memed about him endlessly, but he can back up his grand talk too.

"Don't F*** with this Senator" as the iconic line goes; because our man has the brawn and technology to stand up as a human tank all on his own! We get to see our protagonist, who up until now has been able to hold himself to a decent degree against the various deathly robotic terror's that have come his way, get tossed around like an American football, literally. The physical aspect of their one-on-one cutscene is just as entertaining as their dialogue, as they have what amounts to a political debate whilst tearing into each other in hyper-silly violent action. (Armstrong even gets an flurry barrage in on Raiden, Star Platinum style.) All of this legendary scene is only made sweeter with Raiden's final declaration, a summation of his moral dilemma summed up in a handful of lines that would be cheesy coming out of anyone else's mouth. "ARMSTRONG! I said my sword was a tool of Justice. Not used for anger. Not used for Vengeance. But now I'm not so sure. And besides, this isn't my Sword!" How do you say lines like that and make them badass? 'Quinton Flynn' is how.

The Winds of Change

The bosses of MGR are really the secret ingredient that keep this relatively lean hacker engaging from start to finish. The enemy compositions throughout the levels are fun, although I personally think it starts to feel like every enemy is a miniboss by the late game, (and so can be more frustrating than fun at times) but the bosses form the real set-piece moments of this experience and that's because they are just wild. You know this game means business when the boss of the prologue is a Metal Gear Ray! That giant aquatic weapon platform gets itself absolutely torn to sheds by Raiden, and from there the pace doesn't slow down. Mistral's fight is somewhat disturbing (What, with all the synthetic-armed dwarf geckos) but feels like a very traditional arena battle with straightforward gimmicks, Monsoon's is disorienting, bizarre, and has brief flashes of an endurance bout during his smoke bomb barrage, Sundowner is all-precision to a frankly annoying degree, Sam is a quintessential samurai-meets-samurai no tricks death battle, and Armstrong... Well, he's a special level of explosive. All of these people are personable enough to be enjoyable outside of the gameplay, and versatile enough to be challenging and memorable inside of the gameplay. This here is the best of both worlds.

And for me, I think a huge part of that comes down to the music tracks cleverly weaved in to tell the story whilst pumping the adrenaline. Stains of Time and the only thing I know for real seem like your stereotypical head-bangers, but they're all written to be sang from the perspective of the boss in question, so that when you get to the lyrics (which for some fights are dynamic depending on the progression of the battle) there's an extra little shade of understanding imbued relating to their mindset. Even if it's subliminally imparted. This comes to it's head, obviously, in the incredible final fight with the song It has to be this way, in which the team managed to circumvent the typically trite 'we're the same, you and I' trope by having the song say it instead. Using song lyrics to compliment the story- man that's going to get extra marks from me and you know it.  

Clever dog

Fans were lucky enough to receive two small DLC campaigns to compliment this package before the game was shelved by Platinum, and they both feature different characters with their own movesets that feel different but are similar enough for you to be able to ease into them without having to go through endless basic tutorials. (Although such tutorials are an option if you prefer.) Blade Wolf's campaign takes a different approach to the main game, having a mission and boss that caters to the stealthy approach more than direct carnage most of the time. (With a rather creative sneaking-minigame crafted into the boss' attack pattern.) Jetstream Sam's mission is much more traditional to Raiden's battle-orgy, to the point where Sam doesn't even have a stealth takedown move. I see Sam's mission more as a gauntlet of tough enemies crowned with three tough boss fights, even though each are recycled from the main game unlike Wolf's one unique boss. There's not much of a story to either of these two DLCs, but the different-enough gameplay warrants their existence and makes their short playtime stand out.

Summary

Metal Gear Rising Revengence is the Metal Gear Hack'n'Slash game that we never deserved, but I am so glad that we got it anyway. With great slashing gameplay, a free-cutting gimmick which is still impressive and unique all these years later and a stellar cast of villains to slice through during this story; this package is already solid enough. But throw in the somewhat intelligent character work with the protagonist, the typically solid Kojima writing for each boss and the subtly clever music tracks in the mix and this game become nothing short of legendary. Some have found it's rather short length to be an issue, but with the replay value here I think the lean narrative is totally reasonable and fine for no other reason than so that the game doesn't out-stay it's welcome; it's hard to note any significant blunder this hack'n'slash game is guilty of. Seeing if this game lived up to my memory only reinforced this title as one of the best of it's genre, easily worthy of a A Grade in my rating scale. Oh, and I recommend it to literally everyone, because of course I do. Just bear in mind that this is a violent and bloody game, and enjoy an incredibly exhilarating adventure that probably ranks as Metal Gear's most accessible entry. Now if only the stars would align for a sequel somewhere along the line, because our beleaguered industry really needs it around about now. "A little Revengence can do the gaming economy good, Trust me!"

Revengence

In thirty days or your money back!

If there's one topic that does tend to grace this blog quite a bit, albeit rarely in the 'centre stage' manner, it's that of the 'auteur' and their special brand of work which only they quiet get. It's this illusion of a story or ongoing narrative which seems so woven and strange that one cannot just supplant the original mastermind behind it all or everything will simply fall apart, and it's something that I find myself conflicted on. In some ways the person who created the story originally bought out a bit of their own heart and soul to bring that thing into life, which one could argue is irreplaceable, although that's never stopped anyone else from putting in their two cents before. And to be honest, usually the best stories are the ones formed of a melting pot of different perspectives and life experiences. However, we usually to see auteurs as some sort of holy exception to this rule and thus have a tendency to automatically diminish any work within the role which isn't directly connected to them. Take Hidetaka Miyazaki of the Souls series, for example; his work is cherished for birthing a whole new genre and handling videogame storytelling in a unique manner to practically every other style of game on the market. Yet Dark Souls 2, the only one not be directed by him so far, has suffered considerable backlash for its very existence and the gall it has to try and add upon his story. (As well as a series of legitimate criticisms such as that mess of a hitbox.)

First I'm going to throw a predictable spanner in these works; I don't believe in a story that can't be adequately attributed to by other people. Sometimes what you really need is a whole new look at things to uncover a quality about the narrative that you never saw coming, or in terms of gaming, a whole new approach to make you realise that your favourite series was more versatile than you imagined. And in the vein of proving that, I want to take you all back to one of my favourite surprise games that pulled off just that in one of the favourite series' ever. Yes, once upon a time there was a Metal Gear game that Kojima himself did not get to direct, and I'm not talking about Metal Gear Survive because... yeah, that game sucked... No, instead I'm talking about a little title out of the lunatics over in Platinum Games which bore a curious deviation to the series stable naming structure alongside a long redundant word as its suffix. I'm talking about: Metal Gear Rising: Revengence.

Now to understand the sort of expectation around this 2013 game, you must first understand that Revengence was the first Metal Gear game to follow the modern day setting for 5 years. (With the Naked Snake following: 'Peace Walker' coming out inbetween.) This means we had here a game that was set to follow the apparent 'last game in the franchise', Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, promising to continue a solid-shut storyline regarding the commercialisation of warfare and the manner in which human suffering has turned into a profit-driven industry. Also, the 'Rising' tag was meant to symbolise that this time players wouldn't be controlling series-beloved protagonist Snake (indeed, they probably couldn't, given the year in which this was set) but instead Raiden. Butt of the joke, Raiden. The man who, famously, was introduced to the series in a bait-n-switch which upset just about everyone. (At least among the Western fanbase. Can't speak for the East) This was the man destined to be our protagonist in this monumental series continuation? Please...

But those many who wrote this off on the anime-face of the protagonist alone were casting great underestimation on Platinum games and the potential they contained, because they knew exactly what to do in order to correct this age old wrong. Raiden was critiqued for lacking the presence and richness of Snake, looking like a K-pop Star, constantly having inane dialogue with his annoying girlfriend Rose, and just not being a very decent replacement for Snake. Immediately Platinum identified these issues. Rose is annoying? She's gone. (Okay, to be fair I think that was done in MGS4 but Platinum knew she wasn't worth more than a half-hearted mention) He isn't cool? drastically shift his tone dynamically right at the beginning of the story. He looks like a prissy boyband member? Turn him into one of the most badass Cyborg ninjas to grace the video game space since Grey Fox himself. (Heavy cybernetics always make everything better. Ain't that right, Cyberpunk 2077?)

Right from the getgo Platinum games proved they could do something that Kojima couldn't; they took a character that had failed to land with audiences and transmuted him into someone objectively more interesting. The first mission had happy-go-lucky mercenary Raiden (Whom MGS4 had already established as a Ninja assassin by this point) come up against a band of international cyber-terrorists not unlike the crew from 'Deus Ex: Human Revolutions'. (Do I detect a hint of inspiration?) In this fighting he is beaten down and defeated in a manner most befitting any half-decent anime protagonist; yes, he loses his arm. (And gets cut-up pretty bad, but the most anime thing is the arm loss) This marks a change in Raiden's character to a lot more of a gruff, pessimistic, leading man who still retained the cockiness that differentiates him from his more sneaky counter-part. And all of that is just the character work, bare in mind how Platinum evolved the gameplay too.

Metal Gear is a name synonymous with stealth, due to the way in which the franchise resulted in great strides for the medium, but Platinum were a studio who specialised in beat-em-up action, so how could they reliably pull off a Metal Gear game without looking like pale imitators? By completely changing up the formula and largely discarding the stealth (except for in small gimmicky and forgettable optional moments) in favour of bringing a hack-and-slash edge to the game which Platinum committed to entirely. With Raiden at the helm, Platinum created a new trademark to sell their game under in their 'cut anything' system, wherein players could manually control their sword through use of the analog and cut away in any which way they so please. This combined with an engine that could procedurally generate the results of these cuts in such a way that enemies could be literally sliced into chunks, and often were, throughout of the course of the action.

So a traditionally slow-paced stealth action series exploded into gory and loud action which completely committed to spectacle in all the most admirable ways. Heck, the first mission's final boss is the Metal Gear final boss from MGS 2, Metal Gear Ray. As if to directly reference the difference in scale this game's action wanted to present, the player is tasked with fighting one-on-one with Metal Gear Ray in a fight that will take from a rooftop across an entire street and up the side of a clock tower before you literally slice the machine in half with your sword. That is Metal Gear Rising, and it only grows in scale and/or spectacle from there. This game implemented a strong and effortless sword combat system, awesomesome-ly over-the-top bossfights, great and challenging enemy variety and, let is not be forgotten, a robot pet dog. Love the robot dog.

Metal Gear Rising Revengence is a absolute gem from Platinum games that doesn't get talked about enough, and honestly it's a shame that we haven't seen a sequel since because this title alone proved how big and wide-reaching the Metal Gear franchise could be. Even with everything traditionally 'Metal Gear' stripped from the title, (including the series' famed director) the series is still unmistakable in this game's very soul and nothing feels hackneyed. Since then I've, of course, come to realise what a truly special studio Platinum games is, and what a great result one can see when a fresh team of developers get their hands on something ostensibly immutable. Am I saying that we need a turn-based JRPG version of Dark Souls? No, (But then 'Like a Dragon' does seems to be getting well received…) just that it helps to keep an open mind for what could turn into a great, and unexpected surprise. Also, play MGR Revengence. It'll impress you by some degree, I promise.

Prosthetic Limbs

We can rebuild him!

Limbs are very important to human beings. (Judging by Spore's economy I can personally attest to how much DNA they cost to unlock in the first place.) As such it can be devastating to lose a limb and be forced to readjust to simple life. Luckily, in this enlightened age of ours, there exist handy prosthetic replacements for our lost limbs which can sometimes be as sturdy and versatile as the real thing. 'As good as' isn't enough for video games, however, and for that reason whenever prosthetics make it to the video game world, they often come with so many bells and whistles that one might wonder if it's worth keeping our flabby weak human bodies when we can have some of these incredible creations.

Whether we have a story exploring the limits of humanity in transhumanist philosophies, or simply a game in which an Anime-esque hunk uses his robot arm as a baton; Video games are full of examples of this kind of body modification. I suppose developers can see it as a 'proof of struggle' to lose one's limb, as it can be one of the hardest injuries to overcome. However such developers also realize that few people want to play a game wherein they are subject to a disfigurement, and so out come the robot replacements. That might be a simplification but I'd wager that train of thought legitimately paid some role in the absolute deluge of prosthetic limbs we've seen in games.

One could not start a subject like this without starting with the grandfather of it all; Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker. (Huh, that's two mentions in one week. I might be having another relapse...) Fans might remember a very distinctive prosthetic arm in that game belonging to one- hold on- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov. (Phew, that's a mouthful.) When first introduced he appears to be a humble college professor travelling with his innocent schoolgirl accomplice who's name is literally 'Paz', which is Spanish for 'peace'. (There's a secret cover story that's trying too hard.) There's only one problem, the man has a bright metal robot hand that doubles as a cigarette lighter. (You get that from grading papers professor?) By the time this incredibly suspicious man, who just happens to hire you to investigate an extra-legal CIA occupation, reveals himself to be a Soviet spy, no one in the audience can manage so much as a pity gasp. Unfortunately this particular prosthetic doesn't prove very useful for Zadornov. Once he gets shot by Big Boss, after attempting an incredibly ill-advised quick draw against 'the world's greatest soldier', he makes a last ditch go for Snake by launching his robot arm with it's built in rocket function (What? Your prosthetic doesn't have one?) only to completely whiff his target and hit the wall. A sad way to go for the world's most conspicuous infiltration operative.

The arm, however, lived on. In the prequel to MGS V, 'Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes', Snake is caught in a helicopter crash that costs him his arm and rugged beauty. (Those scars might have some charm to them but the giant horn-shaped debris sticking out of his forehead will definitely cost him some Tinder matches.) But opportunity arises from tragedy as in 'Metal Gear Solid: the Phantom Pain' his old rival, Shalashaska, (colloquially known as Revolver Ocelot) gives him a replacement arm that is known as 'The Bionic arm'. (Probably because 'The Phantom Limb' made too much sense.) This arm is modelled directly off of Zadornov's, for some reason, all the way down to the red paint job. Player's can even unlock the ability to launch it from their arm down the line, just like the 'professor', except Snake's comes with remote control. (That's how you avoid looking like an idiot, Zardornov, by firing your forearm at your combatants instead of your very functional firearms.)

Okay, so I've never played Devil May Cry 4 (I own it, I'm just a lazy piece of poop) but as far I understand it, there is a point wherein the adorable little cherub Nero has his arm sawn off through means that have never been explicitly discussed. (Bummer.) Rather then settle down and live off his impending disability benefits, Nero lived up to his name-sake and decided to secure a demonic replacement known as Devil Bringer. (Maybe not officially a prosthetic but I'm counting it!) In DMC 5, the platinum haired Nero loses this demonic gift and is forced to replace it with a robotic arm called Devil Breaker. This one has the ability fire unearthly demon beams at enemies, pull them over Scorpion-style in order to prolong a combo, and make it explode. (As you do.) However, Nero is in luck because some charitable soul decided to scatter levels with replacement arms, for some reason. (I guess the NHS are over funded in the DMC universe.)

Of course, there is one classic video game character who's prosthetic is so iconic that most forget he even has it, despite the fact it's really hard to ignore a huge black man with a Vulcan minigun for an arm. As I remember it is never explicitly explained why Barret has his minigun arm, nor why his former friend entrusted him with the raising of his daughter in spite of that aforementioned child-unfriendly implement. Whatever the reason, it means that Barret Wallace if often a stable of any team makeup for FF7 due to his useful ranged attacks and his tankiness. (Primarily for the tankiness.) It sure is encouraging that the Shinra of Midgard allow a man who should be classified as a weapon to walk the streets unhindered. (I bet he doesn't even get stop searched.)

On a more philosophical note 'Deus Ex Human Revolutions' proposed an interesting question; if your body was damaged to such a degree that you required a body worth of robotics in order to live, are you still human? (The ol' 'Ship of Thesus' question. ) Every part of Adam Jensen's body is redesigned by David Sarif into tools for hunting down those that kidnapped legendary scientist Megan Reed. Adam is forced to confront a body he doesn't recognize in a world torn by prejudice against the mechanically enhanced as he unravels the world's deepest cabal. (God, I sound like a movie announcer.) Honestly, this is one of my favourite examples of transhumanism in gaming and I sure hope that Jensen's story gets a third game to round out the story. (For the love of god, Square, I'm begging you!)

Tactical revolution, 'Xcom: Enemy Unknown', encountered some controversy regarding prosthetics when it came to envisioning their expansion/new release: 'Enemy Within'. This arose because the new 'mech units', who were designed to balance against the powerful Alien robotics from the late game, had to be piloted by individuals without arms or legs. (So that the mech suit could act as a replacement.) This meant that those who wanted to turn their soldiers into mech units would have to opt them into a procedure to have their limbs removed and replaced with metallic supplements. At the time there was some hubub by those who thought this was 'glorifying body mutilation', but then there were people who claimed that Xcom 2's badass Alien-head wall was 'unhygenic' so I don't but much stock in the word of outrage warriors.

Hold on. Another Metal Gear mention? I've gone mad with power! As it turns out, there is yet another example of prosthetics in Metal Gear, although this one did go a little overboard. Anime schoolboy stand-in, Raiden, was far-in-large the least cool member of the Metal Gear cast after his debut in Metal Gear Solid 2. Especially in the way that they replaced series icon Snake with a guy who is such a pathetic spy that his girlfriend is on the support line and repeatedly calls him by his real name several times over the airwaves. ("Jack, do you know what day it is?") Hideo Kojima amended this by replacing most of Raiden's body with cybernetics in Metal Gear Solid 4 and having him literally wield a samurai sword into battle. (I'm fairly sure this counts as overcompensation.) In Metal Gear Rising Revengence, Raiden has even more bodyparts replaced and essentially becomes a murder fueled robot of death and destruction. (Without all the philosophical hints that Deus Ex implemented.) Throw in a line where cyborg Raiden utters that infamous line; "The Memes!" and Kojima may have created the ultimate life form.

Bizarrely this is such a common trend across video games that I had to leave out a few of the ideas that I had come up with. (The Sekiro arm is too similar to Devil Breaker anyway.) Personally, I do enjoy the hints of imagination that this particular cliche invokes, not just in gaming, but for story telling in general. That 'body horror' angle mixed with typical badass-ery is just the right blend of surreal cool to make me smile every time; and I look forward to see if future games with this idea, like Cyberpunk 2077, go the whole hog and show all angles, the cool and the weird, all in one package.