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By Contributing Writer Jimmy Payne Rating: Average It's hard for me to bash a game with the Metal Gear name, because Metal Gear was all I could think about in the month after Metal Gear Solid's release. However, not even a big Metal Gear fan like myself can overlook the many flaws of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. This game is a lot like the original Metal Gear Solid, only now the bulk of the game consists of VR missions. You know, those bland mini-missions in MGS that most people lost interest in after about five minutes. You can now play as the stealth Ninja from MGS, which is pretty much the only thing preventing this game from getting a Crappy rating. Unfortunately, the Ninja's game is about 1/8th the size of MGS, and as anyone who has played MGS can tell you, that's pathetically short. Besides the ability to play as the Ninja, one of the only positive aspects of VR Missions is the addition of weapons to the mix. The addition of weapons creates a lot of possibilities for new strategies and scenarios, but these possibilities weren't taken advantage of as much as they should have been. This game's difficulty level is about as screwed up as it gets. Sometimes you'll fly through a mission and wonder how you were able to beat it so easily, and other times you will be stuck on the same mission for hours. I would much rather have a difficulty level that gradually gets harder as the game progresses instead of one that randomly jumps up and down throughout the game. On the levels where you get stuck, it's usually because of one badly-placed guard or camera that you can only get past if you make your move in a split second. The farther you get into the game, the more you'll recognize re-hashed level designs. There are only 20 or so unique missions, and all the rest are just like another mission, but with slight variations. The repetitive level designs won't motivate you to keep playing, and neither will the story line because it doesn't exist. The story line was the heart and soul of Metal Gear Solid, and fans of the series are going to be left with an empty feeling after playing VR Missions. It would be one thing if Konami threw together a half-assed story line, but there is no story line whatsoever in VR Missions. I guess when you're lazy and you're only interested in making some easy money, details like story lines are deemed un-necessary. Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions is nothing more than a sub-par expansion pack that will disappoint even the most loyal of Metal Gear Solid fans. Send your thoughts on this review to jimmy@mastergamer.com
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