Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta Impressions

The Metal Gear Online Beta finally launched Friday after a delay and numerous and complex login issues. Luckily, I had already acquired my Konami Id & game id, so I just had to login, create a character and hit start. Despite the clunkiness and ridiculous amount of login ids/names, the metal gear beta is a great taste of what is to come June 12th. Let me start off by saying that Metal Gear Online is not all that different from the online mode that shipped with Metal Gear 3: Subsistence. Many of the modes and ideas from that first attempt have made it into Metal Gear Online. The two biggest changes from the PS2 metal gear online are the controls, and SOP. The controls in Metal Gear Online are a vast improvement. The over the shoulder camera/aiming system is leaps and bounds better (think RE4/GRAW/Gears of War)than the old lock on and hold square. Luckily square isn't even attack/fire anymore....R1 and R2 serve as primary and secondary fire giving Metal Gear Online a much more FPS feel. It's also easier to switch to First Person now and only requires the tap of Triangle while you are aiming. Don't get me wrong, MGO plays absolutely nothing like Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3. It took me a good hour to get back into the Metal Gear mindset and controls. Luckily the beta has a fantastic tutorial and solo training mode which allows you to shoot at practice targets and teaches you the basic controls. The other big change is the Sons of the Patriots or SOP system. This system allows you to link up with comrades and see where they are (even through walls), where they are aiming, and in many cases, where enemies are located. The SOP system is very slick along with being technically and graphically impressive. Metal Gear Online is about Teamwork and communication and SOP ties into all of that. If you liked the online mode with Metal Gear Solid 3, you should definitely preorder Metal Gear 4 and check out the online beta. It's a vastly improved version of the ps2 online mode and shows off the graphical prowess of the playstation 3. Metal Gear Solid 4 looks to truly showcase the Playstation 3 and has a great array of online features (clans, friends list, ranking, automatching, skill levels, skill upgrades, exp, etc.). That's all for now. Let's get back to some Metal Gear Online Headshots.