➤ The return of Snake. The true one. 🎮

Colombia, 1974: Ten years after the events narrated in Metal Gear Solid 3, Snake (now known as the "Big Boss" by all) finds himself in command of a group of homeless mercenaries, the "Militaires Sans Frontières". One day he and his second Miller receive a visit from a very special couple, a teacher and a student from Costa Rica who ask for the intervention of the MSF to put an end to what appears to be a military occupation. of the country. The soldiers kidnapped and held the girl prisoner, who somehow managed to escape and now begs Snake to help her free the place where she lives from oppression; to restore that peace that at the moment lives only in the hopes of those who strongly desire it. The words of Paz ("peace", in fact) touch Snake, who eventually accepts the mission despite having sensed that the teacher is in reality nothing but a KGB agent, and that the "liberation" of Costa Rica is part of the perspective of a military balance between the United States and the Soviet Union.

There is also something Snake absolutely needs to investigate: a recording made by the girl who was with Paz, who never came back from the "invaders" base. The one engraved on the tape (from the first Walkman model in history ...) seems to be the voice of The Boss. But how is this possible? During its numerous missions (only the main ones exceed thirty), Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will answer this and other questions, telling us about the birth of Outer Heaven and showing us the tormented maturation of one of the most charismatic characters that has ever appeared in a video game: Naked Snake. Voiced once again by the hoarse voice of David Hayter, who in this new interpretation has put more "humanity" than usual, Big Boss arrives on PSP accompanied by all the narrative force of which Hideo Kojima is capable, within a product that we could certainly define as among the most important that have ever been made for the Sony portable console. No longer a spin-off of MGS like Portable Ops, therefore, but a real key episode of the Konami saga, in this case a sequel to the Snake Eater that greeted the glorious PlayStation 2 in the tears of its extraordinary ending.

Fire, walk with me

The first game sequences act as a quick tutorial to the combat system, which in melee allows us to hit opponents with a combination of punches and kicks but above all to grab them and throw them at other enemies, or to make them lose consciousness by squeezing the socket.

You can choose between three different control systems, but in the end the most complete is the one in which the analog pad is used to move the character and the main buttons manage the view. Complete, we said, but far from immediate, especially when we are dealing with fast moving targets. The L and R dorsal keys are used respectively to aim and open fire (or hit with bare hands), while the d-pad allows us to access the inventory with the left (support equipment) and right (weapons) directions, as well as to interact with the scenario (up) and lower ourselves (down). One of the reasons Snake accepts the mission in Costa Rica is the promise by the KGB of an offshore platform where the Militaires Sans Frontières will be able to settle permanently, a "Mother Base" (we will call it that from now on. forward) from which to coordinate the operations of the group, with personnel divided into various units for each area of interest: combat, research and development, canteen, infirmary and espionage. Our first mission is precisely to search and free the area, currently occupied by the enemy, using the stealth dynamics that Metal Gear Solid fans know well. In Peace Walker silence and patience are rewarded in a particular way, because the results obtained in each mission are reflected in the growth potential of the Mother Base and, consequently, of our equipment.

Always use the balloon!

The game takes from Portable Ops the concept of "forced enlistment" which sees our character capturing as many enemy soldiers as possible to turn them into faithful allies, introducing the gameplay system (but also narratively, in a rather nice and elegant way). Fulton recovery: after having put an opponent to sleep or stunned, Snake can literally "fly away" from the stage using a balloon which is then recovered by an MSF helicopter. The maneuver works in any situation, even indoors, and adds an unprecedented and important strategic element to the Konami series, because the recovered soldiers end up in the Mother Base, to replenish the ranks of Big Boss's army, and can be assigned to the various departments according to their characteristics.

The combat unit, for example, can be used in its components to face the numerous extra missions that become available as we proceed with the main plot, or used in external missions with automatic operation, that is, which are "simulated" while we we complete a normal level. Just form groups and select the target, trying to risk as little as possible: returning from the mission, the soldiers will enjoy an improvement in their skills. Or, well, they won't come back at all. Upgrading the combat unit will lead to an increase in GMPs, which in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker they serve as money for the development of new weapons and equipment. However, these operations are subordinated to the simultaneous growth of the research and development unit, which in turn depends on the espionage unit for the collection of new projects. Finally, the canteen unit and the medical unit play a regulatory role, in the sense that on a practical level they are not used, but their development is necessary so that the troops never lack food (which would affect general performance) and because everyone wounded soldiers are treated. As soon as the units reach a certain level, new projects are unlocked and we can use the GMPs we have to start the production of weapons and items. The arsenal in Peace Walker has been treated in a particular way, in fact we have numerous types of pistols, assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, missile launchers, sniper rifles, grenades, explosives, etc. However, it must be said that in practice very few of these weapons will prove to be really useful during the action: the "stealth" approach we mentioned previously implies a predominant use of the silenced pistol with tranquilizer darts, also with a view to capturing the unconscious enemies, while boss fights are decided by missile launchers.

The good old cardboard box

The situation is different about the equipment, which we will end up using completely during the missions. We have already talked about the Fulton recovery system, then there are the classic "rations" and the like for restoring energy (fundamental during boss fights and in the final stages), a sound detector that can work as a radar to warn us of the presence of enemies in the surroundings, a sonic viewer that performs more or less the same function but in a directional way, a very important supply system (to have us send a load of ammunition from the Mother Base), a night vision device, binoculars, a walkman and the classic string of cardboard boxes for all tastes, from classic to "love", passing through the tank-shaped box.

No substantial novelty, therefore, apart from the introduction of the analyzer, an electronic device that "measures" the capabilities of our enemies and therefore allows us to decide which ones to capture and which to leave on the ground. In reality, the circumstances and the structure of the game push us to "convert" as many opponents as possible, so the selection, despite having its own reason, is often overlooked in favor of a faster approach. Speaking of speed, Peace Walker stands on the same level as the other episodes of the series, that is, it allows us to choose the approach we prefer to complete a mission but, as already mentioned, it favors patient and silent actions. This means firing a tranquilizer dart into the leg of a guarding enemy and waiting for it to collapse (without firing more shots so as not to ruin the silencer), then capturing it and moving on to the next one until the end of the stages, which generally boast modest size and present themselves therefore as small "puzzles" to be solved in the most effective way possible. The alternative, unfortunately, is a lot messed up: Metal Gear Solid has never been a shining example as regards the management of fights, which also in this episode prove to be "slippery" and complicated. In addition to the well-known limits of the series, however, in this case we add the extraordinary intricacy of a control system that is not difficult to define, and which, due to the "digital" management of the view, often puts us in truly infernal situations.

Who does not play in company ...

In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker there is an ad hoc multiplayer mode, both in cooperative and competitive versions. We can therefore play all the missions of the game together with a friend, with the boss fights in particular that can be faced in four at the same time and a series of competitive modes for six players. It is a pity that the developers did not natively insert an infrastructure mode (which is still possible using a PlayStation 3 and the ad hoc party), but for the moment we can be satisfied. Of course if the game also came out on PSN ...

Technical realization

Let's throw it there: the best graphics ever seen on PSP? Let's say that Peace Walker takes the well-known technical limits of the Sony portable console and overcomes them beautifully, proposing polygonal models excellent for detail, texture and animation. Snake in particular is really extraordinary, while as far as the enemies and members of the MSF are concerned there is (obvious) less care in the realization and you suffer a little from the clone syndrome, which manifests itself in a systematic way as the characters wear default a balaclava and (often) the same uniform. The missions take place within scenarios of limited dimensions, as we have already said, but during the boss fights there is an evident expansion of the borders and the spaces to be covered suddenly become enormous. An excellent job has also been done with regard to textures, that is, the lack of definition of the same has been masked in the best possible way. It can be said that the numerous forests tend to appear rather confused and clash with the aiming reticle, but this is bearable. The bosses of the game are huge war machines controlled by artificial intelligence, and as per tradition they follow patterns of attack and movement that, however complex, can be memorized in a matter of minutes. Their appearance is solid and convincing, they convey a concrete feeling of power (especially the last one ...) and they are armed to the teeth. There are two different types of cutscenes: the "normal" ones use the game's graphics engine and show us sequences that are perhaps a bit repetitive from the point of view of the direction, but always effective and spectacular; the "stylized" ones come from the skilled pencil of Ashley Wood, cartoonist of Metal Gear Solid for IDW Publishing, and combine dynamism and originality in a perfect combination. The sound sector boasts an excellent dubbing in English (subtitled in Spanish), the classic effects of the series and an essential and well-balanced musical accompaniment, capable of creating a great atmosphere.

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Twelve thousand characters written so far, yet we have not told you all about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. We didn't even get close, actually. MGS is loved or hated, and it must be said that this new episode for PSP does not seek in any way to make the classic gameplay of the series more "current", to polish its well-known defects in favor of a less cumbersome experience in more convulsive situations. Indeed, thanks to the lack of a second analog stick, the game becomes even more difficult and lacking in elasticity, giving rise to episodes of frustration not to laugh at. But that we are dealing with a "hardcore" product is a clear fact, evident from the very first sequences (see Paz's story); moreover it is a real episode of the saga, with a narrative component of great value and an exceptional technical sector. Peace Walker is a tough, rough and edgy game ... like all Metal Gear Solids, by the way. And any fan of the series cannot afford to lose it.