Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

This little snake still has a powerful bite

Tags: Categories: PSP Reviews, Reviews

Posted by Jake McNeill on Jan 10th, 2007

Title Players
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (title page) 1 - 2
Developer Publisher Genre Online
Action No


After two strategy-card-RPGs on Sony’s PSP, Konami’s Kojima Productions has finally brought us a Metal Gear Solid title that’s a stealth action/adventure game, much like the game’s console brethren. They didn’t cut any corners, either – this is a full-fledged Metal Gear title with top-notch graphics, exquisitely-designed gameplay, and all sorts of inventive new features, whose story fits into the series canon. When making a handheld entry in the series, Kojima Productions was looking to create something far more potent than “Metal Gear Lite” or “Metal Gear Pocket”. They actually managed to take the full Metal Gear experience and squeeze it down to fit onto the PSP. Unfortunately, after they did that, they put it on the PSP.

Much like the console games, you’ll find yourself infiltrating enemy territory, sneaking, hiding and fighting your way to various objectives. Unlike the console-based Metal Gear games, you map is split up into various locations that you can select at any time. While it might seem that this would remove a lot of the game’s depth, I can assure you that the different level structure does not detract from the game at all, and in fact is very befitting to a handheld, letting you take the game in short bursts if you so choose.


Graphically, the game looks very nice – somewhere between MGS and MGS2 on a technical level, but closer to MGS3 in its style. Characters are nicely-detailed and pretty well-animated, and the levels look pretty good, too. Interestingly enough, the game’s cutscenes are not in-game like the console titles, but instead use the interesting, sketchy look of the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel. It all makes for a look that’s unique to this game, but still at a level of quality comparable to the console games.

The music and sound, too, is just as excellent as the console games, when it’s there. The music is fantastic, composed by series staple Harry Gregson-Williams. Unfortunately, most of the long conversations this series is known for have not been voiced in this game, which will make for a lot of quiet reading. Still, what’s there is excellent – David Hayter returns again for the starring role, and all the other voice actors are excellent.


The storyline of MG:PO takes place between Metal Gear Solid 3 and the original Metal Gear, and tries to bridge the gap between Big Boss (AKA Naked Snake) leaving his service for the US government in disgust at the end of MGS3 to his fall from grace in the original Metal Gear. It also marks the first appearance (chronologically) of numerous classic characters, including Roy Campbell. All of this within a plot surrounding the debris left in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a group of soldiers seeking to create their own nation after being abandoned by their government.

This is where one of the major new gameplay elements kicks in. Snake and Big Boss can’t take on their enemies on their own, and sensing a high amount of dissent amongst the enemy soldiers, they begin to create their own army by capturing enemy soldiers and convincing them to defect. At any time in the game you can drag an unconscious enemy back to your nifty van and toss them in the back. After a short while, they’ll come to see things your way and join your ranks.


Many of these new troops have abilities that Snake doesn’t have, like the ability to automatically send new items to supply, or the ability to reveal more of the map. Others have enhanced abilities, such as being able to drag enemies faster or throw grenades farther. What’s more, you can place your new comrades in the group you’re actively playing, or you can place them in other groups to assist you in other ways. Placing doctors in your medical team will boost your life and stamina, and sending a group of spies ahead to scout terrain can get you invaluable info on various locations.

You’ll be equipping every soldier under your employ (almost all of which seem to have animal names), and managing their health and statistics as well, and at some times the game’s management actually gives it a wonderful strategic element that has a direct impact on the action-based gameplay. There’s also an element of collectability to the game, which the game takes advantage of by actually allowing you to trade units with others, and you can even collect unique units based on what Wi-Fi hot-spot you’ve connected to, or even use a GPS accessory to get a recruit based on your positional location.


Furthermore, the game expands on this in the game’s multiplayer mode. In addition to excellent multiplayer modes comparable to MGS3: Subsistence’s Metal Gear Online (albeit scaled down a little), you’re given the option of essentially betting your soldier against the enemies’, with the winner actually keeping an opponent’s combatant (although those squeamish about this still have the option of normal competitive play). There’s also a Cyber-Survival mode where you can send a team of recruits into some imaginary online wilderness to fight against other teams created by other players. Later, you can check up on them and see how they’ve done – perhaps they’ve even captured an enemy for you to use on your team!

So with all these great things going for the game, what could possibly bring it down? As it turns out, the system it’s on. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops features controls that aren’t even close to the comfort and precision of the console games, which makes playing it unnecessarily frustrating. It’s still playable, and you can tell that the folks at Konami did everything they could to make the game work with the PSP’s control limitations, but in the end, the limited number of buttons and single, loose control nub just don’t do justice to the game.


As funny as it is to say about one of the few excellent games ever to hit the PSP, this is a title that would’ve been much better if it were released on some other platform, like the PS2. However, in the absence of a console port of the game, this is still a must-have for any series fan, as well as anyone looking for an excellent action game on the PSP.

What Works Score
+ Graphics and sound (almost) every bit as good as the console games
+ All of the gameplay that made the console games great
+ New recruiting features are original, well-implemented, and expand the Metal Gear premise to incorporate a fresh new strategy element to the gameplay
+ An impressive array of online and multiplayer features, especially for a handheld game 		8.9
What Doesn't
- Most of the game’s conversation is text-only, which makes for a lot of quiet reading
- The PSP’s inadequate controls cripple the gameplay
- This game would’ve been much better on the PS2
Under the Shrink-wrap
I really, really hope that Konami ports this game to PS2 like Rockstar did with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. This is a truly excellent game whose only real flaws are caused by the platform it’s on. Still, as long as this is only on the PSP, it’s a must-have title for both Metal Gear series fans and PSP gamers looking for a great action game.
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