Recent reviews by Luke

Firstly, let me just say what an utterly amazing port of a fantastic game this is. I cannot fault it one bit, except for not being able to bind actions to my mouse.

Gameplay
Fast, fluid, fun and has really story driven cutscenes to mix it up. Ah yes, cutscenes. There are a LOT of them. Personally I love them - I play games for the story they tell and to be a part of it.

Parry System
The parry system is the first thing you must master. It is essential to playing this game. Many different types of enemies will let you know when they're about to perform a parryable attack and most of the time they're uninterruptable, so you really need to parry those attacks. It takes a little bit of time to learn it, but once you have it, you're set to go.

Combos
This is where the fun is. The various combo attacks you can perform are highly satisfying and very stylish, all being able to parry cancel out of without a hitch (except for strong blade finisher/Pincer attacks). You purchase them (along with weapons and upgrades) with an ingame credit 'BP'. You're able to equip them or unequip them once you've purchased them. This can be particularly useful if you get an ability without knowing what it does exactly, and then once using it prefer not to use it.

Slicing
Slicing has to be the most stylised and over-glorified ability in this game. It is so satisfying it will make you cry tears of joy while getting 500+ hit combos and slicing a fool into 400 pieces. It is very rewarding and is key to certain encounters within the game. Or, you could slice a watermelon into 115 pieces. The possibilities are endless!

Stealth
Being part of the Metal Gear franchise, you'd expect some form of stealth ops in this game. However, stealth play in this game is completely optional, you are not forced to sneak around. However, if you do choose to, you will find it mildly boring or highly amusing. There's no crouching or 'prone' movements to help you feel stealthy, which I personally don't like. I wont spoil for when it's fun, you will see while playing!

Collectables
There are numerous VR Training terminals hidden throughout the game world, as well as many item boxes and 'easter eggs'. By easter eggs, I may or may not be refering to naughty posters on the wall. Ahem.

Pros
* Great, stylish combat
* Excellent story
* Fantastic environments
* Music. The music in MGR:R is amaaaaazzzzzziiiiiiiinnnnnnnnng. I'm not even joking!
* Extensive upgrade system with multiple skins and weapons to purchase (with ingame credits)
* Epic boss battles
* Amazing visuals

Cons
* I've found you are unable to use 1920x1080 resolution - it defaults to 1280x720 even after selecting 1920x1080.
* No mouse binds (but you can live without that, really)
* At first you're thrown into the deep end. This can lead you to getting overwhelmed until you learn the combat system.
* Somewhat useless sub-weapons (grenades etc)

Conclusion
I personally haven't finished the game yet (currently on the last boss.. what I think is the last boss. Pre-DLC) but from what I've experienced thus far is a rollercoaster of fun, style and joy. The music brings the battles to life and the combos are so well animated. There are a lot of variety of enemies to keep your wits going and pulse beating while trying to hit those massive combo numbers and parrying at that crucial moment to avoid breaking the combo chain.

If you like the genré of hack 'n' slash this game will be a very nice addition to your collection. I highly recommend it.