The story behind the Metal Gear Solid Board Game is sort of as wild because the plot of a Metal Gear game, that includes a combine of delays and licensing points, with odds stacked in opposition to it ever seeing the sunshine of day earlier than being rescued (very similar to Solid Snake rescuing Gray Fox) by CMON Games. But at long final, this cardboard adaptation of the Hideo Kojima masterpiece has lastly reached the lots. From sneaking round in cardboard bins to dynamic and thrilling boss fights, the game’s tactical stealth gameplay has efficiently made the leap from video games to board games. However, the entire bundle isn’t with out its faults, leaving me feeling each happy and let down on the identical time.
Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game is a campaign-style board game that retells the story of the first Metal Gear Solid game, initially launched on the PlayStation in 1998. Designed for one to 4 gamers (no less than based on the field; more on that beneath), the game has gamers transfer plastic miniature variations of sequence favorites like Meryl, Otacon, Cyborg Ninja Gray Fox, and Solid Snake himself by means of 14 eventualities that includes iconic moments from the game, such because the confrontation with Ocelot, altering the PAL Keycard, and, of course, taking out REX.
Unfortunately, there’s one vital omission that didn’t make the cut: the ultimate confrontations between Solid and Liquid usually are not recreated as playable eventualities. It’s a bummer that neither the barehanded fight on high of REX nor the Jeep escape is included. Perhaps the builders couldn’t discover a solution to steadiness or clarify a 4v1 battle on REX or work out how the escape would work with all current characters. Instead, they've opted to finish on the high be aware of a dramatic and memorable team-up in opposition to Metal Gear REX. But within the meantime, the fan group round this game has you coated. Over on BoardGameGeek, user @Geoff907 and their spouse devised and printed their own distinctive Stage 15 for this game so that you can check out, in case you simply completely need to get some of that shirtless fist-fight action into your game.
If you go for the more costly “Integral Edition,” the remaining of the story bits that aren't advised by means of gameplay are as an alternative offered in a placing 109-page graphic novel with artwork by comedian artist Kenneth Loh. It's reminiscent of the scenes in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker or the Digital Graphic Novels on PSP. But MGS wouldn’t be MGS with out its CODEC calls. These little burst transmissions between Snake and his assist workforce have been faithfully tailored to this new format, with prompts directing gamers to particular calls within the included Codec Book, in addition to pre and post-scenario briefings. I notably respect the care the builders have taken to make them simply as campy but informative as these within the video game. For instance, Snake refers to how many actions he can take or provides tips on beating Psycho Mantis involving “Player 2”-like trickery. Even as a game made of cardboard and cube, this nonetheless feels distinctly Metal Gear.
Regarding gameplay, gamers take up to 4 actions per flip, chosen from these listed on their character’s distinctive participant boards. As eventualities progress, gamers unlock new tools, from Snake’s favourite sidearm, the Socom, to the enduring cardboard field, which can be utilized in future eventualities. This tools expands every character’s ability pool, successfully replicating the video game’s “procure on-site” philosophy. Once gamers take their actions, it’s time for the enemies to behave. Both generic guards and executives have action playing cards that dictate their actions and behaviors, which might change relying on whether or not they’ve noticed the participant. Guards even have a separate response deck utilized in numerous conditions, resembling recognizing a knocked-out guard or investigating a noise.
Boss encounters pose their own distinctive challenges, forcing you out of your consolation cardboard field and requiring you to suppose in your toes. Each boss fight feels distinct, from Revolver Ocelot darting round whereas bouncing bullets off partitions to the Hind D having a number of goal areas to break. Thanks to the game’s tile-based nature, every boss fight takes place on a distinctive, massive board with particular parts affecting the encounter. For instance, in Ocelot’s area, the injured Kenneth Baker will be hit and killed, including a new solution to set off a game over. These particular tweaks solely improve the joy and rigidity of the encounters, as they’re hardly ever designed to favor the gamers.
This factor of randomness stored me on my toes, by no means figuring out precisely how far guards would transfer or which approach they’d flip. The added cube rolls for checking if my actions made noise or if enemy photographs would hit me resulted in an expertise that balanced strategy with luck. There have been a number of moments the place I held my breath as I pulled a guard motion card, ready to see if I’d be noticed. I by no means felt the game was unfair, however I additionally by no means anticipated it to be variety. Metal Gear does a excellent job balancing strategy and luck.
While the field suggests the game will be performed with up to four players, no less than for the marketing campaign mode, I wouldn’t advocate going past two gamers. Personally, I discovered enjoying it as a solo board game provided the most effective expertise. Each situation specifies which of the 4 playable characters can be utilized, with the primary two eventualities playable solely by Snake. Only 5 eventualities in the complete marketing campaign permit for 4 gamers (with no missions designed for three players), and the primary four-player mission doesn’t seem till the ninth situation.
From a narrative standpoint, this is sensible. It wouldn’t be logical for Snake to infiltrate Shadow Moses with Gray Fox at his aspect or for Otacon to deal with Vulcan Raven alone. But from a board game perspective, this limitation considerably impacts the expertise, making it exhausting to persuade my MGS-loving buddies to play when just one of them may take part in most of the game, whereas the others needed to watch for the previous few missions. I’d have cherished to see non-compulsory modifiers permitting further characters in two-player eventualities or “What if?” eventualities offering alternate viewpoints and participant counts.
To the game’s credit score, the builders addressed this concern by permitting up to 4 gamers within the “VR Missions” mode. This further mode, which incorporates its own set of particular unlockable tools playing cards,
has its own caveat: a lack of content material. The included VR Missions ebook options six mission sorts – Recon, Escape, and Sabotage, amongst others – however every kind has just one related map format. While some tokens and traps could change between periods, and you may swap in a boss mannequin for additional problem, the guard layouts and targets stay the identical. With the map by no means altering, as soon as you already know what to do, the mode shortly loses its luster. I hope that CMON or the group releases inventive and enjoyable new maps and missions to maintain issues contemporary.
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