Preview: Metal Gear Online (PS3)

Japan is hardly known for its outward-looking developers, particularly in the online multiplayer sphere, most being content with appeasing an undemanding native audience while leaving much grinding of teeth among Western gamers raised on a diet of integrated clan support, easily managed friends lists and intensive RPG-like reward models in everything from racers to FPSes. Metal Gear Solid 4's bundled sister-game Metal Gear Online goes some ways to break the stereotype, but as the recent public beta test shows, in many respects Japanese online titles are still in the dark ages.

First impressions are of a genetically-engineered hybrid of Gears of War, Call of Duty 4 and Metal Gear. The new control system it shares with its single-player sibling is a revelation after the clunky controls of Metal Gear Solid 3, though contending with three separate view modes may try some gamers' patience. An RPG-lite enhancement system allows players to specialise according to their preferred weapons and fighting styles, and extra character-customisation options will be unlocked as players climb the experience tree. So far, so reassuring, but the bizarre implementation of online play could be a complete deal-breaker.

Foregoing such niceties as carrying over your PlayStation Network ID and friend list, Konami have seen fit to build an entirely separate online environment from scratch. Clan-creation, instant messaging and a hefty buddy list are available and work almost as well as they should, bar occasional gaffs such as the inability to add offline friends, but simply getting into the service in the first place is a game in itself. No less than three separate user IDs are needed to begin playing online- one to access the Konami ID service, one to sign into MGO, and the all-important Character Name to identify yourself in-game. Without substantial forethought many first-time players will likely wind up with a final Character Name different from their PSN identity, and have to actively hunt down their online buddies via email, web forums and whatever other arcane system they have available to them before any sort of friend-related fun can happen.

Straightforward it certainly isn't, and with strong competition from the likes of Call Of Duty and GTA IV for gamers' online hours it may well be the title's undoing. The voracious Metal Gear fan base will still lap up MGO with enthusiasm after Metal Gear Solid 4 has been dealt with, but any online title requires a community willing to invest into it for the long term, something that seems very unlikely unless Konami reconsiders how its online service is implemented. With just over one month to go before release, we can only hope for some radical changes.

Words by Colin Whiteside