Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was the first game in the franchise to feature an extensive multi player component and Guns of the Patriots continues that with Metal Gear Online. As with most multiplayer experiences you can usually expect to jump into a lobby and start a match. Unfortunately this is not the case with Metal Gear Online, when you do so, you're told to download a lengthy patch to get online two optional patches are available. First off, one of the two patches takes significantly longer than the other and knowing if you took the less time consuming patch is luck of the draw. The less time consuming patch takes anywhere up to 45 minutes where as the second may not even download at all and even when it does it will take twice as long to download. Metal Gear Online is also frequently updated with new content for free which is a good thing but you can only access that content if you take up another tedious and long download.
Once you have completed the inexcusable and tedious download(s), you are given one character slot per PS3 Identity; you are then given access to more character slots. Ironically for what PS3 was free for, you are charged £2.00 for any extra profiles. This is potentially, for most people a scam. Although to be fair you are given a one profile to start with, from which at least you're given ONE profile for free. Afterwards you can start playing dress up with your profile creating your own soldier. Customization doesn't run very deep nor as deep as Rainbow Six Vegas but there's a satisfactory amount to play around with to suit your needs.
The Online features skilled match making, which works out quite well except the range of scoring is quite high in between levels of match making. For example you've just started your first game quickly to be killed multiple times by someone with a long span total play time adding up to half a day. If you don't want to play match-making you can always just play on unranked servers which are named after different protagonists like Big Boss, Liquid or Otacon. There's nothing between them except there just the names of different servers. Score tracking is fairly decent and although I never played this alot, it was quite fast in between matches and reliable.
Game modes follow from Metal Gear 3, you have Metal Gear's take on Search on Destroy where the attackers are invisible. They you need to slowly advance towards the other end of the map where the defenders are guarding a rubber duck (an iconic Metal Gear take on a bomb). Once the rubber duck has been taken, the attackers must then take it back to their base to win the round. Of course the handicap of invisibility might make it too easy so players are given a stun knife and a selected gadget while the defenders are equipped with assault rifles or submachine guns as well as their pistols and gadgets. The players are also still invisible but whoever has taken the duck is going to have a rubber duck floating right on top of them all the way back to your base. Furthermore if by any chance the defenders see the slightest background blemish you're going to be hunted and as if it couldn't get any easier, if the attackers shoot or take someone down, they'll be visible for a few seconds. This provides a equally steady balanced game mode which is tense frantic fun whatever side you're on.
Metal Gear Online also has a mode whereby each player takes turn to be Snake with a handy MK: II. It's Snake against six other members and it's one life per player and last team standing wins or in this case lone wolf or team. Snake is given a higher CQC, more health and various other handicaps. It's another of Metal Gear Online's fun and fresh game modes. Metal Gear Online also has a slightly tweaked Sabotage Mode like Call of Duty and is exactly the same except the fact there's a rubber duck instead of a bomb and of course a duck doesn't need to be defused. So when the duck has been placed in your area, you just have to go in the catchment area of it to stop the timer. This resembles a fast paced version of Sabotage which can also be fun. There's also the basic array of game modes like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag which are all pretty basic and standard.
The core game play remains the same from the single player portion. So it's alot more refined and polished from the last online component of Metal Gear Solid 3. If you couldn't get enough of Metal Gear 3's Online then you'll have alot to like here. Diehard fans of fast paced shooters like Quake and Unreal Tournament are most likely going to be frustrated with the experience because of how slow your character moves. Thinking back to the single player, it was fine. Snakes meant to be slightly slower to confer to his stealth. However you're playing as a Military Soldier, not Snake. Because of your slow rate of movement it would be suicide to run across the centre of a map because the enemy's crosshair would always keep up with your movement. This forces you to act like Snake even though you're a soldier. Hiding in grass and only running to a new location if there's no one in sight is your focused strategy but then of course, people will be hiding in the grass like I said. This then leads to a stalemate, while everyone blends in with their environments and short bursts of fire to lure gullible players into their trap. The controls are also quite slow which further diminishes the chance of any real fast paced action and the fact that you have to use a whole round of gun-fire just to injure someone makes the matches feel generally boring and unexciting.
There are six guns available on a map. If anyone's played Army of Two's Online then you'll know where I'm getting at. You get 200 points every life; this allows you to have the penultimate worst gun of the map. If you get the worst gun at 100 points, you have 100 points to carry onto your tally, so as well as your daily 200 points per life you'll have 300 points as you had 100 points left over from your last life. It's a risk vs reward mechanic which works out quite well. Killing someone gives you 200 points as well. So it depends whether you want to get the worst gun so you can get one of the better guns next time round or if you just want to be a steady eddy. Just because there's six guns on a map, that's not say there's hardly any guns. Anything but, each map has a different load out of guns and in some cases opposite factions have different guns while the damage of the guns is equal. There are about 50 guns but I could be wrong. Players also get to choose any of the three pistols each of which don't require points. Furthermore you're allowed to take upon one gadget whether it's a flash bang or smoke grenade.
Unlike other multiplayer experiences on Playstation 3, Headsets cost money and some players don't want to buy them. Kojima took heed of this and allowed players to use text chat using their controller or even a keyboard. Players can also save the hassle of typing by using quick direct commands like "back me up" or "enemy six o'clock". This really immerses you with the experience, although it can get quite annoying when users just keep saying a direct command every second to annoy you.
The graphics are very well presented, they aren't as detailed as their single player counterpart and lack some texturing but the overall presentation is quite overwhelming. There are at least ten maps, all of which are very detailed and jam-packed suffice to say there's alot of effort put into them. They're the kind of maps which you could play on them for hours and not get bored of them. You shouldn't simply favour one map over another because there all simply fantastic. There's also a significant amount of lighting and shadowing which is also brilliant, the character models aren't very proficient as Gears of War revealed the bar to beat with their character models. Taken all into account you have an overhaul of graphics.
The sound is great, the catchy soundtrack from the main menu to the last minute in sneak missions rises tension. It's alot different to the single player soundtrack which gives it a breath of fresh air. The soundtrack isn't spectacular but it's well crafted and sets a good atmosphere. There are just about as many guns as the single player and each category of guns whether it's a assault rifle or a submachine gun, they sound completely different, but within those categories they aren't as distinct from each other. However most guns are contrasted from each other and feature their own specifications in not just sound but damage and recoil which makes each and every gun satisfying to shoot and that's to say the very least.
Pros
+ Cool "Risk vs Reward" mechanic with in-game guns.
+ Customization is reasonably deep through parallel.
+ Fantastic graphical presentation and variety.
+ Helpful direct commands and text chat immerse you.
+ Jam-packed and thoroughly well designed maps.
+ Wealth of innovative Snaked styled game modes.
Cons
- £2.00 for extra profiles is ironic to what PSN was known for.
- Gameplay is purposely sloppy to what fans will like, others won't.
- The online must be downloaded in order to be accessed.
- Weapon variety in games seems to be lacking.
In conclusion, Metal Gear Online is a steady online experience which continues its single player longevity but only if you're willing to wait an hour to get through to the lobby. Other lingering annoyances such as £2.00 scams and purposely sloppy game play make the experience aimed at die-hard Metal Gear Online fans who find the experience endearing and enriching as they found the predecessors experience.