Metal Gear Online is a strange beast, as is anything MGS.  Konami’s flagship online version of Mr. Kojima’s world is not as ubiquitous as its big MGS4 brother.  It seems completely polarizing, as most people who experience MGO seem to either love it or hate it.  A slower, more tactical game with a somewhat steep learning curve, it is essentially the move set from Metal Gear Solid 4, used in online matches between 2-16 players.  The SCENE expansion DLC follows that aesthetic and, like the MGO team’s other efforts, there’s a lot of value in the content; if you can ignore technical setup annoyances, which can mar the overall excitement of getting some new DLC.

Like the new gear, the SCAP rule, new skills and emblems all come with the actual update, and can be utilized without purchasing SCENE. Solo Capture is exactly what it sounds like, just like capture-the-kerotan, but you are alone in your endevour. The new skills will come in handy but will take some grinding: CQC EX is earned by perfrorming a CQC attack 200 times with CQCMasteryLvl.3 equipped. When equipped, CQC EX automatically counters enemy cqc attacks.

Toughness can be earned by getting owned, as it is earned via recieving knockdown 100. Toughness skill helps resists knockdown and reduces recovery time when knocked out. Charm is another useful tool: the skill is earned by getting 'distracted' (i.e. by a magazine) 100 times, and with Charm equipped, a player causes distraction, in the way the Mei Ling's special attribute will do the same. Its like being a walking magazine, and Charm not only causes the effect upon holding a salute, but also randomizes Salute animations.

SCENE’s new maps are focused a bit more on interior space, flanking, and chokepoints than previous map packs.  This does not eliminate sneaking.  On the contrary, the interior spaces in all of the three maps are primed for sneaking soldiers through twisting multiple flank paths for some fun results.  There are still open areas in these new maps but they balance (and sometimes tip over) via a heavy dose of indoors run-n-gun.  The new environments aren't nearly as visually stunning as the starter pack or previous expansions, but they are top notch in technical build and level of detail.

 

‘Hazard House’ is a large, three level mansion which encourages close combat.  While there would be an emphasis on sneaking here, it actually pans out to become more frenetic, choke-point combat.  Run-n-gun style players may enjoy this map, but opponents playing as Vamp or Raiden can quickly end campers and snipers outside the walls of the Palace (more on those later).  “HH” is a fun map for certain styles of play and has insane interior detail. While Im not a run-n-gun player, this one is more tactical than Outer Outlet and I had alot of fun with it.

 

‘Ravaged Riverfront’ is essentially two towers on opposite sides and a series of twisting paths buried beneath the whole affair.  While it seems small at game start, the large amount of interior space soon makes for some interesting options.  RR will satisfy any style of player.  It’s a natural for snipers, but they will need to remain alert, as they will often abandoned by their respective teams while ground runners fight over control of the central bridge.  If you enjoy the thought of swimming underwater to the enemy side, sliding silently out of the river and cutting someone’s throat before they turn around, you will enjoy this map quite a bit.

‘Outer Outlet’ is a commercial mall of sorts, and is a good mix of short and medium range combat, although It feels rather generic in layout. While O.O has a great sense of verticality within a closed space, this unfortunately does not translate well into the actual firefights, as shooting from higher up is thwarted by a lack of sightlines. Discouraging repetetive camping may be the point here, but spawnpoints right behind barely-closed doors cause alot of 'surprise, your dead!' moments and so that plan backfires. If hosts dont select this map for too long, it can be fun, but O.O. is currently my least favorite map in MGO. Good for Timebomb missions, but again, use sparingly.

Vamp’s key advantages are his speed of movement and dodging, as well as the ability to ‘resurrect’ (ie: respawn) exactly where the character died on the given map.  He can also jump to places that all other characters would need another player to ‘Co-op boost’ them to, and can fall or jump from higher elevations without taking damage.  Vamp wields the standard combat knife, as well as throwing knives, so lack of heavier ranged weapons means he is rather underpowered in all but close combat.  He can still dazzle with close knife-play while dodging a few bullets, and certainly makes a speedy getaway.  He is fun to play as, yet dies just as easily as a standard soldier and as usual, is no match for Raiden.  Vamp is primarily a distraction in combat, but because of speed and resurrection, would be more suited to a game of capture-the-Keratin.

Raiden is the heaviest wildcard in the whole MGO collection, as he is very overpowered.  While a squad-sized team of soldiers can easily surround him and take him out, it will often take that many opponents ganging up to dispatch him, especially when controlled by a skilled player.  He has the knife-throwing, high-jumping, no-injury-from-high-falling grace that Vamp has, but with some added bonuses.  Raiden’s visor allows players to see traps such as enemy claymores and the like, mimicking the “Sixth Sense” Skill perk.  As a cyborg ninja he is overpowered chiefly due to his weapons array.  With the High Frequency Blade, he has significant reach over any other player using blades or CQC, including Vamp’s knife.  Not only does the HF blade easily deflect frontal enemy fire, but Raiden also carries his own SMG, making him a killing machine at even medium-long range.

 

Its pretty intense to watch a player cast as Raiden walking directly toward you, as you empty clip after clip into his blurring sword swings, knowing full well he’s going to dice you up with the HF Blade.  His existence in MGO comes off as a way to completely turn the tables at any given time in any match; a sort of ‘X factor’ that can swing the game in the opposite direction.  With him and Vamp together on the new maps, an interesting ‘everybody stand back’ dynamic emerges in the frenetic mix; the combination creates a more run-n-gun approach with the new maps, while also reinforces the need for long-range players to keep their distance from both of these menacing new characters.

 

The main caveat of anything MGO related is in Konami’s proprietary download and profile schemes.  Its awesome.  And by awesome I mean it totally sux.  While the actual wait isn’t any longer than PSN content download and install times, the surrounding password entries, etc. must all be spot-on, and can also be hard to navigate.  Any mistake and your back at the beginning of the process, so it feels more like buying a book on Amazon than it does the effortless money throw that is PSN DLC purchase.  If you stick it out, it’s worth the hassle; but dont torture yourself by getting one at a time.  If you like the core MGO game, get the updates over with in one shot via the bundle.

 

Gameplay: 87 – While the newest maps aren’t my favorite, two out of the three are great spaces that support all types of play styles.  The new characters can change game dynamics considerably when used correctly.  Patch Fixes in the update DLC (which unlocks access to SCENE pack prior to purchase) also improve online performance with several fixes that prevent lag switch cheating.

Graphics: 89 – MGO is always about details.  Objects are solid and well built.  Environmental effects are nice and characters are large and robust.  Lag is comparable or slightly higher than other online games, but both can be preempted by viewing the handy ping meter on every game server and every player at a glance.  Why doesn’t every online game have this ?!

Audio: 80 – Weapon and environmental sounds are top notch as always.  More people need to use mics, and…can we get some new “dying sounds” please?

Fun Factor: 88 – Playing the new characters is great and the environments are rich.  This would have been a 93 were it not for the continued laborious task of buying content via Konami’s proprietary mess they call an online architecture.

Lasting Appeal: 90 – At $10, the single SCENE pack is slightly above average as map/character packs go.  However, at $20 for the entire MGO expansion collection, SCENE is a great value when purchased with all its companion DLC.

OVERALL: 87