Ac!d is, for want of a better description, a tactical card game. Now before you rip up your preorder docket and go for a refund, the concept is not as inane as it might sound. Rather than allowing you to sneak for a while and/or blast through the rest of the way gung-ho, there's a much greater emphasis on stealth and tactical thinking. In all, the game is a hybrid of the Metal Gear world, chess and deck-based card games.
As with all card games, there are rules. The rules of this game are quite complex and initially baffling, but those who actually read the manual and are able to get their head around them will find a very deep and engaging game with numerous possibilities.
Fire Away!
The basic premise is that the players will reprise the role of the perennial hero, Solid Snake and work their way through a series of levels. Each level is like a huge gameboard with many grids or squares. The entire map is viewable and allows you to see the positions of enemies and points of interest, all in the name of planning your strategy. Most of your actions and movements will be governed by the cards that you have in a deck. There are several different types of cards (movement, weapon, item etc.) and have the options: use, equip and move. The use option will activate the card’s function and there are plenty of functions to go round. Equipping goes two ways: you can equip weapons, or equip items that will help you in tight situations.
Every card can be used to move across the grid towards the objective, but each has different uses. Your moves are turn-based, so to determine who goes next, you go by ‘cost’. This concept is slightly obscure and creates one of the main learning curves of the game. Each card has a set cost. For each card you use, the cost is added up during your turn. At the end of your turn, the player (yours or CPU) with the lowest preceding cost will go next. At the end of each turn, everybody’s cost has two points deducted, until it gets to zero.
Knock Knock ... Who's There?
As with the older Metal Gears, the game is split into levels, that last from anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours. At the end of the level, your score is added up and ranked. High ranks can win you new cards. Cards can also be bought and found in levels. Konami has experience with card games, and the deck management here is quite well-structured and fuss-free. In all, there's 204 cards that give a great variety of insights into the world of Metal Gear. It’s part of the fun just to check out what card aspects can be recognised from the rest of the series.
Amazingly, the developers have managed to conjure a complex system, but also one that can very accurately simulate the actual play from MGS. You can do almost anything you could in the console games. Lean against walls and knock to get attention, punch out or sneak past guards, disturb security cameras; the lot. There are plenty of cards designed with this in mind. For example, there are cards that allow you to hang from rails, climb over crates and so forth. The game is primed for stealth action. The main concern is that the game is designed for and rewards you for stealth and tactics. The gung-ho approach will seldom be as successful as some people may have become accustomed to.
The stealth action is great but unfortunately, the combat has a diluted feeling. It’s hardly intense, as it ends up boiling down to turn-based face-offs. There are two categories of weapons, one where you use straight away and ones that you equip. The used weapons are discarded after usage but are simple and effective. The 'equip' weapons are ambiguous in use, but can be used to 'counter' if an enemy attacks you. The handy aspect of the system is that there are cards that you can equip that will make your weapons more accurate, or that will give you the chance to dodge an attack. You can’t sneak up and knock out enemies per se, though you still need to get rid of them quickly because the game is at it's worst when you're swarmed by enemies in an alert sequence. This is primarily because it is difficult and cumbersome to get out of some of these scenarios.
Baby you can light my fire
The card system is amazingly well-structured and gives the player a very unique experience. However, it’s also very complex and even ambitious. This can make for flaws and frustrations. Namely, the system is very strict. There is little you can do outside of it and if you don’t follow the system, you’re going to be in trouble. The game is still relatively 'open', but not to the extent people may be used to. Sneaking is great but with the firefights, the developers missed a trick. Using some weapons is fine, but the 'equipping' aspect just doesn’t work as it should, and nor is it explained particularly well in the game. You have a small grid for equipping weapons and items but there is a wooly system know as ‘interference’. It affects where you equip your weapons (eg. increasing or decreasing attack power) but is entirely unnecessary and feels more like an afterthought.
The game is paced very slowly in comparison to an action game and this is something that not everyone will accept. As the immediate enemy threats have their turns calculated, you wait. Planning and often executing moves will take time. Rushing into things will cause mistakes to be made. However, you can save your game at most intervals, so it’s not too bad if you need to halt on the fly. The camera control is a tad cumbersome, as some important level features can be easily missed. It becomes a problem when the way out of the level is being obscured.
Snake goes deep under cover in search of his lucky dime
However, while there will be people who won’t want anything to do with this, people who enjoy card-based games will definitely be able to get past the flaws. A lot of mistakes that are made are the fault of the player, rather than the game. The beauty here is that with the Metal Gear background, patient and forgiving gamers will find a great tactics and stealth adventure lurking within Ac!d.
The story is typically Metal Gear, though not entirely within the known universe of the franchise. While some MG fans will be easily turned off, those who stay the course are in for an absolute treat. The cards cover pretty much everything there is in the MG world, and there are direct references to past games littered through out.
Excellent Artwork
Graphically, the game is not far off MGS2 and is a stellar achievement for the PSP. Models and environments are surprisingly detailed and even varied. Though there aren’t many CG’s in full 3-D, and a bit of slowdown is present when things get hectic, the animated in-game stills are absolutely fantastic. The renowned art style of the series manages to shine brightly on the card designs, static cut-scenes and the whole game in general. There are no voices but there are many of the classic MG tunes played at the appropriate time. They’re quite rich and very gratifying to listen to.
Overall, Metal Gear Acid won’t please everyone. Despite the odd flaw, the card system is brilliantly conceived, even though the development team themselves admit to having been a bit rushed. Due to this and the fact that this game is Metal Gear, it's one of the most enjoyable and accessible card games ever made. It’s probably the deepest and meatiest of the PSP launch titles, with plenty of replay value, and it’s a great game for long trips. For those that can handle the pace, the required cranial churning and the rules, there's a deep, fascinating and unique title waiting to be discovered.
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