Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance gets a release date

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that it will release Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in North America and South America on February 19, 2013.

Developed by Kojima Productions and Platinum Games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance takes the renowned Metal Gear franchise into exciting new territory by focusing on delivering an all-new action experience unlike anything that has come before. The title brings two of the world’s most respected teams together with a common goal of providing players with a fresh synergetic experience that combines the best elements of pure action and epic storytelling, all within the expansive Metal Gear universe.  Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance introduces Raiden as the central character; a child soldier transformed into a cyborg ninja, equipped with a high-frequency katana blade and a soul fuelled by revenge.

In the near future, cyborg technology has become commonplace throughout society. Three years have passed since the collapse of the Patriots system that had been secretly controlling the global power balance from the shadows. However, peace remains elusive. The dissemination of cybernetic technology has triggered instability and conflict as those who control the trade gain increasing power. Furthermore, large ‘Private Military Companies’, or PMCs, that had been supported and controlled by the Patriots have collapsed, spawning countless rogue entities with origins to larger criminal organizations. These renegade PMCs employing cyborg technology have become increasingly more disruptive shifting policy and power at will. As a member of the peace-keeping PMC ‘Maverick Security’, Raiden lives by the mantra of protecting and saving lives. But as the world plunges further into asymmetric warfare, the only path that leads him forward is rooted in resolving his past, and carving through anything that stands in his way.

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The game marks a big change in the Metal Gear franchise. Instead of the stealth gameplay and badass protagonist the series is famous for, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance goes for more of a spectacle action game with big flashy combos and intense fights, much like games like Devil May Cry, God of War and Platinum’s previous game, Bayonetta. As for the protagonist, the game is forgoing anyone named Snake and instead, is choosing to go with Raiden.

Raiden first made his debut in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game had Solid Snake as a decoy protagonist for the first couple of hours of the game and switched the focus to Raiden for the rest of the game. Raiden was widely hated for being an extremely whiny character, as opposed to the extremely badass Solid Snake, who is the main protagonist of the series. Not much is known about what happened to Raiden between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, where he returns halfway through the game as a cyborg ninja.

During the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, Raiden helps Solid Snake defeat the Patriot system who have taken over the world and spread war and panic all over to drive the new “War Economy” that would be run by mercenaries and soldiers buying weapons.

Konami has also started hiring developers to work on a Metal Gear Solid 5, which will see the return of Solid Snake.