Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is one of the most refreshing games I’ve played.

Spoilers ahead, if you haven’t played it do yourself a favor and play it.

Context, I have played a LOT of games. Too many to count. Recently I’ve decided to to dig into the backlog of games I have that I’ve been pushing off and decided to start with Metal Gear Rising (MGR). MGS3 is one of the best games I have ever played and still in my top 5, so my expectations were decently high and it still exceeded them.

The gameplay is where this game shines the most. Kojima is known for making absolutely crazy stories, ones that just are so far out yet still so amazing to experience. The whole story feels like a fever dream. The final boss, Senator Armstrong, is barely talked about for the entire game, shows up in the last 90 minutes, most of which being a cutscene, and still lands right on the dot of being an amazing antagonist and a stellar boss fight.

Gameplay is where this game differs from other MGS games. This game is a beat’em’up hack and slash fest and it is incredible. It’s punchy, satisfying, the controls are tight, and it all feels fantastic. The game makes you heal by slicing your opponents and taking their insides and crushing them for your health. And does it perfectly. The upgrades make you hit harder, get more life, more fuel to slice enemies, new weapons, customization, etc. It’s incredible.

The soundtrack is one of, if not the best video game soundtrack ever. The entire game is a massive adrenaline rush. Especially for the final boss fight. The games first boss has you jumping from rocket to rocket as this crazy fast intense music plays. It’s like playing one of those super over the top animes with cheesy dialogue, but it brings the game so much charm.

The game is unfortunately pretty short. I beat it in under 4 hours, but this game is infinitely replay-able. The boss fights are all unique and super fun and intense. I never felt cheated during a boss fight and they were all fair and super fun at the same time. If you haven’t played this game, you HAVE to play it. I’d confidently rate it a 9.5/10.