Metal Gear Survive is a new game coming out developed by ‘Konami’. It’s coming out 20th of February on the Xbox One, Play Station 4 and PC. Metal Gear Survive is off course from the Metal Gear series; it’s a spin-off and it’s going in a different direction from the others. The top priority here is survival. Let’s take a look.

Now Metal Gear Survive spins-off from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. So the “intense” action from Metal Gear Solid V is being inserted into the survival action style. Honestly Metal Gear Survive seems more like a survival action tower defence as the game places emphasis strategic decisions like where to place defensive units. Why do you need defensive units? Well that because in this world there are dangerous creatures and environmental hazards that will end you real quick.

Basically here’s the story. It’s 1975 Big boss and his soldiers were at ‘Mother base’ but was attacked by an enemy force known as ‘XOF’. Big boss and his boys put up a fight but eventually lost. Big boss escaped but a worm hole opens above the base and sucks everything in. The soldier who helped big boss escape almost gets sucked in. That soldier loses consciousness and wakes up six months later. Too cut it shorter, he is infected and so heads to that dimension where the worm hole leads to find a cure and rescue those who are stuck there. What could possibly go wrong?

There are two modes in Met Gear Survive: Single player  and online co-op multiplayer. Both modes are technically needed. This is because in single player, you get to go through the Metal Gear Survive story, to know what’s going on while learning the basics of the gameplay mechanics and more. While in Online co-op, that’s where gamers have to use their skills and everything they learned from single player and see just how good they are. It’s there where you are put to the test. Now we know their are so called ‘fans’ who don’t care about the story and go straight to multiplayer so they get a head start… not here. All rewards and progress earned in both single player and multiplayer are carry over and apply in both of the modes. So you won’t fall behind.

Metal Gear Survive in single player, is more adventurous, you could say. Now we know there are creatures that will end your adventure real quick but they aren’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem is in fact hunger and thirst. So make sure to find food and water around otherwise it’s game over. What’s cool is that you can get food and water straight from your base camp. For example grow crops to get vegetables. Off course this all must be managed. Creatures can wound you and that wound must be treated as quickly as possible. Same goes for illnesses which you can get through eating contaminated food. Yep, metal Gear Survive isn’t messing around.

The other big problem is the mist. Mist is pretty much everywhere and it’s off course deadly and extremely hazardous. Good thing players have oxygen tanks to use so they can travel through it but keep an eye on how much oxygen you have left because it isn’t unlimited. Matter of fact… Oxygen is not included. Don’t forget that these creatures are also in the mist as well and the oxygen doesn’t stop being used when in combat, it still goes down so players again have to be strategic and decide whether it’s better to engage in combat or sneak around. Multiple trips are recommended in single player as there are many secrets and materials to find. So be brave and get out there. 

Now in co-op there is a lot to do and it’s more action and defence here. There are Salvage missions and side missions to consider. In salvage missions your teams aim is to place and set up a worm hole digger which harvests energy. Off course it isn’t going to be easy. Now side missions pop up from time to time. Be careful though, as you don’t want everyone to leave the base to go for a side mission. We at X35 Earthwalker recommend going for these in between waves and split your team to be on the safe side. Some stay and maintain the base while others complete the side mission. they are worth it though as the rewards you get like items and good weapons are key to defending your base here.

It doesn’t stop there, how do you defend a base without defences? You can set up machine guns and even mortars to handle creatures with ease, especially if they come in a group. There are also traps available which are perfect for thinning out hordes and slowing them down. Take away that momentum. structures like fences are pretty much the most useful thing in the game. They keep the words at bay and allow you to strike them while they are halted by the great power of… the fence. Sandbag barricades are structures don’t just block enemies but players can stand on them, receiving the advantage of elevation. This all sounds fun.

Off course you can craft weapons and items and even build and design the base how you want. This is also a big decision as the design layout. You can make things easy for yourself or hard. Gather materials to develop and improve your base camp. This also falls under management. So upgrade, reinforce and find those crafting recipes to bring out the real fire power.

We checked out some gameplay and everything looks really cool and how we imagined it but we didn’t expect some of those types of traps. It was funny to see a trap that is slippery and makes everything slip right past. Kind of like a cartoon. Very creative. The building of structures like fences seems very simple and quick which is what you need in a game like that. The creatures so far do not look impressive at all. There are three types so far: Wanderer, Bomber and Tracker. Wanderers are the standard zombie like ones. Bombers are big swollen ones that can explode and trackers have enhanced legs which they use to move fast and jump high, even over the fences you built. Making them a problem.

Overall Metal Gear Survive looks cool and is an interesting spin-off that works. Off course fans will divided on this direction but we will see. The graphics look excellent, the visuals look real good. Off curse there is time to add more to the game and give it more meat because there is quite a lot they can do with this game. The developers, ‘Konami’ did a great drop with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what metal Gear Survive has to offer. Now wanders and mist are a big problem but they ain’t too big for… the ‘Earth Walk!’