People far more eloquent than me have written tens of thousands of words about both the politics of Metal Gear in general and specifically the politics of Rising. I don't wanna waste my time or yours trying to sound smart about geopolitical issues, so i'm just not gonna bother; however, goddamn if the early 2000s-ass aesthetic of this game doesn't so perfectly mesh with the final exclamation point of ripping out an American Senator's heart and crushing it like you're an anime character from an edgy 80s OVA. The nu-metal soundtrack captures this seething rage that I'd like to believe a lot of us feel towards a political landscape that we have little-to-no tangible power over. Somehow, by putting this project in the hands of Platinum, their bombastically stupid style of storytelling was able to make the politics of Metal Gear even more pointed that the rest of the franchise. Instead of more lofty, grandiose ideas, like "heroes are made by the times" or "genes, be them our DNA or the memetic kind, do not decide who we are as people", we get "the military industrial complex is a fucking nightmare that destroys nations and their people on a daily basis and the United States is kinda the main ones propagating it" in bold text across the screen. You can also give Raiden a poncho and sombrero and it's a good lock in combination with his cyborg stiletto heels.

Reviewed on May 22, 2023


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