Unlike the earlier Metal Gear Ac!d games with turn-based strategy gameplay, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is the first actual Metal Gear game on the PSP.
Six years have passed since the events of Snake Eater. The snake was apprehended and imprisoned in an abandoned missile silo in Colombia without assistance. At least not initially. Snake escapes with the help of a fellow prisoner, and the game truly begins.
In practically every way, Portable Ops is a classic Metal Gear game. Anyone who has played previous console entries in the series will recognize the controls. They even carried over CQC (Close Quarters Combat) from Snake Eater, and snake can peek around corners and sneak up behind guards.
The pacing and a few adjustments to the gameplay mechanics set Portable Ops apart (apart from the fact that it’s on the PSP). The game is divided into missions that are specialized to different places. Because most locations are small, seeing “Mission Complete” in minutes is expected. Playing the game in chunks is ideal for the handheld device. If you only have five minutes, pick a short mission, finish it quickly, and saveone. Being able to return to each region whenever you need more supplies ensures that you will keep returning even after you complete your quest.
Gathering supplies is also essential because of the leading new mechanic in Portable Ops: recruiting. While Snake begins on his own, he can gain the help of unhappy guards, dissatisfied technologists, obstinate doctors, and others. These soldiers can be deployed in your “Sneaking Unit” (the team you take into battle for each mission) or in one of the several support groups, with specific soldiers naturally gifted in certain areas. If you place someone with medical bonuses in your Medical unit, they can make rations, assist your troops in recovering faster between missions, and do other things. Spies can take the ammo and provide you intel on specific maps, which might open up new side missions or allow you to seize some heavy weaponry. Technicians can develop new equipment for your team.
Missions range from surveillance to rescue to demolitions and beyond. You can only take four troops into a task, one of whom must be Snake. However, you do not need to use Snake at all times during the assignment; he must only be present. You can only control one character at a time while the rest of the team hides in boxes (typically near the entry point). The soldier you use on the battlefield can make a significant difference. You can often circumvent a building’s defenses entirely by playing as a guard. You may quickly go right by the opponent, plant some TNT, and walk away if you don’t do anything to draw notice to yourself.
Several soldiers also have unique skills that come in handy during missions, such as transferring extra stuff you pick up directly to your truck (each character has four inventory spaces) or dragging incapacitated adversaries twice as fast.
With game types like Team Death Match, Death Match, and Capture Mission, the game supports multiplayer for up to six players simultaneously using WiFi Ad Hoc and Infrastructure.
