Metal Gear Survive exists in a strange state of affairs. Given that Konami are viewed with contempt by a vocal online audience following their split with Hideo Kojima over Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, the publisher's upcoming spin-off finds itself trying to find a following amongst a tough crowd.
Recent matters haven't helped, either. This weekend's beta was met with a mixed reception and, in an interview with GameSpot, Konami also revealed that Metal Gear Survive has an always online requirement and micro-transactions that can boost a player's XP in-game.
Always-online DRM has never exactly been a crowd-pleaser of a feature amongst the gaming community (Microsoft famously u-turned on the idea for the Xbox One after it kicked up such a huge fuss from press and players alike), but Konami has tried to justify its decision by explaining that the requirement allows for a more seamless experience between singleplayer and multiplayer.
Still, Producer Yuji Korekado did confirm in an interview with our very own sister publication, Official PlayStation Magazine, that "there will not be loot boxes, and there will not be Pay-to-Win types of microtransactions" in Metal Gear Survive.
Whatever the reasoning, this news has only added more fuel to the fire, and Metal Gear fans have already expressed their grievances online, as exemplified by the choice tweets below.
Metal Gear Survive's beta is the quickest I've installed, played and uninstalled a game yet on the PS4. Impressive.January 18, 2018
A reminder that if you buy Metal Gear Survive, that’s a message to Konami that you as a customer have no problem with their always-online, microtransactions-are-cool business model.January 22, 2018
>metal gear survive has micro transactions pic.twitter.com/yPGef9oGLPJanuary 18, 2018
#MetalGearSurvive is kind of like if a record company wanted to make a new David Bowie album, so they hire some guy named Jeb from the local bar because probably no one will notice, right?January 18, 2018
Metal Gear Survive isn't the only recent example of a publisher employing online DRM requirements into its titles, at least on PC. Gears of War 4, For Honor, and even DOOM have DRM criteria in some form or another, but those games weren't fighting an uphill battle in the wake of high profile industry scandal to which they were intrinsically associated with. Short of Hideo Kojima returning to helm Metal Gear Survive and calling it Act III, Konami were always facing a struggle to convince some lapsed MGS fans.
But all this negative hoo-ha isn't to say that none have taken to Metal Gear Survive's unusual transition from stealth action experience to co-op survival romp. In fact, in terms of pure gameplay, some are enjoying it quite a bit.
The Phantom Pain's mechanics work great in a survival context, and it was great to be back in the Fox Engine.Metal Gear Survive was a shitload of fun to play, and I genuinely can't wait for the full game's release.There. I said it.January 17, 2018
Guys. I'm really excited for Metal Gear Survive and Vampyr. Cheers.January 22, 2018
You cannot play Metal Gear Survive expecting to be as good as any other Metal Gear Solid. It's a totally new survival game with references and mechanics of the series and that's great!If it bothers you that it carries the name of METAL GEARdon'tbuyitdon'tplayitJanuary 19, 2018
One does wonder what Kojima himself thinks about the whole thing (answer: probably not much since he's spent a weekend tweeting about Paddington 2 and lunch with Ryuhei Kitamura) and how different a Metal Gear 5 expansion might have looked if he were still in charge.
In any case, Metal Gear Survive will be releasing for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 20 this year. Is being 'always online' a problem? Will you be picking it up? Or has the recent beta put you off for good? Let us know in the comments down below.
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