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Get The MGS: Peace Walker Demo Here Now
With two new games in the works at Kojima Productions, the Metal Gear series has exciting things in store for its fans. Right now, gamers can get a taste of what the future will bring by downloading the demo for the PSP’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
The download, which weighs in at about 102 MB, will allow players to get a glimpse of the story and gameplay they can expect when Peace Walker hits store shelves in May. We’ve already had the chance to run through the demo, and while we’re not sure we agree with series creator Hideo Kojima’s previous assertions that “This game is an MGS 5-class game,” Peace Walker looks like it will deliver an experience that fuses elements from MGS: Portable Ops and MGS 4.
The first sign of this fusion is the two control scheme options. One style, dubbed “shooter,” is designed to emulate MGS 4, with the camera controls mapped to the face buttons. The second style, “action,” is more like Portable ops, with the face buttons performing the actions and the d-pad handling the camera and aiming. You’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with these control options; the first 10 minutes of the demo are a basic “follow the drill sergeant’s orders” tutorial routine.
Once you learn how to move around, watch the opening cutscenes, and meet some key characters, you’ll plow through three missions (one of which is a tank battle!). Each mission takes about 15 to 20 minutes, but you’ll have plenty of reasons to replay them to test out the different features. You can choose different load-outs for Snake designed to accommodate different gameplay styles (sneaking, heavy weapons, etc), and each mission can be played single-player or in the co-op.
We can’t wait to see how Kojima Productions continues to flesh out this period in the series’ timeline. Snake is older and more grizzled (though still voiced by David Hayter), and this game will see him finally assume the mantle he has been reluctant to take since the events of Metal Gear Solid 3…Big Boss.
Now that you’ve killed some time reading our preview, you should probably check your download progress on the demo and experience it for yourself. Do you like it? Hate it? Feel free to post your own impressions in the comments below.
Once you’ve downloaded the file connect your PSP to your PC and unzip the file to the Games directory on your PSP’s Memory Stick. (If you don’t have a Games directory, unzip it to the root folder and it will create one for you.) After that, navigate to the demo on your Memory Stick and have fun!
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