Parent's Guide: Metal Gear Rising: Revengence - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a third-person action game with a focus placed on sword and gun-based combat. The game is fairly linear and doesn't offer too much in the way of exploration, so players will generally not find themselves getting lost. Goals are clearly signposted and there are plenty of checkpoints to ensure that you won't spend hours backtracking should Raiden happen to die.

But whilst the levels are easy to navigate, the game itself, when played on any setting above 'Easy' is very challenging. The combat system is complex and requires skilful timing and co-ordination, not to mention some serious analogue stick skills. Similarly, enemies become increasingly difficult, and each type will generally require a different tactic to defeat. This is reversed somewhat in 'Easy' mode, with easier to defeat enemies, and an option to 'auto-parry' enemies' attacks, making combat more palatable for younger players.

Most of the dialogue in the game is spoken, so reading is generally not too much of an issue outside of menu screens, however, younger players may be put off by the somewhat complex controls, especially when it comes to combat. The game's difficulty increases as the plot unfolds and, though rarely unfair, any players not experienced with high paced action games like this will be better suited to 'Easy' mode to begin with.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance features quite a large amount of violence. Your aim is to essentially kill everything in sight, and you'll often do so by slicing enemies into pieces. Many of the enemies are mechanized or robotic in some way, but the game makes it very clear that there is a human element to many of them and blood, while not splashed around by the bucket load, is still fairly plentiful.

However, there is also always a stylistic element to everything that happens, and you won't be getting the same levels of visceral violence that is present in games like Dante's Inferno or God of War. Other than that, there is some swearing in the script, with occasionally uses of 'f***' and 's***'. However, the swearing is not excessive and swear words are generally used in the more stressful situations the characters may find themselves in.

The game does deal with some fairly mature issues though. The story is based around the use of child soldiers and the dehumanisation of the cybernetic enemies you face off against. Some younger gamers may be disturbed by such themes, especially when the game humanises the enemies by allowing Raiden to hear their fearful thoughts and pleading as he slices them to pieces. It could be quite distressing for some, especially as it means that the player is no longer simply killing enemies without any thought.

The game is generally more violent than traditional Metal Gear fare, simply due to the style of game. However, it is not graphic to a particularly disturbing degree. Similarly the plot, whilst dealing with some fairly adult themes, is no more difficult to digest than other games in the series so it is a fairly safe bet than anybody who is comfortable playing Metal Gear Solid 4 will be comfortable playing Revengeance.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Xbox 360