Guild Wars 2 || Awesome Preview With Trailer

Developer(s)     ArenaNet
Publisher(s)     NCsoft
Director            Mike O'Brien.
Designers          Colin Johanson,Eric Flannum.
Programmer    James Boer.
Artists               Daniel Dociu,Kekai Kotaki.
Writers             Ree Soesbee,Jeff Grubb,Bobby Stein.
Composers      Jeremy Soule.
Series               Guild Wars.
Engine              Guild Wars engine(heavily modified),Havok,Umbra Occlusion.
Platform          Microsoft Windows.
Release date   August 28, 2012.
Genre               MMORPG.
Modes              Multiplayer.
Ratings            ESRB: T,PEGI: 12.               
Media             Optical Disc,Download.

Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in development by ArenaNet. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedicated to fighting the Elder Dragons, a Lovecraftian species that has seized control of Tyria in the time since the original Guild Wars. The game takes place in a persistent world with a story that progresses in instanced environments.[3]

Guild Wars 2 claims to be unique in the genre[4] by featuring a storyline that is responsive to player actions,[5] something which is common in single player role-playing games but rarely (if ever) seen in multiplayer ones. A dynamic event system replaces traditional questing,[6] utilising the ripple effect to allow players to approach quests in different ways as part of a persistent world. 
 

Also of note is the combat system, which aims to be more dynamic than its predecessor by promoting synergy between professions and using the environment as a weapon,[7][8] as well as reducing the complexity of the Magic-style skill system of the original game. As a sequel to Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will feature the same lack of subscription fees that distinguished its predecessor from other commercially developed online games of the time, though a purchase is still required to install the game.

 Gameplay

Guild Wars 2 uses a heavily modified version of the proprietary game engine developed for Guild Wars by ArenaNet. The modifications to the engine include real-time 3D environments,[3] enhanced graphics and animations[10] and the use of the Havok physics system.[3] The developers say the engine now does justice to the game's critically acclaimed[11] concept art, and that concept art will be integrated into the way the story is told to the player.[12]

Guild Wars 2 will allow a player to create a character from a combination of five races and eight professions, the five races being the humans and charr, introduced in Prophecies, the asura and norn, introduced in Eye of the North, and the sylvari, a race exclusive to Guild Wars 2. 

 

The professions, three of which do not appear in Guild Wars, are divided into armor classes: "scholars" with light armor, "adventurers" with medium armor, and "soldiers" with heavy armor.[13] There is no dedicated healing class[14] because the developers felt that making it necessary for every party to have a healing character was restrictive.

The race and profession of the player will determine the skills that he or she has access to. Guild Wars 2, like Guild Wars, uses a skill-based combat system, whereby players must select only 10 skills from a much larger pool, introducing an element of strategy. However, unlike Guild Wars, skill slots have predefined roles, so the first five will be determined by a combination of the player's weapon and profession, the sixth can only be one of a number of healing skills, the seventh through ninth will be skills with no defined roles, and unlocked as the game progresses, and the tenth slot will be for an "elite" skill, which is also initially locked. In a departure from the high number skills present in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will focus on quality of skills over quantity[10] and will also reduce the overall number of game modes to reduce balancing complexity — one of the most common issues present in MMORPG's.

The uniquely low level cap of Guild Wars (20) has been replaced with one capping out at 80, which the developers state strikes the correct balance between allowing for character development and avoiding forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap,[16] the elimination of which was a core design principle of the original Guild Wars. In PvE, grind is combated with a sidekick system, similar to that used in City of Heroes,[16] allowing two players with a large level disparity to normalize their levels and enjoy content as though they were the same level. In PvP, entry to e-sport will grant access to all skills, items and provide a fixed level,[17] so that all players will be on a level playing field.

In addition to the small-scale, tactical combat described above, Guild Wars 2 will feature "World PvP", large scale combat taking place in a persistent world, with players able to drop in and out "on the fly". Players will be able to join this worldwide PvP battle in a variety of roles, with rewards commensurate with their success.

A more elaborate crafting system and other non-combat interactions are also being added to the game.As Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after the original game, players will not be able to carry over their characters from Guild Wars.

 However, the achievements and honors accumulated by all the characters on players' Guild Wars accounts are commemorated in the Hall of Monuments, which appears in Guild Wars: Eye of the North. The Hall of Monuments will also appear in Guild Wars 2, with the monuments in the Hall reflecting the achievements of characters on a linked Guild Wars account. These monuments are worth points that can be used to provide Guild Wars 2 characters with exclusive titles, items, mini-pets, and animal companions.

Plot
Setting
 
Guild Wars 2 takes place in the high fantasy world of Tyria, 250 years after the players' defeat of the Great Destroyer in the Eye of the North expansion. Five so-called Elder Dragons sleeping beneath the continent have awoken in the time since Guild Wars, causing widespread destruction to Tyria and corrupting its inhabitants. The once dominant humans of Tyria are in decline, supplanted from most of their land by natural disasters and war with the charr,[20] who have finally reclaimed the last vestiges of their ancestral homeland of Ascalon from the humans. To the north, the norn, a proud race of Nordic hunters, have been forced south by the rise of Jormag, and in the west, the technologically advanced asura have been forced to establish permanent homes above-ground after the minions of the first dragon to awaken, Primordus, took control of the Depths of Tyria. Near the forests where the asura make their home are the sylvari, a new race who have appeared in Tyria i
n the last 25 years, unaffected by the difficulties that plague the other races but with some as-of-yet unexplained connection to the Elder Dragons.

To the south, the continent of Cantha has been cut off by an isolationist and xenophobic political climate, which is reinforced by Zhaitan's undead navy. 

Elona, too, has been cut off; the only hint of its continued prosperity being the ongoing battle between Palawa Joko's Mordant Crescent and Kralkatorrik in the Crystal Desert, as well as occasional reports from Order of Whispers spies. The Battle Isles have been wiped off the map entirely by the tidal wave caused by the re-emergence of the fallen kingdom of Orr, which came with the awakening of Zhaitan.

The advancement of time from Guild Wars is reflected in the changes in culture, including armor and clothing, as well as in the advancement of in-game technology and a unified common language.
 Story

The player is tasked with reuniting the members of the disbanded Destiny's Edge, a multi-racial adventuring guild whose members' struggles and eventual reunion serve as a microcosmic metaphor for the larger-scale unification of the playable races, whose combined strength is needed to effectively combat Zhaitan, the undead Elder Dragon.

Development

The decision to start creating Guild Wars 2 began in a design meeting for Guild Wars Utopia, back when the company was releasing campaigns on a sixth-month development cycle. The team realised that they would not be able to do everything they wanted within the constraints of the scope that they had previously defined for campaigns and the limited amount of time available to them

and at the behest of Jeff Strain, found themselves discussing how the continued addition of features and content in stand-alone campaigns was leading to more bloated tutorials and difficulty in balancing the ever-increasing number of skills. Eventually, the discussion evolved into a blueprint for an entirely new game.

Work on Guild Wars 2 began in 2007.[25] It was announced March 27, 2007[26] to coincide with the announcement of the final Guild Wars expansion, which was designed to act as a bridge, in both gameplay and story terms, to Guild Wars 2.[23] The development team abandoned the early open alpha and beta testing which they had used for the Guild Wars game. ArenaNet considered that player expectations for open beta tests of MMORPG had changed, and the beta was no longer used to test the game but to trial a nearly finished game prior to purchase. Beta tests scheduled for 2008[27] were cancelled to ensure Guild Wars 2 had maximum impact and appeal to these players.[16]

In August 2009, two years after the game was first announced, ArenaNet decided the game had reached a state where they were happy to show it to the public.

A trailer which mixed animated concept art and in-game footage was released at Gamescom, followed by interviews expanding on the lore of the game world and information about the player races.

In November 2009, NCsoft CEO Jaeho Lee stated the game would most likely not release until 2011, but a closed beta would be made available in 2010.[29] The Q4 2009 shareholders notes further supported this when the CEO stated that "the current development target was the end of 2010 but, Guild Wars 2 likely won't be released until 2011."[30]
A playable demo of the game was made available at Gamescom (19–22 August 2010),[31] Penny Arcade Expo (3–5 September 2010)[31] and Paris Games Week (27 October-1 November 2010).[32]

Guild Wars 2 is being developed for Microsoft Windows with a "very small team" investigating the possibility of a console version.[33]

ArenaNet conducted small closed alpha and beta tests in 2011.[34] On 23 January 2012 it was announced that Guild Wars 2 will ship this year. In February, select press were invited to participate in beta testing. In March and April, the size of beta tests was increased significantly as the beta was made available to anyone who pre-purchased the game.[35]

On June 28, 2012, ArenaNet announced the game would be released on August 28th, 2012 and those who prepurchased the game will be able to play on August 25th.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 || Full Trailer & Preview

Developers         City Interactive.
Publishers          City Interactive.
Distributors       EU Namco Bandai Games.   
Engine                 CryEngine 3.
Platforms           Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
Release dates     NA October 9th, 2012,EU October 9th, 2012.
Genres                First-Person Shooter.
Modes                 Single-Player, Multiplayer.
Ratings               ESRB: M,PEGI: 18.   

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is the upcoming sequel to Sniper: Ghost Warrior. It is under development by City Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and is due for release in October 2012.
 

Plot

The player takes control of Private Security Consultant Captain Cole Anderson in various missions around the world including urban fighting in Sarajevo, tropical jungles in Burma and the mountains of Tibet.

Gameplay

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is a first-person shooter that emplies stealth, hand-to-hand 

assassinations, and titular sniping techniques. Gameplay features realistic bullet physics that factors distance, wind, and bullet drop when sniping targets.

The game will include a multiplayer mode where players take the role of a sniper and engage others in sniping duels. There will also be a co-op mode for two players.

Release

The intial release was scheduled in August of 2012 but Eurogamer revealed the game was pushed back to October. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 will be released in both the normal retail version and a limited "Bulletproof Steelbook Edition" that includes the soundtrack, a booklet of the history of sniping and extra downloadable content.

Counter Strike: global offensive Trailer & Preview

Developers        Valve Corporation,Hidden Path Entertainment.
Publishers         Valve Corporation.
Series                 Counter-Strike.
Engine               Source.
Platforms          Microsoft Windows,Mac OS X,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360.
Release dates    NA August 21, 2012,EU August 21, 2012.
Genres               First-person shooter.
Modes                Multiplayer.
Media                Digital download.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) is an online first-person shooter and third-person shooter currently in development by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment, who also maintained Counter-Strike: Source after its release. It is the fourth game in the Counter-Strike franchise, excluding Counter-Strike: Neo and Counter-Strike: Online.







Global Offensive is targeted for release on 21 August 2012. It will be available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network. It will feature classic content, such as old maps, as well as brand new maps, characters and game modes. It will support matchmaking and leaderboards.

An Elo rating system will prioritize matching players by skill.[4] Cross-platform multiplayer was planned between Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and PlayStation 3 players[4], but was ultimately limited to PC and Mac due to the differences in update frequency between the systems[5]. The PlayStation 3 version will offer three control methods, which include using either the DualShock 3 controller, PlayStation Move or USB keyboard/mouse.

Gameplay
 
Like previous games in the series, Global Offensive is an objective based multiplayer first person shooter. Each player joins either the Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist team and attempts to complete objectives or eliminate the enemy team.

 The game operates in short rounds that end when all players on one side are dead or an objective is completed. Once a player dies they must wait until the round ends to respawn in most game modes. Players purchase weapons and equipment at the beginning of every round with money awarded based on their performance. Completing objectives or killing enemies earns the player money while negative actions, like killing a teammate or hostage, takes money away from the player. In addition, when a round ends all players receive some amount of money, with players on the winning team receiving substantially more.

Global Offensive is planned to launch with Bomb Defusal, Hostage Rescue,[6] and two new game modes called Arms Race and Demolition. These new modes are collectively referred to as "Arsenal mode" and are based on the popular gungame mod for Counter Strike and Counter Strike: Source. Unlike other game modes Arms Race is a deathmatch-based mode where each player is rewarded for each kill with a new weapon, with the first player to get a kill with every weapon in a predetermined set winning the game.[7] Demolition is a round based mode that removes weapon and equipment purchasing, instead rewarding players with a set of progressively weaker weapons for each kill.

Global Offensive adds new weapons and equipment not seen in previous installments, most notably the Molotov cocktail which temporarily covers a small area in fire, making it impossible to pass through without taking damage.

Development

Global Offensive began as a port of Counter Strike: Source to the Xbox 360 by Hidden Path Entertainment. During the development Valve saw the opportunity to turn the port into a full game and expand on Counter Strike's gameplay. Global Offensive began development in March, 2010[10] and was revealed on August 12, 2011.[11]

A lengthy public beta testing phase on the PC will precede Global Offensives's retail release. The closed beta started on November 30th, 2011 and will last until Valve feels the community is satisfied with the state of the game.

The game's retail release will occur when the beta testing phase has concluded. The beta will initially be restricted to around ten thousand people who received a key at events Valve attended to showcase Global Offensive. After issues such as client and server stability are addressed the beta will open up to progressively more and more people (approximately 100,000 beta keys given out as of July 4th, 2012), until the beta becomes open for anybody to join and play.[12] Before the public beta Valve invited professional Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source players to playtest the game and give feedback.[6]

At E3 2012 Valve announced that Global Offensive would be released August 21st on all platforms, with an open beta planned to start roughly a month before the game is released.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted 2 Trailer & First Look

Developers        Criterion Games.
Publishers         Electronic Arts.
Directors           Alex Ward,Craig Sullivan.
Producers          Matt Webster.
Designers           Matt Follett.
Composers         Chris Green.
Series                  Need for Speed.
Engine                Chameleon(Extremely Modified).
Platforms           Microsoft Windows,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360,Wii U,PlayStation, 
                             Vita,iOS,Android.
Release dates    NA 30 October 2012,EU 2 November 2012.
Genres               Racing, Open World.
Modes                 Single-Player, Multiplayer.
Media                 Optical Disc, Download.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (commonly abbreviated to as NFS: MW) is an upcoming 2012 racing video game, developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. Announced on 4 June 2012, during EA's E3 press conference, Most Wanted is the nineteenth title in the long-running Need for Speed series and second game in the Most Wanted series. The game will be released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, beginning in North America on 30 October 2012. The game will pick up on the Most Wanted IP, as opposed to the Hot Pursuit reboot that Criterion developed previously.

Gameplay

Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise.

Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers to reach a destination. Cops are integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police deploy vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like the original Most Wanted.[7] The single-player section will feature a Blacklist of 10 racers, similar to the single-player section of the original Most Wanted, which featured 15 Blacklist racers.



Most Wanted has been likened to Criterion's Burnout series, and has a large open world. Like Burnout Paradise, races have a start and end point but players can choose their own route to the finish line.[10]

The game will use Autolog, the competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series. Autolog in Most Wanted plays a larger role and gives more information to players.

Activities in-game allow players to earn Speed Points which can boost players up on Most Wanted list. Autolog recommendations have now been integrated into the game world, rather than sit externally on the menu system.The driving model of the game has been described as "deep, physical and fun", not as arcade-styled as the Burnout series and Hot Pursuit, but far from a simulator. Most Wanted has a range of real-world vehicles, a mix of muscle cars, street racers and exotics, described as "the wildest selection of cars yet".[4] The cars can be altered with performance upgrades and visual upgrades, such as paint colors, wheels, suspensions, engine, nitrous, and bodywork (body kits).

 Development

In November 2011, it was revealed that Criterion Games was developing another Need for Speed game, according to a job advertisement. According to the job listing, the studio was "looking for talented Cinematic Artists to work on the world’s number one, multi award winning, arcade racing franchise." According to the listing, players should expect "entertaining.



compelling in-game cinematic action sequences" from the racer, as well as "intense car action sequences, terrifying jumps, insane crashes and epic car chases."[13] Earlier in the year, another job advert revealed that Criterion was developing a game with "believable, open world AI racing drivers."[14] On 11 January 2012, British retailer Game revealed that EA plans to release Medal of Honor: Warfighter and a new entry in the Need for Speed series later that year, which was shown by EA during a confidential presentation. However, the developer and what direction the racing series takes in 2012 was not revealed.

On 23 January, Criterion's creative director, Craig Sullivan, said on Twitter that the Guildford-based studio has "lots to share over the coming months". Sullivan didn't provide any further details, except to say the upcoming announcement/s are "going to be BIG".[17] On 8 April, South African-based online retailer BTGames listed Dead Space 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 for pre-order.On 7 May, EA confirmed that new entries in both the Dead Space and Need for Speed franchises will be on shelves by March 2013.[19] The then unnamed and unannounced Need for Speed game was slated for a Q3 2013 release, which would have been any time between October and Christmas 2013.[20] On 25 May, a booth schedule sent out by TwitchTV revealed that EA is showing off Need for Speed: Most Wanted at E3. While EA previously confirmed that a new Need for Speed is on the way, this was the first time its title had been confirmed.[21][22] On 1 June, EA officially confirmed the existence of the Criterion-developed Need for Speed: Most Wanted as part of the publisher's E3 line-up.Need for Speed: Most Wanted was officially revealed at EA's Media Briefing during E3 2012, with a trailer which showed a police chase involving a street race. The trailer was followed by a live demo of the game on stage by creative director Craig Sullivan. When asked about that Criterion Games would only be focused on Need for Speed, meaning no more Burnout. Sullivan stated "It's more a case of wanting to get Need for Speed back on its feet after last year," referring to the poorly-received Need for Speed: The Run.[25] Producer Matt Webster stated that Most Wanted is "everything we know about open-world driving, just piling it together. All the best stuff about Burnout and everything we did in Hot Pursuit, we're just smashing them together."

 Marketing and release

In addition to the trailer shown at the official reveal during E3 2012, several other game trailers have been released, each revealing new aspects of the game.A episode of PWND featured new, unseen footage of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and covered information on the single and multiplayer mode of the game, and the latest generation of Autolog, the Autolog 2.[11]

In addition to the standard edition, a Limited Edition version of the game, will be only available through pre-order at the same price as the regular game. The Limited Edition features numerous bonuses over the standard edition, including "four hours double Speed Points, custom liveries, pre-customized rollouts and two vehicles: the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale."[5] EA has collaborated with several retail outlets on pre-order incentives through several store chains throughout the world. Each retailers will be offering one of three "special edition extra pack", which consists of multiplayer cars with unique modifications that fit different play styles. 

Which of the "special edition extra pack" the player received depended upon where they pre-order the game. The "special edition extra packs" on offer are the Speed Pack, Strike Pack and Power Pack.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Trailer & Preview

Developers        Platinum Games.
Publishers        Konami.
Directors          Kenji Saito.
Producers         Kojima Productions,Yuji Korekado,Hideo Kojima,Platinum Games,
                            Atsushi Inaba.
Designers         Yoji Shinkawa.
Writers             Etsu Tamari.
Series                Metal Gear.
Engine              Platinum Engine.
Platforms         PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
Release date    Early 2013    .
Genres              Action, Hack And Slash.
Modes               Single-Player.
Media               Optical Disc, Download.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is an upcoming action video game under development by Platinum Games and produced by Kojima Productions as part of the Metal Gear series, to be released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 consoles during early 2013.[1][6][7] A Microsoft Windows version was originally planned by Konami Productions, but it was rumored to have been cancelled since December 2011.[8][9] Set several years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the story will focus on the former agent Raiden who is to be encountered by cyborg enemies while aiding in the rebuilding of an unknown country.[10]

The game was originally announced during 2009 as Metal Gear Solid: Rising an interquel set between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots following Raiden's transformation into a cyborg produced solely by Kojima Productions.

As the game was about to be cancelled due to difficulties in developing it, it was reannounced in late 2011 that Platinum Games would develop the game as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, removing the stealth elements to be used in the original game. The game's setting has since been changed to give the Platinum staff more freedom in the making of the game. Nevertheless, the Kojima Productions staff is responsible for the game's plot and characters' designs.

Gameplay
 
Players assume control of cyborg ninja Raiden, the katana-wielding ally of series mainstay Solid Snake. Unlike previous titles in the Metal Gear series, Revengeance is strictly an action game, focusing on swordfighting and a sophisticated cutting system. The game's cutting system allows players to engage in third person melee combat, as well as precisely slash enemies and objects "at will" along a geometrical plane using a "free slicing" mode. Virtually any object in the game can be cut, including vehicles and enemies, though elements of the environment were intentionally limited to structures such as pillars and walls to better facilitate gameplay.[14] The free slicing mode, titled Blade Mode, is similar to other aiming modes in previous Metal Gear Solid titles, but produces a special targeting reticule in the form of a transparent blue plane which can be rotated and moved, tracing orange lines across the surfaces of objects to indicate exactly where they will be cut; it can also be used to enter a bullet time state, giving players the opportunity to precisely slash targets during moments of action, such as slicing through a falling target from multiple angles before it hits the ground.These features can be employed strategically, for example disabling opponents, finding weak points and gaps in armor, severing support columns to collapse ceilings or walls onto enemies, deflecting enemy fire, or cutting through objects to remove enemy cover.[15][16] However, entering into Blade Mode reduces Raiden's energy to the point if dropped to a certain level, it could not be used.

Raiden will have the ability to parry attacks even when his back is turned,[18] allowing him to counterattack enemies and create multiple combos.[19] When completing mission, the player will be rewarded with an specific amount of points depending on his or her performances and will receive a grade with the highest being "S". These points allow them to buy upgrades for Raiden's equipment.[20] The player also has access to a stealth mode titled "Ninja Dash" which drastically increases Raiden's speed and allows him to climb certain areas. This allows him to strategically ambush an enemy rather than fighting head to head.[19] Although Raiden's main weapon will be his high-frequency blade, he will also have "sub-weapons." None of them are guns as they are to be used by enemies. Instead, Raiden can wield solely blades such as a dagger as well as a rocketlauncher.[18][19] Another key gameplay feature is titled zan-datsu (斬奪 lit. "cut and take"?), and will have involved "cutting" through enemies and "taking" parts, energy, ammunition, items, and information from the bodies of dismembered cyborgs and robots.[15][16][21] This maneuver can be employed when attacking an enemy during Blade Mode and helps Raiden to gain new energy.[17]

The game's original director, Mineshi Kimura, stated that Rising would carry on the series tradition of encouraging players to progress through the game without killing, noting that there is a moral difference between attacking cyborgs or robots and attacking human beings, and that there's a "certain virtue to simply disabling your enemies instead of killing them."[15] While it was considered important to give the players freedom to do what they want, the game's original producer Shigenobu Matsuyama, indicated that players would never be rewarded for killing human opponents, and that the game would be designed so that players would never be forced to do so.

In the final version, human soldiers from the game were removed to avoid censorship issues in Japan.[18] A bonus stage from Revengeance follows Raiden attacking soldiers hidden within cardboard boxes in order to obtain codes. The player has the choice of killing them or sparing their lives.

Plot

The game is set to take place nine years after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and is a spinoff that is "not part of the main Metal Gear Solid series".[13][14] The story follows Raiden who is contracted by PMCs for multiple tasks such training of armies and VIP Protection in an unknown country that is recovering from a previous civil war. However, Raiden is set to encounter an army of cyborg enemies.[10] Developers stated that while Raiden "has grown up" in comparison to previous Metal Gear games, he is still conflicted with his life as a child soldier in a past civil war, leading him to be a "dark hero".[3] Trailers have also shown Raiden discussing Bushido while demonstrating a sadistic attitude.

Development
Initial version

After Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was released, Hideo Kojima started coming up with ideas for another game, Metal Gear Solid 5. The game was meant to feature The Boss and her comrades, the Cobra Unit, as main characters. However, the lack of experience from the younger staff in charge and the lack of involvement from Kojima resulted in this project being scrapped. 

Afterwards, a member suggested turning it into a sidestory focused on Raiden since said character was featured in Guns of the Patriots and the staff agreed to develop Metal Gear Solid: Rising.[23] It was originally conceived as an interquel that would chronicle the series of events that resulted in the transformation of Raiden, the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 into his cyborg ninja persona in Metal Gear Solid 4.[15][21] Rising would have taken place during a point in the series' chronology at which Raiden had already begun his transformation into cyborg form, albeit with a different and somewhat more crude appearance from the one seen in Metal Gear Solid 4.

The game was first hinted during Hideo Kojima's keynote presentation at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco where the presentation's end showed "The Next MGS" with Raiden as a cyborg standing next to the title.[24] Prior to the announcements of the game, Kojima Productions featured a countdown timer on their website until the day that Rising was announced. The series' traditional tagline of "Tactical Espionage Action" was also altered to "Lightning Bolt Action," a play on the fact that Raiden's name is Japanese for "thunder and lightning."[11][12] The game was officially announced at E3 2009 at the Microsoft press conference. A teaser trailer was released by series' director Hideo Kojima, although he would be serving only as executive producer for the game, as 100% of his input is with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PlayStation Portable.[25] The game was initially only announced for the Xbox 360 but was later confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows platforms.[8] According to the "Kojima Productions Report" podcast the game would use a brand new game engine, rather than the Metal Gear Solid 4 engine.[26]

The game's original cover artwork was leaked on Xbox Live on June 10, four days before E3 2010, but was soon taken down and replaced with the official logo.[27] During Microsoft's E3 press conference on June 14, Hideo Kojima introduced the game's original lead designer, Mineshi Kimura, who unveiled a new trailer which included cutscene and gameplay footage and introduced the concept of zan-datsu.
In a follow-up interview with Famitsu, Kimura and the game's creative producer, Shigenobu Matsuyama, discussed the title's new style and gameplay elements, as well the traditional stealth and "no kill" elements of the Metal Gear series that would be retained.[15] Kimura and Matsuyama again presented the trailer on June 16 during Konami's E3 press conference, then took stage, further clarifying the game's "take" mechanic and again emphasizing that the game will contain stealth elements.[12] Concern had risen over the game's realistic depictions of human dismemberment during player-controlled sequences, a hard limit for Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization, which may necessitate censorship in the domestic Japanese release of the game. As a result, the version of the E3 2010 trailer available for viewing on the game's official Japanese website has had such scenes removed.Specifically, the games stealth elements would have emphasized Raiden's considerable speed and agility through what Matsuyama describes as "hunting stealth." Unlike the "waiting stealth" of previous titles, in which players remained hidden and avoided combat, players in Rising would instead quickly stalk their enemies and use acrobatic maneuvers to stay out of sight while closing in. This ties in with the game's zan-datsu feature, allowing them to prey upon enemies to obtain weapons, items, and energy.[22] Kimura noted that he wanted Raiden to be able to move like he did in the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers, and to show "the stealth of the sword, and the strength of not even losing to the gun, and the fear and power you have with this blade."[21]

At TGS 2010, Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 version of Metal Gear Solid: Rising would be playable in 3D.[29] In January 2011, several pieces of concept art for Rising were displayed at Yoji Shinkawa's two-week exhibit, The Art of Yoji Shinkawa, hosted by the Konami Style Shop in Tokyo. The artwork included various illustrations of Raiden and other cybernetically enhanced characters, vehicles and equipment, scenery, and a hand-painted model of a feminine cyborg carrying a sword and a robotic infant. Several pieces of the concept artwork were also featured in merchandise sold at the exhibit.
  

During late 2011, it was announced over that Shigenobu Matsuyama had moved to a different division within Konami and that Yuji Korekado had taken over as the game's lead producer.[31] Additionally, Hideo Kojima said Metal Gear Solid: Rising is "moving forward". Kojima had stated the game remains significantly different to existing Metal Gear games, although he has retained an element of control over it and will not let it stray too far from the series' roots.[32] He stated that "If somebody thinks 'I love Snake' and just really wants traditional stealth gameplay and that experience, then it may be hard to get into Rising, but for people who are more open and willing to try new things, it shouldn't be a problem."

Move to Platinum Games

Despite having thought out stories and scenarios for the game, Kojima Productions were finding it difficult to design the game around the cutting concept. The project was quietly cancelled in late 2010, and whilst Kojima had considered moving the project to developers abroad, he felt that a Japanese developer would be more suited to produce a ninja action game. In early 2011, Kojima approached Tatsuya Minami, president and CEO of Platinum Games, about restarting the cancelled project with them. Platinum Games accepted the project and took over development with Atsushi Inaba as producer, reworking the game from scratch using their own engine, whilst Kojima Productions handling cutscenes and story elements, revising the story to now take place after Metal Gear Solid 4 to reflect the new development style.[34] This new version, now titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, was first revealed via a trailer shown at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 10, 2011.[35][36] Shortly after starting development, Platinum Games discarded the stealth element from game with Kojima noting that the original staff did not find it would be fitting with high speed actions.

 While there are no plans for online play, Konami confirmed that a new character will be playable through downloadable content and will have access to different missions from Raiden.[38]

The trailer also confirmed that Raiden will once again be voiced by Quinton Flynn, who had previously stated that Konami had not contacted him regarding the game.[39] While Platinum Games is confirmed to be part of the project, Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya, initially thought to be involved, has confirmed he is not part of the games development.[40] The game's title was changed to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to reflect that it is not part of the main Metal Gear Solid series, but is instead a spinoff that takes place after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Kojima also confirmed Rising will run at 60 frames per second, a requirement he personally requested to Platinum Games.[41][42] Additionally, the title is meant to reflect how the original Metal Gear Solid: Rising was planned to be cancelled and how it restarted development.[43] The rewrite of the game's script took two months for the Kojima Productions to make in contrast to the original one which took ten months,[18] with the scriptwriter being Etsu Tamari.[3]

Inaba took to his Twitter feed to address fans' concerns over the project. He has acknowledged the mixed reaction to the unveiling of Rising, but hopes gamers will spot "a glimpse of the future" in the trailer. Inaba promises its "love and respect will shine through." The negative reactions came from fans noticing the genre switching to a "hack and slash" game.[44] Konami's Martin Scheider assured the game is "in safe hands" owing to the collaboration between Metal Gear veteran Yuji Korekado and Atsushi Inaba with the former supervising the game.[45] As in the original scrapped version Korekado states that the staff's objective is to make Raiden's action scenes from Metal Gear Solid 4 playable.[3] Kojima mentioned in January 2012 that depending on the game's popularity, the staff would make a franchise based on it.[43]

While Metal Gear Solid: Rising was meant to be developed for Microsoft Windows besides the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, Revengeance will not be released for the Windows.[9] Inaba has stated that the PlayStation 3 version will be the lead platform. The decision was made in order to avoid a repeat of the performance issues that Bayonetta had on the console.[46] The game will be playable for the first time in the E3 2012 during early June with Kojima also working on it.[37][47] Additionally, the demo will be included in the upcoming Zone of the Enders high definition collection and will be downloadable through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network during 2012.[48]

In promoting the game, during April 2012 Konami sent a replica from Raiden's severed arm to various video game publications. The arm contained a small teaser from the game in the form of a live-action scene.[49][50] In following weeks, the official Metal Gear Rising website started showing a longer version of the scene as well as new ones.[51] Konami noticed people asking multiple questions regarding these teasers to which they responded that answers would be delivered during E3. The teasers are meant to give a few hints regarding the game's plot and none of its footage is to be used in it.[52] At E3 2012, a new trailer was shown, featuring the song "Wrong" by synthpop band Depeche Mode.

Pre-release reception

Various sites such as Eurogamer, 1UP.com and VideoGamer.com listed it as one of the most anticipated games from 2012 because it distances itself from previous games in the franchise as well as considering Platinum Games' previous works.[54][55][56] However, a common criticism echoed by IGN's Richards George has been that its style highly contrasts the previous Metal Gear games as a result of the change of developers and player character Raiden (who destroyed a Metal Gear Ray single-handedly).[57] David Hougton GamesRadar noted that Raiden's actions in the gameplay were not out of character considering his role in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots where he was able to fight soldiers without his arms.

 During the E3 2012, both GameSpot editors Kevin VanOrd and Peter Brown were surprised with the gameplay provided by the demo, with the former calling it "fluid third-person action featuring slow-motion swordplay" in place of the stealth style featured in the Metal Gear Solid series. Both writers still found Raiden suitable for the game's style and plot owing to his role in previous Metal Gear games.[59] 1UP's Jose Otero provided similar comments, praising the gameplay's style, but still felt the demo was more like a tutorial rather than a stage of game.