![]() ![]() ![]() In theory, it's textbook risk/reward design but, this being Platinum Games, the risks and rewards are squared - enraged enemies are real killers, attacking incredibly fast while causing chip damage on block, and I don't think it's possible to execute a perfect parry on them. Enraged enemies start glowing red, becoming much more aggressive and also weaker to Sam's attacks. A quick press up on the d-pad and he'll enrage nearby enemies with a number of quotes, adopting an arms-wide-open stance that can be dodged or parried out of. There's a lot of old-school Dante in Sam, not least his double-jump and air-dash, but taunting is what really seals the deal. VR2 and 4 give new meanings to pain on higher difficulties, while 5 goes all side-scroller on us - which turns out to be quite a fun way to fight. On Normal, Jetstream Sam is tough, Hard is a nightmare, Very Hard is brutal, and Revengeance wipes the floor with you There are five VR missions throughout the chapter. Damaging enough on their own, quickdraws become absolutely devastating when combined with Sam's other speciality: a cheeky taunt. And Sam's moveset is full of different options for getting a charge in, with the types of quickdraw ranging from a classic samurai hip-slice to ground-dashes and air dives (all part of different combo strings). The charge mechanic is so unlike the core combat of Revengeance that it took a long time to sink in - at first, I thought the quickdraws were flashy finishers, as with Raiden's pincer weapon, but you should be using them all the time. In such details is the overriding philosophy of Jetstream Sam this is an expansion for the masters, the players who can pick their openings and execute with precision. Playing this style is about finding a few seconds' silence amidst a storm. Sam is less mobile, and more reliant on dodging, but if he gets a few seconds' breathing room to charge up an attack, he can destroy almost anything. ![]() Sam has a variety of 'quickdraw' attacks that can be introduced mid-combo and powered up before release. But Sam's dodge is faster, with less recovery time, he can taunt enemies (more on this later), and he can charge attacks for serious damage.Ĭharging attacks isn't a matter of a single move. The downsides: he's slower to move and attack, plus his window to pull off perfect parries is shorter. The comparison to Raiden, obvious as it is to make, obscures things a little because Sam's moveset and new abilities demand a total change in style. So what does our smiling assassin have going for him? Well, good looks for a start, along with a sweet HF Muramasa blade. Sam's take? 'Nothing like a sword fight under the cherry blossoms!' Sam's story is a neat parallel to Raiden's own journey in Revengeance, and along the way has a funny cut-scene with two bosses discussing whether they like cherry blossom. Anyone who buys this will have finished the main game and so be in possession of a powered-up cyborg ninja with multiple weapons and a moveset that enables constant aggression to play as Raiden is to always be on the attack, dashing from foe to foe in a flurry of deadly blows and perfect parries. The focus of Jetstream Sam is in giving Revengeance players a new toy, a playable character who bears little relation to Raiden. You can, if you're really trying, run through this in significantly less than an hour, but to talk about it in these terms would miss the point completely. It's one long chapter that takes Sam from sewers to the top of a skyscraper, with three boss battles and five VR missions interspersed, and as in the main campaign each difficulty setting changes up the enemy numbers, placements and types along the way. Jetstream Sam is a prequel explaining how and why he ended up working for the bad guys. The boss battle against him is classic, a desert duel for the ages. Sam Rodrigues is Revengeance's most fabulous enemy, a cocky Brazilian with a fighting style halfway between jiu-jitsu and samurai - backed up by a smile that could slice a tank in half. There is a big addition, of course: Sam himself. A few new cut-scenes seems like one hell of a way to use a 2.5GB download. Every environment and enemy features in the main game and the songs are familiar. But for the first hour or two of Jetstream Sam, Platinum's campaign prequel for the superlative Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, that new content feels hard to find. You expect downloadable content to add to the main game. ![]()
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