10 Brilliant Video Games That Surprised Everyone - Commenter Edition
8. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Please bear with me here, as I can already see the glint of torches and clanking of raised pitchforks. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance may be seen by many as a stain on the venerable Metal Gear legacy, but to judge it purely on its relationship to the stealth behemoth. In fact, it's truly fascinating that the game managed to be such a success given the context in which it exists.
Revengeance's protagonist Raiden was introduced in 2001's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty to widespread derision. Despite being central to the game's overarching themes, fans hated the willowy blonde replacement for their beloved hero Solid Snake.
Upon his redesign in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots as an overpowered cyborg ninja, it was interpreted by many as a cringeworthy attempt to garner some popularity for the character.
Alarm bells began blaring when Revengeance was announced - a fast-paced hack-and-slasher from PlatinumGames starring Raiden, it was the logical opposite of the introspective, methodical stealth titles that came before. The game was excellent, however - a campy, exciting action title with all the gloriously refined high-octane combat that PlatinumGames are renowned for. It was different, but in all the right ways.