Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Blade Wolf DLC Review

I can’t figure out what the problem is here. The Metal Gear franchise has some of the deepest lore of anything going on right now, and the IF Prototype LQ-84i (otherwise known as Blade Wolf) was an interesting character. The Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Blade Wolf DLC really should have been an easy piece of DLC to put out. But as I’m sitting here staring at my TV as the credits roll, I can’t help but think that MC Chris got this one right. I have to wonder why I supply the energy to my mortal enemy that should be a best friend to me.

The Blade Wolf DLC lets you take control of everyone’s favorite robodog as you play through a bit of his backstory. The DLC starts off as Mistral is preparing you for your first actual combat missions through some VR training, and introduces a new character in Khamsim through some dialogue. Khamsim causes Blade Wolf to have an existential crisis when he brags about how his mission will “bring freedom” to this country, leading Blade Wolf to wonder why he was never offered the freedom to make his own choices. In any other game franchise, this would be a bit absurd, but it’s merely par for the course with Metal Gear.

What sets the Blade Wolf DLC apart from the Jetstream Sam DLC is the fact that Blade Wolf actually feels like a new character. The combat mechanics use the same light/heavy attacks as well as the ability to zandatsu, but his movement is completely different from what we’ve had so far. Blade Wolf moves at a much slower pace, bordering on plodding at times, which takes some getting used to. I had to abandon the ideas I had using Raiden (which was essentially me running into a room swinging my sword in a circle) in favor for a more stealth based approach that felt more like a proper Metal Gear game.

It’s great fighting a new boss in Khamsim, but just like everything else in this DLC, it feels like they could have done more with it. Having the option to try to creep up behind him when he loses you and drill into his suit made it one of the more engaging boss fights in the game, but outside of the harder difficulties, there was no real reason to try anything special. Regardless, it’s still something brand new, and I’ll take what I can get here.

The level itself is old hat. The first VR mission does offer a nice little office building to tear through, but the other half of this DLC is simply replaying one of the first chapters in reverse. I don’t think I’m asking for too much when I say I was hoping for something fresh. There was a neat bit of platforming at one point, but considering the game’s controls don’t lend themselves to that type of precise movement, it was a bit cumbersome. The entire thing simply felt like a rush job.

Ultimately, the Blade Wolf DLC just isn’t worth the money. There is very little content being offered here, and while playing as Blade Wolf and the new boss are cool, there’s really not a whole lot of meat on the bone. If you’re absolutely head over heels about the Metal Gear universe, you may get your money’s worth, but everyone else should probably close their wallet and back away.

This review is based on an Xbox 360 version of the DLC given to us for review purposes.