Metal Gear Rising was a Platinum Games-developed hack n' slash set in the Metal Gear universe. Players took control of Raiden, the series' famed cybernetic ninja, as he hunts down a band of rogue cyborgs.
Metal Gear Rising is a personal Xbox 360 highlight of mine, with its dynamic blade cutting, reactive parry combat and insane boss fights. Hideo Kojima consulted on the title to ensure it retained that Kojima-feel, and Platinum produced what is, in my opinion, one of the best games in the series.
I caught up with Platinum Games to discuss Scalebound, which you can read over here, but I snuck in a question about whether or not they had a say in the game hitting Xbox One via backwards compatibility.
"Totally up to Konami. Personally, I loved Metal Gear Rising, it was so cool to see my name in the credits of a Metal Gear game. So, if it's backward compatible? I think that would be awesome. But you know, Metal Gear is in an interesting place, but I hope that Konami kinda sees it to bring it out, and let a whole new generation experience that game."
Metal Gear as a franchise is in flux at present, with Konami and series creator Hideo Kojima suffering a major and rather public falling out. Hopefully, Konami will consider backwards compatibility for Xbox One, and give the title a new lease of life. Metal Gear Rising is sitting at over 12,000 votes as of writing on the Xbox Uservoice site, which allows players to request backwards compatible games.
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is now fronting a new independent studio, and working with Hollywood actor Norman Reedus on a PS4 exclusive. Konami were hiring for a new Metal Gear title a while back, but it doesn't seem as though the series has any sort of future without Kojima. If Konami's haphazard treatment Silent Hill is any indication, their ownership of Metal Gear doesn't bode well for the series – given the franchises' similar levels of nuance and complexity.
Backwards compatibility could be the only way we see Metal Gear titles hitting Xbox One in the future, and frankly, without Kojima Productions or Platinum Games, maybe that's for the best. Still, I'm sure most of us would welcome Konami to prove the doubters wrong.
Would you like to see Metal Gear games hit backwards compatibility? Let us know in the comments or upvote the game on Xbox's UserVoice page.
