Metal Gear Acid Mobile 3D
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| Metal Gear Ac!d Mobile

When it was released on PSP, Metal Gear Acid divided opinion. And who can be surprised? Metal Gear players are used to subtle stealth, brutal killing and fast action and Metal Gear Acid, while it appeared on the surface to offer similar thrills, was essentially a card game with gameplay slower than a Smart Car attempting to drive through wet tar.

So whether you'll enjoy Metal Gear Acid's premise is down to personal taste, but we will say that Metal Gear fans not normally into turn-based games could well find this game is the one that converts them. That's because its scenarios are so familiar – staying out of patrolling guards' lines of sight, disabling security cameras and scampering about beneath a cardboard box – that the card elements are quickly learnt.

They're also perfect for mobile phone play. Acid's grid-based levels call for no awkward navigating with a phone thumbstick to line up a diagonal kill. Everything is very plainly laid out and understood so there's no room for control cock-ups.

For those who have played Metal Gear Acid on PSP already, the gameplay here is very similar, if streamlined in terms of the number of levels in the main Mission Pythagoras game and, of course, the visuals (although they're still more than adequate).

So Snake begins each level with an objective – normally to reach and exit a door on the other side of the level without being used as a pin cushion for bullets – and six cards from a deck of 30. These randomly given cards contain a range of actions and items, from straightforward movement, to guns, body armour, cardboard boxes and medi-kits.

For each of your turns, you select cards to use accordingly and, once you're done, each guard and security device on the level also takes a turn. Information on each is indicated by a box above their heads, including their current health status and number of cards they have to choose from.

Clearly, as this is a Metal Gear game, by far the simplest way of getting through a level is by avoiding detection. But, while earlier stages can be straightforward dashes from start to finish, nearly always you'll find tempting extra cards and items scattered in hard-to-reach places. By the time you get to the later levels, you'll be forced to come up with increasingly inventive, often trial-and-error approaches to getting past guards.

Fortunately being spotted rarely spells instant death. Wandering into someone's line of sight abruptly ends your turn and normally results in them opening fire. But your health bar can sustain several attacks, while health cards will boost it back up again. That said, running and hiding is as necessary in this game as it is in the traditional Metal Gear games.

As are many other approaches to successfully bypassing a range of security systems. You can tap on walls to lure guards away from their posts, chaff grenade electronic devices and punch enemies from behind.

Planning therefore takes up a reasonable part of this game and it's not really an experience for players who prefer legging it about and taking their chances against armed enemies. Because levels are fairly slow in pace, taking thoughtless risks can result in having to endure much replaying. The fun though comes from the range of ways these levels can be tackled, as well as the way your destiny is shaped by the cards drawn at the start of each new turn.

The main game should keep you going for ages, then, but there are diversions in the form of a Quick Play option, which makes it possible to replay unlocked levels, while a Deck Editor enables you to choose the cards that appear in your deck so as to further customise play.

None of the above alters the fact Metal Gear Acid is an acquired taste, but if you're prepared to take a bite you may find this to be great on-the-go gaming, cleverly ported to mobile and offering a deep, rich layer of tactical goodness. As such, we suspect only the truly action-obsessed will find it indigestible – everyone else is well advised to give it try.

Metal Gear Acid Mobile 3D

Classic Metal Gear with a turn-based tactical card twist that proves very accessible, hugely engrossing and perfectly suited to mobile
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Kath Brice
Kath Brice
Kath gave up a job working with animals five years ago to join the world of video game journalism, which now sees her running our DS section. With so many male work colleagues, many have asked if she notices any difference.