10 Reasons "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance" is the Sliciest Game We've Ever Played

At a hotel about a mile away from the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con, I sat comfortably on a couch playing Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance while a voice in the game instructed Raiden, "Get comfortable with your new body."

Raiden is not exactly a fan favorite in the Metal Gear universe, but Rising's Raiden also isn't the same Raiden we've known. That's not to say he won't have all the same qualities that have irked fans in the past—he didn't talk much during the demo I played, so I have no idea how "whiny" he's going to be—but at least he's got a shiny new cyborg-ninja body.

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That shiny new body affords Raiden an impressive arsenal of new abilities, the favorite of which is easily Blade Mode. By holding down the left trigger, you can send Raiden into a zen-like state of deadly concentration, slowing time to a crawl and using the control sticks to carefully aim horizontal, vertical and diagonal slashes of his razor-sharp katana.

The demo took place in a training simulation, and Raiden's first targets were cardboard dummies and giant watermelons, but he quickly graduated to realistic simulated enemies.

That's when things got really fun. Metal Gear Rising's most unique mechanic is one that swordplay buffs have been dreaming about: the ability to graphically dismember opponents with surgical precision in the heat of battle.

Slicing across an enemy's arm causes that appendage to separate from its owner in a spray of ruby blood. Slicing vertically from pate to groin separates enemies neatly in half. Raiden can perform multiple cuts in lightning-quick chains, separating enemies gratuitously into thirds, quarters and ever-smaller pieces. And it's not just for show—there's a purpose to dissecting your foes.

Slice an enemy the right way and you'll be prompted with a button press. Nailing it causes Raiden to reach out and into his opponent Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-style and rip out their beating, pulsing…energy implant?

Okay, Raiden doesn't really run around tearing enemies' hearts out and devouring them. He's not Vamp, after all. But harnessing a dismembered opponent's energy can provide him with a boost that will allow him to stay in Blade Mode longer, making it one of his most useful moves.

Another of Raiden's new signature abilities is the "Ninja Run," a combination sprint and parkour function that allows him to get around quickly while effortlessly vaulting over obstacles. The Ninja Run even allows Raiden to deflect bullets with his flashing blade.

Holding down the right trigger causes Raiden to enter Ninja Run mode, a move that came in especially handy when a cadre of helicopters crested behind him in the training simulation and began firing missiles as if they were trying to take out an entire city block. In fact, that's basically what they did.

But it wasn't a city block—it was a massive bridge littered with abandoned vehicles, which Raiden hurdled over without losing an ounce of speed as I held down the right trigger. One chopper eventually broke off from the others and gave chase into a more enclosed town plaza, where Raiden picked up a homing missile launch to even the odds a little more.\

Nevertheless, I ended up taking it down using mainly Raiden's katana. At one point he literally sprinted up a barrage of missiles as they were fired toward him from the airborne chopper, ending his sprint by entering Blade Mode and slicing the the heli's blades into useless pieces.

The end of the demo even teased a fight with a full-sized Metal Gear Ray—so yeah, it's going to be over-the-top awesome.

But just because Raiden can leap over exploding cars doesn't mean he can't move silently. In fact, he seems to always be moving silently. Approaching guards from behind even at full-speed Ninja Run status didn't generally alert them, unless one of their buddies was facing in your direction.

Considering how most stealth games require you to move at a crawl to avoid alerting enemies to your presence, it kicks up the pacing several notches to be able to run at full tilt before launching a stealth attack on multiple guards at a time. It's something that came into play over and over during the demo.

Although when the guards did notice Raiden approaching, their alert status changed visibly, with an exclamation mark popping up above their heads, which is a reward in and of itself for Metal Gear fans.

There are plenty of familiar Metal Gear touches for fans to munch on while they're taking in the more action-oriented Metal Gear Rising. One that popped out in particular during the demo had to do with the series' signature cardboard boxes, which every spy knows make the best camouflage around.

One training mission had Raiden searching for a key code to bypass a device's security. I was told it was on one of the guards, but not which one. I took them out one-by-one, covering the entire area in my search. After spending several minutes under the assumption I had taken them all out, I noticed a cardboard box in one corner. Naturally, the target was hiding underneath in plain sight.

Of course, Raiden's trouble in this training simulation didn't end there. No sooner did he employ the key code than a familiar and terrifying sight showed up—one of the Gekkos from Metal Gear Solid 4, renamed in Rising as the Gekko UG.

Fighting these suckers head-on in MGS4 was inadvisable, but head-on is the only way Raiden fights, so that's what I did. Its movement were fluid, although it gave plenty of warning before unleashing its powerful kicks and charges. Just a few solid hits from the thing were enough to take Raiden out, but luckily he had one important combat move at his disposal.

Hand-to-hand combat hasn't exactly been a strength of past Metal Gear games, unless you count Snake putting dudes in a sleeper hold from behind. But Raiden's got one important move that'll help even when he's fighting a Gekko UG (or maybe even the previously-mentioned Metal Gear Ray): the parry.

Tapping the parry button as the Gekko attacked caused the blow to be deflected, sending the Gekko reeling and occasionally even allowing Raiden to lock with it in button-mashing tests of strength. Eventually, Raiden stunned it for long enough to do what he now does best: slice it in half, its innards of oil and electronics spilling out onto the cobblestones.