Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (officially abbreviated to MPO+) is an expansion of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, in the same vein as Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. It includes more multiplayer options such as new characters, new maps, new weapons, and new game modes. The only update to the single player mode is the Infinity Mission. The greatest update of the new expansion, besides being a large update for the multiplayer, is the capacity for 200 characters in the player's squad, giving them more options to roam through the single player story and also fighting online using their captured soldiers. In the context of the game, the Infinity Mission takes place shortly after the San Hieronymo Takeover.

In Japan, Portable Ops Plus was released on September 20, 2007 in two formats: the expansion on its own and as a deluxe package that includes the original game and the expansion. The North American version was released on November 13, 2007. The European version was released on March 28, 2008.

Features
The story mode within Portable Ops Plus has been removed, and a new single player mode has been added entitled the Infinity Mission, where the player must go through randomly chosen maps, looking for the advance point within the level, using the surround indicator to help them. This adds some extra difficulty, because the surround indicator can show an enemy, or the advance point. Within this mode, there are also Kerotan, which make a small croak sound, as well as briefly showing up on the surround indicator with every croak. Hidden items can be obtained using this.

The game makes much more of an emphasis on online gameplay, with the modes from the original being used with their + counterparts, such as "Cyber-Survival+" and "Infrastructure+." During online gameplay, rookie players will have a rookie mark, reducing the damage they get, and increasing the damage they give, making online gameplay easier for less skilled players.

Multiplayer
Since Portable Ops Plus is more of a multiplayer orientated expansion, its focus is on adding new gameplay, new game modes, and new characters, along with new maps. New players are able to join in on the battle using a system which was built for recruits on the battlefield to help them distinguish the enemies and their teammates, along with helping the new player to help out their fellow teammates. Also in multiplayer, the chat room has changed from having pre-set sayings to an on the fly keyboard, giving the player the ability to type while playing.

Characters


There are four new unique characters the player is able to recruit. These characters are:


 * Solid Snake. Using the codename "Old Snake" his appearance is based on his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4.
 * Raiden. His appearance is based on his original Metal Gear Solid 2 look, and not his Cyborg Ninja look in Metal Gear Solid 4.
 * Roy Campbell. He is as he appears in Portable Ops.
 * Johnny Sasaki. The infamous comic relief character. His appearance here is similar to his grandfather's appearance in Metal Gear Solid 3. He is distinguishable thanks to a J on his head.

In addition to some of the recruitable soldiers from Portable Ops, the player can also recruit a number of other soldiers from previous titles, such as the Arsenal Tengu, Ocelot Unit, and Genome Soldiers. Players are also able to play on several new maps, including Metal Gear REX's hangar from Metal Gear Solid. Also, female Ocelot Unit members and female Soviet soldiers can be recruited along with High-tech Soldiers, Hideochan soldiers (unlocked either via a password or by winning a deathmatch in 2007, along with a soldier wearing a white uniform with a medal on it), and Two-Han Princess Soldiers. The soldiers that were from other Metal Gear games, however, reuse voice clips from characters within Portable Ops outside of various grunts (e.g., the Genome Soldiers, SEALs team, Arsenal Tengu, and Gurlukovich Mercenaries reused the FOX soldier's voice clips). In addition, three bonus soldiers can be unlocked via a special password in the Japanese version from magazine retailers: the Dengeki PlayStation soldier, the Famitsu soldier, and the Unlock Arms soldier.

Depending on the version that's being played, there are also soldiers representing a key location (or in one case, member country) of the location that version of Portable Ops Plus was released in. In the Japanese version, there are 47 soldiers that each represent one of the Prefectures of Japan. In the American version, there are 51 soldiers representing the fifty states in the country, plus the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. In the European version, there are 11 soldiers representing each of the member countries of the European Union. The Prefecture and State soldiers have varying colored camos (red, brown, orange, yellow, green, white, pink/purple, and blue for the Prefecture soldiers, and orange, blue, red, yellow, green, and purple for the state soldiers), and have the name of the prefecture and/or state written on the front of the cam in the appropriate language horizontally and vertically, respectively, and has a picture of the prefecture/state on the back (and in the case of the state soldier, the abbreviation of the state written horizontially). The European Union soldiers, however, are different, as their uniforms compose of the national flags of the member states, as well as a smaller version of the national flag on the left shoulder. The Prefecture soldiers are unlocked in an event relating to the Nippon Telephone and Telegram organization, and the States soldiers are unlockable via a passcode. In addition, the Hidechan soldier as well as a currently unidentifiable soldier resembling a ceremonial officer are unlockables for a MPO+ related deathmatch event in 2007 in Osaka and Tokyo.

Portable Ops Plus also has eight bonus soldiers representing certain store retailers in Japan. More specifically, they are representing GEO, WonderGoo, TV Panic WanPaku COMG!, Sakuraya, Softmap, Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camera, and UBook. Other soldiers exclusive to Japan are Mahjong Fight Club Society Soldiers, Completion Special Code soldiers, Joshin soldier, and Black Genetically-Modified Soldiers.

New maps
New maps were also added in the online mode:


 * REX Hangar (Metal Gear Solid)
 * Pillbox Purgatory (Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Online)
 * Ghost Factory (Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Online)
 * Killhouse B ('Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Online)
 * Killhouse C (Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Online)
 * Western Wilderness (Portable Ops) (North American version?)
 * Ravine (Portable Ops) (North American version?)

Reception
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus has received mixed reviews. According to Metacritic, the game received a metascore of 65 based on 19 reviews. GameRankings gave the game an average of 64.67% based on 25 reviews. IGN gave the game a 6.5 saying, "Unfortunately, the improvements don't outweigh the features that have been stripped away from this franchise, making this release seem unnecessary." 1UP gave the game a B saying, "Less of a sequel and more of a stand-alone expansion pack to the previous excellent PSP offering Portable Ops, Plus delivers another compelling dose of Metal Gear Solid stealth-action gameplay in an easily digestible, bite-sized form." Eurogamer gave the game a 6/10 saying, "With the story and some of the more interesting recuitment features from the original game removed and with an RPG experience system that ultimately breaks both the offline and online play, it's hard to recommend this over its forebear, even if it is cheap at half the price." Pocket Gamer was the most critical of Portable Ops Plus, giving it a 4, saying, "Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus attempts to expand the award-winning gameplay of the original but ends up a worthless cash-in instead."