Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - updated hands-on

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More details revealed on recruiting, using new characters and the series' original Ninja

Each character comes with a unique skill set, and while the majority will be soldiers, there are more specialized types to capture, including medics, engineers and even politicians. So far, we've seen recruited troops being used in online multiplayer deathmatches, but thanks to Portable Ops ' less-linear approach to stealth and infiltration, you'll be able to use them in the story mode as well.

Apparently, Portable Ops' levels will be much larger and more open than Metal Gear fans are used to, and you'll be able to take advantage of this by deploying up to three of your recruits at certain points in each stage. You can then switch over to them, enabling you to do cool things like clearing out a nest of enemies as a sniper before switching back to Snake and approaching the area.

But beware: if a character dies during online play, he or she is gone for good - even if it's a major character like Ocelot or Eva.

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.