Are Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s disappointing E3 visuals a trick of the eye?

“Maybe it’s your imagination, because what’s in that demo has been in the trailers. Of course, the cutscenes are a little bit prettier, because they’re part of the storytelling, but as far as the in-game gameplay, what you see in the demo is what’s going to be in the game. It’s near-final.”

—Atsushi Inaba, executive director/producer, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

As a Metal Gear fan since the “truck have started to move” days on the NES, I greatly looked forward to trying out Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance at E3. I didn’t care that it wasn’t a stealth game or evoked Fruit Ninja more than Solid Snake—Platinum Games is at the helm, and their action pedigree (God Hand, Bayonetta, MadWorld) speaks for itself the past few years.

And I had a ton of fun playing through the Revengeance demo—so much fun, in fact, that my right hand started cramping up after slicing and dicing so many onrushing attackers. “It’s not our goal to make your hands hurt,” Inaba said with a laugh. “But the fact that you used it so much that your hands got tired means that you enjoyed using it, so I’m happy to hear that.”

But one element of the demo disappointed, and EGM E3 contributing editor Steve Haske agreed with my assessment—at E3, the in-game graphics simply didn’t live up to the spectacular, over-the-top trailers. Cyborg-ninja protagonist Raiden sported some jagged edges that invoked unfortunate memories of the PS2, and the general in-game landscapes weren’t nearly as sharp as we’ve seen in the trailers thus far. I’m not one to focus on graphics—for me, gameplay’s the unquestioned king—but it was a bit jarring to see the astounding eye candy of the trailers not quite re-created when I got my hands on the actual game.

Inaba’s known for being one of the straighter shooters on the Japanese side of the industry, so I can only take him at his word. But I can also assure you that it wasn’t my imagination, and it wasn’t Steve’s imagination—and, if Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance indeed ships with the visuals I saw at E3, it certainly won’t be the imagination of millions of players, either.