AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What's the Game About
Metal Gear Portable Ops was the first true Metal Gear experience for PSP owners when the title released last fall. The original title was set soon after the events of Snake Eater and had players taking control of Snake once again but in an all new mission. Portable Ops introduced new elements into the Metal Gear universe with the new recruiting ability, which played a large role in the title and plays an even bigger role in Portable Ops +. A year has now passed and Konami has released Metal Gear Portable Ops +, which is basically an expansion pack for the first game. Essentially, Portable Ops + offers gamers a chance to build up their army and prepare for online battles against others gamers.

What's Hot
With the main concern of the title being based on the multiplayer aspect, the games single-player doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay outside of some new levels, weapons, and soldiers to recruit. Luckily, Portable Ops + allows you recruit up to 200 soldiers for your army and allows you to transport troops from your save file from the original Portable Ops. With a larger force at your disposal you can assign your soldiers to several different divisions such as medical unit, spies, technical, and several other units.

Outside of being able to increase your army size, the single-player also allows you to gain experience for each member of your squad. Upon completing missions in the Infinity Mission Mode, you'll gain experience which can increase your player's skills and health. The more missions you complete, the more powerful your soldiers can become and experienced. Think of a real-life army, the more shooting and sneaking they do, the better they will be when they enter real combat.

After your go through a number missions and level up your characters it's time to get online and do battle with others. Offering Ad/Hoc and Infrastructure play, Portable Ops + main appeal is its multiplayer aspect. Offering Solo or Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Shooting Range, new chat room, and a beginner lobby. Each mode allows you to use your personal army and do battle against other player's from across the world. This will always offer new challenges because people will always have a stronger army than your last opponent.

Since the title is an expansion of the original Portable Ops, the graphics are identical in this newest expansion pack. Sharing the exact same graphics engine with no improvements, the game is still a marvel at a technical standpoint for the PSP.

What's Not
Even though the game does offer a single-player mode, the game doesn't feature any storyline. The single-player is only used to recruit new members into your army and to gather any characters you might've missed in the original title. So if you are looking for a Metal Gear title that features twists and a unique story, you need to search elsewhere.

The online system is very satisfying but it does have some problems and the lie in the games balancing. Since you can acquire and level up your soldiers to insane levels, you'll go into online nearly invincible. There will always be the hardcore crowd that puts hours upon hours into their army and they will most likely only lose to a player who does the same. This becomes a problem when you are a good player but only jump into play time from time again. This may fend off a lot of players because if you lose, you can permanently lose the characters you used in that match.

Final Word
For the low price of $20, Portable Ops + offers the hardcore Metal Gear Solid fan a nice expansion. However, with no story and unbalanced multiplayer, the game isn't for everyone. If you plan to spend a lot of time playing online and leveling up your soldiers, then this is a great title for you but for everyone else it is better to pass on.