Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Enemies Revealed Ahead Of February Release Date

One of the most interesting things about Metal Gear games has been the enemies. From memorable ones such as Revolver Ocelot, to the soldiers with apparent blinders on, the series has never given a dull antagonist.

Now, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has unveiled three enemies that gamers will be facing off against in the new Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

One of them will be named Monsoon, a ninja with cutaway arms. Sundowner is a giant, samurai-resembling dual-wielding sword fighter, and Mistral is a cyborg with numerous arms.

See images of the three here.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a radical departure from previous Metal Gear installments. The game will no longer focus on stealth, but rather on action and slicing and dicing.

It will also no longer be developed by Kojima Productions, which will still produce and be heavily involved in the game, but rather by Platinum Games.

The protagonist will now be Raiden from Metal Gear solid 4, instead of Solid Snake, and the game promises to make good use of his katana. Gamers will be able to slice almost anything and everything in the game and instead of the standard aiming mode, there will now be a 'Blade Mode' where players can enter slow motion.

Despite the change of pace, early previews around the internet have been generally positive. And, of course, just like in Metal Gear Solid games, you can go ahead and go play through the entire game without killing anybody if you wanted to.

Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima stated back in 2011 that the story will take place "several years after MGS4," and that "Metal Gear Rising is not part of the Metal Gear Solid series."

The game is slated for a February 19 2013 release date on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.