I will be the first to say that I was skeptical when Metal Gear Rising was first announced. I didn’t know if Kojima Productions had the chops to make a full-out sword-based action combat game. It turns out I was right as the game was quietly shelved only to be picked up a few months later by the absolute genius team over at Platinum Games. Now that the team that brought us Bayonetta and Vanquish are in charge of the project, it’s looking to be one of the best games of next year.

For those who aren’t aware, Metal Gear Rising is an attempt at broadening the scope of the Metal Gear franchise. Previously, the series only focused on either Solid Snake or Big Boss. Rising is all about Metal Gear Solid 2 protagonist Raiden. It isn’t the whiny in a constant state of existential crisis Raiden that has taken up residence as Rising’s main protagonist though. It’s the amazing cyborg ninja that even the haters came to love in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

The new trailer obviously wants to focus on the story that Kojima is probably involved with in some capacity. It seems the game will be exploring Raiden’s past as a child soldier who was then raised to be a test subject in Metal Gear Solid 2’s Solid Snake Simulation. None of that really matters, however, when the trailer goes over to the gameplay.

You’re going to have to see it for yourself, but trust me, it’s absolutely amazing. It seems that Platinum Games have mashed together the best parts of both Bayonetta and Vanquish into one future soldier action game that could only come from the greatest Japanese game developers.

The main gameplay hook of being able to direct your slices in any direction is still intact and even better than before. Just watch Raiden cut a helicopter into 10 different pieces and try not to get excited. It seems that Raiden has picked up a few new moves from the last trailer as well including some awesome stealth kills.

Konami has a hit on their hands here and I hope it does well. Platinum Games deserves far more respect than they’re given and it might give Sega a push to bring Anarchy Reigns, Platinum Games’ arena shooter, over to the West.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in early 2013. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Wii U got its own version later on.