It finally returns, as I've finally done something toward replaying the MGS games I said I would! Though, as you can guess from the title, I've clearly deviated from the original plan. Which is no surprise, because I've basically said as much before. No PS1 MGS, and no Twin Snakes for me this year. Not because I don't think it's worth it, more because I only have so much time, and I don't want to potentially ruin my memories of Twin Snakes because...Well, I'll get to that.

Should note: I'm not going to shy away from spoilers for these games. These are old games, and if you haven't played them, you should do that. Or watch Drew's videos of him playing them on the site, or go to YouTube. You know, I probably wouldn't recommend having Dan and Drew talk over these games be your first exposure to them. All the cut-scenes for all of these games are on there, if you look. But you've been warned!

Quick History: I played the PS2 versions of both of these games back in summer of 2007. I borrowed my friend's copy of MGS2, and bought my own copy of MGS3, because he didn't own Subsistence (the re-release with the retooled camera system and a second disc full of nonsense). At that time, I did not enjoy playing MGS2 a whole lot, and had already had a lot of that game's story spoiled for me thanks to spending too much time on the internet, but I did enjoy MGS3 quite a lot.

So, going into these HD versions that I bought months ago but hadn't touched until recently (aside from using MGS3 to play MG and MG2:SS), I was hopeful that, perhaps, given time, and my "maturation" as a human being (I was about 17 at the time back then), I would find more to appreciate in MGS2 as a game. As a story I always enjoyed it (despite knowing most of what was going to happen ahead of time), but maybe I was just too young. Just too impatient to really get that game, given that there are still people that say not only that they enjoy playing it, but that it's their favorite of the games. To play. (Also, bear in mind that I enjoyed playing Twin Snakes back in the day, so perhaps this was a foolhardy line of thinking.) Well, did I?

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD.

The short answer? No. MGS2 is just as clunky, and generally poorly designed as it was when I played it back in 2007. Sure, it's in wide screen, and higher definition, both of which help. But every thing I remember having issues with back then, I had issues with now. And even some things that I don't remember having issue with, I had issue with.

Part of that is because I played MGS2 on "Very Easy" then, because I was playing it solely for the story. I had played Twin Snakes so many times (well, a handful, but I used the cut-scene viewer multiple times after that to rewatch everything), and loved it so much that I really had to keep going with the series. That had led to a years long wait, because I didn't have a PS2, so I didn't have any way to play it, or MGS3 until I got a PS3. The point being that when I realized I had a way to finally play MGS2, I wanted to do that, and to get through the game part to see the story part more quickly. (To be frank, I also only ever played Twin Snakes on Very Easy because back then I was a dumb kid and tended to play most games on whatever was the easiest setting and SHUT UP, I was a kid.) I did play MGS3 on normal, which, in retrospect, seems really weird given that I had just come off of struggling my way through MGS2, but don't ask me to explain anything that 17 year old me did. I can't even explain what I do now, let alone years ago.

When I went to start MGS2 HD, I decided to finally play on Normal. And, don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I Drew'd my way through the game, constantly dying and stumbling around in a comical fashion (I'm exaggerating how Drew got through it), but there were some moments that I did struggle with. Moments that I'm pretty sure I didn't struggle with back then, because the game was set to an easier difficulty. Or, at least I'm assuming that's the case. My most distinct memory of playing that game in 2007 was when my mom came over during the long Codec call where the Colonel and Rose go on and on about how society needs to be controlled. During which my mom asked me what kind of a weird game I was playing. It was all I could do to stop myself from giving a rudely voiced response about how she had just missed the giant robots and ex-President fighting. I actually don't remember what I did after that, I just remember that happening.

The Vamp fight, in particular, got REALLY frustrating to me in this recent playthrough. It wasn't entirely difficulty, because I would have accidentally flipped into the water and instantly drowned regardless of difficulty, but I don't think that is an excuse at all. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, in almost every way, that is a very poorly designed boss fight. But before I describe this fight for those who haven't played it, or might not remember it (I certainly had forgotten a lot of it, despite watching Drew play it last year), let's just remember what MGS2 is. It's a stealth game with controls that I would not say are very precise in general (more on that later).

This fight takes place on this mostly square (with a nook or two to the side where some ammo appears if you run low) platform above some weird water that you instantly die in (despite Raiden knowing how to swim). That is what you're restricted to. And despite there being railings around most of that platform, there's more than enough empty spaces for you to flip into, should you be trying to dodge an attack and do so in the wrong direction.

Vamp, however, can swim in that water, and he can also jump up to a higher area, from which he throws knives down at you. Now, the one thing about the fight that I think is a nice touch is that you can throw (or shoot from a launcher, like I did) grenades into the water while Vamp was in there, and the concussion from the explosion will force him out. It usually took more than one, but so far as I could tell, it didn't have to be even close to where he was, just anywhere in the water. And then when he leaves the water, he's exposed for a few seconds. That's a decent bit of boss design that I appreciate.

What I don't appreciate are things like him attacking me repeatedly, and knocking me down in the process (being knocked down and waiting to get back up is a problem I had a lot in this game, often during alerts). I did not feel like the game's controls were up to the task of allowing me to actually get away from him, though I'm sure part of it was me. I also don't like having to go into first person view to shoot him on the upper platform, while he's throwing knives at me that I can't dodge because I'm in first person. Yes, I know you can lean. I leaned a lot in these games. That didn't help me!

But the worst thing in the fight? I mean, aside from accidentally falling into instant death in the water. Near the end he throws a special knife that will stop you from moving. All you can do is rotate (very slowly in third person), and then shoot the knife to free yourself (it doesn't even stick into you, in a case of breaking the suspension of disbelief in a series that I can accept almost anything in). Now, this wouldn't be too bad if it was easy and quick to shoot the knife, but it's not. Also, you can't swap your weapon after this has happened, which lead to me worrying I was going to blow myself up because I had the grenade launcher equipped during most of the fight. I don't think I actually managed to do that, but I died a lot in that fight. I got really frustrated with it. It's not fun. It's not clever. It's just a poorly made boss fight.

As I mentioned earlier, the controls in this game aren't exactly great. There's the control scheme itself, which is what it is. It's convoluted, it's weird, but it's Metal Gear. If you're taking it slow, and got everything under control, it's the sort of thing that works. Usually. Now, I dunno if some of this stuff was just my controller being old and not in the best of shape, or if it was the game, but some things like the aiming just didn't feel right to me (I'm inclined to blame the game, because this wasn't as big an issue in MGS3). With the sniper rifle, especially, I felt like lining up some shots in the C4 bridge bit were just way more finicky than they should have been. A case where the smallest move I could make with my control stick led to the reticle jumping past the thing I wanted to aim at.

Other things, like the, "slowly release the button to put your gun away instead of shooting" kinda got in the way. I actually ran into this more in MGS3 than I did in MGS2, but I ran into the opposite problem with it than Drew did in these games. He kept accidentally shooting when he meant to put the gun away (which led to him giving up on it). I ended up accidentally putting my gun away instead of shooting. Enough times that it starting annoying me quite a bit in MGS3. Not that it broke the game, or led to me dying in either of the games, but it really made me start to wonder if something was up with my controller. I could have tried switching to another one, but this is the only DualShock 3 I have (my others are SIXAXISs), and I didn't want to use a DS4 and lose that functionality altogether (also I dunno if that would work with these games).

And other things, like pushing up against walls and shimmying along just felt bafflingly hard to get right in the game. But my biggest problem (semi related to the wall thing), was the camera. The way the game is designed, I could only rarely feel like I could see where I was going, and then almost always in the outdoor areas. In a stealth game, where being able to keep track of where enemies and cameras are around you, not being able to see where you're going, or what's around you is a terrible, terrible thing.

Now, I know what the first response to that is: That's what the radar is for. This is not the first time I've said this, and it won't be the last, but any time a game requires that you spend that much time staring at a map in the corner of the screen, that's bad design. Minimaps always have been, and always will be, poor design. If I have to spend as much time (or more so) staring at this one corner of the screen, then what's the point of having the rest of it? Why not just making every game just navigating a tiny dot around a map?

And on top of that being bad to begin with, the game doesn't even give you the radar until you find a nerd node and unlock it for each area. I understand the thought process, to make you really work for it, but then it's requiring that I sneak through this area that I can't see anything or where I'm going, and do it without the main tool for getting around the awful camera. Sometimes repeatedly, because a few of those nerds nodes are pretty well hidden. I dunno if I ever found the one in Strut F, for example.

Yes, I know there's the first person view too. I don't think having to stop and look around in first person helps. Sure, it helps me see more things, but having to stop moving to look around is jarring, and leaves me completely exposed. Which, sure, maybe that's part of the point, but I don't see how any of this is beneficial, or makes the game more enjoyable. The only logical reason I can think of for having an uncontrollable camera in a game like this is to show you more of the area around you than you could realistically see, not less! The real reason it's there, I feel, is because, "it's what the older games did." Then again, the older games were 2D (on the MSX) or made for a system where not every controller had control sticks (on PS1), so they had to be built with limitations like that in mind. And sure, MGS2 was an early PS2 game, maybe they didn't have the foresight to know better. That doesn't excuse it.

I don't think the game's clunky sticking to walls thing helps either. Push against a wall to your right by holding right on the stick, at which point the camera shifts so that Raiden is now to the top of the screen. But don't stop holding right, or Raiden (and Snake too, sorry for forgetting him) will stop pushing against the wall. Then you need to either try to move the stick slightly enough to one side or the other to move, or remember that you can hold L2 or R2 to shimmy too, and peak around corners. This also reminds me of the times when the camera would just change position completely after running through a doorway or something, thus screwing up which way I was running. Not that I'm saying this game should have had tank controls like the old Resident Evil games. That would have been even worse.

Everything about moving and interacting with MGS2 is kind of a mess, largely because of the camera. The few times I wasn't struggling were the bigger, more open outside areas where the camera pulls out a bit, and the part of the game where you're disguised as a Russian soldier. And that's not because anything is different control or camera wise, it's just because so long as you don't do anything too stupid, the enemies won't attack, so I could relax.

And don't get me started on the swimming. It's bad. Just plain bad.

I was really disappointed when I replayed MGS2. Sure, the story stuff is still enjoyable enough, but I've rewatched all those cut-scenes on YouTube multiple times over the years, never mind the Metal Gear Scanlon run of the game. What I'm saying is that even that part of the game has lost its touch. With me, at least, not saying it's bad. Just saying it has gotten a little old to me. But that's my fault for over-exposing myself to it. Which, can you blame me for wanting to relive the magic over the years so I can still remember most of what was going on? I'd rather that than to be completely confused and wrong a lot of the time like some people who talk about Metal Gear. I mean that mostly as a joke, I realize most people are normal enough to not do things like that, don't take it as an insult. I'm just weird.

Limitations of the vision cones and eyesight aside, I do still find the enemies' AI to be pretty interesting to see in action, and deal with. Watching them try to clear areas whilst I'm hiding in a cardboard box was pretty interesting. And, for a game that was originally made in 2001, that stuff is even more impressive. I feel like the AI is better than the AI in a lot of games made today, frankly. I get that making AI too smart usually leads to games being worse to play, but it'd be nice if it was better in most games (and I can only assume that it's even more ruthless in MGS2 on the higher difficulties). For a game that I was mostly disappointed in, seeing how good the AI was in a game this old was definitely a highlight.

And, to be fair, as negative as this all sounds, I didn't hate my entire time with the game. Some of the other boss fights are all right. I liked Fatman's, even if I almost blew up from almost missing a bomb or two because of the wonky camera. I didn't really mess around with some of the weirder stuff in the game, but there's still a really nice attention to detail in most things that I appreciate as well. And the music is mostly pretty good too. Aside from that weird sax-heavy love theme or whatever that plays over some of the stuff with Rose.

After I was done with the game, it left me in a weird place. Despite the fact that it was more or less the same reaction I had to the game when I first played it, it left me feeling really weary about the other MGS games of yore. I certainly didn't want to go and replay Twin Snakes, and have my memories of that game ruined. It also left me thinking that MGS3 might have aged a lot worse than I hoped. So I was feeling a lot more trepidation than I expected when I went to MGS3.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

But I was wrong, MGS3 is still a great game. Don't get me wrong, it has issues too. Some of them are the same as in MGS2 (like what I was running into with not shooting when I meant to shoot), and some of them are unique to MGS3. That said, I had a lot of fun playing through this game again. Almost a surprising amount of fun, given the rough time I had with MGS2 (never mind that, as I said earlier, this is basically exactly what happened back in 2007).

And this is due in no small part to MGS3 having a controllable camera. At least in the Subsistence version (which is what the HD version is based on). Being able to see where I'm going really helps, it turns out. But even without that, whenever I would switch to the original camera system (which you can do with a click of R3), I still feel like those were more usable camera angles than the stuff in MGS2. But MGS3 also, for the most part, takes place in larger, outdoor areas. There is some indoor stuff, particularly toward the end with Groznyj Grad, but it's mostly an outdoor game.

That also appeals to me more than the very tight, claustrophobic areas of MGS2. I've got nothing against stealth games set in very tight areas like that game, just so long as I can keep track of what's going on. Even if that wasn't an issue in MGS2, the areas are small enough that there didn't ever seem like there were tons of different ways through them, or tons of different ways to tackle those situations. Not to say it was all linear, and having to sneak through a lot of them "backwards" when going through them again for the bombs did get a little more use out of them, but overall I don't think that stuff did the game any favors. Which, to be fair, I feel like is partly due to the game not having as much time as would have been needed to fully flesh everything out (why I think most of Shell 2 isn't explorable in any way), so I don't really hold that against it too much.

And while MGS3 certainly isn't jam packed with dozens of different options for each and every area, the larger areas do allow for more options, or at least more options that were apparent to me. Even if some of them are as simple as crawling along this side of an area, using a log as cover, or crawling through the grass over on the other side. For whatever reason, even just beyond that, sneaking through more naturalistic environments is just more appealing to me. At least for this series, I dunno that I want Jensen sneaking in a jungle in the next Deus Ex, for example. But I also wouldn't mind seeing him wearing a crocodile hat, so then again...

This is reminding me of how I first played MGS3, back in the day. I played that game so meticulously, that I wonder how I ever had the patience to do it. I would literally spend ten or fifteen minutes just laying in a spot, scoping out the enemy. Just examining where they were going, trying to plan out what I was going to do, etc. I usually messed it up, in the end, but at least I was trying. I was even so obsessive about the camo index that I would pause the game and change my camo and face paint the second it dropped.

And that brings me to the issues I have with this game. Namely, that while I like systems like the camo index on paper, in practice, it is tedious. I don't think it detracted from my time with the game, because (at least on normal), it's generous enough that you don't really have to have it as high as possible at every moment. Even when I did screw up and get seen (which happened more than a few times even in this most recent run), between the tranq pistol and CQC, I was able to get through a lot of situations without a full alert being raised. And even when it did, I was still able to get through the game without killing anyone, which was a first for me with MGS3! That said, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I vastly prefer the Octo-camo in MGS4, and am totally fine with not being able to pause and change on a whim in Peace Walker and MGSV.

Another issue I have with the game is that the controls still aren't quite where they should be. Like, more so than in MGS2, I really wish I could walk whilst crouching in MGS3. In MGS2, there aren't really many places where being able to crouch walk would be super useful, but with waist high grass, and fallen logs, I think MGS3 would be. It'd also mean I'd have to have spent less time crawling in grass, which would have been nice.

The issue I have with the grass is that it forces you into first person view when you do. Now, on the one hand, I enjoy that aspect of restricting what I can see, especially since this is in a realistic fashion. But the problem is the controls for poking Snake's head above the grass to get a better view. Despite it being in first person view, it's not manual first person view. That means that L2 and R2 still open the item and weapon windows, rather than leaning, or poking up like they do in manual first person. That means that you need to hold R1, R2, and L2 in order to poke your head up over the grass to get a look around in MGS3. And that's a little absurd.

There's also the CQC system, which I mostly like a lot, but has its own oddities. Even just beyond the controls (which are a little too complex if you want to do anything beyond just knocking someone out), there's just some weird stuff with the CQC. Like, this is more of a movement thing than a CQC thing, but the fact that if you want to sneak up on someone silently, you need to use the d-pad instead of the control stick. I get why they might want to add in a third movement speed for Snake, but putting it on the d-pad is just awkward, more than anything else. I've never enjoyed using a d-pad to move in 3D space before, and this certainly wasn't the game to change my mind.

But the thing I was going to mention before remembering the d-pad thing is the bizarre restrictions on what is and isn't CQC compatible. The knife is, the knife and a pistol are, but just a pistol isn't. Or, at least, the revolver you get later in the game isn't. Neither is the fork you get at the same time. For whatever reason, you can't equip both at the same time.

That wouldn't be a problem if you could use CQC bare handed... But so far as I could tell, you can't. Now, maybe this is just because Ground Zeroes got rid of all that stuff, and Big Boss can use CQC any time he isn't aiming the weapon (which leads to a lot of somewhat awkward bits where he's holstering and drawing his weapon repeatedly), but not being able to grab someone and throw them to the ground whilst disarmed is not something I cared for. It's not an issue for most of the game, but it was for that one part of the game after Snake was captured, and I didn't have any CQC compatible weapons. Sure, if I had gotten through without being seen, it wouldn't have been an issue at all. But I didn't. And it bothered me.

And then there's the fact that Snake needs to eat, and the whole healing system. I don't care for the needing to stay fed at all, especially since there's so much food throughout the game that it was never, ever an issue. And it's not like I was letting the meter completely drain, then eating. I play too obsessively to let Snake's stamina fall too much below the three quarters mark, and thus have his aim start shaking. It's just a chore, and not a particularly hard one. Especially when you consider how quickly it drains compared to how quickly real humans get hungry. Now, he does get injured early in the game, and if that was used as an excuse, that'd be one thing. But, if it is, I missed that.

The same thing goes for the healing system. Well, I think Snake having regenerating health is nice, but the whole injury system is a chore. Or can be. Even serious wounds (which turn a portion of the health bar red) heal, and when they do, they extend the max length of the health bar (something I didn't realize until I looked up online why the bar extended). But in the middle of a boss fight, healing yourself is often the smart thing to do, even if it grinds the boss to a halt whilst you go in and just hit X on some things in a menu to make them happen. You don't even have to do them in the right order, so you could bandage, disinfect, and then remove the bullet from a bullet wound if you wanted. I'm no doctor, but I don't think you can do that stuff in that order.

Or you could just wait for the wounds to heal on their own, which is also valid, especially for regular wounds, given how rare Life Medicine is in the game. But then you might end up with one of The Fear's bolts stuck in Snake's chest for the entire rest of the game like I did. It didn't show up in cut-scenes, but it was always there outside of them. I thought that maybe exiting out of the game and reloading the save would work. It didn't. And I didn't notice it soon enough to consider fighting that boss again. But, it's just a silly little bug, it didn't make the game any worse.

Speaking of boss fights, I did have some trouble with The Fury. I don't think it's a poorly designed fight, like Vamp, but I was starting to get frustrated with it. For kind of a similar reason, actually. Like Vamp, he'll knock you to the ground some of the time. But here the difference is that Snake is also lit on fire after being knocked down. So you also have to deal with him taking continuous damage until you put the fire out. But, aside from that, I do think it's an interesting boss, because it does have sneaking elements, and the room is dark enough that you have to manage night vision goggles and stuff. Or at least I did, your mileage may vary depending on your TV's brightness.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention THE boss of MGS3 (not to be confused with The Boss), The End. That hundred year old sniper with a pet parrot and an outfit made of leaves. I still think that fight suffers from it being split into three separate areas, because having to find him when he's in another one of them is pure guesswork at a certain point. But that's really only if you weren't paying close attention to where he went after the last time you attacked him. At least if you were playing the way I did, which is sneaking up behind him to hit him with the tranq pistol. I was doing a no-kill playthrough, and I wanted all of the boss camos (you have to stick up The End to get his), after all. But, having to sneak through these areas, and using various clues and gadgets to find where he's at is a lot of fun. Especially when, after that, you then have to sneak up behind him, rather than pulling out a rifle and trying to shoot him before he sees your scope's lens flare and shoots back. I do think his being able to regenerate stamina is a touch unfair, but I still prevailed in the end.

And, maybe this isn't very impressive to people who are better than I am at this game, but when I was fighting The Boss at the end of the game, I finally, after all these years, figured out how to counter her CQC. Turns out all you have to do is time a button press with the exclamation point on the screen. Works a lot better than just mashing the button like I used to. Even so, that fight definitely came down to the wire for me, given that I had less than a minute before the planes came and bombed the place.

I still like MGS3 a lot. Even just the setting, with it deep in the Cold War, is just super appealing to me. Yeah, I know the main focus of the game within the MGS fiction as a whole is more about The Boss, and the early formation of The Patriots, but I still just love me a good old fashioned story of people doing sneaky spy stuff to stop nuclear weapons. Of course it has its own take on that stuff too, but it wears its inspirations on its sleeves, with stuff like the Snake Eater song (still one of my favorites), and outright references to James Bond. And, for as much as this game isn't like stuff that actually was made in the 60s, it still screams the 60s in a lot of ways that I like a lot. A lot of it is small stuff, like that microfilm that everyone is after, but it helps.

Then again, there's also stuff like the giant nuclear missile equipped and rocket propelled tank, the Soviet hover platform thingies, and infrared goggles that probably work better than real ones made today that don't feel very 60s. But, it's still Metal Gear, after all. Metal Gear's version of the 60s.

There's lots of other things I could go on and on about too, but I should probably wrap this up. I still don't enjoy MGS2, but so far as I can tell, it's a really solid (pun) port, and if you haven't played the HD version and liked the original, you'll still enjoy it. MGS3 is still fun, and the port is pretty good too. Though, I feel like there was some weird slowdown around part of Groznyj Grad, but I'm not sure. Like, it still "felt" "smooth," but Snake looked like he was moving at half speed, as was everything else? It's hard to describe, and I'm not sure if it was actually happening, or if I just imagined it. That said, it's definitely a better framerate than I remember in the original, and the HD helps both of the games in terms of lining up head shots, etc. Some of the extra stuff that was in Subsistence on PS2 is gone, but you still get MG and MG2:SS, and MGS3, so I think it's still a good deal. Especially for the $6 I paid for the game months ago when it was on sale.

Anything else?

So far as replaying other Metal Gear games before MGSV, I think I'm about done. As much as I probably "should" play Peace Walker again, between my time on the PSP, and the PS3 versions of the game, I've put over 120 hours into that game. Seriously, it was about 60 on one, and over that on the other. Though, oddly enough, the one with the lower playtime was the one that I accomplished more in (100% mission completion!). But, that's what vastly improved controls and a better framerate on PS3 will do for ya, huh? I will, however, be watching all of Peace Walker's cut-scenes on YouTube. And, just for the heck of it, probably Portable Ops too, even though I'm still not sure how canon that game actually is. Kojima didn't work on it, after all. I did play it, years ago, but I dunno.

Having just watched Drew play MGS4 to completion, I'm not going to play that again. I've played that game literally about fifteen times. Sure, I could play it again, and write about it, but I have so much of that game seared into my brain that I don't think I'd have anything interesting to write about it. And aside from maybe some technical things, the only thing I'd really have to say is about how poorly handled I think the B&B Corps is. Namely that they're all based on models that Kojima thought were pretty, and those scenes with them out of their armor is the very definition of Male Gaze. Never mind that they are all literally the same, in that they're just there to pound in to you that War is Butts Bad.

I'll play Ground Zeroes again, but that's a very short time investment. I do kinda want to play REVENGEANCE again, though. Even though it has nothing to do with MGSV, and is also of questionably canon-isity, I still love that game, and think it's about time for another round of Zandatsu-ing. I doubt I'll have anything new to say or write about it, but it'll be fun.

And if I play other stuff too, and have things to write about them, I might do that. But otherwise, I'm just waiting until MGSV. And unless something tragic happens, like my computer breaks or I die, I'll have something probably massive to write about that. I'd still love that to be the game that I have two concurrent blogs written about.

But speaking of waiting, I have seen rumors (dunno if they're true, but they probably are) that MGSV has leaked. And, because of that, I'm going to be shying away from forums and things. You know, spoilers and all that. And if you are the sort of person that wants to have that stuff spoiled for you, please be considerate of others with that knowledge. It's been five years since the last MGS game, and don't be a jerk.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please have a lovely day!

One of these days I'll get to PW and GZ...

As fort Portable Ops. It's most likely no longer canon (you'll notice it's not in the recent timeline overview.)

@hassun: You're right! It's not there! Gasp!

You should totally play Peace Walker. It's good. The story is a lot more in line with the MGS3 stuff than any of the modern day stuff, which makes sense. Plus there's a guy named Hot Coldman.

@mooseymcman: Yeah I own it (and GZ), just haven't been able to get around to it. From what I heard it will be downright essential for playing GZ and MGSV as well. Just have to find the time (and conquer the fear that I might get confirmation that the Metal Gear series peaked in 2005/2006).

@hassun: Well, it definitely didn't peak in terms of game play, and so far as story goes, that stuff is so subjective. That said, it is 100% necessary if you want to understand what's going on in GZ. Though, honestly, you could probably skip GZ, because just about everything you need to know from that is in the trailers. But it also only takes about an hour to beat, so you might as well.

@mooseymcman: Let's not get into that. I think we both know each other's opinions on the Metal Gear games by now. :V

Regarding GZ, I definitely won't skip it since it's afaik basically the introductory act to MGSV just like Tanker and the Virtuous Mission were for MGS2 & MGS3. They just asked money for it this time.

@hassun: From the was Ground Zeroes ends, I don't think Peace Walker or Ground Zeroes will be that important to Phantom Pain.

I'm guessing these bullet points will be enough.

• Miller and Boss had a base that someone blew up. They're mad.
• Snake will be in a coma for 9 years.
• There's a rapey, torturey bad guy who has no skin who will probably show up again. He's also against Zero.
• Otacon's father, who looks and sounds exactly like Otacon, is in the game.

Peace Walker was great, but the story was pretty much self contained and a lot of it was erased by the end of Ground Zeroes.

"Hey, how do we deal with Paz for those guys who haven't played Peace Walker?"

<later that day Paz returned to her home planet. Via an explosion>

I actually was looking forward to replaying the HD versions til I remembered they aren't Dual Shock 4 compatible. I've still got my PS2 copies and a PS2 to play them on but... but... trophies! I'm intending to finish Ground Zeroes before Phantom Pain but sneaking in that game is proving a bother. I miss vision cones and tranquiliser guns with plentiful ammo. I've gone soft. The Day 1 edition comes with Ground Zeroes packed in so that's effectively the tanker / virtuous mission.

Portable Ops being dropped from the canon isn't too bad as you don't learn much from that game. Big Boss and Miller get a free base, kill the last Philosipher and take the remainder of the Legacy. Lots of soldiers, lots of cash. Go Go Gadget Mother Base.

@hunkulese: Having not played PW and GZ, I'm trying to avoid spoilers.

@hassun: Pretty much all of that is in Phantom Pain trailers.

Portable Ops is canon, so is Revengeance (albeit side stories).

@hunkulese: I am not watching any MGSV trailers.

@hassun: They're not spoilers. You're also going to be in a weird spot if you want to play Ground Zeroes and want to avoid Phantom Pain trailers.

@hunkulese: As I've said before, I consider GZ to be the introductory chapter to MGSV.

Either way, I don't want to argue about this. Certainly not in someone else's blog. You'll have to forgive me for being cautious when it comes to spoilers of games I intend to play.

@hassun: I still firmly believe the reason why GZ is its own thing is because men in suits came to Kojima and said he had to release something sooner than was needed to get TPP out there.

Yep. The same men in suits that thought it would be a good idea to make a playable teaser for a game announcement. They know Kojima takes time and money. Both of which Konami seem in short supply of when it comes to their games. Ground Zeroes was probably part of the full package and was then decoupled for a short cash boost to offset the overspending of the budget for the Phantom Pain.

@mooseymcman: Hearing about the development time and budget of MGSV I can readily believe they were factors in the decision to make GZ.

Gonna endow you with my infinite MGS knowledge and experience as I read along. Ai'ght

• The knifes that stop you from moving are actually pinned to your shadow; you can't move because your shadow is pinned down. Therefore, if you shoot out the lights, he no longer uses that attack.
• The best way to stop him from knocking you down, is to swing at him with the nikita. Pro strats. However, I beat Vamp on Extreme and still agree that he is a dick.
• Sniping in MGS1 and 2 is objectively horrible. Some of those high level sniping VR missions in MGS2 almost broke me.
• The pressure sensitive aiming in MGS2/3 has not aged well. It's just something you have to develop a feel for. It's not good.
• Pressing up against walls is useless in MGS2/3. It's always better to look in first person at a wall, then lean left or right to look around it.
• I can play most of MGS1/2 by just looking at the radar. I bet Konami could make a fun mobile game out of that.

I like MGS2 more than 4 or 1, but unlike most people, I'm still familiar with the controls. And even though I can almost always get Raiden or Snake to do what I want them to do, I still recognize that the mechanics of the game are clunky as hell.

• I'm not a fan of the forced first-person in tall grass either. But I feel like I abuse the tranq gun in this game too much to feel like I need to crouch walk at all.
• The absurd thing about CQC in MGS3 is how far away you are able to grab people. You never need to use the d-pad to sneak up on anyone because you can just run full speed towards them, and you will be able to grab them as soon as they hear you. Overpowered.
• You can't use CQC while wearing the scientist or maintenance uniform, or while escaping the prison cell. I agree, it's dumb.
• I understand all the complaints people have with the menu stuff in this game. But MGS3 just wouldn't be the same if I couldn't eat stuff or stitch myself up.
• The Fury is a matter of luck in some cases. I fought him on hard recently, and hadn't even come close to dying up until that point. Always use that fire camo on subsequent playthroughs.
• Turns out The Boss is the easiest to take down exclusively with CQC. Let her come to you, counter, thrown down, roll, find cover, run after her when she stops shooting, repeat.
• MGS3 does have some slow-down when there's a lot of action on the screen. It's probably a problem with the engine, rather than the platform. And the HD version is the only version that runs at 60 frames. It's actually pretty jarring when compared to the PS2 versions.

MGS3 is still my favourite game ever. That's not necessarily due to nostalgia, since I still play it a couple times a year. I bet I could get into the speed running scene on it if I wanted to.

The B&B Corps. would be so much better if they were just robots. I still think Crying Wolf is a fun fight; but those Beauty cutscenes and Drebin backstories suck.

I'm really sad that MGSV came out early in some areas, but it was bound to happen I guess. Just means that I had to filter a lot of the sites I go to. Gotta keep that up post-release too. Luckily I have a whole week off to play it.

@kasaioni: Okay, that makes a lot more sense with the knife pinning the shadow down. I mean, even by MGS standards, that makes no logical sense in terms of the game world, but it does make sense as a game thing. I just didn't notice that. Maybe if I had tried calling someone after that, they'd have pointed it out.

Lots of other good points too! And yeah, if MGS3's controls were just a bit, well, more modern, and a few other things were a bit tighter, I might be able to say it was my current favorite of the series. But, with any luck, MGSV will amaze us all, and that'll be my new favorite. And hopefully we can both avoid spoilers. Good luck, and god speed, soldier.

@mooseymcman: Thank you.

The 3DS version of MGS3 has crouch walking and modern aiming controls I think. But I have no desire to play MGS on portable machines.

I does look like MGSV will be my favourite gameplay-wise. I put 300 hours into Peace Walker across two saves, so I'm super exited for Peace Walker 2 -- er -- MGSV.

@kasaioni: That's right! I had forgotten they added that to the 3DS version. Still baffled as to how that would happen. But yeah, I don't think that would be the ideal way to play that game, for a variety of reasons.

@mooseymcman: Kojima wanted the B&B unit to be naked, and actually asked the actresses to be mo-capped nude, but they had to put them in suits in-game for rating purposes.

Just wanted to reinforce how weird that whole thing is. I get that "beautiful woman is monster" is a classic Japanese storytelling device, but what a fucking quality drop in boss personality from the other three games. I'll take Fatman's dumb rollerskating ass over them any day.

Nice write up. I could never get into the old MGS games as I didn't play them back then and the controls really feel like shit now, but that's ok; I'll just play MGSV for that much longer to offset it.

If you aren't in BSF, you should sign up. We'll keep your goats safe at night.

@mirado: Honestly, I'm not opposed at all to nudity in games and other things if it's handled tastefully....I just don't trust Kojima to handle it tastefully at all. I don't think it was tasteful here, and they were clothed! Even if it was skin tight.

So far as BSF goes, I was actually planning on skipping the FOB stuff altogether. It definitely sounds interesting, but the idea of being invaded during a story mission, and having to choose between protecting my stuff, and finishing my mission is not something I'm interested in. Maybe after I've finished the story, but then probably only if there's any Trophies associated with it.

And thanks! It's always good to be told the stuff you do is good, after all.

@mooseymcman: You can turn off your FOB at anytime, which I assume is for editing purposes so you aren't attacked mid-way, but also doubles as the perfect way to make sure you aren't interrupted during something inportant. I was very worried about the same thing, and hearing that really sold me on it.

@mirado: Oh, that's pretty cool then. Though, frankly, if this stuff requires adding a bunch of people to your friends list on PSN (I'll be playing on PS4), then I kinda don't want in on BSF. If it's an in game clan thing (all I've seen is that one demo from GamesCom, haven't read any follow up stuff), then sure. But I don't want my friends list being clogged with a bunch more people, you know?

I'll look into a bit more later. Gotta finish watching Drew and Dan watch Peace Walker first.

@mooseymcman: That's perfectly understandable; it is a friends list thing, so I get why you'd want to avoid that.

No worries, don't want to sound like a pusher. Just wanted to give you the heads up.

I feel like most the time, when people complain about mechanics they are idiots. Some things are just hard, like MGS3 grenade throwing (dozens of games do it, and it's terrible in each one). However, other things are well explained and responsive. I had no issue with MGS2 controls (only hated the final clunky sword fight) because I utilized the advantageous parts, internalized and avoided the disadvantageous, and basically bought into the entire control scheme. There's no sense in blaming or hating a game for doing something you don't like, especially if it's completely adequate (good might be pushing it, but then again, speed runs show that anything can be mastered).

MGS3 camo might have been tedious but it was so integral to that game and setting. I honestly was disappointed with MGS4 OctoCamo - you could manually change it, but it wasn't the same as handcrafted named suits. And while MGSV plays better than any MGS game and better than many other third person games, it's severely lacking in the rigid stealth mechanic. People complain about the dissonance of dudes telling you about the "Select Button" in codec calls, but I find it comforting - in the MGS universe, those buttons exist. When you're teaching your kid how to ride a bike, you tell him to hammer on the triangle button. It's something proprietary to MGS and I love it.

Looks like if I want to replay 2 and 3 my only option is the PS2 because I've lost the dongle for my MadCatz pad. Grrr... I don't fancy Snake Eater with that default camera. Might just grab a new pad at the weekend.