Re: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PS3/Vita/360)
Great write-up!
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fYn1vVjCefE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The FEAR! My gosh, this guy drives me nuts.
Playing MGS1 and 2 its hard to imagine the series reaching above those two and achieving a pinnacle that few games ever reach, but MGS3 certainly reaches that level. Saying its the best game in the series seems like a hard feat after the first two. Yet, by the start of Operation Snake Eater its an obvious fact.
Keeping the updated, smoother gameplay of MGS2 while incorporating a free camera and parring down some of the modern technological conveniences of the previous games MGS3 truly pulls you into the Cold War. The setting is wonderful without beating you overhead with it. The loss of the radar is at first intimidating, but you quickly learn how to navigate the wider corridors of the forest and few buildings that you truly forget you ever needed it before. The additional gameplay features take on a similar approach. The thought of having to hunt for food, eating to keep your stamina up, and dress your wounds during and after battles is at first a seemingly daunting task. Yet, the game incorporates it in ways that is simplistic, but still leaves a bit of anxiety when your silencer, batteries, or food begin to run low. Scavenging and saving pays off as the third act kicks into high gear, but the survival management is a game-long process. As food expires from carrying it too long and finding what replenishes the best (and worst) surviving the jungle is one of the biggest enemies in the game. While the traditional bosses aren't nearly as fleshed out as 1 and 2 the ones that do make a mark are memorable and offer some classic moments.
The high mark of the game and undoubtedly the series is the long confrontation with The End. Sprawling over 3 big sections of forest this boss encounter truly felt like hunt or be hunted. The buildup is tense as you move around and feel like eyes are on you from every direction. Once your anxiety calms and you can wrap your head around your possible strategies the game reaches a master class in design. I employed my thermal goggles to follow The End's footprints to his newfound perch. Once the weather changed into a downpour of rain, however, that strategy quickly fell to the wayside as his tracks were washed away. I was forced to employ more basic skills such as a keen eye and ear (or d. mic). Even then there are still other methods to employ to take out The End such as taking him out earlier in the story or simply waiting him out. The whole encounter is wonderful and truly remarkable that very few games since then has surpassed this memorable confrontation.
The story itself is more in-line with the first game's linear progression and not nearly as convoluted as the second's. Well, not until the end anyway when all players are revealed and stripped of their double and triple crossing statuses. While the game keeps the series troupes and self-referential treatment Snake Eater is a more emotional and spiritual experience. The End is as much a personification of the jungle as he is a living boss to put down. The Sorrow's walk is a fight of a very different nature. Then of course the final confrontation with The Boss tugs at every emotion it can to pack that wallop of a conclusion. As serious and heavy as the story seems it should be it never feels that way thanks to the meshing of the spy-movie troupes and marks. It creates a nice tone that walks that classic MGS fine-line between goofy and heavy-handedness. Plus, we get this beauty:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9aHQnDTd1y4?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
It is insane to me that is game was designed and ran on the PS2. Apart from the map sizes relative to today's everything else has aged very well with few games reaching this level of scope. Between the survival management, stealth gameplay, narrative, and some truly memorable boss encounters I feel like its a culmination of the best elements of not only MGS, but gaming as a whole. Truly a gaming experience like no other and easily the 1A place holder in the MGS series.
Keeping the updated, smoother gameplay of MGS2 while incorporating a free camera and parring down some of the modern technological conveniences of the previous games MGS3 truly pulls you into the Cold War. The setting is wonderful without beating you overhead with it. The loss of the radar is at first intimidating, but you quickly learn how to navigate the wider corridors of the forest and few buildings that you truly forget you ever needed it before. The additional gameplay features take on a similar approach. The thought of having to hunt for food, eating to keep your stamina up, and dress your wounds during and after battles is at first a seemingly daunting task. Yet, the game incorporates it in ways that is simplistic, but still leaves a bit of anxiety when your silencer, batteries, or food begin to run low. Scavenging and saving pays off as the third act kicks into high gear, but the survival management is a game-long process. As food expires from carrying it too long and finding what replenishes the best (and worst) surviving the jungle is one of the biggest enemies in the game. While the traditional bosses aren't nearly as fleshed out as 1 and 2 the ones that do make a mark are memorable and offer some classic moments.
The high mark of the game and undoubtedly the series is the long confrontation with The End. Sprawling over 3 big sections of forest this boss encounter truly felt like hunt or be hunted. The buildup is tense as you move around and feel like eyes are on you from every direction. Once your anxiety calms and you can wrap your head around your possible strategies the game reaches a master class in design. I employed my thermal goggles to follow The End's footprints to his newfound perch. Once the weather changed into a downpour of rain, however, that strategy quickly fell to the wayside as his tracks were washed away. I was forced to employ more basic skills such as a keen eye and ear (or d. mic). Even then there are still other methods to employ to take out The End such as taking him out earlier in the story or simply waiting him out. The whole encounter is wonderful and truly remarkable that very few games since then has surpassed this memorable confrontation.
The story itself is more in-line with the first game's linear progression and not nearly as convoluted as the second's. Well, not until the end anyway when all players are revealed and stripped of their double and triple crossing statuses. While the game keeps the series troupes and self-referential treatment Snake Eater is a more emotional and spiritual experience. The End is as much a personification of the jungle as he is a living boss to put down. The Sorrow's walk is a fight of a very different nature. Then of course the final confrontation with The Boss tugs at every emotion it can to pack that wallop of a conclusion. As serious and heavy as the story seems it should be it never feels that way thanks to the meshing of the spy-movie troupes and marks. It creates a nice tone that walks that classic MGS fine-line between goofy and heavy-handedness. Plus, we get this beauty:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9aHQnDTd1y4?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
It is insane to me that is game was designed and ran on the PS2. Apart from the map sizes relative to today's everything else has aged very well with few games reaching this level of scope. Between the survival management, stealth gameplay, narrative, and some truly memorable boss encounters I feel like its a culmination of the best elements of not only MGS, but gaming as a whole. Truly a gaming experience like no other and easily the 1A place holder in the MGS series.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fYn1vVjCefE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The FEAR! My gosh, this guy drives me nuts.
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