I had long assumed that the third title in the Metal Gear Solid series, Snake Eater, was going to be a jarring change from the series I knew- it takes places in the 60s? The main character may or may not actually be Snake? You have to run around in the jungle and periodcially stop to hunt and eat? The thing is, the jarring change in the series actually already happened in Metal Gear Solid's second entry- trading in the original's Arctic setting for an oil rig, playing as Raiden for the most part, and a story that focused on robots where even the Colonel couldn't be trusted? After that bonkers piece of post-modern art, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (I played the new 3DS version, more on that later) felt oddly enough like a return to form. You play a character who is the same as the original Snake in every way, despite happening 40 years or so before the first game; a majority of the game involves sneaking around military bases again; and finally, gone is the ridiculously over-the-top plot, replaced with a familiarly over-the-top plot involving the Cold War and nuclear warheads and double-crossing spies. And it is awesome. The new gameplay additions like hunting and gathering food, or repairing wounds rather than itemized health replenishers, felt naturally integrated into the game and never got in the way. Sneaking around as Snake is as fun as ever, as it felt like there was even more emphasis on stealth in Snake Eater than previous installments- I think I ended up with a body count of maybe a dozen or so. The boss fights are stellar too, complete with a sniper mission in "The End" that rivals Sniper Wolf from MGS. This was also the first game I've ever beaten in full 3-D, and while it could have a dizzying effect if I didn't take my eyes off the screen for more than ten minutes at a time, it felt well worth it. The game looks incredible for a handheld and had a few new features thrown in just because- finding random Yoshi dolls to shoot for instance may have been pointless, but I always enjoyed stumbling upon them. Overall this feels like the true sequel (prequel) to Metal Gear Solid after an interesting but very weird stumble in Metal Gear Solid 2, and I'm glad to be back on the bandwagon. I'm sure copies of the fourth game must be super-cheap by now, so I should be finishing the main series of Metal Gear Solid soon.
When I was a younger man, and unaware that part of the MGS series' "charm" was its zany-as-hell plotting, I held it against MGS2 that I had literally no idea what was going on. Now that I've finished the first game, that's a natural candidate for my next game to play. Sell me on this one. Bizarre-as-fuck plot aside, is it a blast to play?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, it's still solid. You start off with a lengthy prologue as Snake that feels very similar to the first game, but then the game takes a very sudden turn where you start playing as a new character for the rest of the game. It starts off a little slow as you go on a not-too exciting hunt for explosives on an oil rig, but once that finishes up the game gets very good until an ending that makes the ending to MGS1 seem pretty basic and straightforward.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to disagree with Sween here. Although I played and beat MGS2 waaay back in high school, I still remember being monumentally disappointed with how the game turned out. Let me see if I can accurately remember why. Aside from the zany plot - which we'll put aside from now on - you don't get to play with Snake. You control him at the beginning (the best part of the game, in my opinion) and near the end (I think)... but that's it. It's not so much the lack of Snake that pissed me off, but the designers' ideas for a substitution. Who was it again? Ray? Raiden? Name doesn't matter. What does is that the kid's a pussy compared to Snake, and for that I give the game a giant thumbs down.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the zany plot - I know I said I would leave it alone, but mentioning this is bringing back a lot of bad memories. This ending had me so fucking confused, I had no idea if I unlocked a "secret" ending or maybe just had a faulty disc. NOTHING MADE SENSE! (Well, maybe it does if you study the plot closely. Read wiki articles. I didn't!) I played this before MGS1 and before anyone had the opportunity to prepare for what I was getting myself into. After I finished the game, I remember going to Greg (the resident gaming expert), in complete disarray, asking for some sort of clarity. I was so crestfallen hearing that this was, in fact, how the game was intended to end, and, perhaps even more disappointing, this was how the gamer was intended to feel.
Fuck this game... Enjoy playing it.
You know, I was ready to write up a retort about how even though the plot spirals out of control towards the end and Raiden is a clear step down from Snake, the majority of the gameplay is still solid. But after reading some info on wikipedia to refresh my memory, I'm starting to remember some really awkward choices Kojima made- for instance, one of the boss fights I'm pretty sure involves a man on roller skates throwin bombs at you. And then there's the bizarre inclusion of Otacon's kid sister and all of his family issues. It's still a very fun game, but I can agree with 'disappointing' in its zaniness compared to the greatness that came before and after.
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