Metal Gear!
A few years ago a friend came over with his Gamecube, and he made my brother play Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes all the way through until he beat it. I only saw about half the game because I had to work that day, and honestly, form what I saw, I didn't see the appeal in it.
Jump ahead to about a year ago, when a different friend told me to get Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the PSP. Since I had never personally played the MGS series and forgot all about that Gamecube game, I was only vaguely interested. I figured I should probably at least learn about the story and gameplay of the first games and decide from there if it is something I'd like. Heck, I didn't even remember that the main character is named Snake.
Reading up on it, I found that the timeline for the series is confusing. The original couple of games lacked the "Solid" part in their title and were on the MSX, a home computer system that didn't do well outside of Japan.
The first Metal Gear game was made in 1987. Pic from Gamefaqs
Since the first Metal Gear Solid game is on the original PlayStation, it's hard to get ahold of unless you buy it online. It also looks terribly polygonal with its primitive 3D models. I don't have a Gamecube, so I can't get Twin Snakes, the prettier, re-vamped re-release of it, the one that my brother played.
It turns out that chronologically, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is actually the first game story-wise, with the events occurring even before the MSX games. But that one stars a completely different main character, who is also named Snake. What?
Confused, I gave up, and forgot all about the series until a few months ago.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is on the PS2, and fortunately PS2 games are still available at Gamestop. I picked up the Subsistence version which has gameplay improvements and many special features.
I suck at this game.
But I love it.
The main character codenamed Naked Snake.
He's a special ops soldier sent on a mission to rescue a scientist in Russia. The game takes place during the Cold War, right after the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s. Of course, after we learn what the scientists are working on and someone betrays the group, things get out of hand and the mission suddenly becomes much more important.
It tries to be like a James Bond-style spy movie. It even has a theme song! (Youtube --- Dailymotion)
Gameplay-wise, it's a 3rd-person shooter similar to the Syphon Filter games. You're supposed to sneak past guards or incapacitate them to reach the goal.
Hiding behind a tree.
You'll acquire an array of weapons, fairly true to the era. If you want to play the pacifist, you can use a tranquilizer gun to put guards to sleep.
The game's controls were difficult for me to figure out, and I never mastered them. The game is fairly forgiving. If you die, it's not game over; you can simply restart the same map you died on. There isn't a penalty for killing guards unless you want a better score at the end of the game.
I'm not gonna lie; I fell off this bridge a couple of times.
It took me -ages- to figure out why my gun wasn't silenced. Apparently I pressed the circle button at the wrong time and that turns the silencer off.
Despite the overly-serious plot, the game's plot cutscenes are ridiculous. The femme fatale drives a motorcycle smack into a guy, the motorcycle goes up his body, then flips over him with a perfect landing. And the guy survives it!
Whatever camouflage you decide to have Snake wear will show up in the cutscenes. So if you have him looking ridiculous, he will stay ridiculous.
Got to love the Zombie face paint.
The bosses are all quirky and unbelievable. They seem like they're villains straight out of a comic book. One of them has bee bullets.
Bee. Bullets.
The cutscenes are also very long. The game is half-movie. All MGS games seem to be like that.
Oh, and as an added quirk, Snake isn't given any supplies. He has to acquire food on site. That means you have to capture or kill animals for food or get rations from enemy Russians.
I was eaten by an alligator once. And another one tripped me and made me fall into quicksand and die.
Para-Medic, one of the people you can talk to on the radio, tells you about the food you've acquired. Snake only cares about one thing: how does it taste? There are some amusing conversations that pop up between the two.
Also, after beating the game, you unlock bonus videos. They are hilarious, especially the one titled "Metal Gear Stupid." It made the entire game worthwhile.
Now I've gone and bought MGS2, Metal Gear Acid 2, and the two PSP games. I've fallen hard for the series. I'm glad I chose MGS3 as the first one to play because, as it turns out, Naked Snake is the star of the PSP games. So, now I have Peace Walker, but I have yet to play it.
Now I want a PS3 so I can play MGS4: Guns of the Patriots.
Most screenshots taken from Cnet's gallery. Apparently, they stole some from Gamespot.
Jump ahead to about a year ago, when a different friend told me to get Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on the PSP. Since I had never personally played the MGS series and forgot all about that Gamecube game, I was only vaguely interested. I figured I should probably at least learn about the story and gameplay of the first games and decide from there if it is something I'd like. Heck, I didn't even remember that the main character is named Snake.
Reading up on it, I found that the timeline for the series is confusing. The original couple of games lacked the "Solid" part in their title and were on the MSX, a home computer system that didn't do well outside of Japan.
The first Metal Gear game was made in 1987. Pic from Gamefaqs
Since the first Metal Gear Solid game is on the original PlayStation, it's hard to get ahold of unless you buy it online. It also looks terribly polygonal with its primitive 3D models. I don't have a Gamecube, so I can't get Twin Snakes, the prettier, re-vamped re-release of it, the one that my brother played.
It turns out that chronologically, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is actually the first game story-wise, with the events occurring even before the MSX games. But that one stars a completely different main character, who is also named Snake. What?
Confused, I gave up, and forgot all about the series until a few months ago.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is on the PS2, and fortunately PS2 games are still available at Gamestop. I picked up the Subsistence version which has gameplay improvements and many special features.
I suck at this game.
But I love it.
The main character codenamed Naked Snake.
He's a special ops soldier sent on a mission to rescue a scientist in Russia. The game takes place during the Cold War, right after the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s. Of course, after we learn what the scientists are working on and someone betrays the group, things get out of hand and the mission suddenly becomes much more important.
It tries to be like a James Bond-style spy movie. It even has a theme song! (Youtube --- Dailymotion)
Gameplay-wise, it's a 3rd-person shooter similar to the Syphon Filter games. You're supposed to sneak past guards or incapacitate them to reach the goal.
Hiding behind a tree.
You'll acquire an array of weapons, fairly true to the era. If you want to play the pacifist, you can use a tranquilizer gun to put guards to sleep.
The game's controls were difficult for me to figure out, and I never mastered them. The game is fairly forgiving. If you die, it's not game over; you can simply restart the same map you died on. There isn't a penalty for killing guards unless you want a better score at the end of the game.
I'm not gonna lie; I fell off this bridge a couple of times.
It took me -ages- to figure out why my gun wasn't silenced. Apparently I pressed the circle button at the wrong time and that turns the silencer off.
Despite the overly-serious plot, the game's plot cutscenes are ridiculous. The femme fatale drives a motorcycle smack into a guy, the motorcycle goes up his body, then flips over him with a perfect landing. And the guy survives it!
Whatever camouflage you decide to have Snake wear will show up in the cutscenes. So if you have him looking ridiculous, he will stay ridiculous.
Got to love the Zombie face paint.
The bosses are all quirky and unbelievable. They seem like they're villains straight out of a comic book. One of them has bee bullets.
Bee. Bullets.
The cutscenes are also very long. The game is half-movie. All MGS games seem to be like that.
Oh, and as an added quirk, Snake isn't given any supplies. He has to acquire food on site. That means you have to capture or kill animals for food or get rations from enemy Russians.
I was eaten by an alligator once. And another one tripped me and made me fall into quicksand and die.
Para-Medic, one of the people you can talk to on the radio, tells you about the food you've acquired. Snake only cares about one thing: how does it taste? There are some amusing conversations that pop up between the two.
Also, after beating the game, you unlock bonus videos. They are hilarious, especially the one titled "Metal Gear Stupid." It made the entire game worthwhile.
Now I've gone and bought MGS2, Metal Gear Acid 2, and the two PSP games. I've fallen hard for the series. I'm glad I chose MGS3 as the first one to play because, as it turns out, Naked Snake is the star of the PSP games. So, now I have Peace Walker, but I have yet to play it.
Now I want a PS3 so I can play MGS4: Guns of the Patriots.
Most screenshots taken from Cnet's gallery. Apparently, they stole some from Gamespot.
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