Tag: Solid Snake

Tactical Espionage Analysis: Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection
In my previous MGS post, I spoke about my excitement for the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, and how it sparked the thought to start this trip through the series. So before I get started writing about the original Metal Gear – which I have, in truth never gotten to play before now – I thought it might be worthwhile to describe just what this PS3-exclusive bundle of joy includes. The rough breakdown is as follows:
- Metal Gear
- Metal Gear 2
- Metal Gear Solid
- MGS: VR Missions
- Metal Gear Solid 2 HD
- Metal Gear Solid 3 HD
- Metal Gear Peace Walker HD
- Metal Gear Solid 4
- MGS / MGS 2 Motion Comic
Now, if you’re like me, bulleted lists are great for conveying general information, but don’t really get at the heart of the matter. For instance, Metal Gear was a NES title that has been ported numerous times to other consoles, so what version do we have here? How many of these games are on each disc, and how many discs are there? What the heck is a “motion comic,” and is it worth my time?

The rough breakdown of the content is two discs and a download token. The download token is for digital versions of MGS and MGS: VR Missions from the Playstation Store. I think the smoothing and resolution for bigger screens is marginally better than using an original PS1 disc, but these aren’t “HD” by any means. I know that these games not being on-disc was a “deal breaker” for a lot of people online, or so they claimed; I personally wasn’t bothered too much by it.

The two discs are essentially the MGS HD Collection and MGS 4, respectively. The motion comics have been added to the first disc; MGS 4 is the “Trophy Edition” that includes, well, trophies and gets rid of some of the original version’s installation requirements. Again, this garnered rage from the internet forum crowd, who claim that Konami was just throwing together two existing discs in a “cash grab.”

As someone who already owned all of the included content except the motion comics and the 100-page mini art book that’s packaged with the game, I’m still perfectly pleased with the final product. The art book is really high-quality, all things considered, and if you expanded it to the size of most art books I have a feeling it could fetch $30 easy from fans. My response to anyone griping that they “already own all of this” would be easy: Don’t *@$#ing buy this new set! It’s not like Kojima has a gun to your head; if you feel it’s a rip-off, say so with your wallet.

All that said, this collection isn’t perfect, and the biggest flaw mirrors and issue that I had with the previous HD Collection release, and highlights a recent trend in gaming. You see, the instruction manual for this thing is an absolute joke. It includes basic controls for MGS 2-4 that run for about three pages, and then those three pages are repeated in five languages. While I have nothing against multi-lingual instructions, I do have an issue with the fact that NOWHERE in this little book is info on how to access Metal Gear / Metal Gear 2 or the motion comics. This is especially baffling considering that this content was apparently important enough to list on the back of the box and on the cover of the first disc.

With a little luck, you might accidentally stumble across the motion comics; with the disc in your PS3, a new option to play them pops up under the “Video” tab on the home screen. The first two games, however, are nested so deeply that you could miss them entirely. You see, from the launch screen of the HD Collection disc, you can pick between MGS 2, 3, and Peace Walker. What most people don’t know (I certainly didn’t) is that the versions of 2 & 3 included are actually the Substance and Subsistence versions, respectively.

After each of those games was released on the PS2, they were also re-released with special editions on that console and the original Xbox. These editions contained a bunch of special features and a few small additions to the games. On the MGS 3: Subsistence disc, for example, were ports of the first two Metal Gear games. If you’ve been following me so far, the end result is that in order to play these titles, you have to put in the HD Collection disc, launch MGS 3 HD, and then find Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 in its extras menu. If you didn’t follow me, that’s completely understandable, as it was mostly nonsense gibberish that I had to look up online while trying to get this all figured out last night.

In the end, I am very pleased with my purchase of this collection, even though I realize it’s not for everyone. If you already have the HD Collection and MGS 4, I could understand just paying to get MGS from the PSN Store, and VR Missions isn’t exactly a crucial experience. For real fans of the series, though, I don’t think $50 is too steep an asking price; and for anyone who’s never gotten to play these games, it’s an absolute win in every department.

The [amazon_link id=”B00CTKHXFO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection[/amazon_link] is a Playstation 3 exclusive. Check out the trailer below!
July 13, 2013
Tactical Espionage Analysis : The Metal Gear Phenomenon
In the early hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1998, I awoke as usual and snuck upstairs to peer at what Santa had left under the tree, careful not to wake my grandfather as he slept and “kept watch” on the couch. As I crept back to my room in the basement from my recon, I felt a twinge of disappointment; my most anticipated gift was nowhere to be seen. I knew Santa and his parental helpers should be aware of what I had wanted, since I hadn’t shut up about it for months after reading about it in OPM (or maybe PSM?). As I crawled back into bed, though, a glint of plastic caught my eye next to my Playstation. Sitting there, as they sit now not five feet from me, were Metal Gear Solid and the official strategy guide. I managed not to open it up and start playing immediately, but only just barely.

I like telling that story, and I’ve always been grateful to whoever decided to put that particular gift directly in my room, as it was a unique start to what I can only describe as my biggest love affair with gaming. I mean, I had always liked games, and had been slowly drawn to more complex and story-driven titles, but MGS was a total game change, and to this day I will name it as my favorite game of all time without a moment’s hesitation. I was thrilled when the sequel was announced, and as wounded as anyone by the end result, to the point where I waited to pick up MGS 3 until months after its release. Thankfully, it signaled a return to form along with our first look and Big Boss’s past, and even I will admit that it’s probably the best storyline in the series.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was the entire reason I bought a PS3, to the point that I actually didn’t buy one until that launch bundle came out; and while I’ll admit that it has flashes of MGS-2-level pomposity, the finale of Solid Snake’s tale was a sight to behold. I’ll admit that the series kind of faded from my mind after that, since Hideo Kojima himself had claimed he was done exploring that universe. The trailer for “Metal Gear Rising” caught my eye, at first, but my interest faded as Kojima distanced himself from the project, and I honestly think I made the right choice there…

The announcement of “Ground Zeroes” got my attention, and that first trailer had me enthralled with its Kojima-only levels of intrigue. Of course, watching this past year’s VGAs stirred up all those same feelings when the trailer for “The Phantom Pain” kicked things off. My very first thought was “That looks a lot like Big Boss,” and by a few hours later my suspicions were all but confirmed that a new MGS was in the works. At this point, of course, Metal Gear Solid V has been revealed in all of its open-world glory, and I’m super excited to get another Big Boss tale.

About two months ago, Scott put up his article about a little thing called the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, and my friends can confirm: I lost my shit. The mere thought of that much MGS in one package kind of undid me, and the news that it would be released ON MY BIRTHDAY made me nigh ravenous. Thankfully, my kick-ass younger brother confirmed that he would be getting it for me, and I managed to reign in my excitement for a few weeks.

UNTIL NOW! I finally have the Legacy Collection in my hands, and it’s awesome, and I’ll talk all about it, but that’s not actually the point of this post! This post is about an idea that I hatched when the Legacy Collection was announced, and mulled over with friends until it became the title you read above: The Tactical Espionage Analysis project. You see, I’ve spent a lot of time with Metal Gear over the years, and I think the launch of this collection is the perfect time to go back through and take a long, hard look at “why.” Of course, I get to play through my favorite games ever in the process, so everyone wins!

My plan is to start at the very beginning with Metal Gear (which is awesomely included with the HD and Legacy Collections) and follow Snake, Big Boss, et al down whatever paths they may lead me. I’ve spent a long time gathering resources, and I think I have what it takes to tackle this objective. My next post will look at what’s included in the Legacy set, and from there I hope top proceed as follows:
- Metal Gear / Metal Gear 2
- Metal Gear Solid / MGS: The Twin Snakes
- Metal Gear Solid 2
- Metal Gear Solid 3
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
- Metal Gear Solid 4
- Metal Gear Solid Graphic Novel / Motion Comic
- Metal Gear Solid Saga Volumes 1 & 2
The graphic novel was done by Ashley Wood and is based on MGS / MGS 2, and Legacy includes fully-voiced motion comics of both stories that run about two hours each. MGS Saga consists of two bonus DVDs that were available with the launch of MGS 4 and Peace Walker, and contains a large number of supplemental materials.

Twenty-five years of gaming history is laid out before me, and I truly hope I can bring at least some enjoyment to you as I work my way through it. For now, I’ll leave you with some pictures of my credentials for this task.
July 10, 2013
One Snake, Two Snake, Red Snake, Blue Snake. Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection Trailer

Photo courtesy shacknews.com

How much Solid Snake can you handle?

Wait…let’s do that over.

This video is exploding with Solid Snake.

Dammit.

Just watch the trailer for [amazon_link id=”B00CTKHXFO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection[/amazon_link] that releases on July 9th.

June 27, 2013
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes Revealed And It’s Open World. (UPDATED)

Konami rocked the Metal Gear world overnight while you were sleeping. At the Metal Gear 25th annivesary event in Japan, Kojima and company unveiled the newest Metal Gear Solid game and they are going where no MGS has gone before, into the open world.

Called Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, show goers got to see Big Boss (yes Big Boss) sneaking around a base in a nighttime rain while he dodged spotlights and broke some necks then hopping in a Jeep to make a great escape. And that is where the big news comes in that the game is always running. If Boss had gone undetected then the game still runs or even if he is discovered then he needs to focus on escaping all in real time. So it sounds like the mission parameters are always evolving. Just how “open world” the game is really hasn’t been discussed either. But it sounds far and away like Kojima’s most ambitious project ever.

The game was said to be running on the new Fox Engine on current gen PC’s and looked stunning. The word out of the event is the game is being built with the 360 and PS3 in mind but I just simply don’t see that happening with the current console cycle being in it’s final year or two. Plus we all know how long we wait for MGS games so just go ahead and mark this down as a next gen title.

What do you think? Is this the next logical step for the Metal Gear franchise?

UPDATE!!!!

News out of PAX this weekend (9/1) is that Ground Zeroes is in fact built for the PS3 and plans on releasing for this generation of consoles. This is good to hear but we still know how Kojima is so there still may be a chance this hops consoles. It was also announced that MGS: Ground Zeroes would be a prologue to Metal Gear Solid 5.

August 30, 2012