Metal Gear Solid - What's the big deal?

superweld

so what's the big deal with this series?

i've never bought one before so i'm just wondering what exactly people like about them,

is it a great single player game.... great story and game play or is there a great multiplayer?

i hear it is full of cut scenes too. is the single player game very playable?

i'm just wondering what exactly people like about this series. e.g call of duty has great graphics and gameplay and an outstanding multiplayer.
what can one expect from MGS? to be honest the trailers don't really sell it as much as people who are looking forward to it

Helix

not much imo

never saw the attraction

superweld

superweld wrote: »

so what's the big deal with this series?

i've never bought one before so i'm just wondering what exactly people like about them,

is it a great single player game.... great story and game play or is there a great multiplayer?

i hear it is full of cut scenes too. is the single player game very playable?

i'm just wondering what exactly people like about this series. e.g call of duty has great graphics and gameplay and an outstanding multiplayer.
what can one expect from MGS? to be honest the trailers don't really sell it as much as people who are looking forward to it

There was an awful lot of cut-scenes and the likes(lot of stuff on your telecommunication device(dont know what you'd call it?)) but i think it add's to the game, they always have a great story behind it so you feel like your involved in an interactive movie. However there is still tonnes of gameplay, longer then your adverage game (which is about 6-7 hours).

Was reading about this game lately, they said theres so much in this game that you might'nt discover somethings for months if not even YEARS:eek:. Also said that there are possibilites with downloadable content for TEN YEARS(that would mean playing this game at the age of 32:eek:), that's not a definite just thats a possibility if needed!.

It's looking like been a game like GTA where you could play it 10 times and do a mission 10 differant ways!. your stuck in the middle of a battlefield and you can either become involved or not, if you do, you can help one side and they'll be disposable to your advantage!.

The multiplayer is looking like been a great bonus that you would have been happy(with the game)even without

All in all while im waiting eagerly for this to arrive i can easily wait, however waiting for GTA 4 is becoming very painful and im counting the days and hours!!

estebancambias

I find it generally an enjoyable game, but would never be excited about a release or new series.

x keo21

imo the big deal about mgs is the first mgs for the ps1. that game was seriously good.

It was the game that took the ps1 to the next level, graphics, story,gameplay it had it

all. However more recent attempts have i beleive tried to recapture that feel and

largley failed, mostly through poor story and lack of invention (and yes snake eater was

gimicy at best), together with those 'extended' cut scenes that drew away any play in

the game.

Basically, the big deal is people wanting that nostalgic fell back, me included, so

there will always be that expectation surrounding a mgs game.

whiterebel

Have to agree. MGS1 wass mindblowing. 2 was a severe disappointment with the amount of cut scenes. I got 3 a while ago, thinking I should brush up with 4 around the corner. I am so disappointed, I really wonder now what was so good. Splinter Cell is so much better. Even saving in MGS3 is tedious....."have you seen Godzilla, Snake?"
"Oh, f**k off and save it, you silly bint.........." Well, that's what i'd have him saying, anyway

ironictoaster

MGS was always good for it's story and gameplay. MGS 1 and 2 wore excellent, but 3 had its up and downs. I suggest playing a previous mgs and see if you like it.

ironictoaster

whiterebel wrote: »

Have to agree. MGS1 wass mindblowing. 2 was a severe disappointment with the amount of cut scenes. I got 3 a while ago, thinking I should brush up with 4 around the corner. I am so disappointed, I really wonder now what was so good. Splinter Cell is so much better. Even saving in MGS3 is tedious....."have you seen Godzilla, Snake?"
"Oh, f**k off and save it, you silly bint.........." Well, that's what i'd have him saying, anyway

But even saying in the previous games, saving wore like that..Anytime you save the with Rose, Mei Ling or Para-Medic. You always got some long discussion..

Splinter Cell is so much better.

Get out!!

whiterebel

whiterebel wrote: »

Splinter Cell is so much better.

:eek: Are you mental! Metal gear has it's faults but the splinter cell series is just woeful in comparison. Graphics/gameplay/AI/story are all infinitely better in the metal gear series.

Dont be at yourself

The Metal Gear Solid series is, to my mind, the pinnacle of videogaming. They're pigeonholed in the action/stealth genre, but they're peerless - head and shoulders above other games in the genre. The game mechanics are so highly tuned and so polished that they never infuriate the gamer. More importantly, the pacing is superb. Whereas most other action games offer just that - relentless action - Kojima appreciates that to enjoy the thrills of combat, there also needs to be a lull to build tension. It's the antethesis to Halo's '30 Seconds of fun' model.

People always lay into the games because they're cutscenes heavy. However, the cutscenes are directed with real flair, and they - largely - impart interesting messages, that I feel they add to the experience. The storylines are often convoluted, but they're also hugely ambitious and groundbreaking. That has to be commended, when seemingly every other game is happy enough to recycle the Space Marine Vs. Monsters storyline from Doom.

Vyse

Have to agree, I think Splinter Cell is far better than MGS. I played through all of MGS2 and thought that it was okay. Later I got the Twin Snakes for the GC and thought it was terrible. I assume it had a much greater impact when it was originally released on the PS1 but I just couldn't get into it on the GC.

gloobag

Vyse wrote: »

Later I got the Twin Snakes for the GC and thought it was terrible.

You deserve a slap for that!!! :eek:

Otacon

Vyse wrote: »

Have to agree, I think Splinter Cell is far better than MGS. I played through all of MGS2 and thought that it was okay. Later I got the Twin Snakes for the GC and thought it was terrible. I assume it had a much greater impact when it was originally released on the PS1 but I just couldn't get into it on the GC.

gloobag wrote: »

You deserve a slap for that!!! :eek:

I have to agree partially with Vyse. Twin Snakes, imo, is inferior to the PS1 version of MGS. In TS, they kept the same overall map as the PS1 version, however, this did not supplement the new gameplay elements. The cutscenes were also way too over the top for my liking.

MGS, for me, has always been about story and gameplay and nothing I have played has come close to MGS1 in that regard (perhaps after the first hour in MGS3)

As for MGS4, from the videos and previews I have read, the gameplay has taken a big jump forward, adding a movable FPS view, Octocam etc. and the story will provide closure to the series. I, for one, will be getting this on launch day.

superweld

some split views there. i expected an overwhelming positive repsonse as this new MGS has been hyped for quite a while as THE playstation3 game. think i'll stick with GTAIV anyway as i know i'll get MONTHS of play out of it.

Ciaran500

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

The game mechanics are so highly tuned and so polished that they never infuriate the gamer.

Have to disagree, got MGS 3 awhile ago and it took ages for me to get used to the controls. I got to the base after travelling across the mountains (can't remember the name) and I was still making mistakes with the controls

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

People always lay into the games because they're cutscenes heavy. However, the cutscenes are directed with real flair,

One of the biggest annoyances of the cut scenes. They feel like they pretentious twaddle, every single move and action is over done. You can almost hear the characters saying look how ****ing cool am while I just stand here staring ahead and the camera looks at me from an extreme angle.:cool:

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

The storylines are often convoluted, but they're also hugely ambitious and groundbreaking.

Convoluted is an understatement, they bombard you with names and information that could be left out and when you do get to the big twist in the game you're left lost.

whiterebel

Deleted User wrote: »

:eek: Are you mental! Metal gear has it's faults but the splinter cell series is just woeful in comparison. Graphics/gameplay/AI/story are all infinitely better in the metal gear series.

I must be obviously. Graphically SC is far superior to me than MGS 3. I can't believe how annoying to was to start playing MGS3 recently, it looks to have aged so badly, but that may be due to the PS3 heavyweights like CoD4 spoiling me. I'll be leaving it a while to see what reviews it gets.

Helix

sure the reviews will all say its amazing, whether it is or not

same for gta4, it could be a complete turkey and still get 10/10s all over the place purely coz of the time and effort the respective publications/websites put into the game pre release

whiterebel

Exactly. I'll wait to see what people here think of it.

Dakeyras

I'm a huge fan of metal gear. It's all about the stealth at the end of the day. I recently went back to playing MGS3 as a warm up for MGS4 around the corner and while the graphics do pale in comparison to COD4 it certainly doesnt look like MGS4 will. I still found the game hugely enjoyable and I havent been near it in years, some of the cut scenes i did skip but thats because i'd seen them before.

The game is all about staying unseen as much as possible though undoubtebly there'll be some shootouts and of course the obligatory boss battles which is what I love, ads a suspense to moving around rather than going guns blazing from place to place. I'm about halfway through MGS3 this time and still finding it lots of fun.

The other great thing is the amount of unlockables and camos you could get, always good for a few playthroughs.

So MGS4 is definetly one of my must haves this year without a doubt.

Funbags Freddie

I have no doubt that MGS has been surpassed at this stage but at the time it was the bollix. I bought my little brother the game for crimbo one year.

We played it from start to finnish over a few days. We enjoyed every minute of it and the cut scenes enhanced the game but the game play and flow were something else, back in the day of course.

It was the little things. At one stage after a sniper mission we decided to use some ammo blowing away some rats that were crawling around on the catwalks in the distance. All of a sudden the radio crakles into life and the boss dude reminds us that we are not here to waste time shooting the rats.

Pure class

Hell even the box became involved in the game

steviec

MGS has gameplay unlike any other game. Yes, it's primarily a stealth game but it doesn't take itself too seriously and always gives you a large arsenal of innovative ways to approach a problem, which, combined with the great enemy AI (not too stupid, not too intelligent, just perfect to have fun with) makes for a brilliant gameplay experience with tons of replayability. And that's before you even mention the boss battles, which I think are probably the best boss battles of any 3D game series I can think of.

On top of this you have excellent characters and dialogue which also help keep you're interest as you make your way through the game. The plot is convoluted and I rarely understand half of it (there's a lot of complex back story to it), but that never really matters because the conversations between characters are really well written and humorous and always keep you interested in what's happening right now, even if you're unsure of the overall story arc.

The game never had an online component traditionally, though they experimented with it in the MGS3 special edition and the PSP game but I never tried them. I'm very interested in seeing what the online play in MGS4 is like however, since the variety of Metal Gear's moves and tactics is vastly superior to the likes of Call of Duty or Halo so it could make for a fascinating game.

robbingood

excellent gameplay.great storyline.tons and tons of replay value.nuff said

seraphimvc

its because the decency of a video game!!and the gaming perfection...

wow,one sentence finish off my opinion of MGS series!thanks OP!

seraphimvc

whiterebel wrote: »

I must be obviously. Graphically SC is far superior to me than MGS 3. I can't believe how annoying to was to start playing MGS3 recently, it looks to have aged so badly, but that may be due to the PS3 heavyweights like CoD4 spoiling me. I'll be leaving it a while to see what reviews it gets.

OMG,tbh,i never play SC except the pandaro box something on PC but MGS2/3 is fully pushing ps2 to its limit....unless you are saying SC on x360 compare to ps2 games...or else...that's nonsense!

ironictoaster

Can someone explain to how MGS has replay value? I found MGS3 slightly annoying as you got to keep pausing the game change camo etc. I hope MGS4 isn't exactly like that.

whiterebel

seraphimvc wrote: »

OMG,tbh,i never play SC except the pandaro box something on PC but MGS2/3 is fully pushing ps2 to its limit....unless you are saying SC on x360 compare to ps2 games...or else...that's nonsense!

No idea what you're saying, TBH. On a PS2, or PS3 Splinter Cell looks far better then MGS3. There.

seraphimvc

creggy wrote: »

Can someone explain to how MGS has replay value? I found MGS3 slightly annoying as you got to keep pausing the game change camo etc. I hope MGS4 isn't exactly like that.

lol i normally played msg games twice:

1)MK22 through the game
2)rambo style through the game by picking up all easter eggs/secrets(lots of secrets...)
while for MGS3 i get addicted by the CQC,i was trying 0 kills through a game....

they have boss fights special too,can easily kill your time on replay them...

it seems snake got a octocamo in MGS4,no more changing camo i guess...

conzy

MGS is amazing, When my friend got MGS: Sons of Liberty for his PS2 we literally played it for months, then I got a PS2 and MGS:Substance and played it for a few more months!

Went back and played the original MGS for psone then and it aged very well, it was still an incredible experience...

Splinter Cell is "meh" at best and to compare it to MGS is just insulting tbh...

The bit in MGS:Sons of Liberty where the Colonel tells you to turn off the console, me and my friend were like WTF?! and we actually turned it off ( we were 11 mkay?!) Never played a game that came close to the immersiveness and sheer awesomeness of MGS, maybe the Half Life series

seraphimvc

whiterebel wrote: »

No idea what you're saying, TBH. On a PS2, or PS3 Splinter Cell looks far better then MGS3. There.

i meant i have played the SC:pandora tomorrow on PC.

mgs2 or 3 are the max performance ps2 games(while mgs3 obviously above the level of mgs2).ok,maybe not the 100% max,but at least above 90% of the ps2 performance,we cant find many game can be equal or above that level of graphic.If you say SC looks FAR better than mgs3,doesnt make sense eh?

unless you have the eyes of eagle or you have only been playing the forest part of mgs3 for 15mins.The forest scenes in mgs3 is one of the most complicated graphic i have ever seen.plants,flowers,leaves,rivers,animals all over the place and you can do it in 1st person or 3rd person view anytime in Real Time...and the greatest part of the game is,the enemies can really camo in the forest too:Dfinding them is a funny task!too much to say for the game.ah i am gonna revise my mgs3 vs The END :P

ironictoaster

seraphimvc wrote: »

lol i normally played msg games twice:

1)MK22 through the game
2)rambo style through the game by picking up all easter eggs/secrets(lots of secrets...)
while for MGS3 i get addicted by the CQC,i was trying 0 kills through a game....

they have boss fights special too,can easily kill your time on replay them...

it seems snake got a octocamo in MGS4,no more changing camo i guess...

I know I you gotta change pause the game for camo, they done it in the gameplay at TGS. I just hope you dont need to be doing it every 2 seconds.

Meh, I dont have the patience to collect easter eggs or shoot them little aleins. hehehe.

seraphimvc

conzymaher wrote: »

MGS is amazing, When my friend got MGS: Sons of Liberty for his PS2 we literally played it for months, then I got a PS2 and MGS:Substance and played it for a few more months!

Went back and played the original MGS for psone then and it aged very well, it was still an incredible experience...

Splinter Cell is "meh" at best and to compare it to MGS is just insulting tbh...

The bit in MGS:Sons of Liberty where the Colonel tells you to turn off the console, me and my friend were like WTF?! and we actually turned it off ( we were 11 mkay?!) Never played a game that came close to the immersiveness and sheer awesomeness of MGS, maybe the Half Life series

rofl seems like i am lucky didnt turn off the console!but i got caught by the fake GAME OVER scene lol

ah yes,the genius humour is one of the best in gaming history!i laugh so hard when i find the way to beat Psychomantis by switching the c********r and beating the the sorrow ,ah and the classic THE END killed by adjusting the clock lol genius kojima!!!

Aldebaran

Funbags Freddie wrote: »

Hell even the box became involved in the game

I rented the game and so didn't have the goddamn box to get Meryl's goddamn frequency, i ended up going through every single frequency until i found her. Good times

corcaigh07

sounds like most people hate those long, stupid, drawn-out beyond belief cutscenes. lets hope mgs4 gets back to its mgs1 heyday.

Peteee

I, for one, think the 'long, stupid, drawn-out beyond belief cutscenes' are the best thing about the game. They are easily some of the best directed pieces of action I've ever seen

Nothing (Bar possibly RPG's) comes close to the characters in these games, as cliched as some of them are! The bit in MGS3 in the torture shed is stunning.

Otacon

creggy wrote: »

I know I you gotta change pause the game for camo, they done it in the gameplay at TGS.

You don't need to pause the game to use the Octocam.

humanji

Personally I think it's one of the most over-hyped games out there (beaten to the top spot by Halo). They're alright games, but I never found them anything special. I think it was the boss fights that just made me walk away in disgust, but I never really liked boss battles in games anyway.

I also hated the AI when I was playing MGS2 where you'd have every guy in a level shooting at you, you'd hide in a locker for a minute and everyone would suddenly forget you were ever there, but that's a common complaint against all stealth games in general. Is it too much to ask that the NPC's keep looking for the guy they know is there instead of assuming everything is hunky dory?

Big Knox

Just watch this. Its the 15 minute english demonstration of MGS4.

You can't tell me this doesen't look amazing...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31703.html

prodigal_son

Its a great game, it has interesting gameplay, it has an interesting story, and it has replay value.

Its usually very highly polished as well. Some in the series have larger cut scenes than others, but in general they usually seem balanced enough.

There are multiple ways of playing the game as well, I rarely kill anyone unless they are a big boss, other people kill everyone they come across. You can be gun ho, or you can take it easy and hide and never be seen.

all in all, its a good game, and its not over hyped, if anything its under hyped, It doesnt sell half as well as other big name hitters like gta. It also usually delivers whats expected of it, which means the hype is usually but not always justified.

humanji wrote: »

I also hated the AI when I was playing MGS2 where you'd have every guy in a level shooting at you, you'd hide in a locker for a minute and everyone would suddenly forget you were ever there, but that's a common complaint against all stealth games in general. Is it too much to ask that the NPC's keep looking for the guy they know is there instead of assuming everything is hunky dory?

It depends on the difficulty level how long they keep looking for you, If you unlock the hardest level it takes a fair old while before they assume you left. So long that you need to leave your hiding place and get on with the mission or you will probably starve to death lol... But you can just take them on with their hightened sense anyway, and they will pull you out of lockers if you make a noise while in them, or if they see you run into one.

Big Knox

humanji wrote: »

I also hated the AI when I was playing MGS2 where you'd have every guy in a level shooting at you, you'd hide in a locker for a minute and everyone would suddenly forget you were ever there, but that's a common complaint against all stealth games in general. Is it too much to ask that the NPC's keep looking for the guy they know is there instead of assuming everything is hunky dory?

Stop playing it on Easy then. :rolleyes:

seraphimvc

humanji wrote: »

I also hated the AI when I was playing MGS2 where you'd have every guy in a level shooting at you, you'd hide in a locker for a minute and everyone would suddenly forget you were ever there, but that's a common complaint against all stealth games in general. Is it too much to ask that the NPC's keep looking for the guy they know is there instead of assuming everything is hunky dory?

i suppose that is the very easy level??

cause' think i have tried easy/nromal level,lol when they open my locket or kick on my box...

and yes...think back of that...that kind of smartass AI is first appear from mgs series...lol

ghouldaddy07

Personally think metal gear solid is one the best gaming franchise's in the history of video games and felt that each one offered a diffrent experince then the last.

with the splinter cell series I always felt like I was playing a dull franchise with crap generic tom clancy plots.

if your a gameplay>plot man I can see how you would find the cutscenes frustrating but for me they make the metal gear franchise art and the soul reason I own a ps3 atm.

humanji

prodigal_son wrote: »

It depends on the difficulty level how long they keep looking for you,

Big Knox wrote: »

Stop playing it on Easy then. :rolleyes:

seraphimvc wrote: »

i suppose that is the very easy level??

Man, we're all very dismissive, aren't we :rolleyes:

It was a common complaint aimed at all stealth games not just MGS. The point being that if you hide for long enough, the AI returns to its "Everything is OK" mode, where as in the real world they'd keep on searching and probably call in reinforcements. It'd make games a lot more exciting if by causing an alarm, it caused major difficulties. It's an added incentive, instead of just having to wait it out.

estebancambias

Damn that video looks amazing...whens it out

*EDIT*


Damn the 12th of June, this is going to be a deadly summer.

GTA, EURO 2008 and MGS 4 and hopefully the effects of Global Warming all in the space of a month.

sham69

Have to say I was completely blown away by the first MGS on the ps1.
It was like a movie the way the name of the director was on screen as the game was beginning. I remember I had to buy it from a guy on the Quays that ran a record store, he brought a load of copies over from the states so I had it before most people over here. I havent played any of the other ones so can't comment, really looking forward to the new game though.

steviec

humanji wrote: »

It was a common complaint aimed at all stealth games not just MGS. The point being that if you hide for long enough, the AI returns to its "Everything is OK" mode, where as in the real world they'd keep on searching and probably call in reinforcements. It'd make games a lot more exciting if by causing an alarm, it caused major difficulties. It's an added incentive, instead of just having to wait it out.

That's nice in theory but in practice it wouldn't be great game design.

The guards have to give up eventually, otherwise a new player who gets spotted in the first five minutes would be facing guards on high alert for the next 15 hours of gameplay as they struggle through the game - in which case they may as well just restart. Which, on the very hardest difficulty level (in MGS2 at least I think) is exactly what happens - if you're spotted it's game over.

On the higher difficulty levels though the guards do search pretty thoroughly before giving up, and they call reinforcements who also patrol, so just sitting it out after being spotted is never trivial. Once you do survive the alert period things do go back to normal which I think is how it should be.

seraphimvc

steviec wrote: »

That's nice in theory but in practice it wouldn't be great game design.

The guards have to give up eventually, otherwise a new player who gets spotted in the first five minutes would be facing guards on high alert for the next 15 hours of gameplay as they struggle through the game - in which case they may as well just restart. Which, on the very hardest difficulty level (in MGS2 at least I think) is exactly what happens - if you're spotted it's game over.

On the higher difficulty levels though the guards do search pretty thoroughly before giving up, and they call reinforcements who also patrol, so just sitting it out after being spotted is never trivial. Once you do survive the alert period things do go back to normal which I think is how it should be.

the very famous European Extreme Mode some gamers actually get our PAL version for that!

*that's the pro shooting skill kicks in,shoot the guard's radio so they couldnt call reinforcement!*

it is all these small brilliant designs that make me love the game so much...arggg,cant wait til June!

humanji

steviec wrote: »

That's nice in theory but in practice it wouldn't be great game design.

The guards have to give up eventually, otherwise a new player who gets spotted in the first five minutes would be facing guards on high alert for the next 15 hours of gameplay as they struggle through the game - in which case they may as well just restart. Which, on the very hardest difficulty level (in MGS2 at least I think) is exactly what happens - if you're spotted it's game over.

On the higher difficulty levels though the guards do search pretty thoroughly before giving up, and they call reinforcements who also patrol, so just sitting it out after being spotted is never trivial. Once you do survive the alert period things do go back to normal which I think is how it should be.

But it's not impossible to implement, though. And if implemented well could make for some really incredibly exciting games. If NPC's they followed the procedure of what would actually happens (Guard calls for help/presses alarm, control room coordinates search and sends men etc) it could make for some great strategies. Most games just have a guard press a button on a wall and everyone runs towards you. Think of the fun you could have if you first took out the guys in the control rooms, or had some way of disrupting communications.

In fact, sod all of you, I'm going to make a game with this in it and it'll be the best game ever! Look out for Metal Gear Humanji, coming to a store near you!

seraphimvc

/wave 'read the last post' card/

this is what i did in msg3(same theory in mgs2 but since the CQC s*cks in mgs2...i do it without putting them on ground)
show up in front of a guard and immediately hide (behind a tree) ,they have the Exclamation mark on the head,immediately turn around and shoot their radio (before they turn it on and speak).walk up and put them down lol usually do that one by one in an area ,with a right timing (they patrol around) ,no alarm at all...that's aggressive stealth mission i called :Dnormally i just tap their shoulder (immediately walk to their back so they cant see you)if any guard in my way to the next area and gone like a wind...love to see the exclamation mark lol

now please,i am trying to study here,dont keep remind me how good the game is!

humanji

But I wasn't talking about stopping one person from calling for help, I was talking about disrupting it all. Imagine what MGS would be like if you could knock out the enemies communications? Or even grabbing one of their radios so you can hear what they're doing

seraphimvc

humanji wrote: »

But I wasn't talking about stopping one person from calling for help, I was talking about disrupting it all. Imagine what MGS would be like if you could knock out the enemies communications? Or even grabbing one of their radios so you can hear what they're doing

hmm,i get what you mean...kojima may show us more in mgs4...maybe kojima has been thinking that for ages too :Dthe nanomachines communications into mass produce used in all soldiers is a good plot of the story...

but tbh,the chaff grenade do fine,disable all electronical devices...microphone device do fine too,can hear whatever sound surround you...

steviec

humanji wrote: »

Or even grabbing one of their radios so you can hear what they're doing

In metal gear online, one of the announced features is being able to grab an opponents radio and then listen in on their team's communication.

I assume that means they'll have something similar in the single player game.