Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

[g0zen]

I've never had a problem with the cutscenes or the codec scenes being long. In fact I prefer those to the shortened condensed garbage that passes for storylines in most games these days. I'm perfectly happy with the 'movie-I-can-play' format Kojima's got going here. Maybe I'm the only one, but if you took out the drawn out dialogue and presentation of the MGS series I'd probably be a lot less interested in it.

[MechDeus]

I couldn't believe it when I first played MGS to be interrupted by some douchebag on codec telling me how to climb a ladder or something disgustingly simple like that.

That stuff definately needs to go.

I've never had a problem with the cutscenes or the codec scenes being long. In fact I prefer those to the shortened condensed garbage that passes for storylines in most games these days. I'm perfectly happy with the 'movie-I-can-play' format Kojima's got going here.

Agree and disagree. I have no problem with length of the cutscenes or codec calls, but only when they're relevant and not over-bearing in trying to get a point across. They needed to leave a lot of crap in the when-you-call-them catorgory and not make it required listening/watching.

Maybe I'm the only one, but if you took out the drawn out dialogue and presentation of the MGS series I'd probably be a lot less interested in it.

Same here, but it still really needs an editor. And someone who has a clue what they're writing about, too much stuff in MGS2 made absolutely no sense at all (at least MGS' stupidity pretty much just stuck to Kojima not knowing how genes worked).

[Dolemite]

You mean like in BG&E? That was a great game btw.

Hmm...yeah, I've gotten the slight feeling lately that you kinda like that game. Maybe it has something to do with what seems like 100,000 posts you've made about it recently...

Actually, I tried a demo of it not too long ago, and I actually thought it seemed pretty cool. It was a 2-part demo where you controlled a hovercraft shooting down ships on water and then snuck around on foot through a factory or something. I've been meaning to give it at the very least a rent.

Maybe I'm the only one, but if you took out the drawn out dialogue and presentation of the MGS series I'd probably be a lot less interested in it.

I actually feel the exact opposite, as long as they replaced the drawn-out dialogue with additional gameplay.

Seriously, I just feel that the MGS series plays so damn well that it's a shame that it's just not fully realized because just when you start getting into that gameplay zone yet another 15 minute codec conversation suddenly butts in with somebody asking stupid shit like, "Snake, do you believe in love on the battlefield?" or "Live, Snake...LIVE!" . I really feel it hurts the game as a whole and prevents it from being as good as it can be.

Though, I do agree with you that the story of many games nowadays seem little more than an afterthought. It's nice that Kojima attempts to buck that trend and tell a tale with some depth, but if Snake Eater's story ends up another convoluted mess like Sons of Liberty's did, he can really kiss my ass. It's not worth scarificing gameplay.

[Johnny Undaunted]

Actually, I think since Kojima likes dialogue and cinematics so much he should make another game like Snatcher. I enjoyed it more than any Metal Gear game.

That's pretty much his style anyway. Policenauts was pretty verbose too, to the point of having one of the main villains inavertedly reveal his whole plot to a viewing public for 10-20 minutes. I think the fact that the only games he made between Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid were all adventure games (Snatcher and Policenauts and his involvement in the Tokimemo Drama Series) is a pretty good indications as to why the current Metal Gear games are the way they are.

[Korly]

I've never had a problem with the cutscenes or the codec scenes being long. In fact I prefer those to the shortened condensed garbage that passes for storylines in most games these days. I'm perfectly happy with the 'movie-I-can-play' format Kojima's got going here. Maybe I'm the only one, but if you took out the drawn out dialogue and presentation of the MGS series I'd probably be a lot less interested in it.

Word.

[Opaque]

Hmm...yeah, I've gotten the slight feeling lately that you kinda like that game. Maybe it has something to do with what seems like 100,000 posts you've made about it recently...

Actually, I tried a demo of it not too long ago, and I actually thought it seemed pretty cool. It was a 2-part demo where you controlled a hovercraft shooting down ships on water and then snuck around on foot through a factory or something. I've been meaning to give it at the very least a rent.

What have we learned from Katamari Damacy? We've learned to just fucking buy it if it's 20 bucks and people say it's great.

[AstroBlue]

Seriously, I just feel that the MGS series plays so damn well that it's a shame that it's just not fully realized because just when you start getting into that gameplay zone yet another 15 minute codec conversation suddenly butts in with somebody asking stupid shit like, "Snake, do you believe in love on the battlefield?" or "Live, Snake...LIVE!" . I really feel it hurts the game as a whole and prevents it from being as good as it can be.

I would be upset if they did that, but what Kojima really needs to do is have a "no bullshit mode" which cuts the dialogue down to the bare essentials like "Snake we have to go over there".

[Dolemite]

Just read that if Snake eats rotten food you can wiggle the left analog stick back and forth to make him vomit so he doesn't have to deal with being poisoned.

I love the goofy little touches this series has.


Also, IGN posted a 10-page section today dealing with just about every aspect of the game known so far. It's a pretty good read.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/553/553918p1.html

[Johnny Undaunted]

I got the latest OPM with the demo a few days ago. The game is almost unlike the previous Metal Gear games. It's way more stealth-oriented and actually requires to coordinate your uniform and face paint to blend in, rather than simply take advantages of blind spots or the enemy's narrow point of view. When you're discovered, the game quickly goes into Alert Mode, instead of simply waiting for the soldier to call reinforcements.

There are no rations in the demo. Instead, Snake recovers his energy by being idle and using his stamina. There are quite a variety of animals which can be eaten in the demo, including snakes and bird. Living animals (fresh meat) are kept in cages (three in the demo), apart from the dead ones (you can also obtains mushrooms, fruits and even a hornest nest). You can hear Snake react to his food after digesting it. Reactions ranges between "mazui" (yuck), "madamada" (so-so) and "saikou da" (delicious).

The new CQC system allows for way more variety in combat. No longer are you limited to the previous games' stranglehold or punch/punch/kick combos. You can now do several offensive maneuvers such as pushing enemies into the ground or holding a knife agaisnt his throw. You can interrogate soldiers by pushing L3, but they simply give standard tips. It took me quite a while to learn how to use the knife hold without slashing an enemy's throat.

My only gripe with the game is with the long loading times between the actual game and during radio sequences. It takes quite awhile for the game to load to the transceiver screen. Thankfully, this is only an apparent side-effect of the demo being bundled with other demos (reportedly, the stand-alone E3 demo didn't have this problem) and will be fixed in the finished version. As for the radio mode itself, the interface is quite a departure from the previous games. Instead of the green-toned faces from the previous game, you can only see Snake kneeling while establishing contact (which is clearly meant to be a throwback to the very first MSX game). Your contact isn't shown during these conversations, but instead the player is presented with photographs of them and personal data. Otherwise, the radio works the same way as it did in the previous games.

The cut-scenes are long as usual, but so far they don't as annoyingly long as those in MGS2. I could've done without The Boss's lecture of patriotism and loyalty though. Thankfully, you scan still fast-foward these radio conversation by pressing the square button.

MGS3 is starting to look very promising and already shows a great deal of improvement over MGS2. While the demo isn't very long (there's only four or five areas), there's quite a bit to do and experiment. Hopefully, the ratio of actual gameplay segments over cut-scenes will be more balanced this time.

[Dolemite]

I got the latest OPM with the demo a few days ago. The game is almost unlike the previous Metal Gear games. It's way more stealth-oriented and actually requires to coordinate your uniform and face paint to blend in, rather than simply take advantages of blind spots or the enemy's narrow point of view.

It's way harder without the radar from the pervious games, too. Good thing you have a gadget in your backpack that is similar, but it's battery life is limited.

My only gripe with the game is with the long loading times between the actual game and during radio sequences. It takes quite awhile for the game to load to the transceiver screen. Thankfully, this is only an apparent side-effect of the demo being bundled with other demos (reportedly, the stand-alone E3 demo didn't have this problem) and will be fixed in the finished version.

Man, am I glad to hear that. Whenever the radio started loading, it froze the game for so long I thought it had fucking crashed. So annoying.

As for the radio mode itself, the interface is quite a departure from the previous games. Instead of the green-toned faces from the previous game, you can only see Snake kneeling while establishing contact (which is clearly meant to be a throwback to the very first MSX game).

I loved that little touch.