With Hideo Kojima's final installment of the long-running Metal Gear series coming in just a little over 3 months, I figured it was as good a time as any to say a few things about the previous and upcoming installments. The first time I ever played a Metal Gear game was in Target back in 1997. There was a demo up in the PlayStation kiosk and being curious, I decided to check it out. The screen was dark, but I could still see the images necessary to get across what I was experiencing. The second I heard the subtle, beautiful soundtrack swell up, vocals and all; I was hooked. I had never seen any game that gave the same experience I felt as when watching a good piece of cinema. Then the gameplay starts and I'm led through the story by voice actors who actually sound like real actors. Wand of Gamelon and Sewer Shark this was not, these guys were the real deal. Then I hear what has to be one of the coolest voices ever come from my player character. His name was Solid Snake, he had a mission to complete and I was in complete control of him... aside from some awesome cutscenes. Then the demo suddenly ends with no words of when it was to be released. I should've asked a clerk of when it it was set to drop, but back then I was just a naive little boy who loved games and didn't care to ask; I just wanted. I collected every magazine I could muster the money out of my parents to buy with Snake somewhere on the cover or within an inside feature. I had to know more about this game. Then the year 1998 came and Metal Gear Solid is unleashed on the world. I beat the game within a week and afterwards probably could've used a smoke. What a ride from beginning to end. The dialogue wasn't cheesy or outrageously ridiculous, the story itself kept me on the edge of my bed and I never knew it could be so fun to sneak around in a virtual world. I was an MGS fan through and through from that moment on, eagerly awaiting the next installment of the series as they came and went. MGS2 was great, but I felt some of the dialogue was a bit to outrageous for my taste and MGS3, while incredible and took the franchise into new territory, still lacked something that was all over the original MGS: A tone of utter seriousness. I'm a huge fan of Kojima's work and I love the humor in his games, don't get me wrong. But, once you've played the original Metal Gear Solid and can't remember a single goofy thing aside from a few subtle in-jokes, then go play the sequel and its prequel only to find them both laced with them, you'll see what I mean. But, I'm not complaining, the stories and the gameplay are still great and that's what counts. After all, they are games, not flicks and games are all about having fun, which I did through and through with every installment of the series I owned. Now, the year is 2008 and a new and perhaps last Metal Gear installment is on the horizon. This time we'll follow our old hero Solid Snake aged by the imperfections of his cloned DNA. But, don't think for a second that that's gonna slow him down that much. From what other fans and myself have seen of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Snake is still in fighting shape and has a new suit and more gadgets to back him up. The coolest of these I've seen so far is the Metal Gear Mk. II, a little robot and homage to previous Kojima game "Snatcher", remotely operated by old fan-favorite Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. Plus, if you know Kojima like his fans do, then you lnow that there are plenty of secrets and plot twists in store as well. If you haven't dropped the dough to buy a PS3 yet, then I suggest that you wait until June 13th to pick up the PS3 bundled together with MGS4 and the brand-new and highly anticipated Dual Shock 3 controller. It's about damn time if you ask me... In the meantime, enjoy the video below of the gameplay from the latest installment until Sony and Konami decide to place the demo on PSN, at which time I'll give you my first impressions.This video was brought to you by Gaming-Age:
2 comments:
Ah, Metal Gear Solid. Arguably, this is Sony's greatest franchise and one of the major drawing points to the Playstation consoles... and with good reason. I hate to admit that I really never was interested in the original game; I was too busy playing Ocarina of Time in '98 to really care about anything else. However, when I finally got my hands on a PS2 I became strangely interested and excited about MGS2. Maybe it was the new level of graphics that this game achieved, or the superb voice acting. Or maybe it was the hype that had me so excited. Whatever it was, I enjoyed MGS2 more than any game at the time. I loved the characters, and most of all, the complex and fairly mature plot. Then MGS3 rolled around and I bought that. I have to say that I never even did finish that one. It was good, but I felt that the story and characters lacked. It didn't seem to have the complexity of the second one. Although it was kinda cool to see certain characters back in their early days, like Ocelot.
Unfortunately, and maybe this is due to my not have a PS3 right now, but I am not hyped up for MGS4. I'm not really anticipating it, even though I know it will be a superb addition to the series. It will be one of those titles that I don't really care about, but then comes out of left field and blows me away, much like Super Mario Galaxy did. I just hope that they make a few changes to the system (some gameplay aspects just bug me) and give us a great story and narrative.
I wish Konami would release a DVD with all of the cinematic scenes featured in all MGS games. I play the MGS series solely for the story.
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