Still a Metal Gear fan?

[A.G.]

Been a while since I checked in here. Looking over the site and the forums does bring back some good memories. But it also makes me realize how different things are now. MGS5 will be out this year. After playing Ground Zeroes I must admit the gameplay is very exciting. But the story worries me. Especially after the last few trailers.

Over the last month and half I replayed MG1, MG2, MGS, and MGS2 (currently working through Twin Snakes and the voice acting is just horrible!). Metal Gear as a weapon had a really great sense of danger, exclusivity, and urgency to it in the early games. All the government officials that were involved in the REX, RAY, and Arsenal projects... It just felt very BIG. But when you start factoring post-MGS4 titles (Peace Walker and MGS5) it really diminishes that feel. Peace Walker was so much more advanced than REX it was sad. And that's with a 30 year difference. And now we see this:



So now we see REX tech in the 80's. Who cares about TX-55. Who cares about D. In fact, by the time Shadow Moses gets around, who cares about REX?!

I also noticed that when I replay Metal Gear games, it's very rare that I have the desire to play Peace Walker. Even Ground Zeroes got old after about a month. Granted it's only a Prologue mission but so was the MGS2 Tanker and I LOVE replaying it. I really did call it back in 2008 that MGS4 was going to be the last one for me. I've had no desire to collect anything that's Peace Walker or MGS5 while still buying MGS1-4 collectibles. I'll be playing MGS5 when it comes out, no doubt. But it just feels so forced. I have three games I want to play this year:

Arkham Knight
Uncharted 4
MGS5

My interest in those games is in that order. I never thought MGS would stop dominating my preference list. But it's hard to be excited about it...

[Cerberus_0408]

I have the HDC for both PS3 and Vita. Did a coupla playthroughs of MGS2 and 3. Finished 4 once but haven't played the first 3 games. And yeah, I still feel that the first game was (and is!) still the best. Granted the other instalments were fun as hell in gameplay (like going back in replay mode to find missing items and girl postures, lmfao) but the story just didn't hit the mark. It's a pity 'cos Kojima did it due to death threats. Had he never been given warnings of that magnitude I believe that the story could be as fleshed out as gameplay.

[fgdj2000]

Been playing through the series in the past year, whenever I had time or no other games to play. I'm currently giving MPO a try before moving on to MGS4 and PW (if MGS5 comes out before I finish, I'll probably skip those). Never actually finished MPO, but I appreciate it for its long term impact. 1st person walking and aiming, soldier recruitment and management all originate here and have become mainstays after MGS4.
I guess, MGS has lost some of its charme, particularily its gritty realism. Previously, before 2005, the events of MGS1 and 2 could actually be happening and the technology could have been developed at that point in the timeline. Even MGS3 could have happened as there is really very little futuristic tech there. But starting with MGS4, the series dived deeply into the realm of alternate history. So, I hear you. Plus, it's not really about Metal Gears anymore at this point.
I'm still looking forward to the game. I'm still very much interested in the human story arc of how Big Boss loses his humantiy and the ton of options with which you can tackle a mission. This is still my most anticipated game of the year. But yur other top 3 are also on my list
2015 is going to be a big year anyway: MGS5, Avengers 2, next Bond film, Batman: Arkham finale, next Uncharted and Star Wars Episode VII!

[Cerberus_0408]

I still feel that at this point the MG series has more bullsh*t in it than anything else worth redeeming. Kojima milked the f...ck outta it due to death threats and whatever new stuff comes out is all expanded universe, fantasy fiction etc. In the past, the games were fun although you had to go through a sh*tload of cutscenes and radio chatter. But now it seems he's just generating revenue for the sake of generating revenue. I just hope that MGS5 has a LOT less unnecessary exposition and that the story is as condensed as possible.

[fgdj2000]

I think, starting with Peace Walker, he made only Metal Gear games, he wanted to make. I think Kojima has kind of two halves in him: one wants to keep the company running and make good business, the other is a creative guy who wants to make innovative games and challenge what has been done before. I kind of like how convoluted the series has become. I think each game is in some ways a reboot. It's revisionism. Like Gene Roddenberry who changed phaser colors from blue to yellow, because he thought it looked better.

[Cerberus_0408]

Y' know, I find it f...cking hilarious how Kojima made such a cash cow with this stealth/ shooter in the MGS games thus far, but *all of a f...cking sudden* he switches to open-world bullsh*t in MGS5. I dunno if it'll actually do well, but look, dumb f...ckers purchased whatever had 'MGS' slapped on it, so why wouldn't it sell? It's just a pity though, because franchises that sell well do so by sticking to their formula. Call of Duty, Super Mario, and God of War didn't become big sustainable mass-market franchises by piggybacking off of someone else, they became big because they did their own thing and stuck to their own thing. Call of Duty has stayed Call of Duty, God of War stuck to its guns, and Super Mario has survived almost thirty years by sticking to the same formula. Even when Mario made the jump to 3D in Super Mario 64 it still retained a sh*tload of what made Mario famous. These franchises didn't invent the genres they exist in, but they found their own place in their genres and built from there. I wish that Kojima would do the same, using the normal 'stealth or blazing guns' that MGS became infamous for. Because he's now competing with Grand Theft Auto, which like the above-mentioned games, stuck to its guns by being open-world every f...cking time it comes out. I dunno if Kojima's actually doing himself a favour in how different Fantom Payne is from the other games.

[fgdj2000]

Unlike all those other games, the MGS games actually evolve their gameplay. God of War III plays essentially identical to God of War I or the PSP games. So does Uncharted and certainly CoD. Kojima's MGS games each play different. Whether it's MGS3, MGS4, MGS2 - they all play similar, yet different. I think Kojima should be praised for trying to reinvent the series with each new game - well, the main series. And also, the Metal Gear series isn't nearly as convoluted as a lot of people make it out to be. MGS4 was really the only one, since it tried to bring all the storylines to a conclusion. Plus, each games story is actually about something that matters - outside of the screen in real life. So, yes, the spin offs are hit and miss, but the "A Hideo Kojima Game" series still is imo one of the most intruiging video game series out there imo.

[Cerberus_0408]

It's funny to me that Kojima invests so much resources/ time/ etc with MGS, but ZoE is treated completely differently. It was doomed from the start with the way that they marketed it, unlike Metal Gear. They put more emphasis on the fact that Kojima created it, that it ran on the same engine as MGS2, and that an MGS2 demo came with it than the fact that it was actually a standalone game that existed. Despite the games being awesome and receiving good reviews, the series never sold particularly well and always had a very small niche/cult fanbase as a result.

Because of that, for the most part it was just Kojima saying "huhuh imma do it when im done with the current project herp derp", but thanks to death threats, the Metal Gear projects never seemed to cease. Then came a couple years ago when concept arts and sculptures showed up online, then came this "Enders Project", and then, based likely on ZoE HD sales, that was cancelled because of a "lack of interest". Now, had ZoE HD been the same product at release as the PS3 version is now, where both games run so perfectly smooth and vibrantly colorful, there probably wouldn't be a "lack of interest". I urge everyone with a PS3 to run out and buy ZoE HD right f...cking now. THERE'S f...ckING INTEREST, KOJIMA!!!!!!

Doesn't help that Kojima kept trolling with ZoE3 until he announced that it was in development, only to then pretty much cancel it again to go jack off to more Metal Gear games forever.

[fgdj2000]

Well, ZoE never really was his baby. He just produced it and they briefly made a franchise of it. I played through the first one but didn't finish the second one. But they were cool. If they do another one, they'll probably do a reboot-

[Cerberus_0408]

Apparently a HDC was supposed to be released for the Vita, but was cancelled due to 'lack of f...cking interest'. I dunno how Kojima thinks, because had he worked as hard as he did for MGS, then it could be possibly making a sh*tLOAD of revenue for him.