MGS4 after MGS5

[A.G.]

So today I decided to pop in MGS4. After almost a month on MGS5 gameplay I wanted to see how MGS4 felt. Here are some early impressions.

As soon as I heard David Hayter's voice it just felt right. The Act 1 briefing with Otty and Campbell. God it felt right! The dialogue, the delivery, the mood... It's Metal Gear!

Graphics... They hold up. If anything, I felt the enemies looked more real than in MGS5. Remember when you injure a soldier and he limps or favors his arm? Yeah, we don't get that in MGS5. MGS4 is an incredibly realistic and beautiful game. 7 years later it still looks amazing.

Gameplay. Sneaking around to get to where you meet Mk2... Wanted to go for CQC and pressed the wrong button! Hard to switch back to the R1/L1 layout. But I'm glad it happened. The alarm went off and I had to escape, killing several PMC Soldiers. It was actually kind of a rush. I felt angry and actually unloaded a full clip into a dead body. And when I escaped, Snake's stress level was through the roof! The aim was shaking and he was breathing heavy. I had to find a shaded corners and calm down... Both, him and me. f...cking brilliant!

[edward18]

Does Big Boss's final speech make any sense anymore after 5? If I remember right it goes like "I dunno if Zero respected me or was afraid of me" or something like that, but I imagine that 5 mucks that up a bit.

[A.G.]

Taking my time, just wrapping up Act 3. And Eva's speech about the MGS3 to MG1 time is so much better than what we actually got with the missing links.

The graphics of MGS4 are just superb! Hard to believe it's 7 years old now! There are so many parts where it looks just as good as MGS5.

[blackjaguar]

Agree that the graphics in MGS4 are awesome when I just had a replay, I have to play MGSV on ps3 so graphics definately look better in many regards for MGS4. Gameplay is also great, though I miss tagging with the binoculars from MGSV and the speed you can move feels extremely slow in 4.

[Cerberus_0408]

MGS4 is definitely a classic, no sh!t. I like it especially since it combines shooter controls and stealth-sneaking without being too convoluted like CoD or BF.

Oh, and you get stuck in a full-out warzone. Boss battles are also the most memorable IMHO.

[edward18]

Personally I only consider MGS1 a classic out of the Solid series.

[fgdj2000]

MGS1-3 and also MG2 (though few people played it until 2006).
At least MGS1 and MGS2. They feel like the most complementary. MGS3 is a first major shif, but still plays very much like 1 and 2. then came MGS4 and it changed everything.

[blackjaguar]

I played Metal Gear 1&2 quite early on MSX emulator, there was a very good fan translation and I still prefer to play the emulated version. Its actually thanks to Metal Gear Forever I even knew to get them. Metal Gear 2 is still a fantastic game. MGS1 will always be the best and is a masterpiece to me.

[Cerberus_0408]

I think in general, the first of anything, whether games or movies, is the best. Sequels tend to fark with things.

[A.G.]

Not always. Metal Gear 1 is far from the best in the series.

It's hard to rank the series since it spans so many generations of hardware. I tend to look at which games would have the least to fix given their hardware constraints. MG2 and MGS3 would be at the top of the list with MGS1 behind them. MGS2 and MGS4 needed some work. MG1 is the prototype for the stealth genre, so I tend to not criticize it out of respect.

[fgdj2000]

Interesting viewpoint. With that criteria, I would add MGSPW probably to the MGS1 category, maybe even to the MG2/ MGS3 category.
For me, this game was pretty flawless and the only thing you can complain about is that the technology doen't line up into the continuity of the series.

With MGSV I'm not sure. I've been vocal to defend the game and I still think it's really a great game and doesn't deserve to be bashed the way it is by some. However, I can't deny the games obviously missing content due to a rushed developement cycle at the end. So I'd put it into the MGS2/ MGS4 category as well.

[edward18]

For me I'd have to go with Metal Gear 2 and Solid 1 being the best. Metal Gear 2 just refines everything into the iconic formula and does it all pretty much flawlessly and Solid 1 is essentially a 3D version of that game at parts but blending it enough with 3D for it to be THE Solid game to me. 2's alright, but it doesn't really stick with me like 1 does. After 1 3 is what comes next, then 2. Then Solid 4 and then Peace Walker and 5 below that.

[fgdj2000]

Actually, I 'm not sure about MGS1 if I think about it. If you take MGS1 and MG2 and compare them, I think overall MG2 is the better game. It is better paced, has more interesting environments, has more gadgets and even some NPCs roaming arround. As a 2D game it is really among the best there is. MGS1 on the other hand is very rough arround the edges. When compared to later games, enemy A.I. is dumb, gameplay is awfully 2D (guards can't see you when they are above you) and pacing is pretty terrible. Think about it, the heliport, practically you first real area in the game (the Dock is like a mini tutorial to me) is way more complex and much harder than many of the later areas. It also features some traps that never happen again in the game, like footprints, searchlights and (if you combine the dock) puddles. On the other hand towards the you have fewer guards, a horrendrous amount of backtracking with the PAL keys and some truly unfair traps, like the camera and mines in one of the elevator areas, where you can't use the radar and have no reasonable chance to detect those traps other than just stumbling on them. And also, I think Matthew Matosis (a youtuber) actually counted all the guards in the game (excluding alert mode and the two forced shootouts). Guess how many guards make up the Genome Army? 23 sweatty dudes and one certain red-haired chick

However, MGS1 arguably makes up for these flaws with presentation, story and voice acting. And also by arriving at a time when no games like it exsisted out there, thus becoming a template for a whole new generation of gaming.

[Cerberus_0408]

MGS1 is indeed rather sucky in a sense. I remember encountering enemies straight off the bat, at the docks. Compare that to MGS2, where you at least had field of vision to see enemies on the tanker, and the plant was empty when you first intruded it. In MGS3, Dremuchij South is likewise void of enemies; same applies in PW's starting level. Not sure about MGS4 since I last played it some time ago.

Anyway, let me rank the games in terms of best to worst.

1)PW-allows you to acquire vehicles and build your own base, although the story flushes the trilogy into the drain

2)MGS4-it combines almost all the aspects of the previous games and allows you to purchase pretty much whatever weapon you want

3)MGS3-had some revolutionary moments in videogame history, like the sniper duel and allowing you to access the survival menu, camo index, cure wounds, eat meals etc

4)MGS2-least favourite (at least for now) due to the farking convoluted storyline. And the boss battles were, well...WORST in the series. Fortune was a waste of time, Fatman was just idiotic. Vamp was the only quality fight.