MGS4 Act 3

[A.G.]

So I'm doing my annual playthrough and I'm noticing just how much I like Act 3. I know many hated it, but I think it's great. Tailing the resistance is a blast if you experiment with different routes. Eva's return and death are fantastic. So many direct and subtle references! The scene where she tells Snake to get on the bike is bone chilling, even 9 years later. The Raven fight is fun too.

My only gripe is after the Raven fight when they went into the sewer. I think gameplay was cut here. I think originally you had to help lead her like you do in MGS3 while fighting off the dwarf gecko. This would've also been another Snatcher reference as there is a sewer firefight.

[fgdj2000]

I guess the gripes many people have with it is, how much more it could have been. It's a very interesting setting... really the only setting in a "civilized" area. The tracking mission also isn't bad per se, but it's so undynamic. Whenever you lose the resistence contact, you find one only in the same area as the one where you lost him. The route is completely scripted...

Snake Soup did a pretty decent article on that one.

Don't get me wrong, It's a decent act especially with all the Snatcher/Policenauts callbacks and the more action packed conclusion and all the revelations, but it just could have been more.

[fgdj2000]

My favorites out of the acts in MGS4 ought to be ACT4 though... what a surprise^^

The Atmosphere, the snowstorm, the remains of where I spend my first hours in the Metal Gear universe, the fight against Crying Wolf, Rex vs Ray.

But I also enjoyed Bolivia (Act 2), since I actually spend some time there in real life. I also love how half a day passes and how the battle slowly escalates.

[A.G.]

Act 4 is the best, no doubt. So much nostalgia! And Rex vs Ray was my all time favorite moment in the series.

[fgdj2000]

Well, the final boss (Liquid Ocelot) tops that for me.
From the first cutscene blows they deal each other to how visceral the fight becomes to how they are in each others arms almost brotherly... and then the actual fight starts and moves through the 4 MGS games.

Something that usually bugs me about Boss fights in multiple phases is how they get harder, i.e. the boss seems to get stronger. In MGS4, however, towards the end, the boss character does actually get weaker and grows more tired as a human being would in an actual fist fight.
Though I had big issues with phase 2 on my first paythrough way back when (#power-arm of death).

[A.G.]

Just finished the MGS4 playthrough. Yeah, not a perfect game by end means. But I simply love it. It genuinely tried to make the messy Metal Gear chronology work. Old Snake was a great idea. There is no other game, Metal Gear or in general, where I felt more sympathy for a character. Watching him truly go the distance hasn't gotten old even after 9 years. And there are so many touching moments here. If I made a top 10 favorite Metal Gear moments list this game would have half of them. For that I can forgive other mistakes.

The series needed to end here. Maybe things between Kojima and Konami would have turned out different.

[fgdj2000]

Jul 2, 2017 21:19:31 GMT -5 A.G. said:

The series needed to end here.

It would have been best... Peace Walker could still have been a spin-off, The Phantom Pain should have been a new IP.

Maybe things between Kojima and Konami would have turned out different.

Unlikely, since it seems the conflict was a result of Konami wanting to leave the AAA-gaming market in favor of the smartphone and pachislot markets, which are more profitable.

[Cerberus_0408]

The MGS4 fight with Liquid was actually kinda anti-climactic for me. Curse me if you will but I thought it would be a more, y' know, difficult duel. Turns out it wasn't that bad. If it was Rex vs Ray that was the final boss, that would be better for me. But then again, that's just my 2 cents.

It's kinda like how MGS2 implemented the Solidus fight AFTER the Ray fight. Would have been better to swap their positions. I guess you could argue the same for MGS3 (swap Shagohod and the Boss) but the literal last boss was challenging enough.

[A.G.]

Rex vs Ray isn't a hard fight at all. And it's much too short to be the finale.

[fgdj2000]

I think the fight against Crying Wolf is one of my favorite boss fights. And probably the best one in this game after Liquid Ocelot and maybe REX vs RAY. it's also the only boss fight that really has you use the base gameplay (stealth). Come to think of it, there are very few boss fights in the series where you are encouraged to use stealth. In MGS1 it was the Vulcan Raven fight in MGS3 it was The End and also The Boss to some lesser degree. I think that's it.

[A.G.]

I hide from The Fury a lot. Much easier then running around in a firefight.

[fgdj2000]

Jan 7, 2018 23:16:47 GMT -5 A.G. said:

I hide from The Fury a lot. Much easier then running around in a firefight.

Yep. He is one of the few non-final bosses that can still kill me.  

MGSV actually encouraged stealth in the fights against Quiet and the Skull Snipers.

[A.G.]

First Sniper Wolf fight can be an issue for me still. Mostly due to the controls. If she gets that first shot in it’s hard to get the scope readjusted.

[fgdj2000]

Yep, that's quite annoying. I usually have tp unequip the sniper rifle and reposition myself. In the snowfield, I used to use the Nikita, but then it felt kind of wrong and like cheating.

[Cerberus_0408]

If you call that cheating, what about the time when you had to Nikita the electric panel to access the president in the shell...