Playing Metal Gear in 2018?

[A.G.]

Are you still playing the series? Are you getting MG Survive?

Next June it will be 10 years since the release of MGS4. That’s when the series really ended for me. It was the last time I was hyped for a Metal Gear game. It seems so distant.

Do you feel Metal Gear is dead? Would you want it to continue? Do you want a reboot? I still do my annual replay of the 6 games I consider to be a complete series. Just finished MG1. Building 2 still cracks me up. Left elevator only goes up. Right elevator only goes down. lol. Just imagining being the engineer who has to pitch that idea to Big Boss.

[Cerberus_0408]

It's that exact kinda stuff that makes the games memorable to me. MGS3 marked a revolution for me. The camo system, menu and stamina, health regeneration and curing injuries... the list goes on. And the map too, sniper duel with the End...Definitely consider it a turning point in the industry at least in my perspective.



And don't forget MGS5: the open world concept, the details like functioning washrooms, the ability to kidnap sheep to his game, functioning garbage bins to hide bodies, the ability to knock and lure guards and cardboard boxes to his games...I can bitch on forever.

[fgdj2000]

Yep, still playing Metal Gear. I will never stop playing these games. They are all timeless classics. I am still in my second playthrough of MGSV and just finished Mission 31. I know this game doesn't have a lot of love here and has a lot of issues, but I still find a flawed Kojima game much much more compelling than an anonymous poLished AAA Game. I still think the story isn't all bad and the slow pace gives the game a unique feel. I can't really describe it, but you are slowly descending the rabbit hole. I like that the game starts loud and then slowly deflates and I think this was intentional. It reminds me of the film Aguirre by German director Werner Herzog. It's about a Soanish expedition into Latin America (back in 16th century) and they go down a river (similar to Heart of Darkness and Aüpcalypse Now) and the film just kind of slows down the further they go into madness. Early on, the river is just wild and dangerous, but by the end it's a gentle stream and everyone except for Aguirre are dead. It leaves you empty and I think this is something Kojima was going for and - for me at least - it generally works, dispite the weird structure of Chapter 2 with repeated missions and all.

[fgdj2000]

As for Metal Gear Survive... no, just no. I really do
Pity the people working on that game. They seem to put an honest effort into it. But it's just a cheaply produced crash grab ( that somehow took them 3 years to make) and I'm not interested in it. Metal Gear without Kojima isn't really Metal Gear anymore. It's a Zombie, so I guess that they are making a Zombie game now, is kind of fitting. I might be willing if someone came along and reimagine the series with there own unique vision and make an honest effort at a game. Like, if Yoko Taro would make a Metal Gear game, then I would be interested.

[Cerberus_0408]

Yeah I sometimes can't help but wonder, why was Rising ever made? And Survive? These are just pathetic excuses of 'MG' games. Not that they even qualify as such.

The problem I have with PW is the army-type feature of calling in air support. The past games from MG1 to MGS4 felt more like Snake, a lone wolf, taking on the enemies with incredible odds. Sound the alert, and they'd assault you - and you alone. But in Peace Walker that feeling was gone. Run out of supplies? Call in a care package. Incoming tank? Request a carpet bombardment...

[A.G.]

It’s just an attempt to appeal to a new audience. Solo sneaking in a linear game was super cool in the late 90s and early 2000s but the gaming landscape was changing. People were leaning towards different experiences while the Metal Gear series held on to a very unforgiving formula. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that formula. But many didn’t. By the time the PS3 rolled out the exciting Metal Gear template was as dated as Old Snake. And that’s why I regard MGS4 as the last true Metal Gear. That type of game structure ended there. MPW, Rising and MGSV branched out. Story and cutscenes became secondary. Gameplay became more focused on new elements instead of traditional sneaking. There were other things to do. MGS4 was indeed the end of an era. 1987 - 2008.

[Cerberus_0408]

Yeah but still...Splinter Cell has done solo sneaking so well, it's literally the ONLY THING the franchise is known for. It's the backbone of the series, in other words. And yet here's what we see in MGS...Hack and slash crap, zombie survival...the list goes on. In fact, name one SC game that has open-world elements. Yeah, you can't. That's how good the games are, they only concentrate on stealth. Where-else MGS is now going into a whole new thing altogether.

[A.G.]

Because it’s a huge name in gaming. So they want to attach it to as many things as they can. It’s unfortunate but true.

It’s interestimg, the last few weeks I’ve gone back into MGS5. No story, just riding around the open world. Sneaking, killing, collecting. It’s enjoyable gameplay. A lot of tools to use. But it doesn’t feel like Metal Gear. Without a story payoff to link it all together the gameplay becomes pointless. And having completed the story twice now I know I’m not interested in it.

Also, I just purchased a 4K TV and out of curiousity ran MGS4 on it. I’m stickimg with my earlier statement that if that game got a PS4 release it would look better than 5.

[Cerberus_0408]

Well, technically it's possible to stream PS3 games to a PS4. It could in theory be that MGS4 is indeed playable on the PS4.
www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/ps4-backwards-compatibility-can-you-play-ps3-games-on-ps4-2914335

[A.G.]

I’m talking about an actual remaster. Like Uncharted and Last of Us had.

[fgdj2000]

Dec 20, 2017 2:59:58 GMT -5 Cerberus_0408 said:

Yeah but still...Splinter Cell has done solo sneaking so well, it's literally the ONLY THING the franchise is known for. It's the backbone of the series, in other words. And yet here's what we see in MGS...Hack and slash crap, zombie survival...the list goes on. In fact, name one SC game that has open-world elements. Yeah, you can't. That's how good the games are, they only concentrate on stealth. Where-else MGS is now going into a whole new thing altogether.

Metal Gear Rising is a damn good game. I'm sorry, if its not your cup of tea, but just objectively it's a really good game and unlike Zombies and Trading Cards, superpowered Cyborgs with crazy abilties are part of Metal Gear and are perfect for a spin-off. The story does undo the happy ending Raiden got in MGS4, but since it's a.) not canon, b.) over-the-top and c.) not to be taken too seriously, I enjoy it as a crazy the what-of scenario it is striving to be.

[Cerberus_0408]

I wasn't exactly trying to cricitise MGR. I was talking more of how Splinter Cell has concentrated around stealth and stealth alone - only that element, and it STILL sells pretty damn well. Compare that to MGS, which has been branching out to different elements, and has been not so popular.

[A.G.]

And to be clear you can have good games without them being Metal Gear.

Though I think most fans would prefer that the series was more selective about what it branched out into. If the gameplay isn’t traditional MGS and the story is not canon... then how about just making a new IP? That’s what I wish they did with MPO, MPW and MGSV. Those three could’ve made a good new series. They certainly have the core system in common.

[Cerberus_0408]

Well, I suppose they TECHNICALLY constitute a new series as you mentioned in the timeline thread. Yeah I know they add more bullsh*t than truth to the main storyline, but they could also be thought of as an ALTERNATE universe parallel to the six main games which you consider as the saga.

1974 - Big Boss sets up MSF and builds it into a nuclear power. Zero has spies in his organization.
1975 - MSF is destroyed and Big Boss falls into a coma.
1975-84 - Venom Snake is created through hypnotherapy to be Big Boss double and Zero becomes disabled due to parasite attack.
1984 - Venom and Big Boss wake up. Venom develops Diamond Dogs into a large mercenary company mascirading as Big Boss. Big Boss goes off to build Outer Heaven.



It could be POSSIBLE that the games, as you said above, are an expanded universe that run as an alternative to the first timeline as seen below. I know we may not see eye to eye but that's no issue with me.

1964 - Jack kills his mentor The Boss as part of a CIA mission. He becomes Big Boss and is torn between following his own ideals and being a loyal soldier.
1970 - Big Boss becomes part of the Patriots though his views differ from Zero.
1972 - Big Boss leaves the Patriots after finding out he was cloned, drifting around the world to build his own mercenary company to oppose Zero’s views.
1980’s - Big Boss builds Outer Heaven as his main base in Africa.
1990’s - Big Boss returns to US and rejoins Zero as the commander of Foxhound, usining it as cover for his Outer Heaven plans.
1995 - Outer Heaven is revealed to be a threat and Big Boss leads missions to investigate, purposely sabotaging them. Big Boss is revealed as leader of Outer Heaven.

[A.G.]

Too confusing for mainstream audience. I still think a new IP would’ve been a better move. Like Snatcher and Policenauts.