Reyturner

The Ultimate Playthrough, Metal Gears!?

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Poorly. I lost a lot of progress due to my own dumb ass forgetting the game doesn't have auto save and then again when my PS3 had to get reset to default due to a profile problem. 

 

I think I'll give it another go. 

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That's a bummer! I'm a little stuck on MGS right now. I've got to freeze/heat the keys. The idea of finding the furnace again just seems impossible. 

 

It's crazy how many quality of life changes new games have compared to older. Just a map would be fantastic.

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Heh.

I can close my eyes and walk around Shadow Moses like it was the house I grew up in.

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The lack of autosave is annoying, plus the fact that when you do save, it's only saving your progress up to your last elevator trip. I wish they had added state saves to the Subsistence versions.

 

God I fucking love Metal Gear. Brb gonna go hatch a Zanzibar tawny owl to confuse some guards.

 

edit: MGS4 was the first in the series that I actually played to completion, and then the rest finally clicked with me after years of dabbling and never really getting it. Kind of a weird point of entry, but now I appreciate them all (except PoOps).

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God man, the conversations while saving the game are a core part of the Metal Gear Solid experience! 
 

Heh.

I can close my eyes and walk around Shadow Moses like it was the house I grew up in.

 
Yeah, the idea of not being able to find the furnace seems literally ridiculous to me. I can see the exact route in my mind right now down to every last enemy and interaction encountered on the way.

 

PoOps

 

:tup:

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I got Portable Ops on my vita during the period where the store glitched out and let you download any psp game onto it, and the only way I will ever replay it is with a second stick, the controls are just SO BAD. I like the mission structure, but everything else about the game varies from "poorly implemented" to "don't ever do this."

 

Maybe I should start an all-games playthrough, too. I've never played metal gear 1 or 2 for more than a few minutes.

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I've hard charged through Metal Gear. It's such an ambitious game, but definitely rough around the edges. The seeds of the themes which bloom in later games (and run rampant in laterer games) are on full display here, if you squint a little: 

  • The nature of war
  • Conflict between duty and personal ambition 
  • Family caught in the cross hairs
  • Unreliable Bosses

The fact that it takes place in South Africa during the 80's probably means... something. 

 

Anywho, one down, several to go. Next up: Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

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Damn. Now I'm regretting not taking my sister's offer of buying me the MGS collection on Vita.

Also, seconded on Acid 2. It's a pretty weird (maybe even broken) game but I loved it.

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Damn. Now I'm regretting not taking my sister's offer of buying me the MGS collection on vita

I'm totally picking it up after I finish MGS on vita. The game has really clicked for me after years of trying.

One thing I've noted is that the design of bosses isn't my personal preference. What I mean, is that in MGS, the bosses are difficult to figure out how to kill, but once you understand the strategy, defeating them is just a formality.

It kinda rubs me wrong, as it goes against many of the modern games I love which not only require you do figure out how (which is generally easy, but sometimes complex) to kill the boss, but also require a lot of skill to execute. Basically anything like Platinum games or the Souls games.

I wonder if that's a design choice, or whether it was because of the inherent limitations 20 years ago.

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I did this same playthrough before MGS4 came out. I'm not interested in doing it again right now, but it's fun to watch others do this. I have the HD collection on Vita. Should really get into it.

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I think I've lost the desire to finish MGS. No health, just trying to find the furnace. So little fun now.

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It seems odd you can't find it, it's largely quite linear. From memory:

 

Control room where you got the key -> Bottom of that massive chamber -> Out the door into the area with the water -> Across to the entrance where the trap doors are -> Across to the opposite side of the room where you fought Vulcan Raven -> Up the two huge elevators -> Blast Furnace

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It's more that I only have a slither of health left and no way to recover it so I keep dying. Another modern thing I've gotten used to: recovering health bars.

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When I was a kid, we had to trudge through a snow storm, crawl through duct work, and go up two massive elevators (both ways!) just to get to a furnace!

 

Oh wait, no, I'm just remembering MGS.

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It's more that I only have a slither of health left and no way to recover it so I keep dying. Another modern thing I've gotten used to: recovering health bars.

 

I have no tips here I'm afraid. In the GameCube remake you can rob rations off soldiers. With that said, it should be possible to make that journey without being spotted or injured if you know where you're going (which hopefully you now do).

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I actually did it this morning while drinking my morning coffee. Well, I got the key hot and headed back to the elevators while chomping on a couple of rations I found. I just kept making silly mistakes - not expecting guards in the warehouse, not remembering there were claymores about etc. Just got frustrated! 

 

I'm kinda worried about facing the next boss with such low health though. 

 

Edit: Most importantly I've enjoyed MGS enough to want to play 2 and 3. Sounded down on it, but it's a pretty good game. Just kinda wished I'd played it 20 years ago.

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Slight threadjack: I just discovered this Solid Snake supercut created by our own Derek Lieu a year ago.  It's just as well-timed and hilarious as his Google Robot News and Nude Sonic animations:

 

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Haha. Ah man, it just won't be the same with Kiefer.

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How are you getting on? I've managed to complete up to three, currently trying to work out how to play 4 without a PS3.

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Due to my increasingly profuse salivation over the looming MGS5, I decided to give Peace Walker HD a shot to get in the mood. I have to admit, while the gameplay is clearly very simplified and that extends to the level design too, I'm enjoying it. The storytelling is potent and without a shadow of a doubt something that will enrich the enjoyment of both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain — something which is highly apparent even after just watching trailers for those games — and it introduces some nice mechanics that I can't wait to see expanded upon.
 
The base building stuff is undoubtedly cool. It says a lot about the current state of iOS/Android games that this simple microtransaction-free management game is a lot more fun than almost anything I've played on my phone or tablet, even if it is largely just managing numbers and upgrades. What'd really make it sing is the ability to do fine-level customisation of your base, and the opportunity to walk around it rather than just look at it from a helicopter above. MGS5 is delivering both of these, and I cannot wait to be building security cameras and such around my base, and defending it from attacking bastards.
 
The codec is a bit of a disappointment, largely being devoid of the immersive conversations about plants and military equipment that made the previous games and their characters have such depth. However, the codec now working in-game is a splendid way of killing time while you observe enemy routes and such, or just chill out in the jungle atmosphere. If MGS5 can get more conversation happening and allow you to target who you speak to, it'll be really good.
 
Unsurprisingly for a handheld game, the shooting mechanics are the weakest link. It seems like the hitboxes for enemies' heads are the size of my entire screen, which makes taking people out stealthily a bit too easy for the first several hours of the game, and they're positioned so that you're virtually forced to shoot them. With that said, once you get towards the third boss in the game it definitely kicks thing up a notch in terms of difficulty. Suddenly enemies all have helmets so they can't be one-shot killed, forcing you to use proper stealth and choking to take them out — and the level design changes to suit this, becoming more MGS3-like in terms of complexity. The balloon extraction thing makes it very easy to avoid enemies spotting other neutralised enemies though, so I hope that gets restricted more in MGS5.
 
Mission structure is interesting. It's obviously handheld-friendly, with each one being relatively short (15–30 minutes) and with a distinct 'begin' and 'end' point where you jump back to the mission selection menu rather than having the ongoing experience you get in the main home console series. I'm not entirely keen on this as it kills immersion, but it's completely understandable considering the game's primary platform. 
 
Oh, and the cutscenes. These are all handled as comic book-style animations, which aren't great but once you get over the initial shock of them they become quite entrancing just like their in-engine brethren. Despite what I just said about the game having bite-size missions, the cutscenes are still god damned long and are filled with the nuclear deterrence theory and long monologues we all know and love in an MGS game.
 
My overall conclusion is that this is probably a missable experience, but you'll be much better off having played it before MGS5. To put it into context, playing MGS5 without having played Peace Walker will mean that you miss out on as much of the Big Boss narrative as if you were to have not played MGS3, such is the extent to which is bridges the gap between the two in terms of character development, story, and also the tech found in the world — not to mention the fact that many of the characters in MGS5 are straight from Peace Walker. My recommendation would be that if you can't be bothered with the gameplay, find a video that compiles all of the cutscenes into a single video or something.
 
To finish, two quick videos of the game that I captured:

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The codec is a bit of a disappointment, largely being devoid of the immersive conversations about plants and military equipment that made the previous games and their characters have such depth. However, the codec now working in-game is a splendid way of killing time while you observe enemy routes and such, or just chill out in the jungle atmosphere. If MGS5 can get more conversation happening and allow you to target who you speak to, it'll be really good

No, that's all still there! There's a codec in game for quick talks either having to do with the mission or goofy things like observing your clothes. The equivalent of the codec is MUCH better in Peacewalker because you no longer just hit the button a bunch of times hopefully exhausting all of the conversation because it's randomized, instead now you go to "Mission Briefing" when selecting a menu and you can go through tapes of conversation and it marks what you have listened to already. It's so good. In fact you have to talk to someone fully to unlock the Monster Hunter missions.

 

However I'm fucking annoyed at Peacewalker at the moment because I'm trying to capture harder vehicles with my friends and get the S Rank but our weapons aren't good enough or the enemies are just insanely powerful.

So even though you say it's not difficult, if you get further in the main game and keep completing Extra Ops, you'll see how difficult it really is. It's all sort of balanced by playing with a friend as well, bosses especially, so you might want to find a buddy. If you are on PS3 if you open a room to global, there's surprisingly still a lot of players for a game that was rereleased in 2011. Usually the people you will play with will be Japanese and know what they are doing.

 

I can't believe you don't like the cutscenes, I prefer them to the ultra real style the series has gone. It's an extension of Portable Ops' cutscenes, which is also an extension of the motion comics made of the beautiful official comic. Story is great too and essential for the series. I would say Portable Ops is an essential precursor as well, but you could just not play that game and watch the cutscenes online since it's a terrible game.

I don't think Peacewalker is missable, it's a much more involved gameplay experience than MGS4 will ever be, which I was running through (like just running through the dumb "levels") in less than 3 hours over and over to get the stupid trophies. You start to unlock a lot of new novel weapons, it's chock full of dumb stuff and easter eggs which the more serious direction the series has taken have excluded, and it's very streamlined to a nice arcade experience, much like the VR Missions but way more involved. Also interrupting the missions in between is not only a part of the game being a very pick up and play handheld (much unlike the terrible Portable Ops) but it gives you a chance to organize your base and check on the newest codec conversations. Plus you can dispatch to Outer Ops in between.

 

Also Thrik, if you are on PS3 I'll play with you sometimes if I am available. I need to farm camaradarie and it takes FOREVER. I'm also not even close to done on extra ops and could use more AI parts and vehicles.

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Ah, shit. I'd better look more closely at that, then. 

 

I hope that it doesn't become too grindy. There's been the odd time where I haven't had an item I need, so I've had to kill some time doing side-missions until it's stocked. I don't particularly enjoy that, as I'm pretty much just blowing through the main missions. It's very fun, but it's not quite there to the point where I want to spend as much time with it as I do the home console MGS games (playing on maximum difficulty with masochistic gameplay rules, exploring absolutely everything, etc).

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It is seriously grindy, that is a big problem, especially if you are trying to S-Rank everything like me. But the main storylines aren't too involved and you don't really need a large variety of weapons if you are playing stealthly. Just make sure you get the stun grenade from Mission 3 (It's in the fort, totally missed it), and use smoke grenades and your Mk. 22 as usual.

 

Really you only have to worry about ranking up rocket launchers for all the robots, but I didn't seem to have a hard time getting a bunch of those on the main mission. When you get chaff late in the game, use it too.

 

There is another ending after the main ending that I haven't done yet, I don't know how essential it is to the story, but it requires getting a certain amount of Metal Gear Zeke parts, which I have only had to replay one mission for for the basic build (the rest is for finishing Outer Ops with, which isn't important to the main story at all). There's also six random missions that happen by just playing Extra Ops a lot. I sort of know what happens just because of a spoiler I accidentally read a few years ago, but I don't know how it plays out or how it leads into Metal Gear Solid 5, besides that Chico, Paz, and Millar are all back at least. I wonder if Amanda returns?

 

Also Oops I reedited my message to say a ton of shit after you replied. Crap.

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