Say what you will about Metal Gear and its genius, scattershot creator Hideo Kojima, but nothing else flits so effortlessly between nude cartwheels, prescient yet excruciating 30-minute cutscenes and exhilarating, real-time, blade combat (alongside the most charismatic videogame hero ever) - and that's just in a two-hour stretch of MGS2. Don't even get us started on the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo, or MGS3's one-hour boss battle, or tracking an invisible Tsuchinoko, or the pleasure of Peace Walker's Fulton Recovery System.
For all its madness, eccentricity, overwrought cutscenes and awkward, poorly explained controls, MGS is unarguably the most inventive, philosophical and infuriatingly indulgent game series of all time. It's a stirring antidote to the current raft of gritty, predictable war shooters, and a series that defiantly - clumsily - tries to say something about the nature of society, technology, human existence, genetics and politics. All at once. Hardly an accusation you could level at Modern Warfare 3.
The question is whether an HD collection of ten year-old PS2 games and technically-inhibited PSP spin-offs can cut it on 360. It treads a fine line - potentially too familiar for existing fans, but too arcane to sway newcomers used to a slicker diet of shooters with Jack-and-Jill tutorials and place-bomb-here objectives.
METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY
Snake's PS2 debut, Sons of Liberty, is the collection's oldest game (bar the 2D MSX ports). Unsurprisingly, it's aged the worst thanks to the low resolution of its assets (dictated by PS2's 4Mb texture memory), but there's still much to admire.
The nostalgia is powerful, evoking fond memories of pouring over the nine-minute E3 2000 trailer; marveling at the first-person aiming and thinking how incredible the effects looked. (The rain! The tanker! The mullet!) And then there was the big switch: after shipping a 20-minute demo (bundled with PS2 mech-battler Zone of the Enders) that starred Solid Snake, the final game forced you to play as Raiden, the blond FOXHOUND pretty boy, for the remaining ten hours. It was an audacious move that fooled the entire industry - one that would never survive a modern-day focus group.
MGS2 is a game of iconic moments - using the directional mic to sniff out Ames' pacemaker with Ocelot just metres away; Raiden's battle with an army of 80-foot robots; just about anything involving Dead Cell. Its script is an endearing, absurd mess, its plot a conspiratorial labyrinth. More importantly, it explores lofty concepts about the pervasive control of information (musing on the growth of the net), the impact of identity and, meta-fashion, the nature of postmodern game design.
Now the bad news: the blurry environment and character details are painfully noticeable in cutscenes, and the mechanics that enthralled ten years ago have been numbed by imitation, or evolution, today. That said, it all has little impact unless you're expecting to move while crouching, and in all other ways MGS2's clean, geometric visual style actually sits nicely in HD. Generally, MGS2's legacy - and infectious insanity - is intact.
Comments
36 comments so far...
verynaughtyboy on 30 Jan '12 said:
I knew I was buying this day one when they announced it - despite the fact that I own all the games still.
Do you know what I most look forward to? The Snake Eater theme tune you get after you complete the Virtious mission.
MagicBoughie24 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Only ever played Snake Eater, might give this a go.
wrightandrewjame on 30 Jan '12 said:
Actually I'd argue that Peace Walker's story is just as good, if not better than a few of the other Metal Gear Solid games. It's more comprehensible at least, but does need a good understanding of MGS3 to fully appreciate it.
*Very Mild Spoilers Ahead*
It's odd actually, as the series has progressed I actually prefer Big Boss to Solid Snake. There's something about him and perhaps it's aided by the fact that MGS3 and PW tell his back-story and it's more personal than Snake's. Snake seemed cold and detached from everyone, where as Big Boss actually seemed to care about others and about what he was doing.
wuntuwuntu on 30 Jan '12 said:
"What a thrill...
With darkness and silence through the night
What a thrill..."
Indeed... what A thrilling game.
Its a proper Bond style opening... love it...my favourite game of all time. Irony... I absolutely hated it for 3 months when I first bought it...just couldn't get into it cos of the camera. But, before deciding to take it back I gave it one last shot and got past the virtuous mission and the theme started up and boy o boy the rest of the game was a special piece of gaming history to me. I had dreams about this game. Then they released Subsistence and I got that a few years after and it took on a whole knew life. AND I can't wait to play it again some 5 years later.
metallicorphan on 30 Jan '12 said:
I can't wait for this,annoyed we had to wait 3 months for it though
WHERESMYMONKEY on 30 Jan '12 said:
I don't understand why people love snake eater so much. Did i miss something. Seriously. It just seemed so full of Kojimas meditations on well everything that underneath it all the game was missing. I lasted all of an hour before i turned it off. I don't need to hear about the themes of Godzilla when i just want to save my game. i really don't.
Its a shame MGS1 is missing because for me that still rates as the best entry in the series.
gmcb007 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Can't wait to play this again.
Barry316 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Yes, and you basically answered yourself as to why....
You hadn't even started the game properly, you were still on the Virtuous Mission.
Then do what most did and fast skip those conversations. Problem solved, you're welcome.
rbt2 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Pre-ordered this from shopto last year so should get it either wednesday or thursday. Never played the subsistence version of Snake Eater so looking forward to that (also pre-ordered the 3DS one and starting to think that's been a waste of money now).
I can't help but think that this is incomplete without MGS but I understand why they couldn't include it. Shame though.
ensabahnur on 30 Jan '12 said:
Yeah i can see myself disappearing over this weekend into the magic that is MGS3, phone will be switched off, curtains will be drawn and i'll be p**sing into a plastic bottle. Ok maybe not the last one.
splitter on 30 Jan '12 said:
I'm really only buying this for Peace Walker but I envy people who haven't played MGS2 or 3 and are getting this. They are truly great games. If there is a better game released this year than the MGS HD Collection I will be amazed.
dwhlufc on 30 Jan '12 said:
Think I might purchase mgs off psn aswell and play them in order all over again.
Actually has anyone swapped a ps1 disc over on the ps3,just wondered if it worked as I tried it on my fat 60gb (rip) and the second disc wouldn't load.
slick loose on 30 Jan '12 said:
Yeah it works, I've completed it on the PS3!
DavrosJ on 30 Jan '12 said:
Tonight, we dine on treefrogs!!
dwhlufc on 30 Jan '12 said:
Cheers slick,looks like a trip into the attic is needed by the end of the week then.
slick loose on 30 Jan '12 said:
I'll check to see if I have a save near the disc change tonight and have a look...just to be sure!
toaplan on 30 Jan '12 said:
I think I'm going to get this on the Vita. The low-quality textures will look better on the small screen.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/31 ... -for-vita/
As for the Modern Warfare comparisons, I thought the narrative of the campaign spanning MW 1-3 had grandeur and weight as well.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 30 Jan '12 said:
Can't wait to play Snake Eater again. 5 MGS games on one disc and its cheaper than a new PS3 game. Friday can't come soon enough.
skabone on 30 Jan '12 said:
didn't see it in the review but Peacewalker had multiplayer on psp - do we get this on xbox live?
not that it matters - looking forward to this - really wish MGS1 was in this package as well.
Ductos on 31 Jan '12 said:
Yes, Peace Walker has full Online Co-Op functionality for 2 players (Boss battles can be played with up to 4). This also includes trading staff members with each other and the quick, but overall useless Versus-Ops mode.
I'm buying this collection for three reasons:
1. Never owned MGS2: Substance
2. Really need to get into Snake Eater. Had a hard time enjoying it in the past.
3. Peace Walker is freakin' AWESOME!
illage2 on 1 Feb '12 said:
I thought it wasn't out until the 3rd? WTF?
Mmmmgrolsch on 1 Feb '12 said:
It isn't out till the 3rd.
illage2 on 1 Feb '12 said:
I know, GAME's online store has removed the game from their website though, so I hope it hasn't been delayed again.
illage2 on 1 Feb '12 said:
MGS3 was my favorite, I need to count how many times ocelot gets owned in it
1. When his gun james up and Snake kicks is arse.
2. When his revolver is empty and Eva kicks his arse.
3. When he fails in the trotrue room and gets a slap by the Boss.
4. When Snake escapes, his gun doesn't fire.
THat's what we need to do lol
WHERESMYMONKEY on 1 Feb '12 said:
Thanks for that. If only i had thought of that while playing it...Wait i did and it still p**sed me off. I'm going to pick up this collection for MGS2 and Peace Walker whihc IMO is the best game in the whole series after MGS1.
Mmmmgrolsch on 1 Feb '12 said:
CVG can I ask why have you copied and pasted PSM3's review of this game and passed it off as your own????
You copied word to word, the only thing you've done is changed PS3 to 360
rbt2 on 1 Feb '12 said:
Shopto have sent mine today, grolschy boy so I'll have my copy on Firsdee morn.
Ner ner nah ner naaaaaaah.
slitheen on 3 Feb '12 said:
Have to say, it sticks in my throat every_single_time when these reviews of PS2 era games knock back the controls and compare them to another generation of hardware and half a decade or more of evolution as regards the industry as a whole. As if it makes the slightest bit of difference to the enjoyment for someone wise enough to go into these experiences with the context of the time they were made firmly at the front of their mind. I fired up MGS 1 the other week on PS3, from old PSX discs, and sat and played the game through to completion with 3 or 4 coffee breaks. This is off the back of finishing Uncharted 3. Not once did I feel the controls let the experience down. I tell you when I did feel that though, when I first sparked up MGS4 and realised what a deviation it was for the series and how the controls shared a lot of properties of an FPS game (a genre I despise passionately, I honestly can't hear the name CoD without spitting). Of course now I am used to the MGS4 controls, they're fine, too.
I just really feel these things go without saying. Sixth Axis' review is even worse, yes it pays tribute to the brilliance of these titles but actually starts with:
"Not something I expected as the game booted up for the first time; but it’s there – an uneasy blend of rose-tinted muscle memory and a jarring array of old fashioned, vastly outdated controls."
What are these people smoking?
slick loose on 3 Feb '12 said:
I disagree slitheen, I booted up MGS on the PS3 from a PS1 disc a couple nights ago. I loaded up an old file and ran from the beginning of disc 2, all the way to the first lift at the beginning of the game. I hated how I couldn't see f**k all and I could only look around my surroundings by holding still. Add to the fact the difficulty was on hard, there was also no radar...basically it was almost impossible to see anyone, unless they were super close (which would set of the alarm) or if I stood still and looked around, which left me exposed as I also couldn't even draw my gun!
I loved MGS and it's my favourite series but for some people like myself, it's hard not to notice how much better the gameplay is today in games.
slick loose on 4 Feb '12 said:
Was talking to my little brother last night on fb and he only told me he has bought the MGS Collection for me! CAN NOT f**king WAIT!
Mmmmgrolsch on 4 Feb '12 said:
You wanker
No one ever does things like that for me.
slick loose on 4 Feb '12 said:
I have Heavenly Sword if you want it (after I'm finished with it, obviously)
Mmmmgrolsch on 4 Feb '12 said:
I didn't mean waker in a nasty way btw. And serious? I won't say no
I haven't played Heavenly Sword before so would like to if you really didn't mind?
slick loose on 4 Feb '12 said:
No probs, I send it you when I've finished! Besides you did borrow me Dead Space 2 on the blind faith that I would send it you back! It's the least I can do
flyfletch on 4 Feb '12 said:
Enough to warm me cold heart!!
rmorgan779 on 6 Feb '12 said:
what an amazing experience 2 and especially 3, peace walker i've got to say pulled me out of the shear enjoyment not a good game in my opinion on the whole though a set of games that make me wish games developers would put more effort into their ips and games design