Metal Gear series

[Henry Spencer]

There was a leak in one of the magazines on who's grave it actually is, but I won't spoil it for you guys.

[Axm]

Ya please dont it'll be interesting to find out later in the game :p

[OL]

I just finished playing through the whole trilogy again in the span of about a week, and it's made me change my mind about some things.
MGS2 is now undoubtedly my favorite in the series. I hadn't played it in a very long time, so for a while I was saying that my favorite was MGS3, mostly based on how strong #3's ending was. And even though this is the main thing people seemed to hate about MGS2, I'd say the best thing about the game is how fucking complicated and crazy the story is (especially near the end). Playing through it and treating it as a companion to the stories in the first and third games, it comes off as utterly fucking brilliant. Granted, it gets a little too melodramatic sometimes (the Hal/Emma stuff is boring crap, and Rose is way too whiney) but the actual arcing plot that drives the game is amazing. And the "mindfuck" parts in Arsenal Gear? Fucking great. I've never played anything that messes with your mind that much before. I remember the first time I played the game, when the Colonel calls and tells Raiden to "Turn off the game system, right now", I nearly actually did it. It seems like something small and insignificant when I just say it like that, but admittedly not many games (if any others at all) have ever blurred the line between the game world and reality for me in that way. Plus, the Big Shell and the Tanker are my favorite environments from any of the MGS games, and it has the best soundtrack out of all of them.
Bottom line, MGS2 really deserves a lot more respect than it gets. It seems to me that much more work was put into MGS2 than went into any of the other games, but no one gives it credit for that. Kojima and company must have felt like shit after putting so much care into a game, then having fans rag on it almost solely because you don't play as Snake for the entire game. Boo-fucking-hoo, you whiney cunts. MGS2 was a great game.

[oliv3r]

^ OL, I fully agree with you. MGS2 has always been my favourite in the series. I was disappointed with MGS3, only because the story was almost mundane in comparison to that of MGS2. I hope MGS4 goes back to MGS2's level of storytelling.

[Henry Spencer]

Totally agree with, Orange. Having played the series again, including all the spin off titles, I can say that the game is well above and beyond anything else I've ever played. My favourite is still the first game in the series, but I do like MGS2 more than MGS3. All three games are fantastic in their own way. A lot of previews of MGS4 have said that there are even more cutscenes than some of them can stand, complaining it's "mundane", "too complex" etc, one of them stated that the game is closer to MGS2 than it is any of the other titles, which is good news for me. Supposedly there's just as many codec scenes in MGS4 one as there are in MGS2 as well, it sounds like half of the game is taken up with cinematics, which has me freaking excited, since the story is the main reason why I love these games; the gameplay is always a great bonus for me (with the series having the best boss battles in 3D gaming).

I especially love how in MGS2, we learn more and more about the protagonist as the game goes along, respecting him far more towards the end than we did at the start, there was so much turmoil going on inside Raiden. After playing MGS2 again, I like Raiden, he's a great character, and was far better received over in Japan than he was over here, since we got the wrong voice actor playing the role. Ever heard the Japanese voice over of Raiden? Far different. I still can't get over how whiny people are over a damn character. Grow up. Snake's still in the game, helping you out isn't that what really matters? Plus we get a good portion of the game playing as him, it's not like we don't play as him at all. I also, with the exception of Fortune, who sucks, don't understand everybody's beef with Dead Cell. Fatman and Vamp are great characters. Oh, and I like MGS2's ending the most, since it left me totally mindfucked, which made me play through the game all over again.

Each game has its own identity, and not a single one of the games in the series is a disappointment, which is why it's always been my favourite gaming series.

[OL]

Good to see that someone agrees with me. I almost thought I'd get a bunch of "Ur stoopid, Raiden gay!!!" kind of responses.
But yeah, as oliv3r said, MGS3's story, while still excellent and better than most games', feels mundane next to MGS2. And MGS1 is still great, but for me, looking at the series as a whole, MGS1 feels more like a very in-depth interactive prequel to MGS2. Of all the games released in the series thus far, MGS2 feels like the real meat and potatoes of the overall story.
And Dead Cell was fucking rad. Besides Fortune.

Hey, anyone noticed how Kojima apparently changed his mind about Olga's kid? In MGS2, Snake says "We'll find him", which means it was supposed to be a boy. But in the MGS4 trailers, Olga's kid is a girl instead. Kind of disappointing to me, at least after seeing the trailers. Little girls in Japanese entertainment usually end up kind of annoying after they're translated and localized. And the "Snake, this is a non-smoking flight!" line really didn't help. I already want to slap her. I really would have preferred a boy.

Having played through MGS2 again after such a long time, though, it really makes me curious about a great deal more things than I was thinking about before. Mostly matters dealing with what occurred inbetween MGS2 and MGS4. I'm looking forward to the actual story arc in MGS4, sure, but explanations about what happened to everyone post-Big Shell are really sticking in my mind now.
Vamp, in particular. I'm now convinced that he was working for the Patriots as well, mostly because in the cutscene prior to his bossfight, he talks about a bomb on Arsenal and mentions that "Solidus still doesn't know of its existance", or something to that degree. If he was supposed to be working for Solidus, why does Vamp know about the bomb?
I once read an article explaining why Vamp must be working for the Patriots, and most of it was pretty convincing. I just never bought into it because I figured Vamp was kind of a one-off character (nothing against him, I just didn't imagine he'd stick around for another game). But since he is confirmed for MGS4, I'm now convinced.

[Mythical Being]

I too can vouch for MGS2's greatness. Although MGS1 still stands as my favourite for its overall feeling and emotion, I thought Raiden was a good character and loved the craziness MGS2 brought to the series. As far as I'm concerned this new one will be a fans wetdream. Its great that Kojima does not seem to be doing much for the new generation. The very fact that this game puts people off by its cutscenes and stuff makes me more and more excited. I want this to cater for the hardcore fans only, the more the noobs hate it the more I know I'll love it.

[OL]

That's a good way of putting it.

I wonder what Kojima will do after MGS4? A new ZOE would be sweet.

[Henry Spencer]

Project Snatcher. Finally.

Hopefully ZOE3 will come up soon. ZOE2 was awesome.

He also supposedly was writing a new game's scenario out (according to IGN), not so long ago. Personally, I'd like him to do a survival horror game, since all of his games are just dripping with atmosphere. I think he could do an incredible game with that genre, plus it's to me anyway, the one genre in gaming that can concentrate on the story the most (bar the adventure genre, of course).

He said a while back he'd like to do a survival horror game, and an action title.

[Kenny]

I only play MGS2 for the actual play and the vr missions, since I have the substance version.

I'm not one of those people who cried when you only played as Snake in the beginning. To be honest, i'm glad they replaced him for Raiden. I was getting bored playing Snake for some reason. Raiden, in all his pussy whipped glory, was more interesting and a breath of fresh air. Too bad the story wasn't in the former category, I still can't enjoy it. The original is like watching a good blockbuster that demands repeated viewings. The second is like watching a highly pretentious artfilm that doesn't seem to have much of a point but to show off how "smart" it can be. Besides Raiden, the only thing that was great was the introduction of the Patriots. That was interesting. Everything else was not, it was either boring or ridiculous. A textbook example of how to say "when" for plot twists.

I guess if you like super crazy stories that want to identify themselves as unique and different, have at it. I like stories with a pretty coherent beginning, middle, and end. The kind that has the characters define the story, not the plot twists. That's what the original was. The only purpose "2" serves is to give some background to, what appears to be, a superior sequel.

[Henry Spencer]

First review by UK Official PlayStation Mag:

http://forums.n4g.com/m_127991/mpage_1/ ... htm#127991

It got a perfect ten. Terribly biased review though. Ugh.

[Jed]

I thought mgs2 was great. Snake was ten times better than raiden but i still thought raiden was pretty cool character. The story was very good but i found it realy confusing. i still dont understand what it was about, the patriots wanted to make raiden the perfect soldier by simulating shadow mosses or was it solidus that wanted to do that? but then ocelot betrayed them all because he wanted all the metal gear or something? and then they found out the whole time that cornell i cant remember it clearly. The only problem i had is that they added too much un needed dialogue. i like to listen to all the dialogue when i talk to the characters but when rose is so damn annoying she never shuts the hell up. It just feels so stupid and out of place that she suddenly talks to him about their relationship in the middle of a warzone. that wasnt needed and should have been left out.

[Clint]

MGS3 > MGS1 > MGS2

I will agree that Kojima is a genius, but I really got frustrated with the ending to number 2. Infact it just pisses me off. Now I do need to play the game again (no longer have a PS2) but the execition of that particular ending, Solidus Snake and Vamp, really ruins it for me.

I'm not exactly a fan of bosses with bee-hives on their back's, but MGS2 was full of good ideas that were poorly executed. Now i've not played the game for about 3 years but compared to MGS1 and 3, it's just not on par.

I expect a head-fuck in MGS4, but hopefully Kojima will learn from his past mistakes (well actually, he HAS learned. MGS3 was brilliant)

Can't wait for number 4.

And Raiden is actually a good character, it was a nice approach to include him in MGS2. Like I said, the ending is the biggest dissapointment. And Vamp sucks.

[Ro Shen]

Im surprised you guy's aint talking about the Revived Trailer http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33452.html

Any theories ?

[Henry Spencer]

Was posted a while back

See here:
http://shenmue.planets.gamespy.com/foru ... hp?t=36642