15 replies to this topic

[JackChase007]

All right, my fellow Metal Gear fans - it's been three years since RAY, the Patriots, and that idiotic Raiden rocked our PS2s (goes to show you what a great game it is if we can have a horrible playable character like Raiden and still love the game...), and we are only about a month away from the big release date of the last installment of Hideo Kojima's legendary video game series, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Not sure how many of you are aware, but I read recently that this month's issue of the Official PlayStation magazine (which just came out yesterday) comes fully-loaded with a PLAYABLE DEMO of MGS3. That's right. I picked it up yesterday, and just.........wow. The only slight complaint I have is that the dialogue in the beginning runs on for just a BIT too long, but hey, that's just one of Kojima's quirks. But other than that.......yeah, just..........wow.

First off, the animation is top-notch. Everything moves realistically, from the people to the animals to the jungle itself. The waist-high grass sways with your every movement, and it's just beautiful. The sound effects are fantastic. And the game seems to also benefit from another tightly-knit controller scheme - it's very similar to that of MGS2, with a few slight adjustments.

And now, for the new features, which promise to make this game quite a challenge. Firstly, you have a "Health" bar, like in the other games, but the thing is: there are NO rations. Once you lose some health, you just recuperate and heal. However, you have a second bar underneath the "Health"; this is your "Stamina" meter. As you go along, your Stamina slowly decreases, eventually messing up your aim, decreasing your healing rate, and making your attacks weak, etc. And how do you fix that, you may ask. Well, it's simple - go hunting. There are nearly a dozen varieties of animals in the jungle just waiting for to trap or kill, and carry around as food. Then, the camoflague. Oh man, this is where the game gets fun. Now, since you are no longer in giant buildings with plenty of shadowed corners, hiding is a whole different thing in the jungle. You get several different patterened camoflague suits, as well as a meter on the top right of the screen, your "Camoflague Index". The Index tells you how blended-in to your environment you are, and using specific suits in specific areas will increase your chance of remaining invisible to the naked eye. Which means that you can choose the "Tree Bark" uniform, press up against a tree, and watch as a guard walks by you, and even looks right in your direction, but doesn't see you. And even the weapons give you a challenge; your pistols have suppresors, but unlike the previous games, they wear out with every shot, making you choose your shot wisely.

And one thing that I didn't get to toy around with yet was the new CQC (close quarters combat) system, which allows you to go up to an enemy, equipped with a gun, and/or knife, or even nothing at all, grab him from behind and choose from a bunch of possibilities, such as throw him down to the ground, hold a gun up to him, and make him give you ammo. Or hold him by the throat, hold a gun to his head, and interrogate him.

(Siiiiigh)...only one more month to go. But I think that it's safe to say that this demo will allow me to explore all the different possibilities this game has to offer...

For any MGS fans out there, I recommend you go out and get the demo now!

[SnakeEyes]

I have been trying to find this demo in the UK...I must have more snake!

[Icephoenix]

I've been hovering about news of this game for a while now, and I must say I'm liking what I'm hearing. While I thought MGS: 2 was one of the biggest wastes of my time, it's the oringal MGS that holds a place in my gaming heart Snake Eater has borrowed alot of cool element from games such as Splinter Cell, but I think it brings alot of new idea to the table as well.

[The_Mole]

Must play that demo!

I've waited for this moment for so many years!

UK DEMO! UK DEMO! UK DEMO!

Apparently all you've gotta do is pop in the disc...

I've heard Spain is pretty hot this time of year....

La-li-lu-le-lo!

[The_Mole]

I hear it's amazing when the purple stuffed worm in flapjaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on hari-kari rock! I need scissors! 61!

This message has been edited by The Patriots on Tuesday 12th October at 15:16pm.

[SnakeEyes]

The_Mole, what were you thinking? You forgot yourself! (But I can sympathise!)

[TonicBH]

I played MGS2. I liked the "realism" factor. I liked how it had real guns. I liked the music (At least, most of the stuff that Norihiko Hibino did, not Harry Gregson-Williams' "Media Ventures sound" in his portions.)

There were two things that I didn't like: Raiden (who seemed like Johnny Depp, only more wussy) and the tail end of Raiden's story. It went from "Okay, simply kill a person, get out, easy as that" to "What the HELL am I doing here?". That's what kinda turned me off from the series were their confusing storylines.

It's made me afraid to even get its predecessor or the upcoming sequel. I fear that if I were to get those, I'd get just as confused as the game I played previously.

I play games to be Amused, not CONfused.

[The_Mole]

yOU wOUldn't bE tryIng tO gIvE yOUrsElf sOmE kind of BogUs ScorE wOUlD You?

Infiltrate Outer Heaven!

I was 6 when I held my first AK...

[JackChase007]

Tonic:

I wouldn't really worry about being more confused with playing the first Metar Gear Solid - the storyline is complex, but not as ridiculous as that of Sons Of Liberty. The first one is my favorite game, and I highly recommend it. No whiny Raiden, no irritating Rose, no Emma Emmerich. The Patriots were first introduced in Sons Of Liberty, so none of that figures into the first MGS's storyline.

[SnakeEyes]

I think Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is the best. MGS practically rips the story and characters from that verbatim!

One of these days, i'll do a remake.

[JackChase007]

I think Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is the best. MGS practically rips the story and characters from that verbatim!

One of these days, i'll do a remake.

You know, it's puzzled me that Konami hasn't tried to remake the first two Metal Gear games for the current systems in order to cash in on the MGS popularity. It'd be a great way to introduce today's gamers to the first few games.

[SnakeEyes]

They (the gamers) would complain about the difficulty.

You basically can't afford to be seen at all in these early games (basically, you have to play the game 'big boss' skill style just to complete it), then you would get all the complaints about not being able to crawl in metalgear

[Icephoenix]

Well, I think with a remake they would modernize and enhance the game, not just re-do the graphics.

[JackChase007]

Well, I think with a remake they would modernize and enhance the game, not just re-do the graphics.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I would assume - make it basically look like the other games; really bring 'em to today's...."standards", I guess you could call 'em. It would take work, yes, but think about the countless MGS fans, dying to play the original games...myself included! A properly-functioning Nintendo ain't an easy thing to come by these days!

[SnakeEyes]

Oh I know what you meant really; it's just the purist in me would view such a thing as a travesty.

A nice 100% English port to a modern 2D system would do fine though.

Like the GBC or something (Ghost Babel was ok).

Still, with my MSX emulator at hand and the lovingly translated-to-English MG2:SS rom I can have hours of fun battling 'one eyed uncle'.

None of that filthy NES travesty for me.

[Jack Bauer]

I will definitely pick it up. MGS2 is one of my favorite games. I remember playing the demo for it endlessly. I can't wait.

Big couple of weeks, with the new GTA and MGS.