Looking at: Metal Gear Solid

Legacy

Snake, in his natural environment

Metal Gear Solid Five: The Phantom Pain comes out tomorrow. I can't afford it right now, as it's eighty fucking dollars here in Canada, which is to bad considering that it might be one of the greatest games ever made. So while I put together the money to buy it/ wait for someone to have it on sale (looking at you GreenMan Gaming) I decided to get better acquainted with the rest of the series, having only played the third game to completion and a few hours of other entries.

To whit, I purchased the MGS Legacy collection for the PS3, the entire series consisting of all five original MGS games (1,2,3,4 and an HD re-release of the PSP's Peace Walker). That's certainly a lot of gameplay, and I decided to write my thoughts on the games as I complete them. That said, here's my thoughts on the 1998 game that started it all, Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid.

Northern Exposure

series favourite, Revolver Ocelot, making his first appearance. 

The set up to MGS is that you are the legendary mercenary Solid Snake. You've been hired by the pentagon to stop a terrorist incursion of highly trained Genome Soldiers that have taken over a nuclear disposal site in northern Alaska. You infiltrate the facility, remain as undetected as possible, and shut down the operation by any means necessary, killing anyone that stands in your way.

That's actually pretty much the whole plot throughout the game. Rest assured, there are twists a-plenty, it wouldn't be an MGS game if it made any damn sense, but the basic goal remains the same throughout. Take out any obstacles, deactivate the terrorists' super weapon, and escape.

It's all the details that quickly get muddled, and while this wasn't his first game, this is certainly the most high profile game Kojima had at the time, so for a lot of people this would be their first exposure to him. It can be... jarring. The game is, to say the least, cinematic, insofar as it feels like you're watching a series of movies inter-spliced with bursts of gameplay. You'll need patience to enjoy MGS, and not just for the stealth gameplay.

I'll say this, at least it has memorable characters. I can likely recall every major character in the game and give a decent account of what that character was or did, because they were so completely fleshed out. The bosses in particular, were almost insanely detailed, each of them having complete back-stories and motivations for why they did what they did, and even why they fought Snake.

That insane level of character certainly plays on both sides, and Snake and his compatriots are just as well conceived, to the degree that there's entire story arc that take place just over your radio. This would become another staple of the series in time, and it's not uncommon to brake for a ten minute conversation in the middle of an action scene.

There's certainly no shortage of plot and character in MGS, but it's just bizarre how the game approaches it's subject matter, like there's a hardcore military historian, a genetic biologist, and a stand-up comedian all screaming at the same time. It spouts rhetoric about the advances of science, the effects of combat, the mentality of soldiers, and the moral ambiguity of combat and genetic science in the same breath that it tells a lame joke, or has a naked character run around for laughs. It's like the game knows it's supposed to be an adult game, but refuses to grow up completely.

Stealth Action

Enough about the story, how does the actual game play, and more importantly, does it hold up? The answer is... sort of, but not really.

On the one hand, the stealth works great, even despite the game's age and limited resources for the time. Not even the fixed camera is an issue due to two factors:
1) the game wisely chooses to go with an overhead or very high isometric view for most of the game, something I wish it's predecessor would have kept.
2) In the top right corner is a radar screen.

It's this latter item that saves the game in many ways, and I found myself actually just playing based on that small screen more then what Snake was actually doing. The radar, when it's active, displays enemy patrols, cones of vision, and camera placement as well. In order to remain undetected, all you need to do is avoid the eye-lines of enemies and you're golden. That said, the radar can be shut off, either by the room, by being detected, or through jamming technology.

That's the good, the bad is the rest. MGS was before the series introduced the idea of non-lethal play-through's. Killing is the norm, and while it's more than possible to take out one soldier, fighting more than one is nearly impossible. This is because MGS was also before the introduction of first person aiming, meaning to aim Snake you had to spin him around and hope the auto-aim took over properly. Again, one, maybe two enemies this sort of works, but any more and it just falls apart, especially if the enemies are on opposite sides of you. There's one moment in particular, where you have to climb a fucking long tower, all the while being bombarded by enemies. It serves as one of the most aggravating gaming experiences I've had recently.

one of the many, many, many radio conversations throughout the game.

That's actually something that happened a lot, total aggravation. Boss fights often annoyed the hell out of me, rather then challenged me, and several sections were insanely tedious. The last action you do before the end of the game requires you back-tracking through a facility twice in order to (seriously) change the temperature of one of your items. That sort of boring, game-padding back-tracking happens more than once and it grew on my nerves.

The other major issue I had with the game were the controls. Maybe this wasn't an issue on the original PS1, but on the PS3 I found it tantamount to menacing. First, the game doesn't use either of the joy-sticks, not even the left one for movement. I had to control the entire game on the D-pad, and damn near wore that poor thing out. Next, Snake can really only look/move in the four directions, thanks to the aforementioned D-pad controls. This means aiming him, already an annoying prospect due to the lack of proper aiming, becomes damn near impossible. There's a section near the end of the game where you're in control of a mounted machine gun that might be one of the worst vehicle sections I've ever played, and trying to line up a shot properly was almost impossible.

There's other aggravation as well, the lack of crouch movement, something that wouldn't be addressed in the series until MGS 4, ten years later) Trying to aim the few first-person weapons with the D-pad was impossible, making a sniper fight much harder then it should have been, the constant interruptions with cut-scenes, and the over-reliance on radio calls for exposition. All told, MGS hasn't exactly aged that well. I've heard the Gamecube re-release Twin Snakes is better, but I'm unable to play that version.

Cubic Snake

a rare moment of actual gameplay.

I won't harsh to much on the production side of the game, as it is nearly twenty years old now. For it's time, MGS was likely pushing the PS1 to it's absolute limits. The amount of detail pumped into every polygon is spectacular, and it's got an almost retro charm to it. Effects look decent and character models, while low-fi, do look decent. There's no mouth movement on any character faces, but their body language is impressively expressive.

The idea to keep the game localized to a single location was a smart one, and each room of the facility feels incredibly detailed and lived in. Everything from the offices to the prison or a refinery feels completely thought out and believable. There's a logic to how the facility is laid out and everything makes a lot of sense.

MGS's Sound might be the best age'd thing about it, since the voice work is the series' standard over the top and expressive. The characters come to life more then any other PS1 game I've ever played (in fairness, I've only played like, five PS1 games) and it really does feel like a super extended spy thriller movie. David Hayter is doing a damn serviceable job as a young Solid Snake, but there's others that would become series regulars like the illustrious Jennifer Hale, Debbie Mae West, Cam Clarke, and Paul Eiding. All of them doing a great job, even when the script they're reading veers off into the completely insane.

Sound effects and music all work too. Obviously, it's not nearly as good as later entries, but I didn't encounter and major problems throughout the game. Music set the mood well, from the fight with Psycho Mantis, to the unavailing of the Metal Gear itself. All of it worked well and never detracted from the experience.

Soldier's Honour

Snake's relationship with women is...complicated.

If not for it's insane script, unique and memorable characters and completely outlandish plot, it's likely MGS would have fallen into complete obscurity. The gameplay aged like milk and trying to play it much later became a test of patience to me. I don't completely know if I liked it, although it's fair to say I enjoyed it more then my brief experience with it's predecessor, and my next game, MGS2.

The first game created a legacy, and has been called a masterpiece. I don't know if I agree with that, but as far as PS1 games go it's certainly an experience unlike any other.

Next for me: pretty-boys, ninjas, fat men, and one of the best bait-and-switches ever pulled.

All screenshots taken from the Long-play video at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpG9XIfFkE0

Looking at: Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/162075-mercenaries-playground-of-destruction-xbox-screenshot-the.jpg

그 괴팍스러운 미치광이
geu goepagseuleoun michigwang-i

http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/xbox/mercenaries/screens/mercenaries_1.jpg

Air strikes are effective, and fun as hell.

North Korea is the whacky next door neighbor of world politics. They're always getting up to something crazy, be it threatening the world largest military power, claiming they have missiles, or getting really upset about a second-rate Seth Rogan comedy. The entire county is one non-stop comedy of errors and if it weren't for the atrocities committed to their citizens they'd be an absolute laughing stock and an international joke.

Who am kidding, they are anyway.

Despite this, DPRK has rarely been represented in the world of video games. Perhaps it's because one game featured them, and did such a great job that no one else wanted to even try.

파괴의 놀이터
pagoe ui nol-iteo

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/media/xbox/mercenaries/mercenaries1.jpg

The AI will dynamically fight battles against one another, letting you join or ignore them at your discretion.

Like the title of the game suggests, you play as one of three mercenaries from Executive Operations hired to enter North Korea in the midst of a second all out Korean war. Your task is to take out General Song, the newest dictator, as well as the Deck of 52, comprising of Song's 51 lieutenants. That's really it, the plot never goes anywhere else and there's never any twists, which kind of works to the game's favor. It reinforces the idea that you are a mercenary who's only in it for the money. You don't have a personal vendetta against Song, hell you don't even know him personally until the final mission. He and his men are just objectives for you to complete, and nothing else.

That's not to say Mercenaries is devoid of story. In order to progress through each of the four chapters of the game you'll need to interact with the various factions at play in North Korea. The UN and China are the two biggest players, with the UN looking to stabilize the region and China looking to add NK as the newest Chinese province. South Korea is in play, backed by the CIA who almost certainly has ulterior motives. Finally, the Russian mob is hanging around making trouble and selling equipment to the highest bidder. All of these, plus the DPRK forces will stand in your way, and often working for one faction will displease the others.

재미와 이익을 위해 촬영

jaemiwa iig-eul wihae chwal-yeong

http://images.gameskinny.com/gameskinny/5c270d150d94e305d0d19b627477fe97.jpg

Mattias Nilsson, one of the playable character, voiced by the awesom Peter Stormare

You don't name your game "Playground of Destruction" without offering something to blow up, and sure enough there's destruction in spades to be found in Mercenaries. Every building can be leveled, ever city block reduced to ash. Battles have a huge, bombastic feel as bullets whiz past and bombs create craters in the ground. Best of all fights are largely organic, and just traveling from one location to another can spill into a huge running battle that will keep you busy.

To facilitate this endless destruction is an alarming array of weapons and vehicles. Each faction has multiple vehicles to choose from, ranging from simple jeeps and humvees, all the way to heavy tanks and armoured personnel carriers. There's also helicopters to allow you to easily traverse the bumpy terrain of NK and clear enemy positions with ease.

Also supplementing your equipment is the various support options available from the various factions. The UN or China can provide you with access to their artillery systems, allowing you to completely decimate an area with the light of a flare, while SK and the Russians provide you numerous different equipment drops for a re-arm in the field. It's unfortunate that the system for requesting these ordinance is so clunky and unintuitive, because you'll find yourself using them a lot.

Graphically Mercenaries is just another victim of that mid-2000's attempt at 3d. Like most PS2 or Xbox games it doesn't look horrible, and there are enough details to make looking at it bearable, but there's no denying that it can't even compete with games like Doom 3 or MGS 3 from the same era. Where Mercenaries does stand out is it's use of explosions and destructible terrain, both of which are masterclass and unmatched even today. Destructible terrain on that scale became what Pandemic Studios was best known for until their closure in 2009.

큰 바보 재미
keun babo jaemi

http://www.game2k.cz/data/images/games/m/mercenaries_playground_of_destruction_ps2_6.jpg

You'll sow a path of destruction in your quest for Song.

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction isn't a life changing or genre defining game. By all account's it's a second-rate third person shooter that barely stands up to it's own contemporaries. At best it's a bizarre North Korean knock-off of the GTA franchise, albeit with slightly more explosions and slightly less swear words. Despite all of this, Mercenaries does remain as one of my more favoured games of it's type and one of the better games from the sixth gen.

There was a sequel a few years later for the next generation of consoles, but it didn't have nearly the same feel to it, and likely aided in the eventual demise of one of the better EA developers. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is a simple game, with a simple premise, and a shitload of explosions, and that's just fine with me.

Looking at: Doom 3

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/1/13692/927361-doom_3.jpg

Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Witness the wonders of science, until it tries to kill you.

I've mentioned how much I love the Doom games. To me they're the epitome of perfect shooters and, albeit with some modification, still a lot of fun today. But the Doom games didn't stop at two. Back before it was popular, and way before publishers fucked up naming conventions ID software decided to reboot Doom and give the original Xbox one hell of a send-off. This was, in a lot of ways, what the original Doom games were meant to be, even if we didn't realize it at the time.


Welcome to Mars City

The classic Imp, in it's natural environment.

Like the original games, Doom 3 takes place in and around Mars City, a research station located on, where else, Mars. Unlike the originals, and much to some people's dismay, Doom 3 actually has a plot to give your actions context.

You are a new marine arriving on Mars to replace part of the existing guard detail. After a short introduction you're given your PDA, a flashlight, and a mission to find a missing scientist. You find the good doctor as he's trying to send out a message, only to accidentally avoid the opening of a portal to hell. For some reason you're not immediately zombified so you, being of sound ass-kicking mind, decide to kill some demon spawn and get off station.

As you progress the story never really changes, it mostly just a barely connected string of events to lead you through Mars. You'll need to re-link radio relays, check in with the few survivors, and find security badges and audio logs, all while killing a shitload of demons. The story never goes anywhere, and there's no real twist. You know the bad guy is evil literally the first second you see him, and none of the characters ever change.

That's fine though, because if you're playing a Doom game for the plot you're doing it wrong. We're here for the sweet satisfaction of blowing apart hellspawn and, sure enough, that's here in spades.

Bloody Brilliant

Your flashlight is great for illuminating your impending demise.

Being a 2005 shooter and not a 1998 shooter, Doom 3 was rather evolved from it's predecessors. Most notably was the full 3d aiming, something the previous games sorely lacked. Not that it matters much, since most of the time you'll be spitting out lead like it was going out of business, but it is an overall smoother experience the the originals. Also, there's jumping and crouching, which are also a series first.

All of this just facilitates the shooting, which is great. Each of the guns has a distinctive and weighty feel to them that gels well with the overall experience. Particularly the shotgun, which sounds as nasty as a shotgun should, and solidifies why ID are the kings of great gaming shotguns. Not to say the other weapons don't feel great, like the vicious chainsaw, the rapid-fire machine gun, the ominous minigun, or the hilariously overpowered BFG. Best of all you can carry all of these at the same time and switch out at your leisure, something most modern FPS games have annoyingly done away with.

Of course, what good are guns if there's nothing to shoot them at. The entire roster of classic doom enemies are here, from the lowly zombie and zombified soldier, to the terrifying Cacodemon or the rocket slinging Revenant, or the towering Hell Baron. All of them rendered in horrifyingly glorious 3D and with full lighting.

All of this is thanks to the Id Tech 4 engine which, at the time, was revolutionary. It's still not a bad looking engine, especially when properly applied, and it does a great job of creating the atmosphere in Doom 3. Even better, on the PC version there's the Sikkmod, as shown in all of the screenshots here, that make Doom 3 look great.

Doomed from the Start

Try not to loose your head in the madness of Mars City.

I love Doom 3, and I loved it when it came out in '05. Strangely though, there are people that call it the worst Doom game of the bunch, save bizarre Doom .Wads. I think these people are wrong, and also kind of missing the point of Doom 3.

See, Doom 3 leans more towards horror then it's predecessors. Like I said, the game is shrouded in shadow, and you'll need to rely on your flashlight to get through. There's also jump-scares a-plenty and hidden ambushes throughout. All of this seems in contrast to the original Dooms, which had you whizzing around at the speed of light killing hordes of monsters with reckless abandon.

Except that, in their own way, the original Dooms were also horror titles. There's no denying the scary visage put on by the demons, and the feeling of dread that the sight of a zombie, let alone a Spider demon or Cyber Demon can conjure up. And the original Doom's had jump scares to, or the closest approximation to jump-scares that Doom could render. Go back and play Doom 1&2 and try counting how many times the game spawns enemies behind you after you flip a switch, you'll probably loose track.

Doom 3 isn't as good as the original Dooms, and that's fine because on it's own it's an incredibly enjoyable game. The shooting is tight, the graphics were top notch, and it's all very fun to play. It had an expansion pack that added co-op and brought back the double-shotgun, as well as a less then stellar remake a little while ago. There was also the movie, but we don't talk about that.

Doom 3 is a great game, fun to play and challenging in a way that's not found in many shooters now a days. It's a throwback to a bygone era, and forges it's own path while doing so. A remake and a sequel, and an all around fun time.

Looking at: Goldeneye and Perfect Dark

A Rare Treat

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/1013/181554-rare_logo.jpg

Microsoft have recently teased that Rare Studios could be making a comeback in the new year. This is probably a good move for Microsoft, since the X1 has been selling like shit and they could use a win. What better way to do that then reviving a much beloved developer from our youth and having them take another crack at some of their old IP's? I'm skeptical, since reboots are always a gamble, but if the new Rare can muster some of the old Rare's magic, they might just have a chance.

Today I decided I was going to look back at my two favorite Rare games from their golden age, their N64 shooters. Rare created most of the best games on the N64, including the Banjo-Kazooie games (which I've unfortunately never played) Jet Force Gemini, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and of course Donkey Kong 64, but I've always loved their shooters the most.

Goldeneye 007

http://gamasutra.com/db_area/images/blog/176550/goldeneye_007_n64_box_cover_art.jpg

Ignore Bond's elongated mouth.

Being born in the 90's meant that I grew up with Pierce Brosnan as my James Bond. Although his four movies are usually reviled as some of the worst, I still like them and how Brosnan portrayed Bond. He had this regal air of absolute cool, and never once wavered in the face of duty. Out of the four Brosnan movies, Goldeneye is probably best remembered, and that's not always because of the movie itself.

Goldeneye is the embodiment of what game development in the 90's was all about. reportedly, eight of the ten developers hadn't even worked on games before, and Rare's only previous experience was developing 2D side-scrollers for the SNES. Nintendo had landed the contract to make the tie-in game for Goldeneye and somehow the job went to Rare. Most of the game was just throwing things together to see if they worked, and when broken down it becomes apparent just how cobbled together the game really is.

http://199.101.98.242/media/shots/39545-007_-_GoldenEye_(USA)-10.jpg

Sean Bean has never looked so good.

Levels have a tendency to be scatter-brained, with random useless rooms and doors thrown in at random. The AI is dumb as shit and has the aim of a stormtrooper, and there's significant slowdown when to much stuff is on screen. But Goldeneye is a game that only sort of works because of it's flaws. The random levels means there's more places to hide from enemies. The crappy AI means that the rudimentary stealth system does actually work. It's all scatterbrained, but there's an undeniable charm about the whole production, like a middle school play that's so funny because of how crappy it is.

Then there's the multiplayer. Goldeneye is probably solely responsible for the entire concept of a console FPS being successful. Years before COD was even an idea, Goldeneye was selling out based on it's multiplayer suit. People loved it, and for good reason. There were great, well designed maps, a slew of weapons, and enough modifiers to make sure that no two games were exactly alike. It's antiquated by today's standards, but most of modern multiplayer owes a lot to Goldeneye.

If nothing else, Goldeneye is a reminder that, when handled properly, you can make a great game out of a movie licence. It's still fairly enjoyable by today's standards, with multiple difficulty settings for each level and challenge modes too. Grab some friends, find a CRT TV, and get lost in the good ol' days.

http://strangefive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/goldeneye-007-nintendo-64-n64-016.jpg

This never get's old. ever.

Perfect Dark

http://www.nerdsraging.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/perfect-dark-xbla-logo.jpg

Both words incredibly apt.

How fitting is it that "Perfect" is right there in the title of the game? Perfect Dark is just that, the perfect N64 game. Everything about it is great, and it stands out as one of the console's best games, impressive since this is the console that gave use Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time among others.

http://blastmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/1.-JoAndElvis.jpg

Image from the Xbox360 HD re-release. And my dreams.

From a gameplay standpoint, there's not a whole lot different between Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. Their both FPS games with rudimentary stealth, they both have expansive multiplayer suits, and they both prominently feature British people shooting guns. Where Perfect Dark set's itself apart is it's polish. This is a finely tuned game, refined to perfection and pushing the N64 to it's absolute limits.

Whereas Goldeneye was sort of cobbled together, Perfect Dark is a thoughtfully laid out and constructed game. The levels are seamless and have a flow to them that helps to push along the action. There's voice acting this time, and an actual story that moves you from level to level with actual purpose. Instead of just lowering your weapons off screen, each gun now has it's own unique reload animation, and most of them have multiple functions. Best of all it the ability to bring up an inventory menu, meaning you don't have to cycle through twenty items to get back to your assault rifle. It's so much better then Goldeneye in every way that playing Goldeneye after Perfect Dark proves difficult.

http://136589870a6a35f2061a-300fd00344af618df2fc22640adefd09.r37.cf1.rackcdn.com/splash/07-2013/PERFECT_DARK_SCREENSHOT_1.jpg

Blocky as hell, but a blast to play.

Perfect Dark is a shining example of console games, an absolutely enjoyable and well made game that never ceased to impress. It may not have aged well but it still remains one of my favorite shooters, even today.

Rare Sighting

So that's my take on my two favorite Rare games. After the N64, Rare were bought by Microsoft and, like a trained bear, made to do some horrible things. Every year it seems less and less likely that Rare will ever make a comeback, and it begs the question: would it still be the same? Regardless, I hold out hope that one day we'll see games as good as Rare one made. Until then, I'll keep my N64 running, and my cartridges dust free.

http://perfectdark.retropixel.net/pdzero/wallpaper/pdz03_1024x768.jpg

AGH! You get lost abomination!