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jp's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
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| [January 25, 2021 07:11:45 PM]
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It's been a while since I've played a Metal Gear Solid game. Not sure how long, but definitely - at least for a mainline series - since 2?
I've already reached the point where I'm frustrated and have decided to move on to another game, but strangely I think this has been mostly due to the design space moving past where things were when MGS4 released? In a nutshell, I've struggled (and died) enough due to problems with aiming/shooting that I feel like it's not really worth it for me to continue. I sort of feel like the game's implementation just feels too old?
Other than this though, it's pretty surprising how well the game holds up and how strong the production value is/was - you can tell this is a polished game that has not aged poorly at all.
Perhaps what I've enjoyed the most was remembering my time with MGS1 (PSX) and how THAT game worked and then seeing those elements still maintained. It goes from the audio elements as well as some of the gameplay. I didn't find a box yet, but the oil drum seems remarkably similar in that respect. Also the general look and feel of the interface just seemed familiar even as it was strange and new to me.
Weirdest of all is that sometimes, during a cut-scene/animation, I'd see an on-screen prompt to press a button and doing so would trigger a different "view" - and some of these alternate images where from older MGS games? So, Otacon comes on and you can flash to quickly see an image of him from an earlier game...it was really weird. Clearly the game assumes you're familiar with the older characters and stuff that's happened in other games. But, on the other hand, the game just trundles along anyways, it does seem to care that I have no real idea what's going on or who's who and what are they doing.
But again, on the other hand, the game does have a lot of really interesting worldbuilding and sci-fi elements that perhaps seem more prescient/ominous now than they might have seemed when the game was released? It's still all sci-fi, but some of the military stuff just feels closer and scarier?
As usual I was overwhelmed with all of the controls and possibilities. This is a game that lets you go prone, roll over and then perform actions in two different orientations (towards feet or head). Part of me is always wondering, wow - who does ALL these things? I didn't think it was necessary, but then again I had trouble aiming and killing enemies when found. So, who knows, I guess that there are expert players who engage with the full range of movements the game allows for? (rolling, diving, dodging, going prone, etc.)
I was surprised that the game went all-in on the weapons looting. It's weird to scavenge the battle field for weapons that are sold to a dealer and for me to then buy unlocks to new weapons and so on. I wasn't expecting "buying stuff" in an MGS game...
I guess overall it just reminds me that MGS games are often (too often?) ignored in their game DESIGN - there's always a lots of deep systems and interactions happening between different things that are being simulated. But, it seems that most of the attention ends up going to the crazy nonsense story instead?
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jp's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated
GameLog started on: Monday 11 January, 2021
GameLog closed on: Monday 25 January, 2021 |
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