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Thursday 6 March, 2008
GAMEPLAY
As I was writing the previous entry, I kept thinking about how much I wanted to go back and continue playing this game (I left off at a very interesting part). This shows me how much this game keeps the players attention. I have a serious concern for what happens to the main character in relation to the story. I also notice that it a player who just dove into the game without having played the previous game or lack adequate knowledge of the events in the previous games would have some trouble understanding some of the allusions in the narrative to the previous games; primarily, references to characters in the previous games like Mei Ling and Vulcan Raven.
My roommate, who was playing Devil May Cry 3 for his game log assignment (my roommate and I are in this class together) made me realize that MGS2 was relatively slower paced in that the player must progress sluggishly through the game in comparison to DMC3 where the player is attacked by hordes of enemies every two steps. The flow of the game makes the player spend a good amount of time in cut scenes or speaking to supporting characters. There is a slow and steady flow to this game. It makes me feel like I am watching a movie. At some points, I would even put down the controller and just watch the cut scenes.
Despite the speed of the game, it is really fun to play. The Metal Gear series does for stealth games what the Mario series does for platformers. Creeping around, going around opponents and knocking them out is really fun and give the player a sense of excitement.
DESIGN
The first thing I noticed about the design of MGS2 is that it holds true to the first game. For the most part the controls are similar and the movement is similar to the first game. The player has to sneak around enemies; hug walls; crawl through vents; hide out of the line of sight of an enemy; and avoid being spotted. The main essence of the game hasn’t changed.
What I really liked about this game was its level design. The game is segmented into areas that the player explores. They player can back track from area to area. Another part of the level design that I like is that each area new area that the player enters is unique in challenge and some areas are more challenging than others.
A what I really like about the Metal Gear series is that it has a good sense of humor. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously and often indirectly breaks down the fourth wall. There are some instances in the game where the player can open a locker and find a poster of a woman in a bikini or a well built man. Things that tell me the level designers are really fun people who would probably be fun at a party which is why they work for Konami.
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