Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

[Ninja Blacksox]

So?

I haven't been able to find a thread on just this one game.

What's the word? Great? How's the Camo system? Do you miss the radar?

I REALLY want this game. However, cash is tight.

-A Boy

[Jive3D]

It's been leaked onto "seedy" areas of the net.

[GrayFox]

I want it, but I guess my EB hasn't got it yet. It better get it soon.

[Dahne]

My EB says they'll get it tomorrow.

Which is good, cause that means I can get some homework done today. Since I won't be doing anything besides playing once I get my hands on it.

[SMB]

I can't wait to play, the story will unfold quite well LOL

[slip81]

Snake Eater looks really good, but I think I'm gonna wait for the Xbox version.
I can wait to see the outdoor enviorments, and I hear the story and bosses are supposed to be really good.

[Jive3D]

apparently, Ocelot is a big pussywillow in this one...we'll see.

[Graham Mitchell]

I'm excited for this, but I won't have time to play it until Christmastime! Frickin' school. Y'all let me know what you think of it, nkay?

[Chooky]

I just got it, but my PS2 decided now would be a great time to start acting up! The dialogue on the Codec scenes skips really badly. I am so freaking pissed off right now! :angry:

Incidentally, does anyone know why the new-model PS2's are going for over $200 dollars on eBay!?!

[suppafly]

I never could "get" into this series....whats so great about Metal Gear?? Someone please explain it to me!

[Chooky]

Well the cutscenes are unbelieveably long-winded, but they can usually be entertaining. More importantly (for me at least) is that the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. I can't stand every other stealth game I've played, but Metal Gear just has so many available moves and so many ways to screw with the guards that it never gets old. It also helps that the game only tries to be realistic to a certain extent, before the video game logic pops up and makes sure things stay fun.

[Dahne]

Undead cyborg ninja.

And that was the game in the series that most people agreed made sense.

[GrayFox]

Yes, my EB just got it. Beautiful, that means I'll be playing this tonight, possibly.

MGS3 or HL2? My God, how hard of a decision is that?!

[SoulBlazer]

Plus the fact that Kojima is a awsome story teller -- one of the best I've seen in my many years of gaming history.

I do want the game -- I love MGS, Twin Snakes, MGS2, and Ghost Babel -- but money is really tight now and I allready have Pirates, FF 1+2 and Kingdom Hearts:COM on my must buy list. And maybe a XBox version will come out.

[Psycho Mantis]

I need it so badly! but I gotta wait til christmas for it. i'm not sure if i'll last til then without it. :(

[Graham Mitchell]

I never could "get" into this series....whats so great about Metal Gear?? Someone please explain it to me!

Another great thing about this series is that you're never doing the same thing for more than about 10 minutes, and that's mostly because the items you find are so versatile and interesting, and used in unique ways. It's difficult to really talk about it because the boundaries between a first-person or a side-scrolling/third=person sequence have all been blurred by the 3-D technology, but these differences are sometimes what the versatility in these games would have looked like 10 years ago. Most of the weapons have unique control schemes (like the radio-guided missiles) and the game uses those to make puzzles. The sniper-rifle sequences are all really cool, too (In MGS 1 you had to take diazepam to keep your arms from shaking so you could control the rifle). The stealth sequences are what ties the whole story together, and they do take up a larger share of game time than other portions, but those are actually really fun (hiding in lockers is hilarious.)

Splinter Cell doesn't even come close to MGS, mainly because the items in that game are all event-based, and you don't really use them...the game kind of shows you a little sequence of Sam using them. Metal Gear more often than not requires you to come up with novel uses of what you find...that cardboard box always does about 10 things in every game, for example.

[Kepone]

I will probably pick it up soon. I have at least 2 games I want to pick up for the PS2.

[youruglyclone]

bought it today the gamestop allowed pre-orders to pick it up...but yeah way to busy playing the ape escape mini game, which is hella fun. probably play the regular game tomorrow should be fun

[petewhitley]

Splinter Cell doesn't even come close to MGS, mainly because the items in that game are all event-based, and you don't really use them...the game kind of shows you a little sequence of Sam using them. Metal Gear more often than not requires you to come up with novel uses of what you find...that cardboard box always does about 10 things in every game, for example.

In all fairness, Splinter Cell shouldn't really be considered a direct competitor to the Metal Gear series. There are simply too many differences in gameplay and focus (in story and style). There are many things Splinter Cell does better than Metal Gear, and vice versa.

[GrayFox]

Just played about 2 hours, and can't lie, I love this game. It's just amazing gameplay. Plus, the story is heating up now, and damn, it's just getting awesome.

HL2 has got to take the backseat for awhile. MGS3 is taking shotgun with me.

*OH, and if anyone works at a gamestore, and they have the ability to snag the MGS3 standup, PLEASE, snag it for me, I will pay for it!*

[EricRyan34]

MEtal GEar Solid rocks my sox off!

[Dahne]

Got it today, been playing it all day. Now, I may be a bit biased, as I loved the first two so much, but it must be said:

HOLY FUCK DOES THIS GAME EVER RULE.

And it's just gotten started. :)

[GrayFox]

Yeah, I'm absolutely in love with this game.

Quick question though, is anyone else getting the sometimes random skip before or during a codec conversation?

[Chooky]

Yeah, the sound skipping problem is driving me crazy. I've checked around and it seems to happen on everyone's copy of the game. I guess the poor old PS2 can't quite handle it. Still, though, some of the scenes in this game are absolutely amazing. I never would have believed the system could have pulled off some of this stuff.

[Dahne]

I thought the sound skipping in the Codec fit pretty well. You know, to reflect the imperfect radio technology of the time.

I'm currently stuck at an electric fence. The third, I think. Can't find a way to get over or under it. Bah.

Did anybody else watch the whole mask thing at the beginning and think, "Man, is Hideo Kojima ever a bastard."? LOL

[SoulBlazer]

I'm kinda hoping that if I'm patient we'll get a better XBox or PC version of the game, like with MGS 2.....

Without having to wait as long as we did to get a upgrade of MGS. ;)

Decisions, decisions.....

[PS2Hawk]

THIS GAME IS THE BEST METAL GEAR SOLID GAME - PERIOD.

Better than 1, Better than 2 - JUST PLAY

Best grapphics on ps2

[Dahne]

That thing that asks you which MGS game you like at the beginning - does your answer effect anything?

[PS2Hawk]

That thing that asks you which MGS game you like at the beginning - does your answer effect anything?

YES!
It will show you less intrsuction videos, I picked .. MGS2 and I am playing on HARD

[Ninja Blacksox]

You jerks are REALLY making me want to play this.

I think I'll have to get a new PS2 first, though.

My older model is very tempermental.

-A Boy

[Jive3D]

That thing that asks you which MGS game you like at the beginning - does your answer effect anything?

YES!
It will show you less intrsuction videos, I picked .. MGS2 and I am playing on HARD

Also, if you pick "I like MGS2" your character will have long blonde hair like Raiden. I dont know if it's only for the begining of the game because I restarted as soon as I saw the long blonde hair, there's no fucking way I'm playing with Raiden gain, even though he has snake's (david hayter's" voice.

If you choose, I like MGS1, then your character looks like Snake, the same snake from the MGS 3 OPM Demo disk and all the preview footage.

I Guess if you choose that this is your first time playing MGS, then you get MORE gameplay instruction (which is awesome for us vets!) Though I have not tried this option YET.

It's not time for me to play this game yet, I'm devoting all console time to crushing Metroid Prime. Too many games not nearly enough time. And then the DS comes out this weekend too. ^_^

[Dahne]

lol, so picking MGS2 gives you the Raiden mask. Yes, it's a mask. Hideo Kojima is such a bastard. :)

[dethink]

i got it last night.

i have a week old PStwo, and i still get the codec skip, so it's likely a programming bug or timing issue the hardware can't keep up with.

i'm still just trying to get across the suspension bridge the "right" way.

i keep forgetting this isn't splinter cell and being seen doesn't automatically spell death.

i sank in the quicksand, ate an anaconda, hunted some apes, and tried to wrassle a croc unsuccessfully.

good times. :D

is it just me, or does the MGS series have almost a sierra graphic adventure-like "hilarious intentional death" undercurrent running through it?

[kainemaxwell]

IS MGS3 filled with long cutscenes like 2 was?

[Jive3D]

Long cut scenes seem to be the order of the day. It's a cinematic experience.

I/m not getting the codec skip, strange.

[dethink]

it doesn't happen on every one with mine, just ocassionally.

[kai123]

IS MGS3 filled with long cutscenes like 2 was?

Yes, but they seem to be more spread out this time around. In 2 it was just one right after the other. In 3 you seem to play more than you watch. It is still a cinematic game but not nearly as long or boring as 2 was. I think the story is what made the cinematics seem a little shorter than in 2. Did anyone really care about Raiden's relationship with Rose? I didn't think so...

[Dahne]

Minor spoilers: highlight to read.

If you don't pick "I like MGS2, how do you dress up as Raikov? Do you start the game with the mask in your inventory, you just aren't wearing it?

[dethink]

i'm stuck at the spot where you cross the 'gator lake, and then come to the barb wire electric fences after you scope eva's boo-tay and fight off the 8 ocelot unit troops.

HOW do i get out of there? i've climbed that tree, and shimmied across the rope, but i can't get to the other rope that runs perpendicular to it. i always fall back in the lake, then have to trudge through there again, and pick 87 leeches off myself in the process. :angry: LOL

[bluberry]

I remember there being a secret hole in the left side of the lake that let me take a different path through the fence area. The first one from this path, there was a hole in. The second one you had to climb a tree to get over. Then you could go north or east - I had no idea how to hop the north one, so I went east, where the fence you'll eventually encounter isn't even complete.

So I just beat the game yesterday and... holy crap. *spoilers, highlight*

That part with the Shagohod chase was amazing. I really didn't expect it, and Ocelot coming after you on his bike was cool despite the fact that it should've been gameplay. And then the runway... I remembered Sokolov telling you about the rocket engine, and just as I did, I see the thing speeding towards me. XD

As for the camo system, I thought it was pretty cool, but the menu system was horrible. Pausing the game is too annoying and as a result I rarely changed it when I didn't have to. I wasn't convieniently able to switch to the tree bark once whenever I hid against a tree, for instance, so I never bothered.

[GrayFox]

Yeah I beat the game yesterday, and well, I don't want to say much, but this is easily one of my favorite games ever. I think I had more fun with this than HL2, and that's saying a lot.

The motorcycle chase? That was... just absolutely awesome. And Ocelot in the game was great.

[Dahne]

I love how you can go through the game without killing a single person, even bosses, just like in MGS2...the only problem is, the story and cutscenes still act like you killed them.

Maybe that's the whole damn point, that you can't change anything...I hope not. That's a crappy point.

[blissfulnoise]

It's all about the dialog at the beginning of Ape vs Snake. That is some riotously funny stuff!

"Couldn't you call Sam or Gabe? I was on my vacation!"

But let me play DA here for a bit:

Worst part so far? Mullets. God save me, I hate that haircut and it's all over the place. Would someone in Konami please tell Kojima that the "business in the front, party in the back" style needs to be retired permanently?

2nd worst part so far? The James Bondish theme-song ruining the visually cool "intro". How in the hell did GHW let that get in there? Completely out of place with the theme of the Metal Gear series and actually made me feel a little queasy.

3rd worst part... these freakish bosses have now gone too far. Granted, I just met the group, but um, I think that team MGS brought in the Silent Hill team for a bit of visual direction, and I don't think it works. Pyscho Mantis rocked because the rest of the rogue FOX-HOUND agents we're pretty "normal" humans. Granted Grey Fox was all Robocop'ed and stuff, but it still worked damn well.

MGS2 upped the freak quotient with a Vampire and someone who couldn't die.

MGS3 looks to make even old Psycho look like a pretty normal dude with a latex fetish with it's freak count. I don't think it fits the theme or the look of the series.

4th worst part. “What's with all the repeated dialog?” “Repeated dialog you say?” “Yes, there is lots of repeated dialog.” “Repeated dialog… yes, I think that’s clear?” “…”

I'm sure Hideo knows this is a big cliché for RPG/adventure video game genres and anime in general. But I can't tell if Kojima is making a conscious effort to poke a stick in the eye of convention (as evidenced by some of the E3 demo footage) or just falling prey to it. Regardless, it's damn annoying, even if he is making a point about the lackluster writing in most games.

But short of that, yeah, this game rocks hard. Game play mechanics are top tier and are perfectly refined. The APS, sonar, and movement detector make great replacements for the radar. And the camouflage index is very awesome.

[Dahne]

Just finished it.


Holy, HOLY fuck.


If there is any justice in the world, people will be looking back at this as a revolutionary work of art for the next thousand years.

Oh, and that James Bond-ish song: it's not what I'd call the "real" theme of the game. That plays during the credits, and is worthy of its predecessors.


One thing, though: (highlight, major spoilers) Considering the characterization of Big Boss as given throughout the game, why in the world would he start the Outer Heaven conflict? Is it a complex web of motivations like The Boss'? Oh, and another thing; it seems like what we really needed was to start back when Snake and The Boss were working together for the first time. As it was, you didn't get very much real insight into their relationship. You're told constantly that she's like a mother to him, yet the way she acts toward him doesn't seem to reflect anything like that. Of course, you only see her when she's already embroiled in this network of betrayals.

And, hey, is it just me, or did we never figure out who Kuwabara was, and why Volgin said it so much? Or why the president grabbed Raiden's crotch in MGS2? The trailer made it seem like that was related. Was that just Hideo being the magnificent bastard he is? That reminds me, I should change my sig soon.

But, yeah. Even though The Boss could have been fleshed out a little more, I still misted up a bit at the end.






I sobbed like a little girl.

[PS2Hawk]

Best ending in any game.. PERIOD. Best Story in any sction game another PERIOD.

[Dahne]

Oh, and another thing:

If Ocelot was Adam, who was the real Eva?

[bluberry]

*spoilers*I think that his whole motivation for Outer Heaven, judging by MGS3 stuff alone, was The Boss. The way she was basically used by the country and then forgotten (just as she mentioned happens in her little spiel before the battle), and Big Boss's OH motivation was basically a place where warriors were valued. If you get what I'm saying. As for Eva, I have no idea. The thought crossed my mind, too. Current theories on GameFAQs range anywhere from The Sorrow to Granin to... wow, those are stupid. LOL Maybe "Eva" had already made herself known to the Americans and really was Eva. Dunno.

And I heard somewhere that the Kuwabara thing has something to do with ghosts, although I have no idea why that would matter. And I like the Cobra Unit, especially The Fury. They all felt like very good comic book villains.

[Dahne]

I wonder if they'll ever remake the original Metal Gear games? You know, fill out the story.

Fun with Raikov; when I was following him around before stealing his clothes, I got an idea. I took one of the dirty magazines, dropped it in his path, and stood back to watch. Sure enough, he stopped, glanced...and kept right on walking. LOL

Too bad you never find out an awful lot about that character. I wanted to know what his relation to Raiden was.

[Dahne]

Best ending in any game.. PERIOD. Best Story in any sction game another PERIOD.

The ending was so damn sad...I guess that's the point of the "messy and sad history", but still. It's probably a good thing I haven't been able to find Ways to Fall, the song that plays during the credits, anywhere to download. I know I wouldn't be able to hear it without misting up.

[Dahne]

Man, every time I think about this game, I find something new.

For example, how different Big Boss is from Solid Snake. Maybe one of the themes is the experiences that go into making up a person, as even identical genetic material isn't enough to make them the same person. Hence MGS2; the attempt to reproduce fundamentally identical circumstances in order to control a person's development. Damn, I can't remember the last novel I read that had this much depth.

[Gamereviewgod]

I was up until 3am last night with it. Just great stuff. In total, I'm at the 6 hour mark. How long is this one? Same as the rest, around 10?

[Dahne]

MGS2 was around 15, wasn't it? I tend to be pretty slow, and it varies depending on how you play, but it took me just about 23 hours. And I've just gotten started.

[kai123]

It took me 15 hours. I enjoyed the hell out of this game.

Maybe a spoiler so skip ahead








In the first fight with Ocelot and his crew if you are a good enough shot you can shoot Ocelots hat right off his head. He yells "My hat" or something along those line. I thought that was a cool little touch.

[bluberry]

Sadly, that happened to me a lot when I went for headshots. >_>

And I got 12 hours out of MGS2 and about 8 or 10 from TTS; MGS3 took me 16.

[SoulBlazer]

Damn me being broke and not able to afford this right now..... :(

Oh well....at least when the time comes I can get the game used.

[GrayFox]

I'm a man who goes for the headshots, so I knocked off good ol Ocelot's hat a few times. It was good stuff, I can't like about that.

I'm still so damned happy about the game, and how impressed I was with it. It was just so good. So very, very, very good.

[Dahne]

I had no idea how much I would love young Ocelot. Something about the voice actor just fit really well. The gunfight at the canyon, when you're surrounded by soliders, is friggin hilarious. As well as the way he calls for backup. "Rrowr!"

[kainemaxwell]

I should really try to finish MGS one these days myself. lol

[Dahne]

Come on man, it's like 5 hours long. LOL

[SoulBlazer]

I have'nt finished MGS 2. ;)

I swear the first stage of the ship -- trying to get around the ship and everything -- is harder then ANYTHING you had to do in MGS.

[Dahne]

It is pretty tough. However, you can always pull out the goodol' tranquilizer gun. A few darts in the face never hurt anybody. :)

[bluberry]

Best ending in any game.. PERIOD. Best Story in any sction game another PERIOD.

The ending was so damn sad...I guess that's the point of the "messy and sad history", but still. It's probably a good thing I haven't been able to find Ways to Fall, the song that plays during the credits, anywhere to download. I know I wouldn't be able to hear it without misting up.

*evil grin* (http://www.joncaido.com/aumaan/soundtracks/mgs3/Metal%20Gear%20Solid%203%20-%20Disc%202%20-%2016%20-%20Way%20to%20Fall.mp3)

[Gamereviewgod]

Help! I'm stuck.

I'm in Groznjy Grad, the weapons base. I'm supposed to find this guy and take his clothes. I've been all over the place (killing scientists for fun at this point) and I haven't found a sign of him yet. There's an elevator and a door leading into the main base with the weapon, but I can't get into either. Help!!!

[TheRedEye]

Help! I'm stuck.

I'm in Groznjy Grad, the weapons base. I'm supposed to find this guy and take his clothes. I've been all over the place (killing scientists for fun at this point) and I haven't found a sign of him yet. There's an elevator and a door leading into the main base with the weapon, but I can't get into either. Help!!!

He's patroling the area, just like everybody else. Take him down (you can kill him if you want, it doesn't matter) and drag his ass upstairs to the locker room.

EDIT: If you hear a woman's voice, that's Raikov.

[Gamereviewgod]

How will I know if it's him? I've been killing a whole lotta people.

[Gamereviewgod]

Never mind. Got him. Had to tranq him though. I got a game over when I killed him. :hmm: Thanks Red!

[bluberry]

I got away with killing him, but it might have helped that I was disguised as the scientist.

[Promophile]

Just beat the game myself. I have so much respect for Hideo Kojima, he is such a master storyteller and gamecrafter. MGS is one of the ONLY games where I can actually FEEL for the characters, I feel afraid when they're in danger. MGS is the only series I've played that lingers with me after its beaten. And gameplaywise, he adds SOOO many little details that get left out of other games. You can actually shoot through the eye of a chain's link, and the characters KNOW its a game, and advise you like it is one. With Snaker Eater Hideo waws able to actually make one of the most reviled characters in the series, Ocelot, one of the most likeable in the game. My hats off to Hideo, I can only pray that we get a game that advances the story further, Heres to MGS:4!