[REVIEW]MGS3 (spoilers?)

[Spee]

As I do with all MGS titles, I sat down and played through the whole thing in one massive 13-hour-long sitting.

Summary: Dont play the game unless you've played the other two first.


Plot - Pretty weak. But this game was designed, in my opinion, to be more backstory, explanation, and whatnot, rather than an honest-to-goodness MGS game. Russians, Nukes, Cold war, Mad Scientists, general MGS fare.

Characters - both the strongest and weakest aspects of the game. EVA and Snake, along with a villain or two (The Boss) are very good, not-annoying characters who make sense, and are generally enjoyable. However, the game's bevy of SHITTY SHITTY boss battles made me wanna fuck Hideo Kojima in the ear.

1st Boss - THE PAIN - The pain is made of bees. He can make things out of bees. He can fire bees out of his mouth. He can make bombs out of bees. The world is made of Bees, and you dont know it. Enemy also explodes for no reason at the end of the boss battle.

2nd Boss - THE FEAR - The Fear is a man with lame red/yellow eyes, a high-pitched whiny voice, and who thinks he's an overly acrobatic spider/monkey/squirrel with a crossbow. In addition to hopping from tree-to-tree with stealth gear equipped, and peppering the area with poisoned arrows, he will shout "FEEEEEAR" and "THE FEEEEEAAAR" Throughout the whole battle. Lame. Explodes arbitrarily.

3rd Boss - THE END - a 450 year old sniper, whose body is photosynthetic, and can speak to the forest. Hear that sound? Thats Hideo scraping for ideas. Also explodes arbitrarily.

4th Boss - THE FURY - Evil Cosmonaut from space who WISHES TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE! And will do so by spamming huge (pretty) fireballs in an enclosed space. Doesnt explode at the end like everyone else, but turns into Lost Souls from DOOM 3

The main boss is also a Pro Wrestler, with no explanation given as to why he has an fuckload of electricity in him. Oh yeah. He's bent on global domination using this new weapon called Shagohod(Metal Gear)

Video - Friggin Fantastic. This engine is Godlike. NO beefs with any of it.

Sound - Also good. The menu sounds are a bit wonky on 5.1, but thats forgiveable.


But, what makes this a good game, despite the shitty villains, and the odd dialogue, is the gameplay, and ending. Gameplay is fantastic, because wanton cruelty is endorsed. See that snake? Stab it to death, and eat it. Ooh, how bout that bunny? RPG-ED. And, the developers, realizing this game is a whole mess more fun if you have no qualms about acting brashly, actually give you license to do whatever the fuck you please without consequence for around 30 minutes, which is nice.

Eating animals is neato, because it restores stamina. No stamina = missed shots, slower healing, etc. So, keep eating those random animals you find.

Another neat gameplay quirk is the "Cure" menu. Basically, as you fight and battle, you will take damage beyond simply health-meter damage. Arrows will become lodged in your body, as will bullets. You will sew wounds shut and stop bleeding, and splint broken bones. Generally, performing first-aid on yourself (represented by the bevy of bandages you receive if you decide to take your camo shirt off) is a really interesting gameplay experience, and hope it is implemented in future titles.

The ending is what makes the game good though. Without spoiling it, the Ending wins on so many levels, simply because of the fact that it explains so much about the past two games. It answers a lot of questions, and Im rather glad I played the game.

Also of note, is that the ending goes back to the giant Sphere o' meaning that Kojima has made over the past two titles. The first is how everyone would like to leave a legacy. The second, is how a legacy could be manifest inside technology and culture, rather than children and DNA. The third is the legacy left by heros, whether or not the Public regards them as such. There might have been more facets to the ending, but I beat it at 8:30 AM today. So yeah.


And thats my review