That’s just it, there aren’t many games out there that capture the entire essense of MGS. I know lots of QT3ers have been down on the series due to the lengthy conversations and cutscenes but personally I’m in love with Kojima’s merging of gameplay with cinema.[/quote]
MGS2 was a weak game, and it would have made a worse movie.
update: First Review in. Thanks to solidsnakex on GAF for some points off the EGM review:
Mark says it has the biggest environments in any console game so far. This is especially surprising considering San Andreas was reviewed in the same issue.
The boss fights top Fox Hounds (MGS1’s team).
There’s one boss in particular that will go down as one of the greatest boss fights ever.
Plot twists actually make sense.
Longest MG title so far. Clocking in with atleast a 25hour gameplay time.
Raises the bar for stealth gaming.
As was pointed out in the EGM thread the codec sequences have been cut back big time.
/update
My god, those codec scenes were so damn long!
The weird camera is…weird. It’s more like a movie camera, or something.
And the dramatic drum thuds every three goddamn seconds!
Still, best game evar.
update: IGN review up. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/566/566279p1.html
9.6
Closing Comments
Once again, this is the best game in the Metal Gear Solid series and it pushes the PS2 just as far as it can go. With a total of 20-25 hours for the first time this provides a fantastic experience that will stimulate multiple parts of your brain and make you feel all fuzzy inside. The storyline plays out like a twist-filled spy novel and the rest of the characters and action fit well into this earlier version of the Metal Gear universe. With so much going on this is a game that will easily please fans of the series and help to woo back those who were dismayed by MGS2.
With a beautiful graphical style and dozens upon dozens of things to try out in this highly detailed game playing it once just isn’t enough. There are still issues with the camera system that can become frustrating, but with the general level of excellence everywhere else and considering the limitations of the PS2 this is still an amazing game. This is a true return to form and a hell of a way for the series to wrap up several plot lines in an exciting way. They don’t get much better than this.
I’m pretty excited for this game. It’s gotten a lot of very good press that seems to point out how much it’s changed for the better from MGS2 which obviously some people didn’t like so much. It’s definitely on my Christmas list.
–Dave
9.6 at IGN? That’s like Gamespot giving it a 9.1, it must be horrible!
The rez on those shots is waaay over 640x480. I think they were doing a little bit of chicanery to get those screenshots.
Yeah, same thing is noticable with most of the official prerelease Halo 2 screenshots. I think companies like to grab super high res screenshots from developer versions of the consoles or somesuch.
Yea, there are specific dev kits that can output screen grabs into the resolution of your choice. I sure wish we had one in our office. I’d often get 10 MGS3 screens on a CDR, with each screen being 50 megs or so.
Gamespot’s review is up. 8.7
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/metalgearsolid3/review.html
“This is a love-it-or-hate-it game. Guess which camp we’re in?”