Yesterday I beat Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD on the PS3 so thought I’d try and get back into the habit of writing reviews with a “mini-review”.
Originally produced for the PSP in 2010, Peace Walker is perhaps my least favourite MGS game thus far as it makes a few too many cutbacks to the gameplay and presentation in order to squeeze the package onto its original handheld platform. The HD port itself is fine, although it does show the rough edges and blurry texture work of its source material. And although the game mostly runs smoothly there are some inexplicable performance issues in a few optional missions.
Eschewing the cinematic presentation and hour-long mini-movies of earlier Metal Gear Solid games, Peace Walker instead utilises semi-interactive comic-book styled cutscenes to move the plot forward. It’s understandable given the limitations of the PSP’s UMD storage media and while some fans may miss full cutscenes, the illustrations are attractive and generally do reasonable job moving things along. Unfortunately series staple codecs have been scaled back enormously - there’s now a simple radio option in the menu producing a short message from a random supporting character. Overall I like the characters and how Peace Walker continues Big Boss’ story - particularly his coming to terms with certain plot points from the ending of Snake Eater - and the beginning of his road to villainy. A few plot holes from Metal Gear Solid 4 are also explained a little. Voice acting is generally good - notwithstanding a few overdone Latino accents - although dialogue tends to be a little hammier than usual and the game is a little clumsy in its examination of the doctrine of mutual assured destruction and the geopolitics of 1970’s Central America. Music is excellent, as to be expected from the series.
I particularly like this boss theme
The biggest change is in how the game is structured. It’s very much built as a handheld game intended to be played in short burst on the subway, with short missions in small areas replayed multiple times. In addition to “main ops’ missions that move the plot forward there are a large number of “extra ops” side missions, which are mostly quite fun. These range from collecting documents to rescuing hostages, stealthily holding up enemies, and shooting down the balloons of escaping soldiers. It actually reminds me a little of the mission structure of games like Monster Hunter. Perhaps this wasn’t a coincidence given that series’ popularity in Japan at the time. Unfortunately all this goes against the grain of what I’ve enjoyed about previous MGS titles in that it lacks a cohesive narrative flow. Everything is a little disjointed and piecemeal. It all moves along at quite a snappy pace, yet combined with the short missions means that some plot ideas and characters never receive the development they fully deserve. And then the main story ends rather abruptly, just as things start to heat up. After the credits roll there’s a rather excruciating epilogue where it seems Kojima’s team ran out of time or Konami ran out of patience. The same basic story mission is replayed six times, interspersed with a lot of extra ops missions and repeating earlier boss battles. The game doesn’t actually do a very good job telling you how to go about reaching the ending, and so I had to look it up. Getting to the final boss - which is an extremely impressive battle - and true ending is worth it, but the plot twist does come a little out the blue, especially after all the busy work that precedes it.
The gameplay itself is quite slow, with everything seemingly taking an age. Snake moves slowly, switches weapons slowly, reloads said weapons slowly, climbs ledges slowly and rolls out the way slowly (rolling also sometimes gets confused with crouching). There are also some bizarre cutbacks from previous MGS games; for instance Snake can no longer crawl along the ground, limiting his stealth options a little. CQC has also been radically dialled back from Snake Eater. Despite all the nips, tucks and chainsaw hacks Peace Walker still manages to feel like a Metal Gear Solid game, which is a good thing.
Boss battles are impressive, screen-filling and fun, with various strategies required in order to emerge victorious. There are a large number of different weapons at Snake’s disposal, from assault rifles to rocket launchers and pistols, bringing some variety to how you go about things.
The real star of the game is its base building feature, aptly named “Mother Base”, and is an excellent time sink. Primarily utilising soldiers kidnapped from the enemy side during missions (via a rather amusing balloon), Snake can build up his MSF paramilitary organisation. This provides him with a supply of weapons, items and other equipment, which is essential for harder missions and bosses. “Recruits” can be sorted into a number of categories depending on their skills - such as R&D, Intel or Medical. Soldiers can also be sent out on automatic “Outer Ops” missions, usually resulting in specifications for equipment or new recruits impressed by MSF’s military force.
On the whole I enjoyed my 40 hour playtime with Peace Walker. Whilst I could have happily read the story on Wikipedia or watched cutscenes on YouTube, I’m still glad I played it. On the PSP it legitimately pushed the hardware with its visuals and array of gameplay modes, but blown up on the big screen all of its compromises are amplified. Despite these compromises it manages to introduce some interesting new ideas - primarily its base building feature and array of side missions. It doesn’t come close to to the brilliance of Metal Gear Solid 3 or 4, but it is nonetheless an interesting piece of the Metal Gear saga and I’m excited to see where Big Boss' story goes in Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.
@mookysam You’re in for a treat with MGS5 if you liked Peace Walker. Similar, but a more fleshed out story and much deeper gameplay on top of the Mother Base building that was introduced in PW. I enjoyed reading your review.
@KratosMD Really great write up as well; I agree with your assessment of UDG. It was a nice fresh take on the franchise and game world. Still has that Danganronpa charm, but played very differently. I didn’t realize you hadn’t played it yet, so I’m glad you finally got to experience it and revisit that fantastic and quirky universe.
@Th3solution Cheers. I've had trouble writing since being in hospital but am going to be a bit more proactive going forward otherwise it'll never improve. Yeah, the base building is really fun. Peace Walker certainly has its flaws, but if MGS5 can build on the aspects it did well I think I'll enjoy the game.
@KratosMD Apologies for missing your review. I found Ultra Despair Girls quite creepy and unsettling! The villains had endured some really horrible things and it was hard not to feel sympathy for them. I didn't find the shooter gameplay too engaging as it's quite repetitive, but enjoyed the story and found it worth playing through for that. Especially for the return of one of my favourite Danganronpa characters. That said, some of the "fan-service" almost made me quit at one point.
@KratosMD Yeah, actually I played D1, then D2, then UDG and haven’t played D3 yet. I know 😄 — I really need to play it. Part of me might be holding off because it looks to be the last Danganronpa game we’ll get, so I’ve been saving it for a rainy day, so to speak. I’ll get to it eventually. There was a mini resurgence in Danganronpa interest last month and so it may be time for me to dig it out if some more of the community starts to play it.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Whoops looks like I posted just after your comment @KratosMD. Nope, I haven’t played Portable Ops. I’ve read it isn’t strictly canon and given it’s reputation I’m not too fussed about playing it. Base building in games is always so addictive! It’s the kind of thing I always seem to get lost in for hours and then wonder where the time has gone. It’s a shame you lost your MGS5 save but if you do start again would you find it interesting to play it with fresh eyes after such a long gap? I remember you got a bit burnt out on Metal Gear after playing them all in quick succession.
@Kidfried For sure! It would be great to go through it together. The games are so fun to discuss. I’ll need to watch or read a summary of the first two games so I can remember everything since it’s been a while for me.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@nessisonett@crimsontadpoles@Kidfried@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
Wow, we have quite a little Danganronpa V3 coalition going. It could be a Game Club type situation if we want to all coordinate. Since some of you all haven’t finished D2 then I’ll have time to mop up some other games. We should synchronize on the Danganronpa thread.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Sly 2: Band of Thieves, played the Vita version. I got 100% in the game, and the Platinum trophy.
This game was a big step up from Sly 1. It's a lot more open than the first game. Whereas Sly 1 had small hub areas leading to individual levels, Sly 2 has larger, more open areas for each chapter.
There's much more variety in this game as well. Most of Sly 1 had Sly collecting a key from each level in order to unlock something. But in Sly 2, chapters generally involves a heist of some kind. Missions will involve preparing for the heist, such as gathering intel, stealing something that's needed for it, or sabotaging something. The occasional hacking minigame, turret and vehicle missions also help to mix things up. Once Sly and the gang have prepared for a heist, they then get to put their dramatic plan into action.
The game does a good job at making the player feel like they're playing as a thief. Sly will tiptoe past guards, avoid alarm systems, and can also pickpocket the enemies. Guards holding spotlights are best avoided, or taken out stealthily from behind. Sly has a variety of means to avoid guards, such as climbing up lamp posts and running across the rooftops.
One thing that's not obvious at first is that enemies will often have valuable items as well as money. These items can be sold for quite a bit of money if you can pickpocket them. It's easy to miss this feature entirely, as not all enemies carry anything of interest. Generally guards with glowing pockets have something worth taking. I completely missed this until I was going for the last few trophies I missed, since it's much quicker to just stealth kill enemies instead of pickpocketing. Once I knew about this, it became fun to steal from everyone to see what they had.
Sly also has the help from his buddies Bentley and Murray. They can be controlled by the player, and have their own missions as well. Bentley is the brains of the team, and can use bombs. Murray is the strong one, being best at a fight. These two have some fun missions, but it's not so fun to nagivate the open areas with them. They don't have access to Sly's stealth moves, so they can't take a shortcut climbing up poles or swinging across gaps for instance.
Exploration of the open areas is encouraged by the clue bottles. Each chapter has 30 bottles outside somewhere, and finding them all will allow Bentley to solve the combination on that chapter's safe. It was fun to hunt down those bottles, and isn't too tedious to find them all. Bottles emit a noise, making it much easier to pinpoint the last few missing bottles. If you don't care for finding collectables, then it's worth mentioning that the Platinum trophy only requires finding all the bottles in any one chapter, meaning most of the bottles can be ignored.
So overall, the game is a lot of fun. I enjoyed my time with it.
@RogerRoger Cheers. Not a fan of peppy J-Pop? 😂 I think it’s quite nicely juxtaposed against the backdrop of the boss battle and makes the whole thing even more bonkers. Yeah, I already know about the second half of The Phantom Pain. I don’t think it would retrospectively diminish the tedium of Peace Walker’s final chapter though. It is a shame that it happened two games in a row - and to a much higher degree with TPP! MGS4 worked as such an incredible send off for the franchise.
@crimsontadpoles Brill review! Sly 2 is a very enjoyable game. Sly himself controls really nicely and I enjoyed exploring the larger levels. Bentley’s sections were sometimes a bit frustrating as he’s so frail.
@mookysam I've debated playing Peace Walker before, but usually ended up avoiding it because I've heard it has co-op-centric features, and didn't want a gimped experience. If it's perfectly fine to play solo, though, I'll probably go for it eventually. A LOT of Ground Zeroes' impact felt like it was lost on me, since it seemed to center around characters and a continuity established in that game.
@crimsontadpoles Is there any continuity between Sly Cooper 1 and 2? If not, I might jump in with the second one. I seem to hear it being praised a lot, but I didn't even know it was a thing until recently.
@Ralizah Peace Walker does have co-op missions, although I’m unsure if it’s a mode completely separate from the campaign as I never touched them. The whole story is very playable in single player and doesn’t feel like it needs two people to enjoy the full experience.
@mookysam Good to hear. I was afraid it was a Monster Hunter situation where it's possible to complete it sp, but the game feels more like it's designed with multiple people in mind, which can affect mechanical balance and the difficulty overall.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Ralizah Yes, Sly Cooper 2 does carry on from Sly 1. However, I think it would be fine to dive straight into the second game if you wanted. Sly 2 does give a good summary of anything relevant that happened in Sly 1. Plus the narratives in these games aren't exactly complex affairs. So I don't think you'd miss much from jumping straight into the second game.
Ok, so after much much time (more on that later), I finally finished The Last Of Us 2. I've had a few days to digest the game and think about my feelings and of course, this is really difficult to do without having any spoilers and as someone who gets annoyed with people assuming that a game that has been out more than a week is ripe for spoilers and given that it took me nearly a month to complete, I will be careful. I will give an overview of the game and gameplay and then spoiler tag sections for story elements. I'll not specifically give plot details but you honestly can't discuss the game without giving some secrets away. If you want to know nothing, don't read on.
So first off, full disclosure, I love The Last of Us (Part 1 or whatever it is now). My friends have begged me to play it and was the reason I got a PS4 having been an MS person with the 360 and missing it on PS3. I bought it, played it, then immediately played it straight through again. I bought the soundtrack. I tried to name my second born Ellie (wife was having none of it - she also said no to Joel, Giraffe and Clicker). As a parent with a small child, I thought the story was as close to gaming perfection as you could get. The ending is iconic and I remember musing on here that I wished there would never be a sequel because whatever you do, it cannot live up to ambiguity and implications of that ending. I liken it to the Matrix - that sets up something where you use your imagination - how will Neo stop the machines, why is he the chosen one etc. Then when you try to explain something mythic, it gets mundane and you end up with an old man using long words at the end.
I knew that at the outset that it was not going to be possible for a sequel to do the same thing twice and to be exactly what I wanted it to be so I have tried to think about The Last of Us Part 2 as its own beast.
So how do I feel about the game?
Well, I think it is impossible not to admit that this is a very good game. It is beautiful, it runs perfectly. The gameplay is satisfying on the whole, the mechanics from the first are improved, the music, acting, UI etc. all top notch. I think anyone review bombing the game is stupid because, let's face it, this isn't a rushed or shoddy game. It set out to do something and it executed it very well.
That isn't to say though that I don't have problems with the game that hold it back from greatness compared to the original. I don't like scores or anything but this is not, in my mind, a 10/10 game in terms of perfection. It has some realy issues that run as a fault line through the experience.
The first is length. I genuinely feel this game outstayed its welcome which is rather sad. The story is well paced but the gameply loop becomes very very familiar because of the length of the story. I spent 30 hours on the game, playing at normal difficulty and playing in a manner that I felt the game wanted me to play - stealth for the majority, heavy exploration with moments of weapon use etc. I was cautious in it so I guess I could have got through quicker but with resources scattered, you sort of do need to explore and take your time to really get a handle on the environments. I can't fault the combat encounters themselves, they are tense, brutal, exciting. My issue is the length of them. I felt that due to the length, it fell into a familar routine. You have an objective, getting there means going from one open (ish) place to another, killing everything, exploring everywhere, move on. Occasionally there are cut scenes or dialogue options to expand story and character but actually, they are almost few and far between given the amount of areas. There were a few times when I thought, ah something is going to happen and then find another two areas to clear. It just becomes quite systematic, combat encounter, use a few resources, explore and replenish, move on etc. This also affects the other major element that is controversial - the violence. This is a horrendously violent game and I won't get into the argument of whether it is justifiying or gloryfying but with the length of the game, you are no longer shocked by it when you get to the end. You'll shank someone and no longer be appalled. Again, this could be argued it is a part of the game (violence becomes acceptable) but it lessens the impact.
So with length, it becomes hard not to talk about story. Without going into spoilers, I feel that the story has a point - it is well thought out, it isn't random and certainly has a thematic and narrative force behind it. That said, it isn't as satisfying as I had hoped and also, maybe controversially, isn't as clever and as thought out as it thinks it is.
What feels about halfway through the game, the game allows you to see the events from the perpspective of a different character. It is a bold choice and one that has caused the most hoo ha (including the idiotic death threats etc.). The idea is very clear to say, ah ha what you thought was right was wrong, see things from a different perspective. This story is as equally compelling as the first but I don't feel it works. It breaks your story attachment with the main character you have played which means you feel distanced later on. Knowing where the story is going means that there are few surprises in this half. I feel like it is like an M. Night Shyamalan twist - sure, it is clever but it isn't satisfying. It also brick walls the narrative into one of 3 outcomes and the story, rather predictably, has to follow one of them.
My other gripe is that the theme of this game doesn't work with the gameplay in my opinion. In this game, you murder literally hundreds of people (not including zombies). You do this intimately and graphically, you tell enemies to quiet as you choke them or cut their throats. Yet at the same time, in story moments, characters are horrified about a particular act of violence they have committed that is supposed to shock - ignoring that they have committed mass murder in arguable worse manners than the act they feel bad about. It is why the artistic point of the story doesn't work for me - violence is terrible when it serves the story but ignored as part of the main gameplay loop. Generic video game enemies don't matter but story NPC's do. Feel bad for killing one animal but happily slaughter loads more with no repercussion. This worked in TLOU1. The violence was horrid but then Joel was not a good guy and the emphasis was that to survive he did terrible things. Joel would kill without hesitation if it is what he wanted. In this one though, the characters choose to commit violence and then it questions what that violence does to a person but only when it serves the story. Violence is terrible and look what it does to people is the question but until story moments happen, the characters rest easy with slaughtering 20 goons.
Lastly, does the story work for me? Well, no, not really. I think ND were brave, they didn't really rehash the story of the last game. I don't like the decisions about some characters fates but I can see they did them with good intentions. At the same time, there just wasn't the depth to this story other than revenge is bad mmmkay.
So overall, my rambles are at an end. The Last of Us 2 is a very good game but not perfect and, I think, with a story that was not bad but thematically didn't work for me and ultimately, will not be something that people will be overnalysing for years to come in the way the first game did. Does that mean it failed? Well no, lightning can't always strike twice. My guess is that once the hype and controversy has calmed down, this will be one of those games that people evaluate on its own merits and say, pretty great but not a classic.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego Nice. Great write-up. This is the sort of critical writing I enjoy reading.
I was pretty shocked when I heard how long the game was, considering how short ND experiences typically are. Setpiece-heavy cinematic experiences and horror games both tend to be more effective when they're shorter. So it doesn't surprise me to hear that you thought the experience was too dragged out overall.
The perspective shift is interesting. I'm actually wondering if part of the intention wasn't to undermine the player's connection to the initial Ellie playthrough? From what I know about the game, it seems designed to deconstruct and/or subvert expectations when it comes to revenge narratives, and one of the most crucial elements of these narratives is the way the viewer/player identifies with the wronged character and thus is able to enjoy a visceral, sadistic rush when the revenge element begins. You seem divided on this yourself, where you sort of admire it for what it's brave enough to attempt, even as you acknowledge that it undermines the game's entertainment value for you overall.
Yeah, I've also heard about the overall ludonarrative dissonance generated by an anti-revenge story where you brutally slaughter an army of animals and humans on your way, only to relent and see the errors of your ways in the last moment. Perhaps this game might have been more effective as a different genre entirely? TLOU Part II is an action game that sounds VERY conflicted and uneasy about its own identity.
Thanks for posting your thoughts.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Rudy_Manchego Great review sir! I had similar issues with the pacing and the length of the game. There were a few sections where I was struggling a bit, but the game introduced a new enemy or had an awesome section (like the hotel or hospital) just at the right moment to keep my interest piqued. When I look back at the game I struggle to find what they would cut though, maybe a few of the encounters with the WLF or Seraphites, but I'm not sure if that would have reduced the overall length by that much.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Rudy_Manchego Brill review dude! It’s interesting to see a more critical viewpoint now we’re removed from the initial launch buzz. Although I haven’t played it myself I did watch much of it be played, which was unavoidable as it was on the living room telly. To me it did seem a little bloated but there were certainly aspects I found very interesting. Largely what Naughty Dog did with that other character. It contrasts quite well with Ellie’s story, especially as there are some similarities between the character’s initial revenge motivations. I actually came to prefer her by the end of the game and rather disliked what Ellie had become.
It’s interesting that you bring up the ludonarrative dissonance as it is still a problem with so many games. Gameplay loops haven’t yet caught up to the strong narratives that underpin the whole experience, which at times can be very jarring. It’s especially an issue with that other famous Naughty Dog series. In those you are playing a “good” guy who is essentially a mass murderer. Then in cutscenes - particularly in Uncharted 4 - he is suddenly unable to kill or even injure someone because his conscience suddenly springs to life.
Anyway, I’m glad I watched so much of it be played as I now think I’d quite like to experience it myself and fill in the gaps that I missed. I was convinced I wouldn’t like the game and that the bleakness and violence would trigger me (my mental health has not been good recently), but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d built it up to be.
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