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my hatred was not for mgs3′s ending…it was for odd gameplay, terrible “automatic” camera angles…and overdone storyline in general

— vanberge Read More

Well, as all of my “faithful” readers are sure to know both Halo 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater have recently been released. There has been much debate as to whether MGS3 or Halo 2 is the better release. Clearly, if you have played both games you must agree that Halo 2 is the superior title. However, both have their merits. While reading this you should consider that both of these games achieved average ratings of over 90%. So, neither is bad.

Metal Gear Solid 3 is probably the worst game ever to score a 92.6% average rating. However, I am not immediately aware of any other games that have earned this particularly rating, so it could also be the best game to earn that rating. In any case, I only said that to rile up all those die hard MGS fans. You know who you are.

I recently finished Metal Gear Solid 3. However, this did not come without great strife, both from in game play, and “acts of God.” Perhaps the most irritating thing that happened to me, was that the copy of the game I was using was defective. After the defeat of the, Colonel Volgin and Shagohod, combination the game would freeze. The first time this happened, I had not saved since the first Volgin fight, so I had lost an hour of my life. This happened to me three times before I literally lost it and hopped around the room like a crazed gorilla on the balls of my feet and knuckles. After I climbed up to the ceiling I began to calm down and exchanged the game for a working copy. Finally, on my fourth destruction of the feeble Volgin, I was able to finally pass the cut scene to a new stage that was worse than all those that preceded it. Apparently, they added a “Feed Eva’s Fat Ass” mini-game. In this section of the game you are suppose to escort a damaged Eva to the lake where you will face the Boss. Once I found out she stopped walking when her stamina ran out, rather than bother feeding her I killed her on the spot using my fork (I was not going to waste ammo on that whore). Well, I was unfortunately faced by a Game Over screen. After being pissed for a little while I went back and tried feeding her, but that only lasted five minutes before I tranquilized her, and drug her fat ass all the way through the stage.

the story just tries to do too much…

— vanberge Read More

Do not get me wrong, MGS 3 has some of the best moments in gaming. For example, the visuals immediately after you defeat “The Boss” are some of the best I have ever seen. If it were not for the PS2′s inferior technology, scenes like that could have been truly breath taking. The story that took place throughout the cut scenes was also very interesting. Unfortunately, often times it ruined the suspension of disbelief by throwing in concepts that were difficult to swallow. No doubt these tidbits were added to create another layer for the Japanese to relate to. Perhaps my biggest problem were the members of the “Philosophers:” the United States, USSR, and China. I mean, seriously when was China ever a world power? Sure, Russia gave them the nuclear bomb, but I’ll be damned if they have ever even been close to the political power that oozed from the United States and USSR. Granted their country contains half the people of the world, mere numbers are not enough. I mean as a third world country you are just blah. Back before the nuclear bomb, their armies might have been something, but considering that the country could become a giant glass parking lot now does not really impress me all that much. Anyhow, I have gotten off on a tangent. Additional things, such as the character’s fascination with Japanese food was really irritating. At many times throughout the game dialog became unbelievable. I feel this was probably just poor writing though. Overall the story was good, but the details were “messy” to put it best.

The game play is the area that requires the most improvement. At many times throughout my drudgery I was trying to quickly force my way through the playable sections in order to get to the next cut scenes. The premise of the game is “survival.” Whenever you complain about something to someone that likes the game they always plead, “its about survival!” Well, to put it frankly, it is not.

its about survival

— Jacco Vanberge Read More

The worst addition to the game is the stamina system. You have to eat in order to maintain a level of stamina which dictates your performance, such as the ability to aim a gun accurately. Sometimes while toting the shotgun I would run about for a while without stamina since aiming did not really matter all that much. For doing this I was greeted by an irritating empty stomach growl.

Now, you might ask how does this work in the game. Well, you have to kill animals in the wild (which turn into NES style “food” icons that spin around in the air), or gather food packets that float in the air. There is no limit to the amount of thing you can consume so long as you are holding them. Eating requires no time and instantly replenishes an amount of stamina. Instant gratification is another destroyer of suspension of disbelief.

There are two other instant gratification areas that completely destroy the survival argument. They are quick reloading, and camouflage. By double tapping R2 you deselect and reselect your current weapon. When you select a weapon it is automatically loaded. Therefore if you run out of ammo you can skip the reload sequence by deselecting and reselecting the weapon. How freaking realistic is that!? A similar concept applies to camo. In order to hide from guards in the game, you can employ camo which will reduce your visibility to the bumbling enemies. Camouflage consists of face paint and jump suit. Depending on that combination and your environment a certain percent camo is determined that influences how well an enemy can see you (it also depends on current phase). All you have to do is pause, and select your camo, and you are instantly wearing it. No sound, no anything to alert your foes. I found it to be almost comical when I alerted a guard, dove into grass and changed into the appropriate camo. The guard could not find me even though I kept pegging him with my pistol.

Another one of my problems with the game was the fix camera. Sure you can slide it around a little, but not enough to really change the perspective. Many people claim that you just get used to slipping into first person view. It was my experience that FP mode was not done very well. One of the problems was that if you turned in FP mode it did not translate to third person mode. So, you can go FP position yourself drop back to third person, and proceed to shoot in the wrong direction. For many people this is probably not a problem, but having played so many Xbox games that allow you to pan the camera, zoom in, zoom out, etc… has spoiled me. I expect to have full camera control in a third person game. I mean hell, if the backgrounds are not pre-rendered, then why the hell not?

There are many other problem with the game. But, there are problems with all games that is just the reality of the business. When a perfect game is created, I will own it. Until then, I will continue to spend my money on lesser quality products. At this point, I do not own MGS3, and I have no plans to purchase it. However, I would definitely recommend this title for rental, or purchase to another. It is one of the best titles this year, ironically, it was not the best release of November. Halo 2 reserves that title, and perhaps the title of best video game ever. But, only time will tell.

…keep in mind jjafuller is like the biggest halo fan i know

— vanlandw Read More

If you want to know how to create a FPS, just start playing Halo. It gets just about everything right. But, it is far from perfect. I have at least as many complaints about Halo 2, as I do MGS3. However, most of these problems do not bother me as much. For most people the biggest problem is how the game ends. Or, rather how the game does not end. It just stops right in the middle of everything. Right as all the pieces start to fall into place and the story is really getting good…BAMM…the screen fades and you are expecting to start a great final stage as Master Chief, but the credits roll. For me the cliff hanger was awful, but not so bad as to spoil the game for me. In fact, it was not even the thing I disliked the most about the game.

Unfortunately, my degree in Computer Science does not give me the ability to accurately describe the feeling I had when I discovered that Bungie had removed the “Jumpy” button configuration. I figure that I have logged roughly one thousand hours of play time in Halo. Throughout that play time I was using the Southpaw control scheme, and Jumpy button configuration as they felt the most natural to me. Since I am left handed Southpaw was a virtual requirement. Jumpy was a natural choice, since the Southpaw controls make it difficult to jump with A, which the default controls require. This is why I am so upset about its removal in Halo 2. So far I have played in about one hundred multiplayer games, and the main campaign using Southpaw and the default button configuration. Thus far I seem to be getting the hang of it, but it is still not the same.

“Balance,” the mysterious term used by developers to refer to weakening things such as weapons, health, etc… Apparently, the purpose of this is to prevent any one thing from giving someone a fundamental advantage over someone else. Perhaps the most obvious “balance” added into the game is what they did with pistol. You can no longer zoom in, or kill someone in three shots. The new “improved,” magnum, requires about ten shots to take someone out. YEAY for balance! There are many other issues throughout the game like this that irritate me. However, the only other one that I am going to talk about is vehicles.

well….i guess “bang for your buck”…halo 2 is better because i’m sure i will log more hours…but for single player experience IMO MGS3 was more enjoyable

— vanlandw

Now, when talking about vehicles in Halo 2 one would more accurately describe them as flaming death traps. Take for example my favorite vehicle from Halo: the warthog. Sure, it did not have the tightest controls, but once you got the hang of it, it was really fun to drive. Best of all it was indestructible. This simple fact lead to several unintentional multiplayer modes in which you could do battles with warthogs. Unfortunately that element is now gone. The new and “improved” vehicles can be blown all to hell. Oh yeah, they also made the rocket launcher so that it can lock in pretty much making vehicles all but useless.

Now, instead of driving around in your good old warthog with your buddies in capture the flag knowing that you will be safe from most fire, you get to die. All of you. All it takes is one rocket and all three of you are brutally slaughtered and your ashes rain delicately from the sky. On that same note, you can no longer hop into any vehicle with the flag. Back in the day, it was great fun to capture the flag, steal the other teams scorpion, and proceed to blast the hell out of them while you returned to your base. That sadly is gone as well. This has been replaced by the ability to ride in the passenger side of the warthog. That is it, you cannot control a vehicle with the flag, you just get to be rocket bait. Good fun, right? “Balanced,” as they say.

As a victim of my own devices, I find that I am not as proficient in the Halo 2 MP as I was in Halo MP. The primary reason for this is that I used to use the Jumpy button configuration as I mentioned earlier. The second reason is that I always used to play custom games. For that I am paying dearly now. For those of you that have played Halo 2 MP you know that the SMG is the staple weapon. For those of you that have played Halo you can think of it as a watered down version of the Assault Rifle (the new assault rifle acts more like a rifle, making it great in SP but nearly worthless in MP). Back in the days of Halo we would do custom matches such as snipers, rockets, pistols, shotguns, etc… We never used the rifles, they just were not fun to use. The same is true in Halo 2, but they are Bungie’s staple weapon so you just have to suck it up and deal with it .

Having stated all of the glaring flaws in Halo 2, now I will discuss just a few of the things that I like about it. The first, and most obvious thing is the graphics enhancement. This is a catch 22 though. The first game had bright colors and beautiful outdoor scenes. This is what really got me into it. The new graphics system–though incredibly detailed–is decidedly much darker than the first. But, it fits the tone of the game quite well. Master Chief got the biggest make over, as well as Cortana. Over all the marines are better now, though they were not too bad in the first game either. Perhaps my favorite marines are what I referred to as the “Fallen Angels.” These are the guys in all black that went down in the drop pods with Master Chief onto the Delta Halo. Those suits of armor are bad ass. If they had blue tint instead of purple they would be perfect. Much cooler than the green MC wears everywhere.

master chief didn’t acomplish one single thing in his mission

— vanlandw Read More

Secondly, the story is dramatically improved. Whereas the first Halo game was a simple story driven FPS, the sequel is more of an epic story with excellent game play. In overall coherence it is much better than MGS 3 (with the exception of the cutoff), but in respect to individual cutscenes, MGS 3 has it beat hands down. Perhaps the thing that intrigues me the most is all the religious symbolism that is prevalent throughout. I mean, with a title such as “Halo,” you know that it is going to be packed with these kind of references. The writer of the Halo 2 story, is trained in drama, and world cultures/histories. So he is able to capture that realism that is usually laking in science fiction games/movies. Additionally, he extensively tapped his father as a resource, who is a professor of theology. All things considered it is excellent.

I should make the point to note that the story of Halo 2 is circular. In many ways, since there is not a specific ending it feels as though you have accomplished nearly nothing. In many ways the game progresses the story of the Halo franchise. But, you both start and end the game in Earth orbit. And, it feels as though nothing has changed. Well, throughout the game you witness the dissolution of the Human and Covenant war. The Covenant is broken, and we will see the Elites and their allies join with the Humans in the fight with the Prophets and remaining “Covenant.” So that has “changed.” Additionally, you learn why the battle that takes place at the beginning of the game happens. So, by no means has nothing been accomplished, but it can certainly feel that way.

Xbox Live. Need I say more? The fact that Bungie has released several key updates to the game is a testament into itself. Additionally, the MP is not bad either! The fact that they have added a party system is truly revolutionary. Playing by yourself in MP is pretty fun, but the true enjoyment is playing with your friends. Something this system guarantees. The online stats system is pretty slick, though I must admit that I kind of suck. If you want to look me up I am “AgelessArtimus.” Bungie is also great. They really listen to the fans, which is amazing in itself, because hardcore gamers are some of the bitchiest people ever to live (beaten out by pen and paper RPG players, and anyone that plays strategy Miniature games). Eh, I got off track. The point is the fans demanded Team Slayer, so Bungie setup Team Slayer for Xbox live. Perfect. What more could you ask for. Well, they also added Rumble Pit Training ground, so you can finally play slayer with your buddies. Halo 2 is probably the closest to perfect any video game has ever come.

it has been fun fighting with you over video games

— vanberge Read More

In conclusion, we see that both games truly are great and make worthy additions to your library. Though when directly compared we see that Halo 2′s single player just barely nudges out MGS 3 for clarity of story, and dramatically better game play. Additionally, the inclusion of the best online MP ever for a console makes Halo 2 the hands down winner between the two. Thus, if you can afford it, feel free to get both (hell I bought a PS2 exclusively for the purpose of playing MGS 3). But, if you can only afford one, buy Halo 2, and rent MGS 3.