Heck nah splinter cell 1 - 3 were something else. Those were actually realistic hardcore stealth. Mgs weren't as hard for me. Choas Theory is the best stealth game ever till this day period
I think they both have a lot of merits.
Splinter Cell has, in many ways, aged a lot worse than something like MGS2. The animation work was never as good and it was a little clunky but it was pretty ambitious.
My big issues with Splinter Cell single player is tied to the trial and error nature of the gameplay. It always felt as if there was one specific way through each area - maybe two in some spots - and trying to go outside of that would result in death or a very messy finish. The AI isn't super refined either.
There was more of a toy box element with Metal Gear where you have a wide array of tools within a very interactive environment with interesting AI.
...but I don't want to knock Splinter Cell, really, as it did a lot of amazing stuff. Also, the multiplayer in Pandora is one of my favorite memories of playing any MP game ever. It was unbelievably cool back in the day.
Thanks DF for mentioning the longer codec loading on HD Collection! It wasn't my imagination.
Did not know about the dual layer DVD for PS2 Substance. That explains a lot. The stuff about how the cutscenes were made was fascinating as someone who never got the Document of MGS2.
BTW one interesting little graphical change was the thermal goggles.
Top is vanilla ps2 release. Bottom is Substance.
Yes, you're absolutely right! I noticed this as well but didn't get a chance to include it. There are so many little things in the game that I'm sure I missed plenty of others as well. There's so much there. Good catch!