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[John Kowalski]

Not liking it is one thing, but not getting why people like it? I mean, there are few franchises so open and bold about themselves and their masturbatory eccentricities as MGS.

 

[DevilFox]

Both games have laughable stories (MGS4's cutscene indulgences got so bad that I just started skipping them during the second half of the game) but the gameplay portions of 4 are much better designed in my opinion. The switch to a free camera and the improved movement/shooting mechanics make it a more enjoyable stealth action game, which is really what I play them for.

I understand but there are 7 years, 2 games and 1 generation of distance between MGS2 and MGS4. It's simple evolution of gameplay, back then MGS2 was absolutely great and smart. Right now even MGS4 feels clunky compared to Ground Zeroes.

As far as story is concerned, while MGS4 is a disaster from many points of views, MGS2 is actually great when you understand it and how it's told is even better, though all those codec conversations can be annoying. MGS2 and 3 are the best embodiment of what MGS is and should be in my opinion, with great characters development, relationships, few good twists, irony, good gameplay of course and a little drop of supernatural elements that do not need explanation because they're good and fascinating as they are.

 

[gunslikewhoa]

I don't care one bit about the story. I can't even make it through a five minute video summary without drifting off. What I've read about the gameplay sounds great, though, and that's why I'm in day one.

 

[topplehat]

With Metal Gear I don't really understand the story, I just go along for the ride. I can see how many would not like that though.

 

[Canis lupus]

This series has so many memories with gamers, and I've tried to get into this series numerous times. Beat MGS on PS1, and while it was OK, the story just lost me, and wasn't all that interesting. Picked up MGS2 after a few months of solid reviews, good word of mouth from my local game shop, and yeah.....terrible story, gameplay was ok, just never really grabbed me. Started 3, played it about halfway through, and stopped.

I've seen the praises of 4, and 5 looks to be high rankings again. I just don't see the love of the series that other people do. I feel like I'm missing out, any other gaffers feel this way?

It's okay, not everyone has to like every game ever. The real surprise here is why you keep forcing yourself to play those games when you know you don't like them. I also don't get how it's hard to see the love for the series, the gameplay is great, the boss battles are fun, the are characters are memorable, the story is interesting save for mgs2, it does the best cutscenes in gaming. I mean there are games I hate too but I can still see why people enjoy them, like Skyrim, huge open world(albeit bland) etc, surely you've seen something like that in MGS.

Metal Gear Solid 2 has an amazing story.


But yeah Metal Gear games are weird as fuck, in the best of ways.

Metal Gear Solid 2 has a terrible story?

Hm. Okay.

MGS2 is a convoluted mess.

MGS2 represents everything wrong with videogame storytelling. MGS4 makes it worse, but at least it's a good game.

I hated that melodramatic garbage in MGS4, everytime I watch the parts with Naomi I cringe. The finale is also way too long and loses emotional impact.

 

[TheSeks]

They're fun games to play, when the game allows itself to be played.

Watching the 500 hour marathon livestream and reading Wikis to catch up on the story, my reaction to the over-arching narrative is "I can't believe how many people take this garbage seriously." In nearly any other medium (book, television, film) the story and writing of Metal Gear would be considered nonsensical indulgent claptrap, but for some reason people insist on treating the game like it's some pinnacle of fiction. There's people talking about multiple times they've cried during cutscenes, or bleating on about how the games have something really meaningful to say about war or technology.

It's like listening to someone talk about their tearful and emotional experience of watching Dragon Ball Z. Or having someone wax poetic about the savory delectable aromas and flavor profile of a Pop Tart.

Eh, people got rightly emotional over the "twist" of the ending of Metal Gear Solid 3. If you didn't, well you have no heart if you followed the story closely.

 

[Iorv3th]

If you don't like it you don't like it.

What gets me is people that 'like' the games but skip all the cutscenes and don't care for the story......that is the largest part of the game.

 

[John Kowalski]

MGS2 is a convoluted mess.

What was messy about it?

 

[Theognosis]

You're not alone. The only Kojima game I truly adored was Zone of the Enders 2, so I learned to respect the guy. I wish Kojima would make more action-oriented games because he's good at it. As for MGS, it's a soap opera with Rambo as its lead character.

 

[wowbaggerBR]

This series has so many memories with gamers, and I've tried to get into this series numerous times. Beat MGS on PS1, and while it was OK, the story just lost me, and wasn't all that interesting. Picked up MGS2 after a few months of solid reviews, good word of mouth from my local game shop, and yeah.....terrible story, gameplay was ok, just never really grabbed me. Started 3, played it about halfway through, and stopped.

I've seen the praises of 4, and 5 looks to be high rankings again. I just don't see the love of the series that other people do. I feel like I'm missing out, any other gaffers feel this way?

Relax, you are not alone.

The first one is in my top three games of all time. But I really don't care about anything that came later.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

I'm with the OP too. MGS 5 looks like a big departure from the formula, and I'm incredibly excited to play it for those reasons.

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

I get (and quite enjoy) Metal Gear... What I don't get is people who think the story is somehow deep and/or meaningful and is over the age of 13.

 

[mnz]

It's not like Metal Gear is the most popular series out there, it sells 5-6 million copies. So you're definitely not alone.

 

[Plinko]

I'm with you, OP. I find it (and Uncharted) to be the most overrated game series. I find the gameplay incredibly bland and the story to be a convoluted mess.

I actually enjoyed the NES Metal Gear the best and thought it went downhill from there.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

The story of MGS 2 basically cooks down to "The government is lying to you."

Oh, and there are a bunch of WACKY characters to keep your attention until they get to that part.

 

[TheExhaustedWalrus]

I feeI the same way. I bought the Iegacy coIIection back in march and made it Iike haIfway through 1... and just kinda gave up. It didn't grab me. I am thinking about skipping 1 and going straight to 2. Not sure if that's a wise move.

 

[Isocr4cy]

I never really understood them either until watching Metal Gear Scanlon. Now I've played Ground Zeroes and am massively excited to get my hands on V.

 

[Omadahl]

I never cared for it either. I don't like stealth games in general and the characters didn't interest me. In the words of Michael Jackson, "You're not alone."

 

[Majora]

I couldn't give less fucks about the series' dreadful story and Kojima's ridiculously overwrought, portentous, hammy monologuing that passes for dialogue.

I'm playing through MGS5 right now though and I'm enjoying it because the mechanics are rock solid, the level design excellent and Kojima's eccentric inventiveness shows through where it matters - in the gameplay.

Mercifully, cutscenes are non-existent and Kojima's amateur attempts at scriptwriting are mostly consigned to audio tapes which I will never ever listen to. Win win.

 

[Red Blaster]

The story of MGS 2 basically cooks down to "The government is lying to you."

Oh, and there are a bunch of WACKY characters to keep your attention until they get to that part.

nah there's a bit more to it than that

 

[Lego Boss]

I have to say l felt as if the game was like a throwback to a time when game controls were obtuse and that playing a game was as much a chore as enjoyable.

I've been gaming for over thirty years and l feel that even the old school nature of MGS is overbaked and l just can't get on with it.

I understand that there are loads of people who love it and respect that, but l just don't get the appeal.

Maybe the new one will be different, but l'll never know as l'm not going to try it.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

nah there's a bit more to it than that

Damn it, you're right! I forgot this!

 

[His Majesty]

I tried playing MGS3 but damn that game is clunky. I just ended up reading a plot synopsis rather than having to struggle with the controls and camera.

 

[cacildo]

Ive played Metal gear solid 1, 2, 3 and 4

By the time ive played 4 i was like "eh.... i dont think i want anything with these games anymore"


i think MGS2 was out in a different time.. we were all young, the internet was young, the convoluted plot full of "secrets" that related to real life (and i remember NOTHING of) made too much sense to us at that time....

...while now it simply dosent.

 

[Red Blaster]

Damn it, you're right! I forgot this!

lol

but your summary of mgs2's plot as "the government is lying to you" is reductionist (since every game in the series is ostensibly about that) and overlooks some its key themes

 

[MichaelFassbender]

lol

but your summary of mgs2's plot as "the government is lying to you" is reductionist (since every game in the series is ostensibly about that) and overlooks some its key themes

I admit it's a bit of a simplification, but it is an honest assessment. Especially in the face of all the wacky nonsense that accompanies the themes that you refer to. That's what I meant by an earlier comment about the "thin veneer of seriousness" which the whole series trails around.

Again, gameplay is fine; writing is awful.

 

[MakeMeFeelAlive]

Yes, the story is extremely convoluted. But, if you didnt get "into" metal gear solid, i dont think you had a chance at all in the other ones. That one eas the most straight forward imo. The only caveat being snake eater. Im a little surprised you werent able to go through the other ones and not mgs3. Generally, people whondont care about the story still enjoyed the gameplay of mgs3. Did youbget stuck or annoyed anywhere? I know a few people who dropped it while playing against the end.

I have locked myself down from watching most videos or anything really about mgs5, but its my understanding that you can just enjoy the gameplay with this one while most metal gear type stories.

 

[dcelw540]

I played 4 and didn't get the love. Also I find it weird that the newest game is a prequel. The ending of the series is 4 but now for their next instalment they're going into the past. I guess I'm old fashion where I would rather have a game after 4 instead of dwelling on past events which we already know the outcome for with later games in the series.

 

[Canis lupus]

What was messy about it?

The last few hours of the game. I just didn't get what the fuck was going on lol, maybe it's due to my english but after coming from mgs1 I had a certain expectation of the game and it was fine, I didn't even mind Raiden that much, until Arsenal Gear, then it goes fucking mental. Waves of codec calls and cutscenes for mindless exposition. All the stuff about Raiden and Rose, him being the adopted son of the president, Liquid still being alive in an arm, the crap about Selection for Societal Sanity etc. It was sort of genius but not what I wanted and laid the groundwork for the awfulness of mgs4.

 

[firehawk12]

I play the games for their gameplay and just ignore the story entirely. It's the only way I can deal with Kojima's expository largess, and I'm fine with not understanding what is going on with any of the characters.

 

[redcrayon]

This series has so many memories with gamers, and I've tried to get into this series numerous times. Beat MGS on PS1, and while it was OK, the story just lost me, and wasn't all that interesting. Picked up MGS2 after a few months of solid reviews, good word of mouth from my local game shop, and yeah.....terrible story, gameplay was ok, just never really grabbed me. Started 3, played it about halfway through, and stopped.

I've seen the praises of 4, and 5 looks to be high rankings again. I just don't see the love of the series that other people do. I feel like I'm missing out, any other gaffers feel this way?

The reason anyone feels like 'am I the only one who...' is usually because threads about how an individual poster feels/dislikes or doesn't get on with something specific are less relevant to most other people (and thus die more quickly) than a general thread about the same game.

For popular games you'll see a lot of people discussing them, but comparing the sales of even big hitters like CoD, GTA, or to a lesser extent exclusives like TLoU, Mario, Uncharted etc and you'll find that the majority of owners on a platform haven't even touched them, even if they are amongst the best selling and most popular games on a forum. I'd imagine a slightly higher percentage of posters on an enthusiast forum probably have compared to the wider audience of console owners, but even so, and even when only considering the minority that actually bought a title, you're not going to be anywhere close to being alone when disliking even the most highly-regarded game.

 

[FonkyByNature]

I don't know the story very well, i often read about it on Wikipedia to understand the things that I missed better but i'm a huge fan of the atmosphere and gameplay. It's just super fun to play. Stealth is awesome and the whole thing is weird overall which makes the MGS games some of the best!

Can't wait for Phantom Pain!!!

 

[vainglorious]

I've tried to jump in but haven't found much success either. I played 4 and uh... I remember looking at a lot of fried eggs. I bought the remake of 3 on 3DS which I ended up regretting because of the control scheme. I had fun with Revengeance, didn't really understand what was happening, but the gameplay was good enough to just go with the flow.

If you didn't get on the bandwagon early and grow up with this series I think it just flies right over your head, it definitely flew by me.

This series is also super anime but tries to hide it with this Quentin Tarantino-esque absurdity/seriousness. It works though.

 

[partyphone]

there's a third way. i get MGS but think it's super awful and bad and kojima is a hack writer. he's basically the george lucas of video games.

i'm actually the most interested in MGSV because I hear it has little to no story except for the beginning and end of the game. so i should be able to skip all the dumb bullshit, play the open world cow capturing game in the middle and then throw the disc away.

 

[aeolist]

oh thank god a MGS hate thread.

i can't stand any of them. way too self-serious and the controls are universally awful.

 

[partyphone]

oh thank god a MGS hate thread.

i can't stand any of them. way too self-serious and the controls are universally awful.

yeah if they had a consistent, goofy tone i would probably like them. but they're just all over the place.

 

[Fancy Clown]

oh thank god a MGS hate thread.

i can't stand any of them. way too self-serious and the controls are universally awful.

Self-serious is certainly not a term I'd use to describe this series

 

[aeolist]

The story of MGS 2 basically cooks down to "The government is lying to you."

Oh, and there are a bunch of WACKY characters to keep your attention until they get to that part.

so kojima is the banksy of gaming?

 

[aeolist]

Self-serious is certainly not a term I'd use to describe this series

i feel that any attempt at real gravity in a game that has as much terrible dialog, voice acting, and outright goofy bullshit as MGS falls completely flat

if it were just wacky spy hijinks it wouldn't bother me as much, but the games make me think kojima is trying to be a serious auteur with deep important things to say about heavy topics like war, rape, politics, and violence. it kinda clashes with the vagina bombs, ninja strippers, skull-faced guys named skullface, and laughably bad delivery across the board.

 

[Screaming Meat]

The story of MGS 2 basically cooks down to "The government is lying to you."

I'd say the story of MGS2 basically boils down to "The game is lying to you", actually.

i can't stand any of them. way too self-serious and the controls are universally awful.

You're either being wilfully ignorant, have never played a Metal Gear in your life, or are mixing it up with Splinter Cell.

 

[vainglorious]

i feel that any attempt at real gravity in a game that has as much terrible dialog, voice acting, and outright goofy bullshit as MGS falls completely flat

if it were just wacky spy hijinks it wouldn't bother me as much, but the games make me think kojima is trying to be a serious auteur with deep important things to say about heavy topics like war, rape, politics, and violence. it kinda clashes with the vagina bombs, ninja strippers, skull-faced guys named skullface, and laughably bad delivery across the board.

Hahaha this post is amazing.

 

[Canucked]

I don't get vamp

 

[Beelzebufo]

I'm not a fan either. Played Solid 1 all the way through but never had any real desire to replay it. I didn't like Ground Zeroes at all, especially all the talky bits. It looked really pretty I suppose.

I liked David Hayter's voice though, and Snake is a cool character.

i feel that any attempt at real gravity in a game that has as much terrible dialog, voice acting, and outright goofy bullshit as MGS falls completely flat

if it were just wacky spy hijinks it wouldn't bother me as much, but the games make me think kojima is trying to be a serious auteur with deep important things to say about heavy topics like war, rape, politics, and violence. it kinda clashes with the vagina bombs, ninja strippers, skull-faced guys named skullface, and laughably bad delivery across the board.

I agree with this as well. Skullface made the post though lol

 

[dripdripsplash]

I don't get the story is either. Just there for the game play in V

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

lol There is some pent up feelings in this thread. Like you had to get something off chest. Ha
Anyway, I love the series (especially 2) but I totally can see why people aren't into it.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

so kojima is the banksy of gaming?

Ha! Knew I woke up for a good reason this morning!

I'd say the story of MGS2 basically boils down to "The game is lying to you", actually.

Yeah, that too... Sometimes I wonder if all the binge-watching of Murder, She Wrote is getting to ol' Hideo.

 

[t_berta]

I don't get vamp

midichloriamachines

 

[SatanicNemesis2K]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/2050xm/metal_gear_the_complete_story/

This is the best summary I have found to brush up on the story pretty quickly.

 

[frogger]

To me the story is the good part of the series except when they got to MGS4. The story in MGS4 is just way to lame, with tons of cliché. It seems Kojima was forcing twists rather than trying to make the story make sense.

The bigger problem is the actual action and shoot in the game. Both of the action and shooting part of MGS series suck ass. They are not half as good as other action and shooters.

 

[clem84]

I have an experience similar to yours OP. I actually really liked MGS1 on PSX. Thought MGS2 was ok but waaay too heavy on cut-scenes. MGS3 just lost me a few hours in. I was just so damn tired of not playing. Haven't played another MGS game since then. I inquired about MGS4's gameplay-to-cutscene ratio and apparently it's just as bad as 3 was, so I didn't play it. Don't know how 5 fares in that department. The reviews make me want to play it very badly but I'm just not a big fan of the overall design of the series since 2. Maybe I'll try it at some point.