Support NeoGAF

[Barrykins]

Is it possible to play MGS1 on vita? I could have sworn it wasnt.

It's not. The only way to play that one is on PS3. HD collection vita only has 2 and 3 with the MG 1 and 2 while the HD collection on PS3 gives you a download code for MGS1 from the ps store. I was wrong. Apparently you're able to transfer the game from your PS3 to your vita.

I've started them over again this month. I played through them before but when I went back and watched a lore video to get ready for Phantom Pain I realized I forgot too much of the story and I missed a lot.

Spoiler

I don't think I could've accurately explained the differences between the patriots, the Americans Philosophers, the wise men committee or the La Le Lu Li Lo.

 

[Sub_Level]

I'm in a pretty weird situation with the game. I absolutely love this series, its attention to detail, the story, the characters, Kojima's genius and vision to the world but I've never played any of it despite knowing a lot about it.

In terms of gameplay, it's almost like 2 separate series.

You have the classic style games. MG1, MG2, MGS1, MGS2.

And then you have the more modern style games. MGS4, Peace Walker, MGSV.

MGS3 is kind of in the middle but leans more towards modern.

I've started them over again this month. I played through them before but when I went back and watched a lore video to get ready for Phantom Pain I realized I forgot too much of the story and I missed a lot.

Spoiler

I don't think I could've accurately explained the differences between the patriots, the Americans Philosophers, the wise men committee or the La Le Lu Li Lo.

Spoiler

Philosophers: Not just American, but Chinese and Russian as you know. The Boss' father was the last of the original Wisemen. They left behind the Legacy, which the Boss secured in MGS3. She gave a fake to Eva who thought she got the real thing. Ocelot delivered half to the CIA. And then...

Patriots: With that money, the Americans created their own branch of the Philosophers. The 6 founders were BB, Zero, Paramedic, Sigint, Ocelot, and Eva. Their goals of world order are similar to the Philosophers, but with all the power concentrated in America. Zero and BB eventually have a schism, and BB leaves the Patriots. The Patriots are eventually run by AI as Zero becomes an elderly man. The AI work was started by Strangelove early on and later finished by Emma Emmerich.

La Li Lu Le Lo is just a code name for Patriots. One neat theory (which may be fact) is that nanomachines cause individuals in the System to say that code name instead of Patriots. It happens to Marine Commander Scott Dolph in MGS2 and Meryl in MGS4.

 

[omnislayer]

Skip Peace Walker. It's awful.

Since MGSV is a direct sequel to Peace Walker this is horrible advise. It's one of the single most necessary games in the series.

 

[gafneo]

Since MGSV is a direct sequel to Peace Walker this is horrible advise. Is one of the single most necessary games in the series.

Lol, I know. You hate PW, chances are you will hate MGSV

 

[AgentOtaku]

Is it possible to play MGS1 on vita? I could have sworn it wasnt.

Metal Gear Solid 1?

Yeah, it's on the PS Store

 

[Roussow]

Just wrapped up the "Tanker" mission of MGS2.

Holy shit, this has so much promise.

 

[//ARCANUM]

It's not. The only way to play that one is on PS3. HD collection vita only has 2 and 3 with the MG 1 and 2 while the HD collection on PS3 gives you a download code for MGS1 from the ps store.

I've started them over again this month. I played through them before but when I went back and watched a lore video to get ready for Phantom Pain I realized I forgot too much of the story and I missed a lot.

Spoiler

I don't think I could've accurately explained the differences between the patriots, the Americans Philosophers, the wise men committee or the La Le Lu Li Lo.

Incorrect. I read up on it and while it doesn't show up on the vita store, if you purchase and download it on PS3 (but don't install it on PS3) you can transfer it to your Vita.

 

[njean777]

I just finished Ground Zeroes, at least the main mission. I am ready for 5.

 

[Barrykins]

Incorrect. I read up on it and while it doesn't show up on the vita store, if you purchase and download it on PS3 (but don't install it on PS3) you can transfer it to your Vita.

Ahh my mistake. That seems kind of backwards that you would have to go through that.

 

[zephyrsquall]

I hope the game comes with packed in goodies, like KojiPro stickers or a reverse cover

 

[Jawmuncher]

Finished MGS3 last saturday and beat Peace Walker this Saturday. Will play Ground Zeroes tomorrow since that takes at most an hour to beat. After that i'll be taking a break. Might run through MGS1, and if I have time/am in the mood will play MGS2 and MGS4.

Since none of those 3 are really needed for TPP though i'm pretty much set at this point. Regardless if I play those or not. Contemplated portable ops, but since kojima doesn't include it in his timeline press materials. Despite it being like half canon I won't bother. Since literally nothing seems to carry from it into Peace Walker. Outside of one mention.

 

[Timeaisis]

Since MGSV is a direct sequel to Peace Walker this is horrible advise. It's one of the single most necessary games in the series.

It's also the worst game. I don't see how skipping the most unremarkable game in a series is the worst advice since he's only got a month.

Efforts are spent better on the main series, surely.

 

[Sub_Level]

Finished MGS3 last saturday and beat Peace Walker this Saturday. Will play Ground Zeroes tomorrow since that takes at most an hour to beat. After that i'll be taking a break. Might run through MGS1, and if I have time/am in the mood will play MGS2 and MGS4.

Since none of those 3 are really needed for TPP though i'm pretty much set at this point. Regardless if I play those or not. Contemplated portable ops, but since kojima doesn't include it in his timeline press materials. Despite it being like half canon I won't bother. Since literally nothing seems to carry from it into Peace Walker. Outside of one mention.

Well, Portable Ops did add one very important plot point that was later expanded upon in MGS4.

Spoiler

Zero creates the Patriots with help from Ocelot who secures the Legacy.

Believe it or not, that originated in Portable Ops and Kojima rolled with it lol

 

[AgentOtaku]

Aaaad MGS2 down

Total Time: 6:20

Still has my favorite story in the franchise (even with the wacky shit) and probably has overall the best look... or at least consistent, which I suppose isn't hard considering how many environments there ended up being... Still stellar level design tho!
Also, I forgot how goddamn amazing the music is. From the Boss Battle theme to otherworldly theme when you're in

Spoiler

Arsenal Gear

Gonna skip ahead and just do first 2 Chapters of MGS4 (you know, the ones with actual, legit great gameplay in them), since I wanna stick around in future MGS some more. Maybe I'll even start some MGR. Then I'll just back to 3 and then PW...

 

[Game4life]

Get ready to experience the greatest game ever made AKA MGS3.

 

[//ARCANUM]

Okay I just started MGS3 for the first time. It took me 4 tries on the first areas with enemies to progress (ended up killing them all) and now I keep dying on the second area. This game is already hard as hell for me. I'm playing on normal. Should I drop down to easy?

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

Okay I just started MGS3 for the first time. It took me 4 tries on the first areas with enemies to progress (ended up killing them all) and now I keep dying on the second area. This game is already hard as hell for me. I'm playing on normal. Should I drop down to easy?

No.

Learn the power of the QCQ-slam and you're untouchable by regular soldiers on normal.

 

[MiamiWesker]

I am in the middle of an MGS4 play through, people that don't like this game are crazy. By a mile it has the best gameplay in the series before 5. It has some of the most hype inducing incredible action sequences ever put in a game. There is just so much you can do to the guards and how you approach any battle, it's nuts.

My rankings for the series:

MGS4 - 10/10
MGS 3 - 10/10
MGS1 - 10/10
MGS2 - 9/10
MGS Ghost Babel - 9/10
MGS Peace Walker - 8/10
MG2 - 8/10
MG1 -7/10

Story rankings: 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 > PW
Gameplay: 4 > 3 > 2 > PW > 1
Bosses : 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PW

 

[Hypron]

Okay I just started MGS3 for the first time. It took me 4 tries on the first areas with enemies to progress (ended up killing them all) and now I keep dying on the second area. This game is already hard as hell for me. I'm playing on normal. Should I drop down to easy?

Before you drop the difficulty... Did you try changing your camo and face-paint to be harder to see?

Also, in this game you can't walk close to enemies with the analog stick, otherwise they'll spot you. You need to use the D-Pad instead (or just do what I did, stay away from them and tranq them from a distance).

 

[//ARCANUM]

Before you drop the difficulty... Did you try changing your camo and face-paint to be harder to see?

Also, in this game you can't walk close to enemies with the analog stick, otherwise they'll spot you. You need to use the D-Pad instead (or just do what I did, stay away from them and tranq them from a distance).

oh i had no idea you could walk with the d-pad! good to know, thanks!

Edit - and yes I'm using camo and face paint

also, I can't figure out how to pull off the CQC moves. There wasn't a tutorial for it. I'm just supposed to guess how to pull off these moves? Basically I'm just running up behind guys and hitting O and trying to grab them before shit gets bad.

 

[//ARCANUM]

No.

Learn the power of the QCQ-slam and you're untouchable by regular soldiers on normal.

how does one do this?

 

[collige]

I am in the middle of an MGS4 play through, people that don't like this game are crazy. By a mile it has the best gameplay in the series before 5. It has some of the most hype inducing incredible action sequences ever put in a game. There is just so much you can do to the guards and how you approach any battle, it's nuts.

My problem with MGS4 gameplay wise is that despite all the amazing tools and features they put in, there's hardly ever a chance to put it into action. Levels are short, the framerate is trash, and the plot going of the rails in a bad way with massive cutscenes certainly didn't help. Plus, the respawning enemies and the trailing mission just sucked.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

I am in the middle of an MGS4 play through, people that don't like this game are crazy. By a mile it has the best gameplay in the series before 5. It has some of the most hype inducing incredible action sequences ever put in a game. There is just so much you can do to the guards and how you approach any battle, it's nuts.

It actually has my favorite bosses in the series, and some great gameplay segments, but the ridiculous amount of cutscenes, and the infinitely respawning enemies in the first three acts hurt it for me overall. Snake Eater has the best gameplay overall, and especially for the fact that there are VERY long segments with no interruptions is a huge plus.

Anyways, to the OP: Don't do it. This is a series that requires time and reflection between each game. No need to rush through it. TPP won't be a worse game just because you don't play it at launch.

 

[Hypron]

oh i had no idea you could walk with the d-pad! good to know, thanks!

You're welcome!

also, I can't figure out how to pull off the CQC moves. There wasn't a tutorial for it. I'm just supposed to guess how to pull off these moves? Basically I'm just running up behind guys and hitting O and trying to grab them before shit gets bad.

Yeah the game isn't the best at explaining how CQC works. Basically, if you just press (and hold) the CQC button with your left stick in neutral position, you'll grab the enemy (be careful though, the button is pressure sensitive so if you press it too hard you'll slice the guy's throat instead of simply holding him). However, if you tilt the stick in a directly as you press the button you'll do a CQC slam, which knocks them out in 1 hit (but does some noise IIRC).

 

[//ARCANUM]

You're welcome!



Yeah the game isn't the best at explaining how CQC works. Basically, if you just press the CQC button with your left stick in neutral position, you'll grab the enemy (be careful though, the button is pressure sensitive so if you press it too hard you'll slice the guy's throat instead of simply holding him). However, if you you tilt the stick in a directly as you press the button you'll do a CQC slam, which knocks them out in 1 hit (but does some noise IIRC).

Oh awesome. Thanks! Why doesn't the game teach you this stuff?

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

oh i had no idea you could walk with the d-pad! good to know, thanks!

also, I can't figure out how to pull off the CQC moves. There wasn't a tutorial for it. I'm just supposed to guess how to pull off these moves? Basically I'm just running up behind guys and hitting O and trying to grab them before shit gets bad.

MGS1-3 all kinda expect you to read up on the controls and moves you can do in the manual. They *are* actually explained in-game, right down to the smallest detail, if you constantly call your support team in the beginning area of the game. But all the countless tutorial conversations are mixed in between other random stuff. There's like 2 hours of optional conversation in the prologue area alone.

Anyway, the most useful CQC move when your discovered is to just run up to the enemy and press O while still holding the stick in any direction. You slam your enemy to the ground and they're instantly knocked out.

 

[AgentOtaku]

I am in the middle of an MGS4 play through, people that don't like this game are crazy. By a mile it has the best gameplay in the series before 5. It has some of the most hype inducing incredible action sequences ever put in a game. There is just so much you can do to the guards and how you approach any battle, it's nuts.

My rankings for the series:

MGS4 - 10/10
MGS 3 - 10/10
MGS1 - 10/10
MGS2 - 9/10
MGS Ghost Babel - 9/10
MGS Peace Walker - 8/10
MG2 - 8/10
MG1 -7/10

Story rankings: 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 > PW
Gameplay: 4 > 3 > 2 > PW > 1
Bosses : 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PW

I like the cut of your jib

 

[Jindrax]

Okay so I too wanna jump on the MGS train here. I played MGS 1 when it released and I don't remember much from it. I played 4 when it released and didn't understand a lick of the story.

I played Ground Zeroes last night and loved it. So now I've got the bug.

So I know I could grab the Legacy Collection from amazon, but I've got an almost week long vacation coming up soon where I won't be with my PS3 but will have my Vita. So I'm more likely to play through at least some of these games if it's on my vita.

So my question is - Legacy Collection vs. buying MGS1 and the HD collection (2+3) for Vita. I know that legacy collection comes with peace walker, so I'd be missing out on that, but honestly I doubt I can beat all these games anyways before 5 comes out, and there's no way I'm NOT gonna jump right into 5 when I get it....

So what should I do? Legacy Collection or play on Vita... (also, CAN you play MGS 1 on Vita?)

One more question, if I only have time for ONE of these games before 5 comes out, which should I play?

Get it on Vita, play as much as possible

Is it possible to play MGS1 on vita? I could have sworn it wasnt.

Yeah it is, bought it last week. works fine

 

[MiamiWesker]

My problem with MGS4 gameplay wise is that despite all the amazing tools and features they put in, there's hardly ever a chance to put it into action. Levels are short, the framerate is trash, and the plot going of the rails in a bad way certainly didn't help.

Levels are huge, there is nothing in mgs3 as large as the areas in South America. Multiple paths, hidden shacks, entire optional battles. People love to shit on act 3, it's massive, it's a large city to explore. Did you ever stop trailing the guy and just mess around the city.

I understand if you play MGS4 traditionally you may feel it's limited, you don't NEED most of the stuff. But if you just mess around, I spent hours in one section just torturing guards. Once you get emotion bullets and dolls you can do some funny stuff to them. I just create scenarios, clear this section with only traps or something. Doing a big boss run was exhilarating. This is why I am so excited about MGS5, it's like the entire game is built around the stealth playgrounds that mgs4 did better than any game in the series.

The plot I can't defend, I skip it most of the times I replay it. I enjoyed it up until the very end. The pacing is off like MGS2 that is for sure.

 

[Charlouie Jonesman]

Another useful thing to know about MGS3 CQC...grab a soldier and then throw him to the ground. (Same button input as with the CQC slam, but do it while you're holding the dude.)

Then pull your gun, you do a hold-up with the enemy still lying on the ground. You can get some items by shooting near his face or his crotch but what's more...they'll never get up, unless they're discovered.

Also, about items...if you kill an enemy, you get 1 item from him, if you knock them out or put them to sleep it's 2 items. Hold them up and you can get 4 items. The last one is always the most valuable, something like battery extensions, life medicin, etc.

 

[pantsmith]

Just beat MGS for the first time in many years. My girlfriend kept asking how much longer the movie was

The jump to MGS2 is crazy, and I forgot how much I loved the tanker from the demo when that came out.

 

[barit]

Would it not be easier (and faster) to read a book about the whole story and its characters? There must be a book about MGS somewhere on this planet, right?

 

[Roussow]

Would it not be easier (and faster) to read a book about the whole story and its characters? There must be a book about MGS somewhere on this planet, right?

Easier and faster, sure -- but it's much more enjoyable to play through the games (if you have easy enough access to them, of course) -- besides story, there's a value to seeing how the gameplay of the series has evolved and innovated throughout the series.

It's a big part of my personal gaming history that I've missed, it's a pleasure to go and find out for my self what series has captivated a generation.

 

[RealityCheque]

Ive been inspired by the OT and I'm going to have a crack at the series as well. Not going to put a time limit on myself as I won't be getting MGSV on day 1, Konami won't get my money that easily. I'll wait for a sale.

Starting with MGS:Twin Snakes, its a damn fine game so far. Really holds up.

 

[Roussow]

Took a break after getting playing from the beginning of MGS2 until the very beggining of the boss fight against the woman who wields the railgun/can't be shot -- I'm now finished with the bomb defusal stuff (I think). Weirdly paced stretch of gameplay, seemed to take up a good portion of my time, for how little plot progressed, a good amount of character work though, and it was a good stretch of pure stealth gameplay, so it served a purpose of letting me get used to the core gameplay, I had to get good at trailing and strangling guards, using cover, etc -- before they gave me a silenced pistol, I really want to try the Tanker mission again now, with my new found grasp of the mechanics -- but I'll probably just play theses "Snakes Tales" missions if I do have more time after I finish the story.

I did like the small arc of the bomb defusal veteran, and I like Snake -- sorry, Pliskin (gets me every time, what a blatent reference, haha) as a supporting character. Not digging the Rose / Jack relationship much here, yet. I mean, that King Kong story was sweet, I take it, but god damn, is it not the time for that. Internal struggles like this made sense in MGS1, characters like Meryl and Otacon having to be talked through there respective troubles to join Snake in his deadly mission was nessesary -- as they were literally THERE, they had a job to do, Rose can just stay quiet, and do her fucking job for a few hours while Raiden does his mission.

Oh, and did I mention -- holy fuck this game looks good, still today, faces and facial animation are the only departments that really age this game. Every little detail from the shadows, to the water, to the physics, it's fucking mindblowing for the year this came out -- it's really violent, and quite visceral too. Vamp assassinating the SEAL team, and every headshot erupting in liters of arterial sprays. I wonder if the leap to 3 isn't going to be as impressive, I booted up 4 within the last few months just to take a look, and I remember some of the textures not holding up super well, but it certainly had great facial work, and great character models -- gun models too, the details were really there with 4.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

I have 1 month to play all of Metal Gear Solid.

Don't bother.

 

[Gun Animal]

Don't bother.

You can add this post to your list.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

So, I just finished MGS3. That's a really good game. Gonna play 4 next week.
I'm just gonna rank rhe frst three games, don't want to start a new thread because there are a bunch of MGS threads already.

Story:
3>1>>>>2
God, the story in MGS 2 is bad. It almost made me want to quit playing MGS 3. They set up so much dumb stuff without any resolution at all and a number of "twists" are entirely pointless. The whole Rose twist did absolutely nothing, came out of nowhere and hadf no consequences whatsoever. Raiden is an alright character but it becvame comical how absolutely everybody tricked him, used him and lied to him. Aweful story.
MGS 3 though. That's a fan-fucking-tastic story. It's straight forward, the twists come with an impact, the characters are much more interesting and the conclusion is just very well done. MGS 1 is similar though the story isn't quite as interesting but still very enjoyable.

Gameplay
2>3>1
So, playing through 2 made me wonder why games don't give me more options nowadays. You can do so much to your enemies, it's great. 3 expands those options, however the game adds a bunch of unneccessary systems that forces you to spend way too much time in the options menu. Heal yourself, eat, manage your inventory ec. all done via the options menu. It get's old pretty fast. MGS 1 is surprisingly playable though it doesn't hold a candle against the other 2.

Characters/Codec conversations
3>1>2
Again, 2 suffers from a bad story and mostly uninteresting characters. Meanwhile MGS 3 has the best/funniest codec conversations of them all, and the characters it bothers to establish are pretty well done (even though I couldn't stand EVA)

Boss fights
3>>1>>2
3 starts of with probably the weekest bossfight of the first 3 games. I beat the Pain by just standing there, shooting at him and occasionally diving down into the water. Pretty boring. The rest though. i know everybody talks about the End (which was a very cool fight) but I really, really loved the Fear fight. And the final battle against the Boss is one of the best Bossfights in a game. Not really because of the mechanics, but the presentation, the set up and the connection between the characters. MGS 1 also had some pretty cool fights, especially Psycho Mantis and both duels with Sniper Wolf. MGS 2 though. I didn't enjoy a single bossbattle in this game Fatman was neither hard nor interesting, just annoying. Fighting 8 Metal Gears was just tedious, as was the harrier fight. And I beat Vamp again by just standing around, waitibng for him to jump down to the exact same spot and occasionally running around when he threw knifes. Solidus was probably the best, but still didn't do anything for me cause Solidus was just a weak character.

So I really like MGS 1, genuinly love MGS 3 and accept MGS 2. If MGS 2 didn't play as well as it did I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

You can add this post to your list.

I would if I could be bothered.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Just killed The Pain in MGS3. Not sure why I couldn't appreciate 3 back in the days but replaying it now shows me that this is indeed the pinacle of the series. Ever since the fixed the camera in Subsistance this game just works. Great story as well. Only thing that extremeplay bothers me is the missing quick load option. I simply can't understand why a stealth game (the genre being trial & error on nature) doesn't have this.... Idiotic...

 

[SmartWaffles]

In terms of gameplay, it's almost like 2 separate series.

You have the classic style games. MG1, MG2, MGS1, MGS2.

And then you have the more modern style games. MGS4, Peace Walker, MGSV.

MGS3 is kind of in the middle but leans more towards modern.

One thing is the controls which changes drastically overtime but the main problem is that I don't like stealth and am bad at it, while having the OCD to play a game as it is intended to as much as possible

 

[MMaRsu]

Fuck it, just bought 2 and 3 again from the xbl store. Ridiculous pricing but whatever.

Cant wait to play through 3 again. Is PW really essential for V? The only one I never really played

 

[JimmyRustler]

Fuck it, just bought 2 and 3 again from the xbl store. Ridiculous pricing but whatever.

Cant wait to play through 3 again. Is PW really essential for V? The only one I never really played

Well, we don't know how essential it'll be be there are characters from PW that are seemingly important in V. Like Chico. However, it really isn't a good game imo. I recommend to watch it as movie on Youtube. Well, that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Marty-esque]

So, I just finished MGS3. That's a really good game. Gonna play 4 next week.
I'm just gonna rank rhe frst three games, don't want to start a new thread because there are a bunch of MGS threads already.

Story:
3>1>>>>2
God, the story in MGS 2 is bad. It almost made me want to quit playing MGS 3. They set up so much dumb stuff without any resolution at all and a number of "twists" are entirely pointless. The whole Rose twist did absolutely nothing, came out of nowhere and hadf no consequences whatsoever. Raiden is an alright character but it becvame comical how absolutely everybody tricked him, used him and lied to him. Aweful story.
MGS 3 though. That's a fan-fucking-tastic story. It's straight forward, the twists come with an impact, the characters are much more interesting and the conclusion is just very well done. MGS 1 is similar though the story isn't quite as interesting but still very enjoyable.

Gameplay
2>3>1
So, playing through 2 made me wonder why games don't give me more options nowadays. You can do so much to your enemies, it's great. 3 expands those options, however the game adds a bunch of unneccessary systems that forces you to spend way too much time in the options menu. Heal yourself, eat, manage your inventory ec. all done via the options menu. It get's old pretty fast. MGS 1 is surprisingly playable though it doesn't hold a candle against the other 2.

Characters/Codec conversations
3>1>2
Again, 2 suffers from a bad story and mostly uninteresting characters. Meanwhile MGS 3 has the best/funniest codec conversations of them all, and the characters it bothers to establish are pretty well done (even though I couldn't stand EVA)

Boss fights
3>>1>>2
3 starts of with probably the weekest bossfight of the first 3 games. I beat the Pain by just standing there, shooting at him and occasionally diving down into the water. Pretty boring. The rest though. i know everybody talks about the End (which was a very cool fight) but I really, really loved the Fear fight. And the final battle against the Boss is one of the best Bossfights in a game. Not really because of the mechanics, but the presentation, the set up and the connection between the characters. MGS 1 also had some pretty cool fights, especially Psycho Mantis and both duels with Sniper Wolf. MGS 2 though. I didn't enjoy a single bossbattle in this game Fatman was neither hard nor interesting, just annoying. Fighting 8 Metal Gears was just tedious, as was the harrier fight. And I beat Vamp again by just standing around, waitibng for him to jump down to the exact same spot and occasionally running around when he threw knifes. Solidus was probably the best, but still didn't do anything for me cause Solidus was just a weak character.

So I really like MGS 1, genuinly love MGS 3 and accept MGS 2. If MGS 2 didn't play as well as it did I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it.

The things you mention about mgs2's story. There's a reason for all of it. It all makes sense at the very end.

 

[Garuda1One]

1 month is not enough i think.. If you want to know the story so far and prepare for TPP, at least focus on big boss story arc first then solid snake later on...

Start with mgs3, peace walker then ground zero.. 3 games in one month is enough and you wont be burned.. After TPP then play mgs1, 2 and 4 (solid snake story), you could also try mg1 and mg2:ss

 

[War Peaceman]

Just killed The Pain in MGS3. Not sure why I couldn't appreciate 3 back in the days but replaying it now shows me that this is indeed the pinacle of the series. Ever since the fixed the camera in Subsistance this game just works. Great story as well. Only thing that extremeplay bothers me is the missing quick load option. I simply can't understand why a stealth game (the genre being trial & error on nature) doesn't have this.... Idiotic...

Does it not have it only harder difficulties? I know 2 does but I am blanking on it.

Also, I believe you should play on after alarms.

 

[chrislowe]

Is it possible to play MGS1 on vita? I could have sworn it wasnt.

just downloaded it from PSN Vita store in Europe, so it is possible.

 

[Game4life]

I am in the middle of an MGS4 play through, people that don't like this game are crazy. By a mile it has the best gameplay in the series before 5. It has some of the most hype inducing incredible action sequences ever put in a game. There is just so much you can do to the guards and how you approach any battle, it's nuts.

My rankings for the series:

MGS4 - 10/10
MGS 3 - 10/10
MGS1 - 10/10
MGS2 - 9/10
MGS Ghost Babel - 9/10
MGS Peace Walker - 8/10
MG2 - 8/10
MG1 -7/10

Story rankings: 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 > PW
Gameplay: 4 > 3 > 2 > PW > 1
Bosses : 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PW

Truth. MGS4 is phenomenal.

 

[MiamiWesker]

I really don't understand the hate over act 3 in mgs4. What mindset are you guys in when you play this game? I remember the first time I played it I was wowed at how different it was to any MGS game before it.

Spoiler

It has a massive environment to explore. There is a bunch of stuff going on with multiple patrols, helicopter searchlights, car patrols. The resistance member always does some dumb stuff to get caught so it's fun getting him out of that situation, but forget him, exploring and getting into trouble on your own is where it is at. I have been playing it for two hours now, some of the best stealth sections the game has.

Then after that you get a cutscene that drops huge story bombs leading into one of the most amazing bike chases ever put in a game. Then you do get the weakest boss battle but that leads into the best cutscene of the entire game and one of the best in the series. I was totally at the edge of my seat, freaking out the first time I saw that cutscene.

 

[Cramoss]

Alright, I'll do it. I'll replay every main MGS title since it's probably my favorite saga.