The 10th Hour 06.06.08: Top 10 Things About The Metal Gear Franchise

Posted by Derek Robbins on 06.06.2008

With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 looming, 411's Derek Robbins decides to break down the 10 things about the franchise that he enjoys the most. Are some of your favorite things included? Read to find out

Hello and welcome to the 10th hour! As always, there are a couple of things I want to get out of the way before I move on to the actual column.

-Apparently, while the division leading White Sox were in the 15th inning against the Kansas City Royals, their fans started to chant: "Cubs lost!" This seems pretty darn insecure to me. You have a team that is leading the division and you are STILL obsessed with the Cubs? My God, no wonder nobody gave a shit when you won the World Series. The fans were probably just happy the Cubs didn't make the playoffs.

-I am about to embark on a journey to Branson Missouri…so I'm browsing portable titles that could keep me occupied. I think I may end up trying out the Legend of the Un-employed Ninja (Izuna). It looks alright for a roguelike game.

-Hell yeah Edge is champion. It may lead to another stupid Batista title shot, but who cares! EDGE IS CHAMPION!

Reader Feedback

Last week I stated my distaste for the current console generation and naturally there was some disagreement. So let's see what you lot had to say.

Aussiegamer thinks this console generation is the equivalent of the "Age of Orton"

There's still plenty of time left, now that developers have got their
engines in place they can start to increase the length of games i.e
the next GTA.

I disagree with you and I think we're in a golden age of gaming which
includes the last gen of gaming as well.

SNES and GENISIS games were short as hell, it just seems like they
were long because of the insane (cheap) difficulty some games had
combined with no checkpoints and limited continues.


I agree that there is still plenty of time left. I think the rest of this year – particularly for the PS3 – looks pretty compelling. Though Monster Hunter 3 for the wii could rob millions of their livelihood…

I also disagree with the fact that THIS generation is part of some "golden age". Look, we do have some great games. I didn't really include cross-platform games last week, but stuff like Virtua Fighter 5 is fantastic. That said, in my eyes there isn't enough diversity to make this generation seem all that great. Most titles seem like shooters…well, I guess that's because that's what sells.

I do believe the last generation was pretty impressive, though.

Xenodias makes a decent point


There is one primary problem with your #1 (quality): Cost of
producing games nowadays. Unless they raise the price per game
released, it is much more cost effective for companies to release
ports/rehashes. Otherwise, a company is taking a risk and, if it
does not pay off, will leave them in a serious financial hole as
compared to any other generation. Therefore, most game companies
will go for profitable franchises instead of taking risks.

Might take an Atari-level collapse of the industry in order to shake
up the order but, as it stands, I think these same complaints are
here to stay for the long term. Sad to say, I can barely stand this
current gen myself; it's boring and same old, same old compared to
better games of previous generations.


Sometimes ya' gotta take risks though. Companies that are well established and have solid fan-bases – such as Nintendo – can afford to take risks. If it's a Nintendo first-party title it's going to sell. Period. You're right though, it's simply easier to be profitable and forget about being new or interesting.

Rob Oracheski takes issue with a couple of things


"After all, if it's additional to my playing experience and I
really enjoy the game…why NOT pay for it? With that said, it seems a
lot of games are charging you for content that you have on the disc
already. Why is that? Why do I need to pay extra to play something
that should already be there?"

That was an issue early on, but I can't think of any game recently
where that's happened.

Your '360 is shooters, PS3 is variety' point is pretty flawed as
well. If Mass Effect is a shooter, then so is MGS4 :p

You could just as easily list Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, PGR4, Too
Human, and Fable 2 on the 360 side, and Haze, Resistance 2, and
Killzone 2 on the PS3 side :D


I only meant that Mass Effect had shooting elements, not was a shooter. I was just stretching a bit to try to make a point, heh.

As for the other games I could have said…there are always exceptions to the rule. You're right, those ARE exceptions…but I feel that as a whole, the 360 is mostly a platform for shooters.

twf's sdc brings the length


Great column and another wicked cool pic at the end. I'll try to draw
some more stuff for you in the coming week.

Plenty of good reasons not to buy into this generation it seems, yet
at least. I am plenty satisfied with my Wii (and DS... I'm not a
Nintendo fanboy, I swear!) right now, considering the boatload of
older games I have yet to finish take some of my "less than what
it used to amount to" gaming time. I'm not even playing it for
much of anything other than SSBB, the Virtual Console/WiiWare, and
the occasional rental. I still only own four Wii games (not counting
VC/Wiiware, which only brings that total to nine at the moment...
significant increase coming soon), though I've had it since last
March. Earthbound and Animales De La Muerte can't come soon enough.

I still think Geno (and Mallow) should be in the next Smash Bros
game. I mean, Ice Climbers was a pretty obscure and not even
especially good game and the titular characters are in it. And though
Super Mario RPG is merely a cult classic, so was Earthbound, and we
have Ness, and the resulting popularity gave us Lucas as well. And
how many people in the states even knew about Fire Emblem before Roy
and "Mr. I Have the Smoothest Skin in the History of the
Universe" Marth?

As far as anime series go, I don't know if you've seen any of these,
but they are my all-time faves and I can highly recommend them all:
Patlabor (all of it), Vandread, Coyote Ragtime Show, The Mythical
Detective Loki Ragnarök, Cromartie High School, Azumanga
Daioh, and I really enjoyed the little I got to see of Moonlight
Mile. There are others, but I'm too tired to think of them.

LOL, it is my karmic retribution for responding so slow when I have
to e-mail people. Being a slow typer AND easily distracted doesn't
help. It doesn't help me recap either.

Oh, that reminds me. How did the Cubs do last night? I had to recap a
crappy wrestling show that had an ending that made no sense again. I
guess Rhino and LAX couldn't be bothered to show up and even try to
save the day at the end. Lame.

I hope my thoughts came out better than I'm expecting, since I'm
pretty much half asleep. Peace. :)


I have more wii games, embarrassingly enough. I think my collection is upwards of 10. Since I already own the console, I may as well own all the high-caliber games right? I still play a lot of DS as well. I can't wait for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 because, well…I loved the original.

Fair enough point regarding the inclusion of Mallow and Geno. The Ice Climbers game is absolutely horrible, so if they wanted to throw in another team...I guess I'd be okay with it. You're absolutely right, by the way…Fire Emblem was a fairly unknown series stateside (unless you were either a weeaboo, a Nintendo fanboy, or really fucking loved tactical RPGs) until Melee came out. So character infamy may not be horribly important.

The Cubs have been playing lights out ball for…most of the year. We really need a new starting pitcher terribly, so I'm rooting against Cleveland right now. I hope they trade C.C. Sabathia. It'll probably mean Pie dawning an Indian uniform, but I could care less. C.C. on the Cubs would be sublime. Also, anime…I've seen most of the series you mentioned except for Ragnarock. So I'll check that one out. Thanks! Right now I'm watching Fate/Staynight. It's okay.

Sean McCabe has some epic feedback I feel like posting.


Well, I didn't have a lot to say for the last couple of columns so I
didn't, but you rebounded with one I have a lot to say.

10. Problems with ports have always existed, and at previous points
were worse; NES Metal Gear being inferior to the MSX version, SNES
Mortal Kombat being censored. In truth you're probably lucky that a
few bugs here or there, caused by Sony's insistence on making overly
complex hardware, is about the worst you have to deal with.

9. In truth Nintendo have done the one thing with the internet that
they really should do, that is the virtual console. Whilst I enjoy
the odd bout of online play on my 360, I find online gaming to be
singularly the most overrated concept in the industry, and the
constant focus on it is more an issue for me with this generation
than anything else you listed.

8. This is an issue though, pretty undeniable. I've played the Ninja
Gaiden 2 demo and think the game looks beautiful; yet I then find
reviews saying the game "looks last gen". Seems the
dazzling bloom this generation is turning people blind. Say what you
want about the Wii though, but Nintendo took a chance and forego the
graphical race, proving it's not needed to sell.

6. I don't mind downloadable content so much in concept, but when
developers are clearly using it in a cheap attempt to make more
money... well that's capitalism for ya. I'll be buying those Ninja
Gaiden 2 costumes though, I'm a sucker.

5. Length is really a non-issue for me, but a short game needs to
have replay value. Good example of that is the old RE games. All
shorter than 8 hours in length, but fun to replay simply because they
are amazing games. Quality matters more than length and is the anser
to a lot of issues in regards to length. As for this generation, it's
not been too different for me in this regard.

4. For this argument, you're going to need more than Persona 4.
Especially as you overrate 3 so much. It's a good game but Persona
has always been inferior to the main SMT series. Nocturne is the best
one available on the PS2. However if this argument is just applied to
the PS3, fine. I don't have one either because there's not enough
reason yet, but the Wii and 360 are a different story.

3. Myth. That's all I have to say. I hate generic shooters yet the
360 offers me more games to play than the PS3 could.

2. You're argument about "rehashes" on the Wii falls flat
because they can be applied to the other two consoles even more
strongly. At least the Wii tries some innovation. It's still in a
teething stage, but it sells well so developers see no need in
pushing the system yet, I think though at some point they will and
the Wii will see some truly spectacular games.

Okay, and to finish off.

1. I guess I'll start by being cruel and saying that the likely
reason for the lack of quality you're experience can be attributed to
the three games you mention - Brawl is an overrated rehash of an
always overrated fan service series. GTA IV is a rehash of an always
overrated sanbox game which has never truly offered any kind of
enhanced experience which remotely justifies people's reactions
towards it. It's atrociously boring and should not be given 10/10
when exemplary games like Ninja Gaiden which are meticulously made to
offer the perfect experience within their genre have to make do with
7/10 because they don't have the best graphics or are "too
hard." Bioshock was the biggest example of Fable syndrome since
Fable itself and was literally poor in comparison to System Shock 2.


The problem with this generation isn't the lack of quality but the
presence of a completely schewed sense of what quality is and
represents, something that is often present but has become really
exascerbated as of late, and I blame the journalistic part of the
industry, and the hype machine. People base their expectations on
scores and write ups and not on a simple desire to find a fun game to
play. Me, I don't listen to any of that and just make my own
judgements. For example, I enjoyed Enchanted Arms a lot, despite the
lukewarm reaction to it, but found Lost Odyssey really boring and not
fun, despite the positive reviews it got. People would find more
quality if they didn't rely on some kind of existential form of
percieved quality, but simplified it to "this game looks fun,
lets try it" and then making a truly informed judgement. Another
one I really enjoyed was Dark Sector, again it didn't get great
reviews everywhere but I enjoyed it a lot.

Probably the best games I've played this generation were Mass Effect,
for it's incredible universe, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which
"rehash" or not was amazingly fun, I've only played the
demo but Ninja Gaiden 2 seems like the true action game we've all
been waiting for, Zak and Wiki was a great adventure game, and DOA4
and VF5 are great fighters which live up to their forebears. There's
still plenty more time to add to this list.

And this was pretty epic feedback, but then this was quite a broad
column.


10-) True enough. My main argument though was why not to buy it…and I think ports are a much bigger problem with this generation than the prior generation.

9-) The virtual console is great. Sure, a lot of people who own a wii probably play these games illegally on ROMs anyhow, but it's still cool of them to include. As for your dislike of online…that's you I suppose. The reason why I like it is because I enjoy multiplayer games, but people do get busy and can't always come over and play. So…online play allows me to play with other people even if others can't be present with me at the time. I am glad they decided to focus on It because it's better than playing against mindless bots.

8-) Pretty much. You're damn right, too. NG 2 is a good looking title. People are just picky.

5-) A significantly better point than I made. A short game that is quality – like Luigi's mansion – is better than a long, shitty game.

4-) I mostly meant stick with the PS2 because the library is fantastic and the PS3 really can't even come close to touching it. The ‘blockbuster titles' I only threw in there because I was trying to say the console is still alive.

2-) I see what you're saying, but I still think most of the wii's gimmicks would play better WITHOUT the wii controls

1-) Smash Brothers is a series that I am super nostalgic over. I can't gauge it fairly. Simply enough. I think the reason a lot of companies aren't trying something new is because reviews play a pretty important role in sales whether we admit it or not. A company would probably rather make a game they know will score well than risk trying something new and get a sub-par score. As for DOA 4 and VF 5 I totally agree. DOA 4 is a fun game and is another franchise I can't talk fairly about – I even bought that one fanservice game, you know the one I'm talking about – and VF 5 is one of my favorite fighters ever.

Also, thanks for the anime recommendations. I'll end up watching a couple of those series. I typically don't like shonen series either (hurr, hurr, I know I said I liked Death Note) so I'm eager to give this a try.

ayobmedz spots one of my four moves of doom


Now don't get him wrong, anyone!


I actually laughed. I only used it four times this week, but I always felt it's been used too much. Good job there, Avob.

One final comment for this week, it's from Chris. He talks about a tenth hour favorite!


I just noticed the mentioning of MVP 05, and yes, an amazing game. I
bought MLB 2k7 i believe last year, and returned it within a week.
Why? NO FULL MINORS!!! How can you release a baseball game in this
day and age without a full minor league system is beyond me.

I'm a big RPG nut, and I deffinatly agree with you about the length
of games. If I'm paying $60 for a game, it better last. I've logged
over 150 hours of Oblivion, 90 hours of FFXII, that might be a little
extreme, but I played Sudeki for the original Xbox, 12 hours tops, and
an RPG? That was a big disapppointment.

Oh, and to nitpick a bit, Blue Dragon had some shooting elements
(when you're piloting the airship).


MVP 05 is one of those games that seems to get a lot of love on the 10th hour, but nowhere else. It does everything right: Full minors (not replicated to this day, what the fuck take 2), world baseball classic, and a down-right FUN game. I don't care what anyone says, pressing the analogue stick STILL seems gimmicky to me. I'll take the simple button pressing any day of the week.

I bought Sudeki is spite of reviews, and I ended up disliking it. It had a bad story and relatively mediocre gameplay. It just wasn't good and I remember it being hyped right up. FF XII is just long. It's a grindfest at times, but it's by far the longest Final Fantasy yet.

I also think nitpicking Blue Dragon about that may be a bit un-fair. Sorry. Then again, I'm all about being un-fair. Hehe.

There were a lot of great comments this week, but I only have so much room. So sorry if I didn't comment on your stuff. There were a lot of great, great arguments for current gen consoles.



Top-10 things about the Metal Gear franchise

There really aren't any rules for this list, just things I like about the series. If I had to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Metal Gear 1 or 2 so you probably won't be seeing things related to those games on this list…just thought you should know.

Anyhow, with the upcoming release of Metal Gear Solid 4, I felt it would be a pretty good idea to discuss a series that I am rather fond of. Mark Salmela has been doing a rather good job dissecting each and every Metal Gear title in his stellar "Beyond the Special" series, but now it's my turn! Fuck yeah, Metal Gear.

10-) MGS: Always a Graphical Powerhouse - You're probably thinking: "Now Derek, just last week you were getting on the case of certain games for having an emphasis on graphics!" Well, this is true. I was! Just note the word emphasis. The Metal Gear Solid games have always been beautiful, but they've never simply just focused on their graphics. There is a lot of substance to the games and that is why I believe the series would be exempt from the rule I made last week. Anyhow, let's get to the point at hand. Ever since the original Metal Gear Solid, the graphics at the time of release were simply outstanding. Sure, MGS 1 may look ass-ugly right now but at the time…it was actually pretty decent looking. Shift your attention to Metal Gear Solid 2, possibly one of the most hyped games ever. Hell, the demo of it even came with the full-length game "Zone of the Enders". (Actually, I was more excited about Z.O.E than the MGS 2 demo. I guess that makes me weird. Z.O.E. was the very first game I bought for my PS2 so I remember it fondly) When it was first un-veiled at E3 everyone was flabbergasted at the graphics. How could the PS2, the weakest of that generation, handle graphics that impressive? Well, it did. MGS 3 was probably the first "solid" title whose preview didn't lead off with some shout-out about the amazing graphics, but guess what? I'd say outside of the Windwaker – which I still say stands up to games of this generation as far as graphics are concerned – that MGS 3 featured the best graphics of the last generation. So with MGS 4 on the horizon, what's one of the first things we hear about when someone talks about the game? The graphics. While some people claim that they have been toned down – which is fine – I'd still say that as far as this generation is concerned, MGS 4 looks to be the best looking game to this point. If you combine that with the impressive plot and the fun gameplay, you have what I would call a winner. Of course, graphics are probably very essential to the Metal Gear Solid formula, seeing as you do so much cinematic watching. No matter what your take on Metal Gear as a whole is, it's hard to deny that the titles are good looking…and those looks have drawn in non-fans for several installments. Good, because they'd be missing one hell of a franchise if something didn't draw them in.

- My personal favorite E3 moment was when this game was unveiled.

9-) Different Ways to Play - Perhaps I am an unusual person. It seems that when I am playing an RPG, I dislike when there are different ways to play the same game. Linearity is my thing since it all leads to the same damn ending anyhow. It seems that in a game like this though…playing things differently is kind of fun and can be rather unique. First of all, if it's your first time playing through the game most likely you will run and gun, ignoring the stealth bits. If you're playing on any difficulty below hard you should come out okay but your kill count will be ridiculously high. This is alright if you're a casual gamer or you simply don't give a damn about the stealth gameplay and want to see the story. It gets you from one point to the other and you can beat the game like this. Sure, you need stealth every once in a while but it can be done. For those of us looking to play the game a proper way, of course what you would do is stealth around but…here's the deal. From this point you have even more options. You can choose to play a stealth killer, a man who simply slaughters anything in his path and doesn't get caught…or you can play the spy who is sympathetic towards human life and doesn't wish death on everyone. You tend to get more extras if you simply let people live, so as you can guess…simply not killing everything in sight is the harder of the two options. When you play like this, there will always be guards. They all wake up eventually. On top of that, if you really intend to play like this and even fight the bosses without the killing intent, you need to adopt new strategies too. Incorporating punches and kicks, etc. It's pretty neat that a game like this can incorporate little bits of strategy where one would think there isn't any. I also like that the game doesn't FORCE this on you. You don't get penalized for the deaths of soldiers. Sure, you may not get all the neat extra content…but the game doesn't essentially say: "Screw you" which is always a plus seeing as a lot of games have a hard-on for making the player play in a certain way. Whether you enjoy running and gunning through terrorists or would rather play this game stealthily…MGS has you covered. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me…I think it's good to know that there are multiple ways to do the same thing and not receive any notable punishment for it.

- May want to be careful about who you off though.

8-) Kojima: Not afraid to tinker with success - I tend to pick on game developers a lot for not trying anything different. For goodness sakes, I've essentially clinched not ever being in EA's good graces ever again just for my constant hatred of their "same ol shit". That said, I need to give praise when someone actually does something different. It would have been very, very easy to make Metal Gear Solid 2 a game where you just play as Solid Snake and to be honest…more people probably would have liked it that way. Sure, the game plays the exact same whether you are Snake or Raiden, but something just feels…different. You're no longer the badass soldier, but the "fruity" blonde punk. I kind of admire this move because it allows you to look at the main character of the franchise, Snake, through a different light. Usually you ARE Snake and you know what's going on through his point of view, but for the first time you get to see Snake through someone else's perspective and it's really rather neat. Metal Gear Solid 2 gives you insight into his character that you normally would not have gotten if you had played as him. I quite enjoyed this because it's not really something you would expect from such a quality franchise. It's usually better to simply trod on the safe path, but Kojima didn't do that and I have to applaud that action. At the time, MGS 2 was supposed to be the last Metal Gear Solid so people were a little peeved I do imagine…but since then several other games in the series have taken place and zero of them have Raiden. I guess I was the only one out there who enjoyed this move. Now, MGS 2 isn't the only Metal Gear I want to commend for mixing things up. The Metal Gear Ac!d series for the PSP also deserves some props for simply being different. MG:A is a tactical card battling series, which may seem pretty dull at first…but it ends up being rather fun. Of course Konami could have simply released MG: PO from the beginning and everyone would have been happy, but I think it's cool that they tried something different. I probably wouldn't be so enthusiastic about it if the games had turned out bad, but luckily they didn't. I actually figure the MG: A games are under-rated as a whole (Yeah I know, an under-rated MG game. I thought it was impossible to) and only get slammed on because of their card battler status. Card battler or not, it's a fun little diversion from the series and deserves recognition. I can't help but praise Konami for their decisions with the Metal Gear franchise – from the core series to the off-shoots, everything has been damn awesome.

- The man.

7-) Zaniness - Take a quick gander at the more serious titles around. Look at, say…Halo 3. Can you find a glimmer of something humorous? Something…that's just weird? What about Final Fantasy XII? Do you see anything that's just quirky, a sign that the game doesn't take itself seriously? No, probably not. The thing is, a lot of games take themselves very seriously – which is fine, because sometimes it's not really appropriate – so it's always a nice bit of relaxation to know that a game franchise exists that can both be quite serious and silly at the same time. Let's take a look back at Metal Gear Solid 2. How many games would honestly have you play through an area so important to the story completely in the nude? Isn't that just insane? The mission is absolutely crumbling around you…and you're naked. Doesn't that just make things worse? Let's hit up MGS: 3 for a moment. How many of you would have guessed that a mini-game in an M-rated title would allow you to go around capturing monkeys ala Ape Escape? That's insane, isn't it? But MGS: 3 allows you to do just that and it's simply a blast. Sure, you may be in the midst of the cold war, but who cares! Let's go wrangle up some monkeys, yeaaaaaah boy. On top of that, I swear this is the only game that lets you play through super-dramatic cut-scenes with a ridiculous crocodile mask on top of your head and the Kabuki face-paint. Yeah, the final encounter with "The Boss" sure is made ultra tense by Snake's super serious gear. Hell, sticking with MGS: 3…the Subsistence version of the game features several hilarious cutscenes involving various characters from the game, including one which involved the much loathe Raiden trying to take the lead spot. Do I even need to mention series favorite Johnny Sasaki? Well…yes I do, but there's a section later on about that. Really, there are a lot of weird things that I have not even touched on yet. Otakon peeing himself in MGS: 1? The colonel going batshit insane at the end of MGS: 2? Every single boss in MGS: 3? Fatman saying: "Laugh and Grow fat" as you beat him? It's good to know that even with the world crumbling around you, that the Metal Gear franchise doesn't take itself entirely seriously. Taking a break from all of these "deep" games and playing a game with actual depth and pure…absurdity is pretty awesome.



6-) The Music - You have to hand it to a game when the music totally entraps you in a situation. Oh sure, certain games fit into a musical genre, but when one can ensnare you in its world with its music and it's not part of that genre, it's really something special. I know it's old news and everyone knows of this scene or has played it a million times by now, but when you climb that ladder in Metal Gear Solid 3 and the Snake Eater theme plays or when you're fighting the boss…it really ensnares you in the moment. The game just feels like something really special at these points, and no other game has really got me like this. Of course, this isn't just about Snake Eater's main theme…the music through the Metal Gear Solid franchise is simply fantastic. For instance, if you take the tracks from MG that appear in Brawl and compare them with the rest of Brawl's stellar soundtrack you will find that most of the stuff compares rather favorably. One track in particular appears in Brawl that had not appeared in an actual game to that point in time. Metal Gear Solid 4: Love Theme. I have to tell you right now, if the soundtrack for the rest of the game can live up to this one song…you have quite possibly one of the finest sounding games ever. Seriously, you need to hunt down theme of love and give it a listen. You will not regret it. Back to the point though, it seems like the music that plays always goes with the situation. There is very seldom a case where you go: "oh hey, this doesn't quite sound right with what is going on here." For instance, the tracks that play whenever your character has been detected are always appropriate to the situation. Fast-paced and energetic, without fail they should get your heart pumping. Even though most fans weren't too big on MGS: 2 Yell (Dead Cell) is one of the best tracks I've heard. It just gets you pumped, and that's what is so great about Metal Gear's music. It gets you in the mood for the situation and that's something that can help get you caught in the world the game is presenting. The Metal Gear series is always one I will associate with cinematics and the music only further drives this home. Find me a boss fight more cinematic than the fight with "The Boss", I dare you.

- One of the best boss fights ever thank to the cinematic feel.

5-) The Characters - It's fairly obvious that the Metal Gear franchise would have some pretty well established characters. After all, the series is pretty well renown for having long, long cutscenes. If the franchise didn't have such a heavy emphasis on characterization, I really don't think it would have achieved the prestige it has to this day. It would be like Earthbound without Giygas (+1 bitches)…a shell of its former self. What I like particularly is that the characters are all fairly well defined without the presence of stock characters. You end up knowing quite a lot about each and every one of Snake's companions by the end of the game and that's pretty cool. My personal favorite character in Metal Gear Solid is Revolver Ocelot. Without a doubt, he is one of the best villains in video game history. Metal Gear Solid 2 did something here I would like to give a lot of credit. Throughout the game, Ocelot was a guy that you wanted to beat the shit out of. He was being defined as this ultra…badass man and was ultimately the true villain of the game. I honestly felt that I wouldn't be fighting Solidus at the end of the game, but would be fighting Ocelot. So what does the game do? Nothing! You *NEVER* fight Ocelot which…I actually consider to be a good thing. It makes your hatred for that character grow and in all honesty…he achieves one thing that most video game characters could never achieve – the ability to elicit legitimate feelings of hatred. I feel that not letting you get a piece of him in MGS: 2 really helped to drive this home. They further define him through MGS: 3 showing him in his youth. I would venture to say that he's probably one of the most developed characters in gaming history. This is just ONE of Metal Gear's cast though. Believe it or not, from Otakon to Raiden to even Mei Ling…the characters of Metal Gear all receive characterization. By the end of the game if you were to type in a phrase and say: "If a Metal Gear character said this, who would it be?" you could probably tell me exactly who would say it. That's how well defined the characters are in these titles. I'm a big fan of JRPGs, but I would venture to say that just about none can match what Kojima does with his characters. I would say that it is brilliant. Perhaps that's why I didn't hate playing as Raiden in MGS 2? It further deepened Solid Snake's character. Things like this really make the Metal Gear franchise one of the best in the gaming world.

- Good guy, bad guy...his development is awesome.

4-) Fanservice/Bonuses It seems that Konami rewards long-time fans of Metal Gear Solid more so than most other franchises. They constantly have goofy references to past games in the franchise and that stuff is really good. I'm talking about things like Snake's bandana and MGS: 2 and Johnny Sasaki. Yes, it is time to start talking about good ol' Johnny. Johnny Sasaki is originally a guard who watches over Donald Anderson's jail cell in MGS 1. Sadly for Johnny, after he opens Meryl's cell by mistake, he gets knocked out and stripped of his guard clothes. Afterwards he ends up guarding Snake's cell after he gets caught by Sniper Wolf. Well, you all know how that went. Diarrhea sucks. He re-appeared in Metal Gear Solid and he apparently now has a fear of Meryl…because he seems to just let girls run over him. For instance, he could have stopped Emma Emerich but he lets her pass due to a fear of experiencing what he did with Meryl again. If that's not enough Johnny's grandfather appears in MGS: 3 – Snake Eater and is guarding Naked Snake's cell. Opposite of the current time's Johnny, the elder Johnny suffers constipation. That poor Sasaki family. Essentially this Johnny character is a running gag throughout the series. Now what other series would provide constant references to such a minor character? That is insane attention to detail. As if that wasn't enough, Johnny is back for MGS: 4 and apparently plays a bigger role. Sadly though, his signature poor luck remains in tact. Another bit of fanservice, which has been previously mentioned, would be all the cutscenes that appear on MGS 3: Subsistence. They're all humorous little scenes that fans of Metal Gear will get a huge kick out of. That's pretty cool. What Metal Gear has always done well is reward the player for playing. It's not something totally out of the ordinary since several games reward you for exploration and replaying, but it's appreciated none the less. For instance, if you go through the games without killing people you tend to get better rewards. The more you play, the more you'll discover things…there is just a lot to do. For instance, you can play a weird snake dream sequence in MGS: 3 that's fairly violent and almost Devil May Cry like in gameplay. You can set the time forward on your internal clock on the PS2 by a week and The End will automatically die. Really every time you try to do something different you may end up discovering something new, and that is really cool.

- He's baaaaack.

3-) Unique Bosses - For a series that is well known for its unique characters, Metal Gear Solid includes some of the most unique, most memorable bosses of all time. Every single game in the solid series features bosses that you will remember for years to come. For instance, who doesn't remember Psycho Mantis and the unique methods for beating him? Didn't you shit bricks when he called you out on your Castlevania playing ways? Placing the controller into slot-2 to finish off the boss was just something different…and a situation like this – where a game can legitimately surprise you in the real world – has only been replicated once: Eternal Darkness. It was way ahead of its time. Speaking of memorable boss fights, how the hell did you like the fight with The End? How many non-RPG boss fights can you honestly claim took you an hour? It's a three-area spanning sniper battle to remember. What's interesting is that there are ways to get through this part of the game without ever fighting him. I figure Kojima figured that there would be people out there who had no interest in a long-drawn out battle. Now, while the boss battles are all good, that's really not the only reason that the bosses get a mention on this list. Most every single one has an interesting story…and is just straight up weird. Look at the cast of bosses from MGS: 4. The members of the cobras were all freaky as hell…and yet very interesting. One of my most memorable encounters would have to be the one I had with The Sorrow. Was it a fight? Not really…but you come face to face with everyone that you killed throughout the game – including the bosses – and it was just surreal. I know you shouldn't feel bad about killing people who aren't even real, but this is the closest a game has ever gotten me to feel bad about my actions. Look at a boss like Fortune, someone who is on the opposing side yet desperately wants you to end her life. Sniper Wolf who is viewed as someone that your buddy Otakon has feelings for. You could feel conflict when you were trying to end her life because…poor old Otakon would end up being hurt. I would go as far to say that the Metal Gear franchise as a whole has the most fleshed out and interesting villains in the realm of video games. Sometimes the motives and personality of villains don't really expand beyond: "I want to rule the world", but in this series…the villains' personalities are well defined and they feel like actual people. That is really, really important.



2-) Stealth Gameplay - People make a lot of fuss over the Metal Gear series for the gameplay…or lack thereof. It seems that most of the game is comprised of cut-scenes while the stealth gameplay is looked at as a break from the viewing. To be honest, the fans of the series probably like it that way…but the thing is, the gameplay there is what MADE the franchise and you'll find it obvious once you play it. Everything about it screams fun. While you do sneak around a lot, it doesn't suffer from a lot of problems you may experience in other stealth games. The combat is fun and swift…nothing really comes across as a hassle. Think about it – think about a game that tries to be a jack of all trades and feature every single genre known to man. What do the reviewers ALWAYS say about the stealth section, without fail. "Well, the parts you were playing as *insert character here* were good…but when you had to switch over and play the stealth missions the game really started to suffer." From this alone, you can surmise that making a stealth game FUN and not tedious is a bit of a hassle, but Kojima has mastered this art exceptionally well. Never have the controls felt awkward, never have I felt that I wasn't having fun…everything just sort of falls into place. The action is well-paced and it's just down-right fun. I know for a fact that even if I skip all of the cut-scenes, I find the gameplay so enjoyable that it is more than worth the price of admission. One of the things I was worried about with Metal Gear Solid 3 was the removal of the radar. I could hang on the harder difficulties that turned the radar off in MGS 2, but I'd always like at least one playthrough with the radar so I can learn my way around…but the lack of radar wasn't a big deal at all. Actually, it was kind of neat and made the experience feel more realistic. I had to use survival skills and pay attention to my surroundings instead of having my gaze transfixed on a radar. I think – though I can't say for sure – that the radar is gone from MGS 4…and I have to say, I'm glad. If MGS: 4 is anywhere near as immersive as number three then I just know that it will be one of my favorite games ever.

- Now THIS is a boxing title.

1-) Storyline - Gee, I bet this is a surprising number one choice. I mean really, a list about Metal Gear Solid that claims the storyline is great. What's next? A list where I proclaim Final Fantasy VII is over-rated? (oh, er…wait) Anyhow, yes, if you have read to this point of my list odds are that you are a fan of the series. You're probably super hyped up about MGS 4's release NEXT WEEK…and I am super jealous of you because I can't get it on launch due to me being out of town. Well, as fans of the series…I'm sure you know that the story is, without a doubt, one of the few from the gaming world that could hold up with something you would find in a book. That's right. 90% of the stories you find in videogames are complete bullshit…but Metal Gear is in the 10%. Sure, it can get a bit confusing at times but it's always fairly consistent in quality. The endings to Metal Gear Solid 1 and 3 can elicit genuine emotion from the viewer and that is something that only happens when you're truly engrossed in the experience. You genuinely care about Snake and the stuff that goes on around him, which is really cool. Even Metal Gear Solid 2, which got damn near insane at some points, had an interesting story once you played it a few times so you could understand what the heck was going on. Since Metal Gear Solid 1, the story has been fleshed out…with the prequels MGS 3 and MGS: PO you really understand the motivations of Big Boss (well, kinda) and get more insight unto the world. Indeed, the franchise feels less like a game series and more like a world. While the games themselves are relatively short experiences, the stories they tell more than make up for any lack of length. You probably won't find any other franchise's lore to be this compelling.

- MGS 4 will surely continue the trend of awesome story telling.

Well that's it for this week. As always, if you have any comments or complaints or well…anything please comment below or send an e-mail to [e-mail] or [e-mail] Your choice. Before you log out and assumedly pace impatiently for MGS 4, why don't you check out some stuff around 411mania's game section? We rock, you know.

Jordan Williams returns with the Working Title this week. Welcome back my man. He discusses the new Street Fighter movie and his distaste over GTA IV's sense of humor. I think it's a good satire a lot of the times, but some of their humor IS lacking.

Owain J. Brimfield discusses the Immortal this week in "The Wonder Years". It's one I haven't played though. I'm interested in at least trying it out though.

Theo Fraser writes the Nintendophiles. As always he does a good job. This week what got me excited is that Super Mario RPG is finally coming to VC. I own the original cart, but I love the game so much I may just buy it again. Why wasn't this game released in PAL territories anyhow? Is Nintendo not…pals…with Europe?

Tommy Coloma does the Negative Edge news report. I love that he posted news about Tatsunoko versus Capcom. I am really excited about this one…not quite as much as SF IV, but damn…it looks fun. I wonder if Capcom will use Morrigan's old sprite again? With these updates models they're running out of excuses.

Chris Vicari writes The Forgotten PC Games. This week he hits on Role Playing games and discusses two I really enjoy. Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate 2. One of the commentators made fun of WRPGs which is okay…but then basically established that he worships FF VII. If you're going to bash one game, it's probably not good to support FF VII in the same sentence

Mark Salmela once again highlights a Metal Gear Solid game, this week…number three! It's a fantastic look back at my favorite game on the PS2.

Chris Scott writes the Red Snifit. This week he discusses the pros and cons of the virtual console and wii ware. He makes some good points, especially that the VC brings Japanese import possibility (MOTHER 3 GOD PLEASE) and really…who buys DK Jr. Math? So you should check it out

The PC-Centric extravaganza is penned by the man, the myth…The Evans. Chris Evans. He discusses ubidays this week and brings us a trailer of Beyond Good and Evil 2 among other things. BG and E 2. That's all I need to say. Watch right now.

The Curryman brings the spice this week with a column on his 50 greatest games ever. I generally like the choices (very varied) but I will not comment on Halo 2 at number two. You also need to see the verbal sparring between Rod "Gold" Oracheski and David "Arrr" R.

Speaking of Rod…he writes Achievement Unlocked and it is unveiled the same night as the 10th hour! We need to change our days or something man. This is last week's, but as always…a good read. He basically gives predictions for where achievements will be in the future. Also, more David "Arrr" R v. Rod "Gold" Oracheski in the comments if you're into that kind of thing.

Hey it's MARK again! This week as typical he brings us B3yond the Report which is a look at all the PS3 news fit to view. He includes news on MGS 4's mandatory installs and new SF IV characters. ON TOP OF THAT…round three of the epic David "Formerly ARRR" Redkey v. Rod "Gold" Oracheski in the comments!

Joe Fucking Roche writes The Full Circle report. As typical he does a wonderful job. He hits on things such as Prince of Persia's alleged non-intrusive partner AI and the over-rated relationship system in GTA IV. I am glad SOMEONE agrees with me. Sadly, this is LAST week's column. Browse around our game section for the newest. We update on the same day.

Mike and AJ Minoti orate the Exploding Barrel podcast. Like usual they do a good job. I beat AJ in the GREATAMERICANAJGUY quiz this week, so yay to me. There is no "best ever" this week, it's been lost to time. They should do a "best ever" best ever. That would be fantastic. Also: Top-10 worst 10th hours – 10-) Memorable Moments 9-) Zelda 8-) Fighting Games 7-) JRPGS 6-) Worst games brawl characters appear in 5-) Un-printed villains list 4-) Top-10 games of the next year 3-) best Mario games 2-) Top-20 games of 2007 1-) Portable Games. Hahaha, I did the list! Anyhow, yeah. Check these guys out. A laugh riot and a great listen.

Quick shout out to my friend Connor who drew my exit image last week. Thanks.

Well that's it for this week.

Til' the crossroads