... I still think this is the best game ever, and definitely the best Metal Gear Solid.
Playing it again I had a blast. I don't feel like the game is dated at all.
When I played MGS2 for the firts time it was my favourite game to date, I absolutely loved it. However, playing it again... I find it to be an all-right game, that's it. I had a similar experience with FFX, it became my favourite game when I played it, but when I replayed it recently I didn't find it as good. Still a 9/10 game, but not the masterpiece that I loved sooo much back in the day.
But MGS3... I don't know what it is, but I loved it even more than before, if that's possible. It's the perfect Metal Gear, so much better than 4. The gameplay is varied and loads of fun, there are so many different ways to proggress in the game. You can sneak past enemies, tranq them, distract them with noise or a magazine, throw a poisonous animal at them or hit a bee hive, CQC them, blast the provisions shack so they don't have ammo....
There are a lot of different environments and situations,. I just discovered that when you set the explosives on the shagohod you can dress as a maintenance guy and no one will notice you. The escape from prison is pure genious, and there are several ways to get out. If you notice, the Sorrow gives you the codec frequecy to open the cell! The areas where you have to dress as one of the enemies are also great. And, of course, the jungle environments with loads of animals and plants to eat and get medicines from, the survival window, camouflage... The fact that if you don't play the game for several days the food rots is so imaginative.
The boss fights are the best and most original in a game ever, especially The End. You need a lot of patience and time to end him, nothing like your usual boss. But, if you want, you can just save during the battle, come back much later (or just change the clock) and The End will die of old!! That's genious. Also, you can kill him much before the battle itself in another scene with a sniper rifle, so the battle never takes place. The fight with the Sorrow, where you see the souls of everyone you have killed in the game is amazing.
Even the codec calls are the most interesting in any MGS.
And, finally, the story is the best in any Metal Gear. It is much less convoluted than in the other games, so it can be followed easily. The cutscenes can be long sometimes, but very entertaining, unlike in MGS4 when I felt they were often unnecessarily long and slow paced. Also, the gameplay to cutscene ratio must be about 85-15 and not 50-50, there are so many more hours of gameplay in MGS3. The story hooks you to the end, and the ending is the best and most satisfactory in any game I have ever played.
I loved the game so much that I had to platinum it immediately. I had a blast again platinuming it, and now I'm considering playing it again on European Extreme.
That's it, I just had to express my love for this game! MGS4 was hailed as a masterpiece, but I say it doesn't even com close to this game's epicness.
What's your opinion on the game and the other entries in the saga?
No troll is too much for me to handle. I rehabilitate trolls, I train people. I am the Troll Whisperer.
