Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

[SH4R4KU]

I've haven't played MGS since 1998. I played the first, and never got around to the second. Because of that, I haven't played any of the other games because I didn't want to miss anything. Quite amusing.


Anyway, I bought my Vita in the week of the price slash here in Japan, and also picked up Playstation Plus. I bought the game as a US import from a shop here in AKB, and promptly set about MGS2. Fantastic. Loved it! It took a while to get used to the controls, and the view, but after Tanker, I was set. I couldn't put it down. I loved the story. I didn't like Rose at all, though. Excellent story throughout, and some really nice gameplay sequences.


I have grabbed it on UK PSN, which is what I might use to play MGS3. I'm thinking of getting the PS3 port too, so I can sync and play at home and on the move. Sweetness! Reminds me of my Dreamcast and Neo Geo Pocket dreams…


Anyway, after MGS2, which should I play next? I bought Peacewalker for the PSP, so I am ready to go on all levels. I will pick up MGS4 and then Rising in the future. I find myself just wanting to play these games. Sneak past, or blast… it's all good fun. Hide in a box? Sure!


So guys, which next? MGS3? Peacewalker?

[Adam]

MGS3 > Peacewalker > MGS4

Peacewalker is set after MGS3, with the same main character so I wouldn't do that any other way around. If you plan on playing Portable Ops (PSP) do that after MGS3 and before Peacewalker. Easily skippable though. Playing 3 first, really builds the characters up in the other games especiallly 4. 4 pays alot of respect to the older entries. Rising is set after 4.

[Kit]

MGS3 > Peacewalker > MGS4

Peacewalker is set after MGS3, with the same main character so I wouldn't do that any other way around. If you plan on playing Portable Ops (PSP) do that after MGS3 and before Peacewalker. Easily skippable though. Playing 3 first, really builds the characters up in the other games especiallly 4. 4 pays alot of respect to the older entries. Rising is set after 4.

Does the story in Portable Ops make it worth going through considering it's such a **** game? I've played a bit of it and have not been impressed at all but I liked where they were going with the story.

[Adam]

I would skip it personally. The stories, characters and events are rarely, if ever, refered to in any of the other games. In Peacewalker, I think they briefly mention that Big Boss did some things (in Portable Ops) but that's about as far as it goes. Haven't played 4 in a long time, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't mention anything about the events in Portable Ops either. You could always watch the cutscenes for Portable Ops on youtube

[wakka]

I think Portable Ops is briefly mentioned in 4, but only as an aside really. It's not a core part of the storyline.

[Neon Ignition]

Going back to Peace Walker was mixed, the console version is so much easier to control than the PSP version but the game suddenly shines as massively inferior to the main series entries when stacked side by side. The base aspects are mostly a waste of time and the bitty structure designed for handheld use hihhlights how basic the game is. I'm now a third of the way into MGS3 and its just epically superior to the other two titles in this collection. I think The End lies ahead of me next which should be good fun to retry. Good times.

[Atticus]

I think The End lies ahead of me next which should be good fun to retry.

Best boss battle ever

[wakka]

I agree to a certain extent, however I think handheld games are a slightly different beast. I think Peace Walker is very well tailored to portability for an MGS and it deserves credit for that.

[Neon Ignition]

It's good in terms of pick up and play, I don't think there were many missions that went past 5 minutes in length so there's little chance of getting caught out on the bus etc. It's MGS super simplified to play though so I ended up feeling it was at odds with the collection in a way

[JU!]

Going back to Peace Walker was mixed, the console version is so much easier to control than the PSP version but the game suddenly shines as massively inferior to the main series entries when stacked side by side. The base aspects are mostly a waste of time and the bitty structure designed for handheld use hihhlights how basic the game is. I'm now a third of the way into MGS3 and its just epically superior to the other two titles in this collection. I think The End lies ahead of me next which should be good fun to retry. Good times.

I did not really enjoy Peace Walker to be honest. Only played it in HD collection form, but found the bosses a nightmare and always needed online help from other people for most of them and while outer ops stuff was fun, it was difficult to get vehicles back. The extra Ops was a great idea and had lots of variety too. As for the other main game missions it felt much harder to hide than the usual MGS games, especially as you can't see their vision cones. MGS 3 is brilliant I really enjoy MGS 2 as well. I'm playing the first one a bit at the mo and it's great fun especially the bosses. I found in MGS3 and MGS especially were very well done and could be approached in some different ways.

[saturn-gamer]

I loved PW except for the bosses. I liked the gameplay improvement such as the indicator that noticed you were into CQC range. The bosses were great fun when playing co-op though.

PW HD was a revelation to me, I played it a lot on PSP. I did most of the game on that system, except for the hidden final chapter. So I used transfarring and beat my game on Ps3. Its graphics and performance were amazing coming from the PSP version.

[Kit]

Beat Peace Walker last night on the PSP!

At least I think I did because after completing this 'outer heaven' chapter popped up but there's no mission.

I love the streamlined combat. I was shocking at the CQC stuff in Snake Eater so the simplified version suited me down to the ground.

Kind of agree with Saturn Gamer about the bosses. The main 3 AI pod battles are great fun but the others lacked character. I understand why they did this so you could recruit for Outer Ops but you want some out there bosses when you play Metal Gear.

Did anyone prefer the stealth in this to the main games? no crawling or hiding under vehicles etc...? I thought it was really well done myself as you really had to focus on the enemies line of sight and walking path; less room for error in a way.

I did see The Ends name in the credits but I have no idea where you fought him.

[Kit]

Ok, plowing on with the outer heaven chapter. The bloke with the lighter hand has escaped once and my MG Geke is almost complete.

Currently trying to take out the next gen tank in extra ops...

holy ****!

I'm having more trouble with this than the final boss. It's bloody indestructible.

[Darkstorm]

Ughh those bloody vehicle battles! they start out fun but by the time you're done you have fought you way through about 8 variants of each one (each increasing in difficulty!) they are more fun/easier with company, particularly if one of you is carrying the recovery Box!

You can actually pure stealth the tank battles. If you manage to eliminate all enemy soldiers without being seen then the commander sticks his head out to see whats happened, making taking him down much easier!

To get the true end you need Zeke finished (including a radome and railgun) and intel of at least level 2, that should trigger the final mission once you are done with the Zadornov missions.

[Kit]

You can actually pure stealth the tank battles. If you manage to eliminate all enemy soldiers without being seen then the commander sticks his head out to see whats happened, making taking him down much easier!

Cheers, Storm.

I will defo be giving the stealth tactic a go! - No way I'm going through another 40 min tank marathon.

I think my sniper rifle is level 3 but I've used it only once. I carried on upgrading the thing but never found a decent use for it other than the level with all those camping scouts and commandos.

Time to put my AWP skills to the test.