I recently replayed MGS1 for psx and then MGS2 for PS2. I just started up MGS3 and I cannot get into it.
I think I often read that people love MGS3, but I think MGS1 has the most interesting story and levels. I also think the bosses in MGS1 were much more fun than they were in MGS2.
Am I in the minority here? What other games would you recommend that capture the MGS1 vibe?
I’d claim MGS1 may simply be the best game released on PS1 over all, but I am not sure I can objectively say it’s the best of the series. Every main line game in the series that followed has some legit reasons to possibly claim they are better (I’m give a slight edge to 3 or maybe V personally). And which game did I play the most? Metal Gear for the NES, the flawed thing that it is was just go fun once you got good at it, like all the Metal Gear games.
I think MGS1 is an excellent game, but in my opinion the subsequent games improved on the formula massively. MGS2 had a very similar vibe, and yes whilst I’d agree that some of the bosses can be frustrating, it felt like they were trying to do weird and interesting things (like defusing bombs whilst fighting fatman, and taking out a huge number of metal gears in a single fight). MGS3 just feels like the complete package to me: the best bosses in the series, an incredible soundtrack and a mostly standalone, well written story.
One thing I missed in MGS3 was sneaking around in tight interior spaces. The tanker sequence in MGS2 is a highlight of the series for me - going unnoticed in this heavily guarded ship with the rain streaming down the windows with that jazzy soundtrack playing.
I’m struggling to think of many games that capture the vibe of MGS1. The early Resident Evil games perhaps spring to mind - trying to survive alone with limited ammo and a conspiratorial backstory.
Yeah, it’s a shame that the tanker is such a short part of the game. Once you get to the oil platform, it feels kinda empty and you just keep repeating the same few rooms over and over again.
I loved the snow base hidden in the arctic. Such a cool setting.
That’s true, but there was also a lot of backtracking in MGS1.
I did like the cold, metallic atmosphere of MGS1 with beautiful dithered textures. Likewise, the cell-shaded, organic design of the Big Shell is so nice. Each Metal Gear game seems to have such a unique style.
I guess cats what u really liked about it the dark cold metallic atmosphere was really interesting. I didn’t care for the orange of the big shell.
the best metal gear is and forever will be metal gear rising: revengeance.
why, you ask?
NANOMACHINES, SON
I mean, nanomachines are part of several of the games once the retcon in MSG4 kicked in. Nanomachines for everyone!
It’s probably more because it was my first and I’ve played it far more than any other game in the series, but I love MGS1 too.
Part of it is that Kojima’s weirdness is reigned in a bit so the story is tight and relatively easy to understand while still having meta stuff like the psycho-mantis shenanigans, which was a fairly new thing in the 1990s.
I like MGS2 best because the weirdness isn’t reigned in as much but still more than the following games 😅
You’re not wrong. I enjoyed Snake Eater too, but MGS1 was the best all the way up until MGS5: Phantom Pain.
They’re all charming in their own ways, tho.
I’ll have to give phantom pain another play. I remember giving up in an area where there were a bunch of snipers in a forest or something.
I think the third game (are you playing the re-release with the fixed camera controls? https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_3:_Subsistence) opens up after you’ve gotten past the first couple of areas. I’d rank the third just below the original. If some of the cutscenes were shorter, I’d put them on equal footing.
But if you’re not into it, I wouldn’t force it. There are too many great games to play something that’s not fun for you. I never finished the fourth game because of that, and I never even started the fifth even though I bought it on sale for $5.
Also, give the Gamecube remake of the original a shot (The Twin Snakes). It was essentially the original baked into the game engine and control scheme of the second game.
Metal Gear 2 was also good. We really missed out by not getting a port of that to the SNES or Genesis.
I’ll check it out. I never really tried those games.
You absolutely should, I got an MSX emulator to play MG2 and I loved it. I couldn’t get the english patch to work but I used a translated script page online and just followed along lol
I tried the port that came with MGS3 Subsistance but I didn’t like the changes to the artwork, I prefer Snake to look like Jeff Daniels
The story beats are so similar to MGS1, it’s as if MGS1 is a 3D remaster. I think they kind of referenced that in MGS2 with the S3 Solid Snake Simulation thing.
Having only played the original releases other than Twin Snakes I have to disagree simply because the mechanics and controls got vastly better with 3, 4 and 5. Only thing really bad about 5 is the unfinished story. Gameplay wise, I think it’s the best one.
I feel that 3 got good once they re-released it with better camera controls. I couldn’t stand the original release. It was way too hard to see ahead of Snake.
The fact the he created such a great cinematic game in an era where this kind of game didn’t exist is mind boggling. I felt like I was playing a movie with its camera angles, dialogs, general mood and the master piece opening sequence.
He was like 10 years ahead of the industry
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes ranks number one for me; the original story with updated control scheme and graphics is awesome. Then it’s a toss up between 2 and V. 2 is a solid game in the same mould as the first, but V allows me to Fulton extract unsuspecting enemies which is a genius mechanic that allows me an immense range of fuckery.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 1 for PC was an amazing game with a similar feel
Thanks, I’ve never played that series.
