Snake sure love's his RPGs
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Review
I’m just going to start this thing by spelling it out: This game is up there with MGS3 and MGS1 as the best in the series, yeah, that’s right, those are the best in the series, you heard it here first, anybody who says otherwise is just plain wrong.
This game which truly feels like it could be called MGS5, although I would still expect the “Peace Walker” subtitle which is second only to the aptly named “Snake Eater”. I don’t know if that sounded less… ahem, well you know… in Japanese or what but God Damn Kojima! Anyway, the weird name is like evidence that this game is in fact a true part of the series, which is known for its weirdness.
This game is like if MGS Portable Ops and MGS4 had a love-child. I know neither of those made it on my list of “best in the series” but just like a child prodigy which makes his parents look like morons, this game soars above and beyond its pedigree. Portable Ops was a good game, but the normal-ish name said it all, it wasn’t really part of the main Metal Gear Solid narrative.
My biggest disappointment with MGSPO was that it felt extraneous, nothing story wise is really that important about it, except maybe introducing Col. Campbell as a Kevin Bacon look-alike in his younger days as a complete wuss-and-a-half. “waaaah I have a broken leg so all I can do is drive the truck, poor me boo-hoo!” Suck it up man! Oh and some nonsense about “Fox Unit” which turns into Foxhound at the end of the game… that blew your mind right? Right? No but Seriously Kojima, only you think that stuff is earth-shattering we really needed more than that to feel like it connected. Basically the game felt like: “hey, enjoy your favorite series on the go!” However, rest assured that this game, along with its series appropriate weird-ass moniker, is a true MGS game.
In terms of story though, this game is a lot easier for player who are unfamiliar with MGS to pick than PO was, or really any game other than MGS3 or MGS1. So, if you never played the series but want a great PSP game, don’t worry anything you needed to know about the events of MGS3 are tactfully summarized. I can hear you saying: “wait, jigga-what? All I need to know about MGS3, what about 1 and 2 and PO?” Well, you see Metal Gear Solid 1 takes place after Metal Gear 2 and is followed by Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 take place before all the games, followed by Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, the most recent game Metal Gear Solid 4 takes place after MGS2, and THIS game takes place after 3 (and PO) but before Metal Gear 1. Make’s perfect sense right? No!? Ok numb-nuts, suffice it to say you can play this game with no prior MGS experience, but it is a major spoiler-fest for MGS3 which I have already stated is one of the best in the series, but I can’t really force you to play it, you can lead a horse to water…
Speaking of filling in the story for new-comers*cough-philistines-cough*, the story cut-scenes are great! They are the same comic-book style as PO but the character designs are more similar to the in-game character’s this time and less Kevin Bacon-y, and they have added QTE and other interactivity that actually looks great as it’s done in the same style ( there’s nothing worse than tacky looking button icons in QTE) and really works well too. It’s kind of amazing to experience and took me by surprise. All in all the comic-scenes are a lot more fluid this time around, the characters really move properly, none of this disjointed marionette-looking arm movement or slow zoom-in on a still image which was abundant in PO and a poor excuse for “cinematic”. There are also other types of in-game cut scenes too to help tie the story together better then in PO where it abruptly went from in-game to comic-book.
They took a lot of the game elements of MGSPO and really expanded them like they did with the cut scenes, now you have a real base that you build up, where you do a lot of the stuff you did in PO in terms of recruiting people and assigning them tasks, but the whole affair is just more carefully crafted then before and much less confusing. You can assign what you want your tech people to make instead of it being a weird surprise. And recruiting soldiers in game is so much better than before! Now you just tie a balloon-thing to them and a helicopter comes out of nowhere to pull them out of there, even if they are inside a building. What? Is that weird or something? Pshaw.
In terms of game play it also plays a lot like MGS4, there are other control schemes (including a Monster Hunter style one, how cute) I tried them and decided to stick with default, with a couple tweaks I highly suggest such as lowering the sensitivity on the camera, and setting first person to be in relation to character direction not camera direction. Once I did this I could not believe how fluid the games controls were, not even just by the incredibly low PSP standards but by MGS standards.
They are actually some of the most fluid controls for an MGS game with the exception of MGS4, but more fluid then all the others; seriously. Anyone who has ever played an MGS game before knows just what the term “intuitive controls” doesn’t mean. The games have always made up for their cumbersome nature in the depth of variety of actions hiding just beneath the surface; what other game allows you to frisk your enemies and then choke them out (well besides that rape-play game that came out in Japan, was that in bad taste?)
Basically this game is even more then it promised to be for long time fans, and even new-comers can enjoy it too! A lot of the staples from MGS games of the past are here. I hesitate to say anymore for fear of ruining the surprise for you but suffice it to say: this game has a glut of novelties which we have come to love about the MGS series. And sexual innuendo? Don’t worry, plenty of that, the cardboard box is now called the “love box” because more than one person can use it at a time.
For PSP owners there’s not much of a good reason NOT to own this game unless the whole stealth action thing, isn’t in fact your thing or you hate fun. But anyone intrigued by the idea of recruiting a legion of loyal soldiers while sneaking through fortified army bases armed with a huge arsenal of weaponry or if you have ever enjoyed a MGS game (ever) and you are dying for a UMD to get your PSP running again. This is the game! It almost feels like it was made as a personal favor to PSP owners because let’s face it, sometimes we get the shaft. NOT this time!
This is Brett Alan Miller, giving “Peace Walker” 5 Kevin Bacon look-alikes out of 5!
