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Adilegian
Rogue Scholar
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Q*Bert Killscreen Nightmare
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 Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:17 am Post subject: Re: Metal Gear Portable Ops is bullshit |
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I liked this game a lot! So maybe I can provide some interesting counterarguments.
| dongle wrote: |
| After all the KojiPro Report hype and the seal of approval to make it canonical, I finally got a PSP so I could play this game. I got about half way through the game and didn't feel like finishing it. |
I think it's definitely worth finishing. The ending provides a useful narrative setpiece that explains some of the connections between MGS3 and Solid Snake's first mission.
Insofar as the game seems like a gaiden or sidestory, it's useful to remember that it is supposed to work as a narrative complement to MGS4. There will presumably be some correspondence between the revelations in each game.
| dongle wrote: |
- hiding in cardboard boxes
- sneaking
- a tranquilizer gun
- Snake |
All correct!
| dongle wrote: |
| - good dialogue (the codec is barely used, except for captures) |
I thought that the dialogue was pretty well done. Unlike earlier MGS games, there's definitely a sense that you won't get a whole lot of dialogue during the gameplay sequences, but what's there is still pretty good. I don't think it disappoints the precedent set by the earlier games.
Really, as a long-term fan of the series, I thought that the extant radio conversations were pleasant nods to someone who remembers nuances of the characters. E.G., Roy mentions that he joined the army "because of a woman," which sounds like a typical complaint until you remember that he's Meryl's father and had an affair with his brother's wife. The radio material builds off what's already there more than it adds new stuff. But I thought that was enough.
| dongle wrote: |
| - a larger concept (meme, gene, scene... what's this game's theme?) |
I understand this complaint, but... well. My gut idea is that Kojima's blown his creative/thematic wad on the MGS series. He's publicly stated that he wants to quit the series several times, and all of those times he's been corralled into continuing to work on it. I think of this in light of Douglas Adams' decision to kill all of the Hitchhiker's Guide characters off in the final book. He wants the goddamn thing to end.
With that said, I think it's natural that the MGS series move away from the sort of thematic congruency we've seen thus far. It's going to become more and more about the story of the MGS universe.
Insofar as the core three MGS games are artistic, they focus on exploring how three different influences bear upon a person's identity: genetic heritage, cultural heritage, and historical context. Fans are generally less satisfied with the balance of abstract communication, and they want a literal story. MGS3 managed to do both, with mixed results.
I think that MPO reflects the way that the series will develop as a story after Kojima's gone. It's building its fiction.
| dongle wrote: |
| - refined controls |
I actually found the controls better than those in any of the PS2 games! I didn't run into as many problems leaning against the walls, and I finally didn't have to grapple with going into FPV and bringing up my gun at the same time. On the whole, I thought that the PSP forced the MGS controls to become as simple as possible—and I thought that it worked pretty well.
| dongle wrote: |
| - epic cutscenes |
Epic in length or execution?
| dongle wrote: |
| - intricate setpieces |
You mean like an elevator sequence?
| dongle wrote: |
| - trademark Kojima post-modernisms |
I'm not sure what these are outside of MGS2. If anything, I thought that the Access Point Scan function used the PSP's technology to "break the fourth wall" just as well as acknowledging a rapid-fire controller.
| dongle wrote: |
| The two words that come to mind when I think of this game are unpolished and uninteresting. |
I thought the game was plenty polished. I didn't notice any bugs during offline play, and the only online bugs I noticed were (usually) due to inevitable lag or others' cheating.
And I think the uninteresting part is more relative. I like what the game's story adds to the MGS mythos.
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Adilegian
Rogue Scholar
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Q*Bert Killscreen Nightmare
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject: Re: Metal Gear Portable Ops is bullshit |
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| showka wrote: |
| Adilegian wrote: |
| I think of this in light of Douglas Adams' decision to .................................................................... He wants the goddamn thing to end. |
You just spoiled the ending to an entire series of books. |
Oh, no, I haven't. Seriously.
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Adilegian
Rogue Scholar
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Q*Bert Killscreen Nightmare
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:58 pm Post subject: Re: Metal Gear Portable Ops is bullshit |
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| Westacular wrote: |
| I consider Life, The Universe and Everything (book three) to be the creative peak. Book Four was an okay sort of meandering. Book Five, "Mostly Harmless", was mostly pointless and has only one redeemingly entertaining aspect. |
Totally agreed. If you can snag it, you might check out Adams' text-based game "Bureaucracy." It's got a lot of the fun paradoxical stuff that I loved in the Hitchhiker's books.
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