The Amazing Open World and Lackluster Narrative of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is the greatest action-stealth game I’ve ever played. Every aspect of the gameplay in Hideo Kojima’s farewell to the series he’s been heading up for over 25 years is tight, responsive and open to wild degrees of experimentation. So often in Metal Gear Solid 5 you’ll think up some crazy way to test the game’s systems and more often than not it will work. Extract yourself out of a hot zone by holding on to a fulton balloon on top of a shipping container? Want to use the tape of someone pooping to stop soldiers from investigating the outhouse you’re hiding in? Go for it.

The beauty of Metal Gear Solid 5’s gameplay is that nearly everyone will have a different story to tell about how they engaged with a certain mission or took down a base. This is the best feeling Metal Gear game to play by a large margin. Gone are the archaic controls and the contorted claw shapes you would have to twist your hand into to do something simple like aiming down a weapon’s sights. When you are in the open world of Afghanistan or central Africa, you really feel like you can make the legend of Big Boss come to life. Continue reading The Amazing Open World and Lackluster Narrative of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

GamerSushi Asks: E3 2012 Predictions?

E3 2012

Is it really already time for another E3? No matter how hard I try to avoid it, the calendar confirms that another round of the Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us, this time hitting us with all of its buzz June 5-7. For our hobby, this is the equivalent of a holy week, one of those high festivals that requires our time, celebration and perhaps even woe. Although that last one is probably more apt if you’re waiting on a Half-Life 3 announcement.

So, with E3 right around the corner, we thought we would ask you guys what your E3 predictions are. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from this year. Now that Nintendo’s unabashedly broken the next generation ice with the showing of Wii U, this is a year where people are anticipating similar reveals from both Sony and Microsoft. Despite the numerous claims to the contrary, I tend to fall in that camp as well. But then you never truly know.

In terms of specific announcements from other notable developers, I expect a Dragon Age 3 tease of some sort from Bioware, since their other big franchise has laid down to rest for the moment. I also expect something new out of Valve, since they have no releases lined up after CS: GO and Dota 2 this year. I’m also banking on another entry to the Metal Gear Solid series.

So what about you guys? What do you expect or hope to see from E3 this year? Tell us your E3 predictions. Go!

Kojima: Resurrecting Snake for Fan Service

Kojima

Speaking from extremely limited personal experience, I can say that the tug-of-war between fans and creators is often a tricky thing. While content producers don’t want to lose their audience through unpopular choices, they want the creative fulfillment of making their own way. Likewise, fans have certain expectations, yet need the creator to do what originally drew the fans to the creator’s work to begin with.

Enter Hideo Kojima. To say that this guy has been all over the map creatively is an understatement. From entry to entry in the Metal Gear Solid series, the games tones and even main characters have shifted wildly. On top of that, the guy seems to second guess himself after each new title, saying he’ll never make another one.

While this was the full intent with Metal Gear Solid 4, he’s already saying that Metal Gear Solid 5 will probably happen. In a recent interview with the Official Playstation Magazine, he talks about his original vision for Snake and how other voices changed that:

“Actually, I wanted to end it at every step along the way… In Guns Of The Patriots he was supposed to die. Everyone on the staff really wanted to keep him alive, so I caved a little. I’m a creator at heart, but at the same time I also have to manage the business aspect of it, figure out how to sell the game. I’m still trying to find that balance – it’s very delicate. How do you put in enough to make sure it sells, while remaining true to your vision?”

I’m sure this is the struggle that filmmakers and game producers constantly deal with. As much as these entertainment mediums qualify as art, there is an aspect to them that requires them to be a product as well. So what do you guys think of this idea? Do you think that more creators like this need to stick to their vision, or are you OK with them tweaking it in order to keep pumping out new iterations? Go!

Source – Official Playstation Magazine

Rumor: New Metal Gear Game?

kojimaAh, Hideo Kojima. You’re a little rascal. You like to make crazy cut scenes, pretentious dialogue, awesome action and things that tease your loyal followers. Take this new announcement Web site from Hideo Kojima, for instance. It appeared sometime last week and has a mysterious countdown, a field, some lightning, and what appears to be the number “5” (or the letter S) splashed across it.

However, it seems some Metal Gear Solid fans have done some digging around, and the source code for the site shows that the timer runs out on June 1, the day of the Microsoft E3 press event (Sony’s is on June 2). A Microsoft Metal Gear game, perchance? Also, looking at the meta keywords reveals the words “next” “metal gear” and “mgs”, though nothing that says “mgs5”.

So, what does this all mean? While Metal Gear Solid 4 was the last entry into the Solid Snake story, I wouldn’t put it past Kojima to keep the series going, only with a new and rebooted storyline with some different characters. What do you guys think?

Source- Kotaku