COLLECTION TITLE, ALL GAMES WILL BE REVIEWED WHEN I CAN. Metal Gear

Solid 2 will be first, done on Friday. 3 on Saturday and Peace Walker on

Sunday.



Metal Gear: The early days


The

Metal Gear franchise was first introduced in 1987 on the Japanese MSX2

Home computer by Microsoft. The first game, simply titled  Metal Gear

was a revolutionary game at the time. It required stealth and sneaking

skill over straight up run n' gun gameplay that players back in the NES

days were accustomed to. It followed the events of Operations Intrude

N313, an Operation to be carried out by FOXHOUND Special Ops soldier

Solid Snake, in his efforts to infiltrate the enemy fortress Outer

Heaven and destroy a Weapon of Mass destruction called TX-55 Metal Gear.

As a result of the games popularity, an unofficial sequel was made only

three years later, entitled Snake's Revenge for the NES (which I

already reviewed here on Vizzed, check it out it's an okay game).

Snake's Revenge was hated by fans as it was not made by the original

team and it had Side-Scrolling action areas, contradictory to Metal

Gear's stealth element. Later in 1990, the official sequel to Metal Gear

was released on the MSX2 entitled Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It was a

huge step over Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge in terms of overall design

and structure. It followed Solid Snake in his journey to find a

scientist pivotal to help stop the worlds decreasing oil levels. It was a great game, but alas, it was not released in English officially until 2006.

In 1998 however, one of the most important games to ever be released hit the market. Metal Gear Solid.


Metal
Gear Solid was released for the Playstation in 1998, with an alternate

version hitting the Game Boy Colour in 2000. The story sees a retired

Solid Snake in the year 2005 called into duty yet again to investigate a

terrorist takeover at Shadow Moses Island, just north of Alaska. Metal

Gear Solid was the first 3D Metal Gear game. However, it still played

like MG1 and 2, only adding some new features, most importantly

cinematic elements. In 2001, the first game that we shall look at in

detail for this review is Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty,

originally released for the Playstation 2.

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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD

The

story is divided into two chapters: The Manhattan Tanker Incident and

the Big Shell Incident. The Tanker Chapter takes place in 2007 and the

Plant Chapter in 2009.

Tanker Chapter: Plot Summary

"The

Hudson River, two years ago. We received classified Intel that a new

type of Metal Gear was scheduled for transport. The Whole thing stank,

but our noses have been out in the cold for too long"

The Tanker

Chapter begins with Solid Snake jumping off the George Washington bridge

in Manhattan onto the vessel Discovery. According to Intel, there's a

new type of Metal Gear on board the tanker and Snake must take

photographs to prove that the United States Marine Corps are involved.

Shortly after getting a Codec call from Hal Emmerich (Otacon), Snake

sees that Russian soldiers are taking over the Discovery, hoping to take

Metal Gear for themselves. Otacon tells Snake to head for the bridge to

see where the ship was headed. After heading to the bridge, Snake

encounters Olga Gurlukovich, the daughter of Sergei Gurlukovich the head

of the soldiers taking over the ship. Snake and Olga engage in a quick

shootout with Snake knocking Olga out with his M9 tranquilizer gun.

After hearing that the Intel they got was an anonymous tip, Snake heads

down to the hold where Metal Gear is being held and takes his pictures.

Shortly afterwards, Revolver Ocelot captures Marine Commandant Scott

Dolph and threatens to blow the Discovery sky high if he does not get

Metal Gear RAY. After killing Dolph and betraying Gurlukovich, Ocelot

triggers the SEMTEX explosives to blow, and Snake decides to confront

him. In doing so, Ocelots right arm- formerly Liquid Snake's- began to

take control of him and under the control of Liquid, Ocelot stole RAY

and Snake was presumed KIA.

Plant Chapter: Plot Summary

The

Big Shell facility was constructed to help clean up to spill of crude

oil from the exploded Tanker. On an inspection trip, President James

Johnson had been kidnapped by members of a terrorist group called Dead

Cell, along with a host of other hostages. Special Forces unit FOXHOUND

decides to send in new recruit Raiden (With the initial codename

"Snake") to try and rescue the president. After discovering that he is

not the only intruder, Raiden makes his way to Strut B of Shell 1 and

encounters Dead Cell member Vamp. After witnessing Vamp sucking the

blood out of a member of the Navy SEALS - Who had their own op the

rescue Johnson- , Raiden holds up his M9 at Vamp, only to miss. Vamp

then nearly kills Raiden and would have if it weren't for the

interruption of Navy SEAL Lt. J.G Iroquois Pliskin, who looked awfully

familiar.

That's only a TASTER of MGS 2's story. Play the game to find out more!

Metal Gear Solid 2: Gameplay

Gameplay

in MGS 2 was slightly similar to that of MGS1. Fixed camera angles,

corner cams and  confined indoor areas were all on show in beautiful PS2

Graphics. The biggest addition to the gameplay was the ability to aim

in First Person Mode, making eliminating the enemy all that easier.

Looking around corners was added aswell as hanging from ledges, which

was limited by an upgradeable Grip Gauge. Alert Phases were made harder

with additional attack patrols sent to hunt you out. Anything you did, a

guard could hear, see or even smell you out. Caution Mode was added

after Evasion Mode. This meant that if you got caught, you would be

penalized even more than you would be in Normal Mode. Hiding in lockers was added, alot of which contained Eye Candy.

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Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Just like MGS 2, Metal Gear Solid 3's story is split into two chapters: The Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater.

The Virtuous Mission:

Metal Gear Solid 3 takes place way back in 1964. It follows a man named Jack heading into Soviet territory to rescue a scientist named Sokolov and bring him back to the other side of the Iron Curtain. His codename is Naked Snake. His support team consists of Major Zero, Para-Medic and Snake's former mentor, The Boss. After getting to the facility where Sokolov is being held, Sokolov tells Snake about the Shagohod, a tank with a Rocket capable of firing an ICBM from anywhere on the planet. At the Dolindino bridge, Snake encounters The Boss, who tells Snake that she is defecting to the Soviet Union. Colonel Volgin of GRU Appears behind her and threatens to kill Snake, to which The Boss replies that Jack is her pupil and that she will deal with him. After throwing Snake off the bridge, Volgin fires a recoiless nuclear Warhead at the research facility. The United States has the prove that they were not involved with the explosion.

Operation Snake Eater: A Quick Sum Up

Since Operation Snake Eater takes up 90% of the game, it's best to sum it up in a few sentences. Basically, Snake lands around Dolindino, finds the Boss, get's his ass whooped, his drone is blown to hell. Then he meets up with his Contact EVA (Supposed to be ADAM) and she tells him that they need to stop Volgin from using the Shagohod to blow up the world. After infiltrating Graniny Gorki Lab, Snake finds Granin, a person who wants to find the "missing link between infantry and artillary....a type of metal gear if you will." He gives Snake access to Groznji Grad (Volgins hideout). After being tortured and losing his right eye, Snake  decides to go back to Groznji Grad to blow up the Shagohod. He suceeds, he then goes to a lake, kills the Boss and escapes.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Gameplay

The game controls very similar to MGS 2 with a few changes. You can now move the camera with the Right Analog Stick and this gives you a stupendous advantage against enemies. Camoflage was introduced in this game, the high the percent, that harder it is to get caught. Snake could also get injured, with you needing to surgically help him get better with the cure menu. Food was also needed to keep stamina up, so you had to hunt wildlife and various Jungle fruits to survive.

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