Given that I’m not planning to get MGSV until I have a PS4 (which probably won’t happen until next year and that is only if luck provides and the current economy
stops being so craptastic takes a better turn), I started replaying the other games of the franchise. Specifically the HD collection, which was actually among the very first things I bought on sale when I got PS Plus, but I hadn’t touched it at all until now. I have already finished Sons of Liberty and currently playing through Snake Eater.
I remembered the controls of these games were very complex, but I had forgotten they could be so clunky at times, especially the shooting. It doesn’t help that more recent 3rd person shooters have streamlined a lot of actions, like returning fire while taking cover during shot-outs. After playing and getting accustomed to more recent games, returning to these two feels very awkward, it has made some boss battles a bigger pain than I remembered.
Interestingly, while the storyline of MGS2 is just as… well,
weird as I remembered, it is far less confusing once you know the major plot twists, plus some of the story details/retcons from MGS3 and MGS4.
A particular thing that jumped out to me during this playthrough:
The S3 plan and the motivational rants and breaking lectures of the Patriots near the end of the game actually make more sense and hit harder nowadays in this era of wiki leaks, social media and online echo chambers. Say whatever you want about Hideo Kojima, the man is considered a genius for a reason, if a crazy genius with extra emphasis on the “crazy” part.
Talking about Kojima, it’s an incredibly dark irony that his time with the series is finally coming to an end, especially when you consider how he originally was planning to leave it since that game.