I have never played a Metal Gear game but the excitement and memories the two of you have for this game make me think I've missed out on something special. So my question is, is MGS1 the game to play if you've never played anything in the series? Are the NES Metal Gears any good? I can't remember if you mentioned these. Thanks guys!
The NES ones were hard, but (if I remember correctly) had a decent story to them. Definitely start with MGS for the PSX if you want to go back, it's the gold standard of MGS games.
I recently played through MGS1 based on your podcast recommendation. I picked up the collection on Switch. I gotta say, there was a bit of a learning curve for me with this game. It took me a while, along with many, many deaths, to figure out exactly how this game wanted me to play it. I'm sure it took me an hour or two just to get through the first area. Once I realized that guards didn't possess the A.I. that I'm used to in more modern games; they moved on rails and could only see about ten feet in front of them, things began to go more smoothly for me. I did appreciate the visual variety that the isometric perspective used in this game offers but it also made things very difficult at times. Trying to aim and shoot at enemies that are off-screen was frustrating (example: boss fight with Ocelot). Maybe I just stink at this game but I found myself longing for the over the shoulder, 3rd person perspective of Splinter Cell. That would have been a helpful alternative to the "First-person, but cannot move" option MGS1 offers. That being said, I loved the use of music and the cinematics in the game. The way the opening credits run as you start playing is a really cool touch. There was some really inventive ideas in this game as well like holding a rumbling controller to your arm to feel medicine being released into your body - WOW! Though I am terrible at button mashing, I really like that there was an option to give up rather than keep enduring the pain. It took me many tries but I finally double tapped A fast enough to save Meryl. Had I realized that giving up would allow me to still continue the game, I would have let that chick die 😂. I would pretend that Snake ended up with Mei Ling. He could lead the sled dogs while she shares with him her favorite Chinese proverbs. I liked the variety of boss fights as well. I might have picked Sniper Wolf part 2 as my favorite but I just found the aiming to be too juttery, even with diazapam between every shot. I think I enjoyed the helicopter battle with liquid the most. Rappelling down the building and then using the missile launcher was loads of fun. Fighting Metal Gear was frustrating but the jeep chase and fist fight at the end were pretty great as well. Overall, I found MGS1 to be a very good game and I'm glad I played it. Thanks for the recommendation guys. I will have to play 2 and 3 at some point, I'm finishing Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom at the moment!
Wow, well I'm glad you enjoyed it. The subsequent episodes evolve the controls and gameplay. I thought about this as I replayed the game, how it would feel to play this for the first time, now, as a modern gamer. This game came out in 1998 and many of the "standards" of modern FPS and tactical games hadn't been perfected or even invented yet. I imagine it was quite the fall backwards to unlearn everything. I finished this out after the podcast, and I have to agree, the roof top fight with the helicopter may be my favorite, after Psycho Mantis. The key to shooting in this game it not aiming, let the auto aim do the work. You have to learn how to let the enemy fall into your sights with the small pew-pew. The pew-booms are a little more nuanced. Thank you for the follow up, I'm going to paraphrase you when I read it on the podcast 😉
I have never played a Metal Gear game but the excitement and memories the two of you have for this game make me think I've missed out on something special. So my question is, is MGS1 the game to play if you've never played anything in the series? Are the NES Metal Gears any good? I can't remember if you mentioned these. Thanks guys!
The NES ones were hard, but (if I remember correctly) had a decent story to them. Definitely start with MGS for the PSX if you want to go back, it's the gold standard of MGS games.
I recently played through MGS1 based on your podcast recommendation. I picked up the collection on Switch. I gotta say, there was a bit of a learning curve for me with this game. It took me a while, along with many, many deaths,
to figure out exactly how this game wanted me to play it. I'm sure it took me an hour or two just to get through the first area. Once I realized that guards didn't possess the A.I. that I'm used to in more modern games; they moved on rails and could only see about ten feet in front of them, things began to go more smoothly for me. I did appreciate the visual variety that the isometric perspective used in this game offers but it also made things very difficult at times. Trying to aim and shoot at enemies that are off-screen was frustrating (example: boss fight with Ocelot). Maybe I just stink at this game but I found myself longing for the over the shoulder, 3rd person perspective of Splinter Cell. That would have been a helpful alternative to the "First-person, but cannot move" option MGS1 offers. That being said, I loved the use of music and the cinematics in the game. The way the opening credits run as you start playing is a really cool touch. There was some really inventive ideas in this game as well like holding a rumbling controller to your arm to feel medicine being released into your body - WOW! Though I am terrible at button mashing, I really like that there was an option to give up rather than keep enduring the pain. It took me many tries but I finally double tapped A fast enough to save Meryl. Had I realized that giving up would allow me to still continue the game, I would have let that chick die 😂. I would pretend that Snake ended up with Mei Ling. He could lead the sled dogs while she shares with him her favorite Chinese proverbs. I liked the variety of boss fights as well. I might have picked Sniper Wolf part 2 as my favorite but I just found the aiming to be too juttery, even with diazapam between every shot. I think I enjoyed the helicopter battle with liquid the most. Rappelling down the building and then using the missile launcher was loads of fun. Fighting Metal Gear was frustrating but the jeep chase and fist fight at the end were pretty great as well. Overall, I found MGS1 to be a very good game and I'm glad I played it. Thanks for the recommendation guys. I will have to play 2 and 3 at some point, I'm finishing Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom at the moment!
Wow, well I'm glad you enjoyed it. The subsequent episodes evolve the controls and gameplay. I thought about this as I replayed the game, how it would feel to play this for the first time, now, as a modern gamer. This game came out in 1998 and many of the "standards" of modern FPS and tactical games hadn't been perfected or even invented yet. I imagine it was quite the fall backwards to unlearn everything. I finished this out after the podcast, and I have to agree, the roof top fight with the helicopter may be my favorite, after Psycho Mantis. The key to shooting in this game it not aiming, let the auto aim do the work. You have to learn how to let the enemy fall into your sights with the small pew-pew. The pew-booms are a little more nuanced. Thank you for the follow up, I'm going to paraphrase you when I read it on the podcast 😉