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Official GAF Rankings: Metal Gear Solid series

The last few hours of MGS2 were just too crazy for me not to love it, probably played that 4 times just to hear the Colonel's glitchy lines of dialogue, they are pretty humorous.
 

NeoUltima

Member
But... wouldn't that put MGS1 at the top? (⌐■_■)

I don't think MGS1's story was as emotional for people as MGS3's. Both were relatively straight forward though which helped players to connect with the games more.
MGS2 and MGS4 were relatively convoluted. MGS2 mind fucked people. And MGS4's story just pissed some people off with how Kojima ended everything.
 

Noirulus

Member
MGS3 is easily the best in the series. The sheer amount of emotion it brought out of me makes it perhaps my favorite or second favorite game of all time. I'm also glad I played it when I was 14 (when Subsistence first came out, back in 06) because although I still appreciate the plotline, I wouldn't have felt as emotional if I played it now.

Thank you so much, Kojima. You will forever be in the annals of video gaming history.
 

RickA238

Member
It goes 1>2>3. MGS 1 is the pinnacle of gaming. I could give a shit about 4, and the PSP games were unplayable because of the controls.
 
I have only played MGS 1 (well, The Twin Snakes, and I loved it. Come at me, GAF) and just finished MGS 4 (also loved it, come at me again) so it looks like I am in for quite a treat when I pick up the HD collection. Very excited.
 

T Dollarz

Member
I haven't played any of the MGS games and am looking to get into the series. How much is the HD Collection with the first game? Which system should I get it on?
 

ezekial45

Banned
Real talk, I'm a bit annoyed that PW is ranked behind MGS4. I figured that more of you guys would play it after the HD collection came out.
 

Sky Chief

Member
I haven't played any of the MGS games and am looking to get into the series. How much is the HD Collection with the first game? Which system should I get it on?

The original MGS is available as a PSOne Classic on PSN for $10 and can be played on PS3.

HD Collection includes MGS2, MGS3, and MGS Peace Walker for $40. I would recommend getting it on PS3 because MGS3 uses the pressure sensitive buttons.

MGS4 is a PS3 Greatest Hit and can be bought for $20.
 

Ridley327

Member
Ever think that maybe people played PW but preferred MGS4?

Honestly, as much as I hated the direction that MGS4 ends up going in by game's end, the gameplay (when it was there) was really good and definitely stood up to MGS3. PW is so dumbed down in comparison.
 

RDreamer

Member
Bah, gaf, you've failed me. MGS3 plays like crap compared to the others. I feel like the vision they had and what they did were almost miles apart. They needed to update the gameplay and controls before they could open up the environments. I just get so frustrated when I play 3, compared to some of the others.
 

LeleSocho

Banned
MGS1 second? BAH what a joke... 5th/6th place is where it belongs

MGS3>MGS2=MGS4 and then the others in no particular order...



...oh and MGSTW>>>>MGS1
 
R

Retro_

Unconfirmed Member
And yet the Plant level design was boring, the set pieces were mediocre, the boss fights were the worst in the series and the writing was just a complete mess. I'll give you the gameplay and the Tanker scenario (both were fantastic) but the rest of that game? No. The entire Plant scenario is the worst part of the entire series as far as I'm concerned (excluding Twin Snakes and Snake's Revenge).

Put MGS2 below MGS4 and PW and I like the list. More people around here really need to play PW though, it's fantastic.

Why do you say that though?

People always go "everything after the tanker is garbage" but never specify why

- Undeveloped healing mechanics that you never really use if you're not terrible at the game

- Undeveloped food mechanics that you never really use past the first playthrough unless you're going for Markhor

- Camo system is generally a waste of time

- Terrible online mode with servers that aren't even up anymore instead of hundreds of extra missions

- Story was isolated from the other four games pretty severely, notably when it first came out

But it's still a fantastic game!

Forgot cluttered control scheme littered with useless player actions.

(I like MGS3 alot too but I think it's the most flawed of the original trilogy and don't get the reverence towards its story at all. I mean it started the trend of sappy endings in Metal Gear games)
 

dmshaposv

Member
Apparently I'm one of the few who hated MGS3. I disliked the whole camo / injury thing, didn't like the setting ( Jungle settings are the worst! ), hated the boss battles and it just didn't have the same feel as MGS1/2 for me.

I feel the same. Hated MGS3's camo shit and felt it had the most clunky gameplay of the series. I don't hate the whole game though, just don't like playing it as I don't find it as fun.

I'd rather watch a walkthrough on youtube of it now, because I did like the codec convos and the story developments.

GAFs hate for Raiden is religious.

At least people have gotten over that on this forum. There are people who blatantly hate the game just because of this and have never given it a chance...
 

ScOULaris

Member
Why do you say that though?

People always go "everything after the tanker is garbage" but never specify why

Because it just had a loss less detail than the Tanker and a somewhat uninspired design. It's not exactly a fair comparison, considering the small size of the Tanker, but there's no doubt that the Big Shell was just must less impressive from a design standpoint than the Tanker.

That, and the Tanker features Solid Snake as the playable character and a tightly paced plot with interesting developments every few minutes. Once the Plant chapter starts, things start to get... weird. Raiden is introduced, much to the chagrin of most players, and long codec conversations become the primary vessel for exposition.

I still love MGS2, but I just wanted to shed some light on why some of us feel that the game went downhill after the Tanker.
 
"You're pretty good."

Youreprettygood.png
 

Ridley327

Member
Why do you say that though?

People always go "everything after the tanker is garbage" but never specify why



Forgot cluttered control scheme littered with useless player actions.

(I like MGS3 alot too but I think it's the most flawed of the original trilogy and don't get the reverence towards its story at all. I mean it started the trend of sappy endings in Metal Gear games)

Is MGS3's ending really that sappy outside of EVA's debriefing? It's a huge downer for everyone involved.

Honestly, MGS2's ending qualifies better as being sappy before MGS3 does.
 
If there was any sanity left in the world 2 would've won. :(
I adore MGS2 but these were the serious issues and part of me wanted to vote for it in number 1 just for being as brave as it was.

- Once you’ve entered the plant, the colonel sends you messages that are automatically answered, about how to swim, how to drag a guard, how to hang etc This was about two hours into the game when most fans have already made their way through a non-linear, complex tanker. The hand-holding slowed the pace down and only during the bomb hunting was when Raiden had the freedom to explore. Really the Dead Cell’s members introductions shouldn’t have been grouped together and instead paced more separately. What we had there was about an hour of exposition with a few minutes of gameplay.

- Uncut dialogue: for example the patriots take about 10 minutes to rant about how humans are tools, controllable and not mature. This didn’t need as much exposition to explain. A few short lines would have been good enough.

- Again I don’t mind it, but the bomb hunting was literally running in circles… I mean hexagons. It’s not exactly great design.

- Melodrama: E.E’s moaning about being scared of water, or the sob story about Hal’s affair, does anyone enjoy this stuff except Hideo? None of it has any bearing in the grand scheme of things. And you know Rose nagging the player, I know she’s suppose to be like a creation to Raiden, or is being asked by the colonel to test emotions on the battlefield but it’s still not fun to listen to.

- Why does Ocelot… whilst being controlled by the arm, well not kill a handcuffed Snake? He just dives away.

- "Switch to nano-communication so no one can listen in" Yeah it makes sense in a kojimaway but it makes the cut-scenes more boring.

I won't complain about Raiden, he's great!

I can find questionable decisions in all the MGS games but having just finished 2 recently, these spring to mind.
 
R

Retro_

Unconfirmed Member
Is MGS3's ending really that sappy outside of EVA's debriefing? It's a huge downer for everyone involved.

That's the ending though! lol

Honestly, MGS2's ending qualifies better as being sappy before MGS3 does.

It was the same as MGS1's.

Both of which I liked for being extremely cheerful/optimistic in tone when compared to later entries.

Because it just had a loss less detail than the Tanker and a somewhat uninspired design. It's not exactly a fair comparison, considering the small size of the Tanker, but there's no doubt that the Big Shell was just must less impressive from a design standpoint than the Tanker.

I don't buy this explanation because that doesn't explain people essentially calling it hot garbage
 

ScOULaris

Member
Let's try this analogy then:

Tanker is to Plant

as

MGS4 Acts 1/2 are to Acts 3-5

The former in both games clearly received more dev time than the latter.
 
R

Retro_

Unconfirmed Member
On the subject of the stories I always thought it was weird when people said MGS2 fucked up the canon.

I always thought the worst aspects of the games after 3 were the parts that tried to tie that game to the rest of the series.

Let's try this analogy then:

Tanker is to Plant

as

MGS4 Acts 1/2 are to Acts 3-5

The former in both games clearly received more dev time than the latter.

I don't hate those acts though. Just some of the game design decisions that accompany them.

I actually like act 4 alot more than 2. Act 2 had such weird pacing.

So that analogy is just as meaningless to me as "tanker is the worst designed piece of garbage in the entire series"
 

ScOULaris

Member
On the subject of the stories I always thought it was weird when people said MGS2 fucked up the canon.

I always thought the worst aspects of the games after 3 were the parts where they tried to tie it to the rest of the series.

I hardly ever see anyone claiming that MGS2 ruined the canon. MGS4, on the other hand...
 
i like how scoularis went like two seconds before making it incredibly obvious this whole thing was an excuse to say his opinion is right and others are wrong
 
R

Retro_

Unconfirmed Member
I hardly ever see anyone claiming that MGS2 ruined the canon. MGS4, on the other hand...

Really?

I thought it was a pretty common claim against its story among people that dislike the game.

I think I've even read professional articles about the games that claim that.
 

ScOULaris

Member
i like how scoularis went like two seconds before making it incredibly obvious this whole thing was an excuse to say his opinion is right and others are wrong

And when, exactly, did I do anything of the sort?

If you are referring to the rankings, they don't match up with my own.

Mine was MGS1 > MGS3 > MGS4 > MGS2.
 

KingK

Member
Yay, I was quoted in the OP!

I'm ok with the rankings (and happy about MGS3 being first) but I still don't really understand why people rank 2 above 4. The most common major complaint with MGS4 seems to be the convoluted story, but MGS2 is just as guilty, if not more so, in this regard. Plus MGS4 has some of the best/most refined gameplay in the series (although I'll admit, MGS2 is no slouch there either). Oh well, MGS2 is still a great game so I'm not that upset.
 
Yay, I was quoted in the OP!

I'm ok with the rankings (and happy about MGS3 being first) but I still don't really understand why people rank 2 above 4. The most common major complaint with MGS4 seems to be the convoluted story, but MGS2 is just as guilty, if not more so, in this regard. Plus MGS4 has some of the best/most refined gameplay in the series (although I'll admit, MGS2 is no slouch there either). Oh well, MGS2 is still a great game so I'm not that upset.

MGS2 did some bold stuff with its story that could have been played safe.

MGS4 feels like a trip down to Unnecessary Fanservice Station.
 
PO has such a great little story, but the controls are some of the worst on the PSP and the missions are so repetitive.
It was one of the reasons I actually bought a PSP in the 1st place.
 

T Dollarz

Member
The original MGS is available as a PSOne Classic on PSN for $10 and can be played on PS3.

HD Collection includes MGS2, MGS3, and MGS Peace Walker for $40. I would recommend getting it on PS3 because MGS3 uses the pressure sensitive buttons.

MGS4 is a PS3 Greatest Hit and can be bought for $20.
Thank you sir. This will probably be my next game purchase!
 
Why do you say that though?

People always go "everything after the tanker is garbage" but never specify why

The other bits in my post weren't enough? Fine, here:

  • Poor level design. The big ring of buildings you had to run around really hampered them and made for a lot of boring areas that you ran back and forwards through. Even after you leave that though, you're basically on a very straight, narrow path all the way to the end.
  • The set pieces sucked. The sniper bit was somewhat fun albeit really easy and the shootouts alongside Snake weren't that great. Compare those set pieces to the ones in MGS1 (the shootout up the tower, abseiling down the tower, stealth suits on the elevator, etc) and it's a no contest.
  • The bosses were the worst in the series by far. Self explanatory. You couldn't even win two of them (Raiden gives up fighting the Ray's), Fatman was annoying more than challenging and Vamp didn't even die.
  • The script sucked. Kojima obviously thought way too highly of his writing skills after MGS1 and came up with a complete mess. The story was idiotic and it ultimately ended up hurting the series as they were stuck with wrapping that crap up in MGS4. Plus the cutscenes go on WAY too long and it had a ton of redundant dialogue (MGS3 and MGS4 suffer from those last two as well, but they're a bit improved).

Enough? I could go on about how the game will often treat you like a baby even if you've finished the Tanker ("would you like to save Raiden?" 10 minutes into the game) and a couple of other things I remembered when playing the HD version not so long ago but I think I've made my point. If the Plant was meant to be a MGS1 remake it did a pretty horrible job at replicating what made MGS1 so fantastic.

MGS1 > MGS3 > MGS PW > MGS4 > MGS2 > MGS PO >>>> MGS TTS
 

bone_and_sinew

breaking down barriers in gratuitous nudity
I hardly ever see anyone claiming that MGS2 ruined the canon. MGS4, on the other hand...
Well I'll say it. The story would be infinitely better without the Patriots. I don't blame MGS4 for being what it was since it was tasked with cleaning up the mess MGS2 started, which by then the overarching story was unredeemable after Portable Ops (which I pretend isn't canon).
 
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