I'm playing through the collection now (in a weird order, 3, 2, 1).
The originals I've played as follows with these conclusions:
1: Solid game for the time, somewhat repetitive level design and slightly off combat, but elevated by the great characters and performances. Beaten on Normal, later Hard. B+ at the time.
2: Masterpiece. Best pacing in a game like this; the best set pieces; awesome regular battles with beautiful vertical level design; the best visuals; the best characters and tons of memorable story moments. Beaten on Normal, Hard, Crushing. A+ at the time.
3: Horrible aiming issues (The More You Know: I started and maintained the thread on here that got them to fix it). Once fixed, still a disappointing experience from 2 with seemingly rushed level design that regressed from 2. Set pieces were cool but had an aura of pummeling you into submission, like too much of a good thing. A lot of linearity that felt like meh, mostly because of U2 expectations. Mechanically a good game but really hurt by the aiming fuckup. Story had the patented character moments but also went kind of nowhere regarding the intriguing villains. Visuals were excellent but IQ felt worse than U2 at times. Beaten on Normal only due to lack of interest and the aiming ordeal. A- at the time but felt worst than that due to U2.
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Collection replay (all on Hard with kid watching):
3: Wow, this came off a lot better than in 2011! Damn. Really enjoyed this time. Honestly it is a great example of how much better it is playing without forcing expectations onto your experience.
1: And this one came off worse than the original. Same game, of course, but the mechanical niggles like the cover system messing up, weak Moss-12 shotgun, breakdancing pirates, and the wave-based level design all seem quite damaging. It's really amazing how basic and somewhat unpolished this game was vs. 2 and 3.
2: This is officially now a game I can play an infinite number of times. It just doesn't get old. Everything between Nepal and the end of the game, minus a couple boss fights, is pure game design brilliance. I have some more to go through and can't wait to get back to it tonight. There are games I love, like Mass Effect 2, that I could not play repeatedly like this despite those games in some cases being much more open and free-form. Amazing.