Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Comments by Rob Fahey

It really is a fantastic game. I'm just at the second Volgin fight at the minute.

Once it reaches a price point below 20€ probably. I won't be paying full (although reduced) price yet again.

Here comes an unrelated note that takes the thread back to the next-gen console wars!

So even though PS3 might not have that many great games made for it when it launches, it looks like that if you don't have PS2 yet (and I don't anymore) you're going to have at least some fun playing all these top scoring PS2 games.

It's sweet as a nut. I keep meaning to start the main game disc, but somehow the Persistence disc stays in the drive and I play another 2-3 hours online instead.

Anyone who feels like killing me (form an orderly queue) search for "I Am Hughes".

From a quick play on the actual game, they seem to have moved the Kerotan frogs to different locations, for those of us who found them all last time.

Edit: Oh, and the Secret Theatre stuff on Disc 2 has some bizarre, and bloody hilarious stuff, including a good deal more piss-taking at Raiden's expense.

Stupid frogs and statues. Didn't like them since Sons of Liberty.

edit:

I assume most of these funny trailers have been available for download before the actual release of the new package.

I hadn't played the original MGS3 so I bought this and have enjoyed it immensely. It's so much better than the previous two games. A bit dull to begin with, but once you get that AK47 it just gets better and better.

Also has less frequent cutscenes than the previous games, I think.

pff - I've had snake. Just walk down a road in Beijing at you get it practically stuffed down your throat.

edit: oh, right - the royal Eurogamer "us". Ignore me.

Pure genius...
Better gameplay than the first two, and much better story than the second...
Finished it a few days ago...
Can't wait to restart the adventure and get the cobra's camo's...
Sadly, I have no fast internet connection where I live...so no persistence... :(

/tries to revolve his mouse like a Colt Single Action Army
/Fails

"Snake in the grass." should have been "Mother fucking snakes in the mother fucking grass!"

And it's funny to see that there are ppl yet again sad enough to rate games a 1.0.

Completely off topic but...

F**kin Sony!

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901

Never played MGS3 yet, so i'll be picking this bad boy up.

Might sound like a stupid question - so I apologise in advance - but I played MGS2 a few years ago and quite frankly found it very dull...is this a lot better??

Best setting for a MGS game. Worst gameplay though imho.

Peej

I picked it up too, and of course, I had DNAS errors.

By the way, these flash commercials are getting out of hand. Each time I go to this site my computer's fan starts spinning up, and up, and up ...

@lambtron:
Holy shit...
The Sony bad presswagon just got itself brandspanking new afterburners...
This will sting...

The online mode is marlous - it's really well balanced and well, just plain fun!

One comment the review got wrong about the online mode was this;

but you drop into first-person mode to aim and fire - an interesting mechanic which slows the game down appreciably

You can actually shoot from third person as well when online.

@AcidSnake
This bit I especially like, Uber-Corperate-Hypocrisy FTUL :(

"Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few."

Completely off topic but...

F**kin Sony!

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901

And then ppl say that MS is evil...

Bad news but

It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it", stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.

Is a bit of an overstatement, innit?

This game is sooo good. Played the beta ages ago now, but it is teh win.

OMG!

/buys PS2 game that isn't SingStar or Guitar Hero.

I got this game but couldn't play it because every time you duck down into the grass, the game automatically goes into first person view.

In third person view, you can see where the enemies are in relation to Snake, but as soon as it goes into first person, all you can see is grass in front of you.

Unless there's some way around this, the game seems completely unplayable to me.

It would be nice to be able to play this game though since clearly it's supposed to be good...

I got this game but couldn't play it because every time you duck down into the grass, the game automatically goes into first person view.

I think the theory is that the grass restricts your view so you cant see around in 3rd person. It's like the lockers in MGS2 - the restricted view helps to build tension when you're hiding from enemies and sneaking in the undergrowth....

Not sure why you think it's unplayable becuase of this game mechanic though?

I see...

But it makes it unplayable because it's completely disorientating. You totally lose track of where the enemies are. Then you have to stand up to check where they are. Then you get spotted. Then you get killed. Over and over again...

Bah! i think I need to watch a walkthrough or something. I must be doing something wrong...

Dammit, I wish I hadn't sold my PS2 now. :(

Have you tried holding L2 & R2 similtaneously? I think it makes snake poke his head over the grass and allows you to look without exposing yourself.

Also if you tap the stand button instead of holding, he goes to a crouch position instead of a standing straight up........

Ok heres the question everyones been waiting for.....


Does it have a 60hz switch ?

No, crouch makes you poke your head above the grass. True, he's still crouching, but the guards instantly spot him.

The whole thing is just so unwieldy - it should just stay in third person - having to go into first person to aim a weapon and firing by letting go of the button - Ugh.

Even using the circle button to confirm things in menu instead of X which is standard for every other game - why does it have to be so damn awkward - I just want to play it...

The circle thing is the standard button in the eastern world while the X button is the standard button in the western world.

If you were to get a Japaneese PSP Circle is accept and X is cancel.

If you hold R1 and R2 + L2 your head will go up to look at just above the grass.

Been planning to get this game this Friday along with Pro Evo 6 and hopefully Disgaea 2. :)

No, crouch makes you poke your head above the grass. True, he's still crouching, but the guards instantly spot him.

The whole thing is just so unwieldy - it should just stay in third person - having to go into first person to aim a weapon and firing by letting go of the button - Ugh.

Even using the circle button to confirm things in menu instead of X which is standard for every other game - why does it have to be so damn awkward - I just want to play it...

Have you tried L2 & R2? I think it peers over the grass without crouching up?

Also you CAN shoot from third person - I think you need to hold L1 at the same time as square (I cant remember precisely...........) With this method you can run and shoot at the same time.

So alL I have to do is hold R1 L2 while twisting my arm behind my back pressing circle, standing on my head and holding R2 simultaeously. Okay. Simple!

;-)

You're not trying very hard, are you? I mean, if you think the game's unplayable because of the first person view when in the grass, you're not a very good player. Also, try using more than just the grass to hide in. With the right camouflage you don't need to hide in the grass, just lay still on the ground to "blend in". They won't see you unless you move or get really close to you.

alex g, perhaps you should read the instruction manual? ;-)

I 'm not very good no. But I could play Splinter Cell okay...

And I have an aversion to reading manuals. Don't make me do it!

Still, in the end I'd just prefer have the OPTION for the game not to automatically decide to go into first person view when it feels like it - that's my only real gripe.

I bought MGS3 ages ago because I saw it cheap and STILL haven't got around to playing beyond the very beginning.

Good good, now tell me why did we have to wait a full year for this?

MGS3 is the best in the series, with MGS1 a very close second, or even shared first place. This should've been the version we got from the start, but I'm such a big fan of the series, and the fact that I saved myself from playing it again until I got this version made me buy this anyway. I didn't have the PAL release anyway, so I wanted to get the best version, and now I have MGS2 Substance and MGS3 Subsistance.

And if you haven't played it already, and your excuse being the camera-angle, there's really no excuse not to buy this now. It's one of the ten best games on the PS2 and should be in the shelf (or in the PS2) of every game collectors library.

If you were to get a Japaneese PSP Circle is accept and X is cancel.

and its the most annoying thing in the whole world. Playing a game, going to the home screen and going backwards through every freakin menu.....

Would have brought this a year ago, too late now.

Re: the X button O switch, the Final Fantasy's used to be exactly the same, you settle into it unless you are a frequent game hopper. Several hundred hours of various Final Fantasies and probably a hundred hours on the MGS games means I rarely make the mistake more than once, going back to the "START" screen from the menu screen sets me back in the habit.

Z.O.E 1 & 2 used it as well, Kojima must be a stickler for it.

I doubt there's any other game maker who can get me to buy the same game twice.

Xenosaga also uses Circle for yes and X for no. Bloody hard to remember that when you're also playing KH 2 which uses X for yes.

Balls MG3 was pants. J'accuse Metal Gear of being nowt more than a sacred cow. To the guy who didn't like MG2 don't buy this its even worse. The cutscenes are even longer and more inane. When I say inane I mean digging a pit that is so deep there is no bottom. Sample cutscene, well not even a cutscene really this is meant to be gameplay: you have to climb up a very long ladder and by long I mean it takes the award for longest ladder in a game ever. Whole minutes of your life go by that you wonder why you are wasting. Why does the game do this? So it can play its comically bad "Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakeee Eaaaaateeeeeer" sub-sub-sub-x500 par Bond rip off anthem at you. The proper cutscenes are even worse still going on for about 20 minutes at a time of badly plotted, geeky matrix bollix effects, self indulgent dribble. This would be fine if the game played well but the jungle enviroment just plays the same as the corridors and rooms of the old titles. It doesn't feel like your in an actual jungle there's no gameplay evolution at all here. Infact its a backwards step if anything as in the old games you just hid behind a wall or barrel and did things at pace. They also gave you a decent radar to make up for the limited vision. Here you have to hide in a bush, go in the menu and camouflage up as the enemies will still see you otherwise, wait for 10 years for guard to walk past, jump out, go to menu (again) change camouflage otherwise enemies at long range will spot you, kill guard and then in the original MG3 get spotted by a guard who you couldn't see because the camera always pointed north, die fighting or even more boring run away and hide then repeat monotonous process again. Maybe the new camera improves this or maybe it doesn't. I'm more inclined to believe alexg than any of the fans. At least in the old Metal Gears you could always look forward to some highly inventive and exciting boss fights. Nope not in this one: all crap, the only ones that stand out are the old fart and the Boss and they're nowt special. Oh there's also a really bad Panzer Dragoon clone on rails shooty bit with wibbly wobbly controls too at the end.
Does it still have that song by shite indie bedwetters Star Sailor on the outro when you complete it? I hope very average tune sums up what is a very average game really. Metal Gear Solid was a masterpiece but the sequels have got worse with every instalment. MG4 better turn out to be more than pretty cutscenes, but I suspect we are seeing a pattern here. And why are people so impressed by the camera? Wow it finally does a moving camera s'not like Dreamcast, Xbox and Gamecube games have all been doing this for years. But hey lets make it out as a real achievement and not just the simple brutal truth that the PS2 is not only well technically short of Xbox+Gamecube power but Dreamcast power. Wow look everyone Dreamcast quality graphics on a PS2 at long last how did they do it!?!
I believe the PS2 can somehow just about barely handle Resisdent Evil 4 so buy that instead if you don't have it and see what a real sequel plays like. `

wow

Wow indeed, a lesser-spotted embittered Dreamcast fan. Don't see many of those these days, they've mostly shifted to the MS camp to give XBox/360 owners a bad name with their bileous crapulence. That bit about the ladder was pretty funny though! :¬]

shit, I didn't read all that, but I noticed you got to the end... so you hated the game all throughout but finished it anyway? Wow, you must really have NO life at all. Also, you type really badly. In fact, I think you fail at life =)

I thought that ladder part was genious. Really built up a nice atmosphere with the song in the background - which I think gets too little love. I find it better than just about 99% of the James Bond songs.

Widescreen, Progressive Scan? Considering how bad the original MGS3 looks on my HDTV these are the things I'm most concerned about.

:(

Sorry, none of those. But I'm looking forward to playing it on my future PS3, as it will be upscaled.

And get a new TV, my HDTV is pretty cheap, and it shows SD signals pretty well compared to the first TV I tried. That was just horrible. Once again, I found that I can't fail with picking Sony tv-sets.

Wow I know people have opinions and all but... wow.

Hang on didn't RE4 "just" have a new camera angle?

/fears he enraged the Dreamcast fan.

HIGHVOLTAGE, you could do with a few seperate pargraphs in that post - it gave me a headache trying to read it!

I've only been playing for a little bit and the controls are awkward but not game-breaking. You have to laugh at the spiky responses to anyone who says that the controls are broken.

Offered reasons why the controls are, in fact, adequate;

- You're stupid and haven't read the manual
- You're a Dreamcast fanboy
- You have no life, you finished the game anyway
- I can't read anything without paragraph breaks

Let me add a few;

- You have webbed fingers, surgery will be required to get the most out of MGS3
- I am angry and worried about the future of the PS3
- Millions of people are dying in Africa
- PsychoMantis actually swapped the X and O buttons, get used to it soldier!