In Other News, I'm Still Fairly Rubbish.
Jul. 9th, 2009 04:25 pmMore Metal Gear Solid! I am now up to the point at which Meryl opens the cargo door. Thoughts:
- Kira is obviously at work here.
- I love that the Game Over screen shouts 'YOU IDIOT' at you if you run into the wires and detonate the C4 during the Revolver Ocelot battle. I was sort of hoping for the same when I tripped the infrared sensor in the cargo hold, but instead I had Mei Ling sobbing at me, which isn't nearly as fun.
- Whilst I would love to be able to claim that I deliberately tripped the infrared sensor in the cargo hold to see the Game Over screen, I'm afraid I really am that useless.
- Speaking of the cargo hold death: that is a beautiful bit of cruelty on the part of the game designers. You trip the sensors; the doors close; the chamber fills with gas. Then the game gives control back to you. You can't do anything! All you can do is run around in helpless little circles, watching as your oxygen meter depletes. Snake will even eat rations if you have them equipped, thus prolonging his inevitable, miserable fate. That's just not nice, Metal Gear Solid.
- I really, really wish it were possible to change the camera angle without going into First-Person Mode and thus sacrificing one's mobility.
- I am also mildly irritated by the guards' apparent ability to hear the exclamation marks popping up above each other's heads. One sees you, and instantly they all somehow know where you are! Telepathic communication is cheating, guards.
- That said, I probably shouldn't begrudge the guards a bit of cheating, given that, despite their allegedly superior sight and hearing, they are incapable of spotting someone a bit too far down the corridor in front of them.
- I enjoyed the Revolver Ocelot battle quite a lot, actually. Probably my favourite part of the game so far. (This is not only because it involved the game calling me an idiot, but I'll confess that was a factor.) I was terrified that I was going to run out of bullets, though.
- My goodness, this game has some long cutscenes. I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan, and even I am daunted. It wouldn't be nearly so bad if they could be paused, but no: your options are 'skip' and 'watch', and that's it. Sometimes the telephone rings, Konami! Sometimes one simply doesn't have time for an unexpected ten-minute cutscene!
- I became very excited at the first mention of Hal Emmerich. I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM SO EXCITED BY THIS. I'VE NEVER PLAYED A METAL GEAR GAME BEFORE. I know barely anything about Otacon; why does the prospect of meeting him thrill me so much?
- Have I mentioned that I find Snake's lack of facial hair extremely confusing? From what little I'd gleaned of the Metal Gear Solid series (my sources being mostly![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
firefly99, videogame magazines and Super Smash Bros), I was under the impression that facial hair on Solid Snake was absolutely necessary. It's a bit like stumbling across some old footage of Derren Brown and discovering that he doesn't have a goatee in it. (If you do know of any images or videos of Derren Brown without a goatee, please keep them to yourself; I don't think I would be able to cope.)
- Kira is obviously at work here.
- I love that the Game Over screen shouts 'YOU IDIOT' at you if you run into the wires and detonate the C4 during the Revolver Ocelot battle. I was sort of hoping for the same when I tripped the infrared sensor in the cargo hold, but instead I had Mei Ling sobbing at me, which isn't nearly as fun.
- Whilst I would love to be able to claim that I deliberately tripped the infrared sensor in the cargo hold to see the Game Over screen, I'm afraid I really am that useless.
- Speaking of the cargo hold death: that is a beautiful bit of cruelty on the part of the game designers. You trip the sensors; the doors close; the chamber fills with gas. Then the game gives control back to you. You can't do anything! All you can do is run around in helpless little circles, watching as your oxygen meter depletes. Snake will even eat rations if you have them equipped, thus prolonging his inevitable, miserable fate. That's just not nice, Metal Gear Solid.
- I really, really wish it were possible to change the camera angle without going into First-Person Mode and thus sacrificing one's mobility.
- I am also mildly irritated by the guards' apparent ability to hear the exclamation marks popping up above each other's heads. One sees you, and instantly they all somehow know where you are! Telepathic communication is cheating, guards.
- That said, I probably shouldn't begrudge the guards a bit of cheating, given that, despite their allegedly superior sight and hearing, they are incapable of spotting someone a bit too far down the corridor in front of them.
- I enjoyed the Revolver Ocelot battle quite a lot, actually. Probably my favourite part of the game so far. (This is not only because it involved the game calling me an idiot, but I'll confess that was a factor.) I was terrified that I was going to run out of bullets, though.
- My goodness, this game has some long cutscenes. I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan, and even I am daunted. It wouldn't be nearly so bad if they could be paused, but no: your options are 'skip' and 'watch', and that's it. Sometimes the telephone rings, Konami! Sometimes one simply doesn't have time for an unexpected ten-minute cutscene!
- I became very excited at the first mention of Hal Emmerich. I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM SO EXCITED BY THIS. I'VE NEVER PLAYED A METAL GEAR GAME BEFORE. I know barely anything about Otacon; why does the prospect of meeting him thrill me so much?
- Have I mentioned that I find Snake's lack of facial hair extremely confusing? From what little I'd gleaned of the Metal Gear Solid series (my sources being mostly
firefly99, videogame magazines and Super Smash Bros), I was under the impression that facial hair on Solid Snake was absolutely necessary. It's a bit like stumbling across some old footage of Derren Brown and discovering that he doesn't have a goatee in it. (If you do know of any images or videos of Derren Brown without a goatee, please keep them to yourself; I don't think I would be able to cope.)
