Be Excellent To Each Other

WTFF was that balloon thing at about 12:15 into the video?!

A mechanism from MGS: Portable Ops where you send people back to base via a balloon.

I... I...

http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Fulton_ ... ery_system

Mechanically, it's a way of recruiting rescued POWs to work at your base.

This thing really exists -- you may remember it from The Dark Knight.

I imagine the alternatives (I.e. Realism) were worse: carry someone to a location with a chopper again and again. And again. And again.

Mental.

I think it looks fucking brilliant this. I loved the Ground Zeroes demo thing and more of that in a big area would be brilliant. I love a sandbox shooter where you aren't just ridiculously powerful to the point of being almost invulnerable like Far Cry.

RELEASE DATES!

1 September, all platforms.

Hang on, I said "dates."

Because you don't get to play the multiplayer until 6 October!

On console.

PC: January 2016. But, hey, who knows, the campaign may last a quarter of a year to play through. Or not. Probably not, hey.

That's one way of discouraging people from trading it in when they have finished it.

New Metal Gear Solid Trailer.

http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/metal_gea ... _here.html

You've seen the gameplay footage! Now watch the trailer to the cut scenes! Endless cut scenes! Cut scenes for all! Make a cup of tea and sit down for a cut scene! Cut! Scenes!

1 September is only around the corner. Blimey.

I must say, this is on the verge of being super excellent stuff. The prologue was great (even if I didn't have much to do at least it was still playable) and I'm up to mission 6 and it's been brilliant. Not least because I haven't been engaged by some tit wanting to talk to me for hours on end about socio-economics of war or some bull crap not have I had to watch endless cut scenes.

Frankly, it astonishing that this is a Metal Gear game. It's fucking brill.

And another thing, I played some Metal Gear Online too. Just a few games of Cloak and Dagger which was super too.

One team plays the goodies who are all virtually invisible, and proper invisible too (you really have to keep your eyes open to see them moving about), who have to steal one of two data discs on the map with only tranquilliser guns and the baddies have to stop them. The baddies aren't invisible (unless the player has some unlocked it somehow so I think cause I saw one guy with it but that was only one person in about 4 games) and have deadly assault rifles.

At one point, as a baddie, I was slightly knocking about when some guy whipped me over on my arse. I didn't see him at all. It was marvellous.

Then, as a goodie, some bad guy came and crouched next to me. He was looking the other way so I pinged him in the head. It felt marvellous. Then I gave him the ultimate insult, I fultoned his arse out of there. I bet he was fucking gutted.

I can't understand why no one on here hasn't given this ago. It's like CoD Search & Destroy but slower, more measured and proper fucking tense. Really enjoyable stuff and far more interesting than most online shooters multiplayers on console.

At the risk of patronising you, that assymetric setup is how the Splinter Cell multiplayer worked for a long time years ago so it's not the new idea it might seem.

A good point (that I wasn't aware of) ruined by typing assymetric.

That's exactly the word I was going for, it was weirdly anally fixated.

Aren't we all.

So anyway, this Splinter Cell MP, one team was invisible then?

Not invisible per se, but they had all the stealth tools and abilities that you got in the single player game whereas the other team had torches and guns.

Kiefer has done an absolutely outstanding job on this, so much so that I couldn't even remember what the other guy sounded like if I wanted to. Which I don't, cause Kiefer is brilliant.

I've gotten quite used to him shouting at the horse, "yaa, yaa" he says, but when I slowed to a trot and then pulled the reigns his soft gravely voice saying "whoa, whoa there" made my knickers all moist.

He should voice everything. Every. Thing.

Dear Sirs,

I have been playing Metal Gear Solid 5 and it is bloody good. I am however annoyed that the title for this thread is not, say, Metal Gear Solid V, because that's the name of the game.

Anyway, MGSV has done the impossible: Snake has turned from a bloke that won't shut the fuck up about every tedious shit that enters his mind to a Snake that is largely mute. Kiefer is such a good voice but even in some scenes were you might expect him to say "Yes" "Hmmm" "No" or "Put some clothes on, gal" he won't even grunt. A some point I was thinking "Hey, this is great. He's like a whole new character" but that gave way to "Did they pay him by the syllable and run out of money?" Anyway, the lack of cut scenes is also just incredible. Like, astonishing. It's like every single MGS game that preceded MGS hasn't existed. And yet when there is a cut scene I'll just ... sit there and watch it. Actually watchable cut scenes. Usually with Snake saying absolutely nothing but with some excellent mo-cap doing that mo-cap thing that only mo-cap do.

So few cut scenes, no endless exposition about the socio-economic background of cold weather or whatever, and ... same old MGS? Well no, because MGS was just endless waffle and cut scenes and very little doing stuff but here you are constantly ... well ... Playing. The. Game. Just fascinating stuff. I mean, if someone told me that Kojima would release a game that let you play the game I'd have kicked you in the shins and spat on your lapels before subjecting you to a three hour diatribe on why gameplay is actually a ruse invented by the Patriots to make the population subservient. But that would mean that I had the slightest inkling as to what the MGS story was actually all about but having played MGSV I can categorically state that I ...

... nope, it's gone. I still don't know what MGS is actually about and MGSV ain't telling me. All I know so far is Snake has an army, bad guys blew up my army and now I'm making another army by ballooning enemy soldiers one at a time with no help whatsoever. Insofar as the story is concerned, you'll get a short burst of what you're supposed to be doing in a short flight by helicopter on the way to the map but after that you're largely on your own. There is, of course, too many fucking spoken acronyms because everyone understand a whole bunch of those fucking things don't you? Then internet can't get enough of not typing out sentences. So we're subjected to "The PC was working for RSK" like anyone is paying enough attention to know what all that gibberish means even if there is substantially less bollocks on display. Actually tell a lie, there is a lot of further exposition but thankfully it's hidden away in the menu system (in the form of tapes that you can listen to at any time and any place) and you can avoid it like the plague like any sensible person will do. Important tapes are coloured gold so if you just want the gist then you know where to find it. I really liked this actually and it goes to show how helpful the game is to players. "LISTEN TO ALL THE TAPES NOW STOP WHAT YOURE DOING. YES I KNOW YOURE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING" old MGS might have said. "Listen to all the tapes, if you want. Or listen to these ones that will give you more story. Or don't bother and go balloon some folks" new MGS says.

See all those words up there? Nothing to do with the actual game, are they? The game itself if brilliant. There's too much going on. Too much.

Guns: Got loads. Try them all out on people's faces. Tranqs, death bringers, silenced assault rifles, rocket launchers, water pistol, hand guns, six shooter, sniper rifles, grenade launchers and so on and so on. Endless variety on variety. Do they all largely do the same job? Yes, but so do CoD's, y'feelme?

Companions: Horse. Dog. Human. Robot. The choice is endless. Except that's your lot. Ok, I haven't unlocked anything else so far but when you can only take one out with you on your travels choosing someone is a real choice to weigh up. Get bored of Horse? FUCKING BALLOON IN THE DOG! And of course you will because Dog is fucking brilliant. Get bored of Dog? NO YOU FUCKING WONT. But if you fancy a change: BALLOON THE DOG. And, yes, it's hilarious seeing him boosted into the sky time and time again.

Customisation: If you're like me and you like to dress up your pet to make them look stupid then you too can dress up your virtual Dog or Horse. Stick a new camo on him. Give him a knife. Whatever you can, do it all. Robot companion is a bit weedy with his tranquilizer gun? FUCKING CHAIN GUN HIM UP MUTHAFUCKER. Your helicopter is too boring? SHOVE A SPEAKER ON AND RIDE IN TO KIM WILDE'S KIDS IN AMERICA.

Anyway, I'm going to pick up my actual dog now so I want to say this game is massive. Massive. Like your mum.

Oh, just play it. Play it and play it some more. If you like the gamey bit of previous MGS entries then you will be off your tits with this. Metal Gear Solid V is where its at.

*Oh and despite fears of microtransactions, I haven't come across one yet. Not one. Not that insurance for your base thing.

** Oh and the multiplayer is fantastic too. Must spend more time writing words about that. And the actual game. Yay MGSV for being awesome.

There cannot possibly be anyone in this world that doesn't think Saturnalian is the best thing ever, surely?

Well you're drunk

Well, yes. Doesn't mean I'm wrong though.

Also: don't be jealous, it's not very becoming.

I think you'll find it's 'envious' in this situation...

I suspect it's both.

YOU DON'T KNOW ME

Hush now. It's you, it's only ever been you.

I hate it that dad's only affectionate when he's drunk

Daddy changed his hair

Bye, bye, Dog.



Bugger trimmed it wrong...

Stealth.

So anyway, I like the stealth video, which is 15 minutes of a 30 minute mission I did, for the following reasons:

Whilst the objective was set out at the beginning of the mission as being blow up the tanks and kill the general (typical game fodder, then) it played out much differently than my good intentions intended at the beginning. Stealth is the best way to play and the game gives you loads of tools to do so and a variety of mechanisms in game to accomplish your stealthy goals. You can take your tranqs, you can hide in the long grass, the shadows, you get a slow mo if someone spots you whilst you're being stealthy giving you a last ditch attempt to continue being stealthy, boxes, dummy solider, ballooning bodies, carrying bodies and so on and so on. So off you go being stealthy and, in fact, 15 minutes of that mission not seen involved me climbing a high shanty town on a rock face silently taking out guards and having a good time.

I fully expected that the tanks would come and visit this craggy rock town and park up allowing me time to snipe the general hence why I was sitting up on the rock face at the start of the video waiting with my sniper rifle.

Then it goes to shit. They drive past me. And it suddenly dawns on me that they are going to drive right by and bugger off ending the mission, so it turns from a stealth mission to a blow the shit up mission. And the game accommodates that too with a further baffling amount of ways to blow shit up. I run past a mortar but spot another quickly giving me chance to try out some devastating fire power and it works and one tank is deadid. Then I make haste using my trusty horse to gain ground. Which fails despite covering a lot of ground but the tanks park up at a base so I have another go at blowing them up. Grenade launchers are the order of the day which doesn't do much damage to the tank and just wakes everyone up.

So more mechanisms come into play as the enemy AI reacts to your presence and starts shooting you. They call out on the radio, they request backup, they shoot at your position. But no sooner are you being shot at, you can out run them and hide in cover. The game has a similar mechanic to Splinter Cell where the AI comes for your last known position but rather than have some massive shadow remain on the map like Splinter Cell, it is just communicated by the enemy going for your last known position! Outstanding work that doesn't require the game tapping you on the shoulder to remind you that you're playing a game. No, instead you just observe what happens. You can see later on in the video that the troops lay down fire on the last known position thinking I'm still there and soldiers start to converge on that position even though I'm currently crawling on my belly right by them. It's all brilliantly done. It looks great. It sounds great. It plays smart.

There's some irritants though, like when I fire a grenade near the end through a camo net which explodes on the net knocking me off the horse because it's treated like a solid object. Bit shit. Or when I drive into the horse by accident and knock over the horse. I felt bad about that.

But these are few and fair between because there's the enemies that are wiped out on the way back to the chopper because it flew overhead, saw me in trouble and someone chain gunned the fuck out of the baddies. I never asked for it - it just happened. There's loads to love about this. Loads.

This guy has a load of tips and secret stuff in this bumper video.

http://youtu.be/8XmZgzRvEiU

Some of these I've stumbled across whereas I had no fucking clue about the symbols alongside the map which indicates whether the AI is getting smart to my headshots, night time infiltrations and sniping. Effing brilliant.

Turns out Kojima is still up to his same shit with dialogue like:

"They're going to wipe every language except English off the face of the earth"

"You can have your speech back but YOU WILL BE INFERTILE."

Yeah, cause Big Boss has always expressed an interest in settling down and raising a family, so who gives a fuck.

Currently playing MGS3. Action is good, but I don't know whether to laugh or cry during the cutscenes. Example: Ocelot gets attacked by a swarm of angry hornets, but he survives by killing hundreds of them by, erm, spinning his revolvers. Erm. OK.

It's meant to be funny. Sometimes it doesn't translate terribly well.

What's going on here then? In the second chapter of the game it starts to add missions to your mission list which are just harder versions of earlier missions. Boo. I wouldn't mind them adding a hard mode or something but this seems like padding the mission list with non-critical missions as it suddenly rushes to some sort of a conclusion. I've got about 5 replay missions that I'm no longer arsed with doing as I'm invested in some sembelence of a story from Kojicunt.

"I am Quiet. I am the absence of words."

Who. Wrote. This.

Oh, Kojima, yeah, great stuff Kojima. You're a real literinary genius aren't cha? Do you not have anyone who reads this stuff before you put it in the game?

He's the George Lucas of gaming in that respect.

I'm so glad that someone had the foresight to convince Kojima to put his hours of garbage read out by cheaper actors into tapes that are entirely optional accessible only to those who give two shits about some ridiculous "story."

Having said that though, I'm, by and large, entirely with the story this time. Big villain wants to do bad stuff, I stop him, then I'm tying up loose ends with subsidiary characters. Really simple-to-follow stuff that requires no knowledge of the previous games (except Ground Zeroes, I suppose. But even then all you need to know is that you got blown up and now you ain't got no arm). I've sort of followed the story in my own way and played every game to completion except for the PSP games, Peace Walker, so there's a little extra for me cause I can recognise some of the characters before they went bad. It's kinda nice seeing them without the ludicrous baggage of the later games.

Hell, the game itself is massively repetitive (Christ almighty how many games set in an open world will have you "capturing outposts" a la Far Cry and Just Cause) but is just an absolute joy to play. Fuck knows how many hours I've spent on it (must be 20-30 odd) but I'm still enjoying sneaking into places and busting heads and sometimes not busting heads. I haven't even tried things like the decoy balloons and stuff and it's still fantastic and fresh each time.

AND, it has its own "No Russian" moment with a remarkable, honest to god, a remarkable level that pulls in everything you've done over 20 hours and says "Now what the fuck you gonna do." And you'll ponder your motives and get on with it, which is bad enough. But then you open "that room." And... well, it's brilliant, and has no reason to exist in this game (because "Kojima", right?) but I'm so super glad that it does.

That and the stellar opening mission will stick with me long after I've finished it. And I've only got a couple of levels to go, I think, but I'll leave that until tomorrow so I can start the next 52.

Holy fuck I've played it for 50 hours and 47 minutes!?

Also finished now and the end is BRILLIANT! I take back everything I've ever said about Kojima. That guy is a genius. Shame he can't write dialogue for shit though. And that crap with the kids and Eli was annoying too. Anyway, BRILLIANT!

MGSV: The Phantom Pain is absolutely marvellous. What a game.

A solid (snake) 9 from me.

A quick look at the stats reveals that I ballooned 479 people.

Completion percentage: 49%

Well. It's hard to say. I can't imagine what he writes translates all that easily.

Have you sat through hours of nonsense cut-scenes and radio calls in MGS1-4 and are attempting to excuse his bollocks because of translation? You, Sir, are the wrongest of the wrong.

I dare say I have a slightly better idea about the difficulties of translating difficult Japanese into English. Particularly when it's meant to be amusing.
So yeah, I think it's a distinct possibility.

Then why try? MGS are AAA titles - they've got enough money to hire writers to actually write dialogue for non-Japanese countries, rather than just do shit translations of concepts that just don't translate.

I didn't realise that Metal Gear was supposed to be a comedy. So now you know, people. Remember that hour long cut-scene at the end of MGS4 where Snake and The Big Boss talk about the Patriots, life, the Cold War, nuclear armament, fox-dye and shit? An amusing scene ruined in translation and not a total bollock spewing bore fest.

I love this a lot.