After a two year hiatus from the world... Big Boss has returned!
Picked up my copy this evening. Played it for about a hour and a half when i got home. Here's what I think so far...
First thing you're going to notice are of course, the graphics... and boy... do they look good! Not only is this one of the best looking PSP games i've ever seen, it's also one of the best handheld games i've ever experienced period! It's about as close as you're going to get, playing a MGS game that resembles it's older console brother on the go.
Really like what they did with, Roy Campbell in this game. Seemed like a badass in his younger days(even as a cripple). Naked Snake looks pretty sweet. While his new Fox Unit sneaking suit isn't as cool looking as all the camo's from Snake Eater, i still dig the outfit. If you pan the camera around him and look at him from the front, he looks really detailed. There are however, some clipping and jaggy issues as many of the reviews have stated, but that's to be expected. Hey, still looks smooth enough for me.
Secondly, the music and sound effects are superb. I like a lot of Harry Gregson Williams work and I thought he did an awesome job for MGS2 and MGS3. Sadly, he's not composing in this one(i'm sure he's hard at work on MGS4). I believe it's the original composer for MGS on the original PSone version that is doing the conducting in this one. My impressions so far, He/she does a great job on capturing the music experience from the previous two console games. I like the Alert music already in this one(more so than MGS2's Tanker episode). I'm just waiting for the official MGS theme to sink-in somewhere in the game. Then i'll be like, " OH HELL YEAH!"
Voice work... Hey, it's David Hayter. You either love it or hate it. The dialogue so far has been solid. Lt. Cunningham i'm already considering Fox Unit's version Revolver Ocelot since he's an interrogation specialist. Just watch the intro.
I won't say anything about the digital comic-like cinematics. You won't be watching those 30 minute long cinematics this time around. I'll leave those for your viewing eyes. Btw, the codec scenes seem to be all personal text reading. No voice overs on those. Which i don't really mind. You can only do so much with a handheld game.
I was a little surprised that there was no intro movie during boot-up of the title screen. You're treated to a nice pic of the famous Foxhound symbol with the knife in the fox's mouth.
As far as controls go... i don't like the analog stick for the PSP but it seems alright in this game. The control set-up is pretty much the same as the console versions except, holding down "O" brings up your item selection screen. You select your item by pressing one of the four directions on the D-Pad while still holding "O". The L & R Triggers are now your way of controlling the camera. Be prepared to be hitting the L Trigger a lot to fix the camera. Basically, to face the direction that Snake is facing.
Gameplay-wise, this new MGS installment is now, mission based, instead of one big non-linear game. Got through the first couple of scenerios now, i'm recruiting military for my new faction. Hmmmm... I wonder what that new faction could be? lol I'm starting to learn the kinks of it. Looks promising and seems to work pretty well so far. I got to play some more.
So, was it worth spending $40 on a new PSP(been awhile since i did that) game and updating my PSP's firmware to play this? OH HELL YEAH!! Have you been listening to this long ranting impression of mine? hehe
This will definitely help hold the void until MGS4 comes out. I even held off on starting Castlevania: PoR tonight. MGS: Portable Ops owns the rest of the night. Poor Zelda: TP... i'm still trying to finish the last portions of that game.
You know when you're playing a MGS game there's going to be drama. Lots of it. You know what i'm talking about MGS fanboys. This game aims not to disappoint either. So grab your PSP's and keep that charger plugged because you're in for another long magical ride of Tactical Espionage Action proportions that only Kojima Productions can deliever. "Rejoice Snake! Our's will be a glorious battle!"
