METAL GEAR?! (Celebrating the 30th Anniversary)

[CaptainNexus616]

The franchise that debuted 30 years ago today that started a genre and is considered one of the greatest franchises in gaming. Leave your cardboard boxes at the door my fellow fans and let us discuss some of our favorite moments shall we?

[Raziel]

The whole of Metal Gear Solid 1 on PS1, that's one game that has so many moments I could name but I'm saying all of it because even after all these years I can go back to it and it's one of the very few almost perfect games that I struggle to think of anything negative about it.

Although if we have to pick one moment the first battle with Raven in the Tank, awesome.

[wander]

Y'know, I have a few moments with the series, though I think my first big one was when I took down all the Metal Gear Rays with Raiden towards the end of MGS2 and I only had the barest sliver of health, one hit and I would have been killed and I somehow managed to get past it.

Peace Walker is probably the game I can jump on and just play bits tomorrow if I wanted to. Phantom Pain comes a close second for that, though.

Snake's story was good and what my first memories were at, though really for me Big Boss' story is when the series grew the beard, IMO and are my preferred games. I'll probably talk more spoilerific fun about that as the thread grows.

However when I first played Metal Gear:Solid Snake, when Snake confronts Big Boss at the end and the latter does a speech that was a reworded version of the speech The Boss gave him at the end of MGS3, as I played the MSX ports after MGS3, it blew my melon to see Big Boss take Boss' words like that.

[CaptainNexus616]

One of my favorite things about the series is Raiden's journey. He got a lot of flak in MGS2 mainly due to the lack of promotion of him and suddenly replacing Snake as the protag but dang he has such a backstory that its hard for you not to feel for him.

Then his return in Metal Gear Solid 4 as a complete and total badass. Everytime he showed up he did it in epic fashion. While Revengence wasn't the best game story wise...just chopping up Metal Gear Rays with my sword WAS FUN!

[Raziel]

With you on Raiden, but I also got why they did it in terms of letting us see Snake from the perspective of somebody else.

Three more of my favourite moments, both from MGS 4 the long massive microwave/cooker crawl scene, the fact that Snake is so old in that one and still going and never giving up despite enduring that was so bad ass a moment.

The second revisiting Shadow Moses OMG I loved that! Brought back so many memories for me.

Finally the final fight in 4 when it played through various MGS theme's that was really cool. And talking about those really makes me mad that it's not playable on PS4.

And you know what one more that spans both MGS and MGS2 the settings, Shadow Moses was just a really cool place to play in and same goes for the Big Shell.

[CaptainNexus616]

Personally I loved how they always had to up the ante with the Metal Gear mechas themselves.

Ok so we had Rex what would be cooler? Lets start Metal Gear 2 with a Rex Killer that can swim! But what will be the big Metal Gear at the end? LETS MAKE A FREAKING METAL GEAR CARRIER SHIP!

MGS4: LETS MAKE ONE WITH A MOUNT RUSHMORE OF THE SNAKES!!

[Raziel]

I would love to go back and play through them all again but I don't have a PS3 anymore :(

Do still have Snake Eater and MSG 4 though.

Oh that's another thing the soundtrack, Metal Gear has always had an awesome soundtrack.

[wander]

I think in my replaying of MGS2, Raiden got laughably annoying by how he codeced the Colonel over every little thing...

Brrp brrp!
Raiden: Colonel, I entered the next room!

It happens so much!

Onto more amazing moments...

Getting The Truth tapes at the end of Phantom Pain for me was a doozy... You just got through the replay of the hospital scene, you get THAT ending and then all of a sudden you get these new cassette tapes...

...And I discover I support Zero's original plan completely... He just bit off more than he could chew trying to implement it and everything bad that happened (outside of Peace Walker) in the series after that was due to The Patriot AIs and Skullface. Zero basically wanted to build an online utopia where it didn't matter who you were and any borders between people would wiped away. However, we have that today and it's called 4chan... So... Yeah. 

On the OSTs; yes! I love the various tunes that Donna Burke did for Big Boss' games in the series.

Calling to the Night, Heaven's Divide, Sins of the Father. Yus. 

I also really dig 'Love Deterrence' as sung by Paz's original VA. Also, can we talk about that fight versus Metal Gear Zeke? Not as epic as the battle versus Peace Walker and the hectic launching of rockets at the bloody thing as it counts down to Doomsday (the rage and panic of trying to get out of those insta-game overs, I can still taste it! xD ), however the whole Paz was great stuff. Sad she got fridged in Ground Zeroes.

Also near-blistering my thumbs to trying and failing over and over Dr. Strangelove's torture in Peace Walker...

And talking about fridging, does anyone know that Chico was going to turn up in Phantom Pain in a red ghilli like Paz had with a burned face and machete? He was likely going to be a take on the male Skulls like Quiet was with the female Skulls. I also believe as he was dropped from dev that the Man on Fire replaced him.

The unused concept art of adult Chico;
https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/metalgear/images/6/60/IV1xBrF.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161111023400

[CaptainNexus616]

For me one of the biggest trolls in the franchise was this.

https://youtu.be/Um8dxx8xt2U

Be honest with me, there is no way to watch one of the best choreographed fights in videogame history due to those blasted Gekkos!

[wander]

Lol, yep... I was too busy as Old Snake railgunning the Gekkos to really watch that other half of the screen... Luckily in the quiet times I could and years later when I watched Yongyea on youtube do Lets Plays of every Metal Gear I watched it through.

Never been a fan of Vamp, though of course Raiden in MGS4 was a total badass. I like him more in 4 than Rising though. Honestly his story was done in 4 and I would have liked him to just settle down with Rose and Jack.

One thing; I was kinda pissed after he got ran over by the Metal Gear Arsenal that Liquid Ocelot had and he survived it. They set up him getting run over as a sacrifice to save Old Snake and even had sad flashy-backs to him and Rose meeting and she was the last thing he screamed as it happened, realising his love for her and it was too late. They even did the terminator red eye light going out on his visor... I actually shed a man-tear...
Then Otacon says in Chapter 5 he's fine and I was very disappointed. However, all was forgiven when he came and confronted the Frog Troopers to allow Old Snake to traverse the microwave corridor... Fucking most badass scene in the entire game, moreso than his initial entrance. And of course the man-tear was shed when he was reunited with his family and could live in peace.

Goddamnit Kojima! xD

[CaptainNexus616]

Let it be said Kojima loved hurting his characters and trolling them something fierce...or to put it in more simple terms.

https://youtu.be/4JuK1Yr35Io?t=7

To be honest I didn't feel bad for Kaz when he found out the big plot twist in Phantom Pain. Mainly because he had went behind Big Boss's back in Peace Walker and even stated it was just for the sake of business. That truly does feel like a violation of trust, between you and someone who is supposed to have your back.

[wander]

I feel like Kaz from Peace Walker and him in Phantom Pain are like two different characters anyway.

I realise they had to make him consider Big Boss a monster for his appearance in Metal Gear:Solid Snake on the MSX, though I missed his roguish suave and jokey nature. There was the hamburger quest in PP... Though eh, too little too late for me.

[CaptainNexus616]

Speaking of characters can we just take a moment to appreciate Revolver Ocelot?

Just say this part out loud to yourself.

He is a Russian soldier, who loves to meow. Pretend to be a cowboy spinning revolvers. Who then got his arm chopped off by a ninja, then replaced said arm with one from your dead clone brother. Then proceeded to got possessed by the spirit of dead bro because of the arm. Who then got rid of the arm but continued pretending to be your dead clone brother 

[Raziel]

Solid Snake: Getting his life saved by cyborg ninja's since 1998

[wander]

He's also one of the biggest heroes of the setting, though you would never know due to how he's portrayed.

It was down to his plan that the Patriots AIs fell. 

Hell, Grey Fox was codec helping Snake in Metal Gear 2:Solid Snake back in 1990... Having played that game, the twist of who the cyborg ninja in MGS1 is becomes obvious and brilliant at the same time. :)

[CaptainNexus616]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eQzDYepeSY

Leaving this little video for everyone

[wander]

Best extra on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. 

I didn't watch the vid, though does it have the video where Raiden goes back to the MSX games to kill the leads and become the main character? They were awesome.