Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Xbox 360)

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            Series : Metal Gear
Original Developer : Konami
    Port Developer : Kojima Productions
                   : 
        Other Tags : Hideo Kojima

      Achievements : trueachievements.com

COMPLETED
screenshot
Image source: gamerant.com

Analysis

  • Metagame - This game has most of the metagame mechanics of MGS5:TPP, including 'recruiting' enemy soldiers with balloons, managing staff assignments on your naval base, and developing and upgrading new equipment. It's hard to understate how much of a move forward this was for the series, from a straightforward action game to a game with solid and original metagame mechanics. It's a big motivating force when playing the game, and extends the game by making side missions relevant, because they contribute to your overall progress.

    However, the action gameplay is mostly derivative of MGS3, and feels like a weaker version of that game. The enemies are really blind and stupid, and most of the missions are almost trivial, except for a few of the mech/tank boss fights, which are more tedious than fun. You might say that this game has something else in common with MGS5:TPP, the mech boss fights are tedious and exhausting, and not fun at all.

    MGS5:TPP took the metagame mechanics from this game, and completely recreated the stealth action gameplay, and it is a much stronger game as a result. It's interesting to think about whether the metagame mechanics were specifically designed for a handheld game, where many, but relatively short missions and casual strategic management maybe works better than the long, intense action sequences found in some of the previous games.

  • Visual sound effects - I'm wondering why the hand-drawn cutscenes all have sound effects written in text like a comic book. Is it perhaps because some people play PSP with the sound turned down or completely off, and this visual choice enables conveying important sounds anyway?

  • Sexism - This game really has some choices concerning the female characters:

    • The cutscenes have the 'male gaze', but rather than it just being a bunch of subtle choices, it's actually implemented directly: In certain cutscenes, you can zoom the camera. For certain female characters, their clothes becomes transparent, and you can see their underwear.
    • The female story characters have 3D model viewers in the staff menu. Only the female ones. As I understand it, if you beat Extra Op 67 under certain conditions, the female characters from then on appear in their underwear.
    • The female characters, which are all grizzled freedom fighters, KGB spies, and top-level AI scientists, all are really good at cooking.

Log entries

    2024-11-18
  • This was 109 DKK on the Xbox store. It took me a while to find it, because it didn't show up when I searched for 'metal gear'. Bewilderingly, the title on the store is 'MGS PW HD', and it isn't even searchable with 'metal gear'.

  • I have been fantasizing about playing a new Metal Gear game, and this one seemed like the most important one I haven't played yet. I was thinking about playing the PSP original, but it seems way more convenient to play this version, also because I have a right stick to look around with.

  • I completed the Sandinista Comandante mission, the cool cigar-smoking Amanda and Chico, and the annoying humming drone.

  • 2024-11-24
  • I completed Main OPS 13/27, defeating the Pupa AI weapon, which is a cool design, very similar to the 1960s Soviet mech, the Shagohod from MGS3. Every AI in this game sings annoying 2-bar loops LA-LA-LAAH. It's an infuriating choice that appears so often in the cutscenes, I'm sure I will come to associate this singing with this game. It reminds me of why I didn't use Quiet in MGS5. Someone should have been fired for this choice.

  • 2024-11-25
  • Another late night playing Metal Gear. It's fun playing some more Metal Gear, but it's also getting clearer that this is a less impressive version of Phantom Pain.

  • 2024-11-26
  • I did 17/27 missions and I have researched a whole bunch of weapons and equipment. Nothing game-breaking yet, though. The game has not been difficult at all so far.

  • 2024-12-02
  • Completed the game on difficulty ().

    The last fight against the Peace Walker was very frustrating, I lost several very long fights by running out of resources. I learned the hard way that I only had 10 Supply strikes. In the end, I managed to defeat it by shooting better, and bringing an LMG for when the Peace Walker used its EMP.



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