Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Review

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker is like a delicious casserole crafted from the finest ingredients every game in the series up to this point has to offer while at the same time trimming the excess, unhealthy fat from the product. The end result is arguably the most polished Metal Gear game to date.

While the Metal Gear series was never particularly bad, there were always a few nagging issues that kept each game from being as good as they could be, particularly in the area of control schematic. Metal Gear Solid 4 completely revamped the play control style to reflect contemporary action games and the game play felt far more natural as a result. Unfortunately for Metal Gear Solid 4, the game still had that “interactive movie” feel that most of its critics site as a reason for why they don’t like it. The first PSP outing, Portable Ops had the right mindset in theory; less talk, more action, however it failed to execute as most of the gameplay concepts just didn’t work as intended. Peace Walker manages to mend the problem plaguing both games. The camera is much more user friendly. Enemy recruitment is much less cumbersome. Instead of dragging them to the truck, simply attach a Fulton balloon and they're on their way. Gone are the lengthy cutscenes. Instead of one long mission, Peace Walker is instead broken up into short, mini missions, while radio conversations and cutscenes are mercifully kept to a minimum during the mission so the player can focus on the gameplay. For those who don’t mind hearing a lot of backstory and enjoy the rich world of Metal Gear, there are briefing files before each mission that discuss the plot in detail, or reveal a bit more backstory regarding the characters and events taking place. Like Portable Ops, cutscenes are handled via comic book style visuals by Ashley Wood and they look much like the Digital Graphic Novels of the series. Most of them have interactive moments that involve the player to press the right button or make the right decision at the proper time. Such interactivity is not only welcomed, but adds a bit to replayability as sometimes failing at a juncture can produce slightly different changes in the storyline. Metal Gear Solid as a series has often been praised for well developed and intriguing plots and Peace Walker is no exception. The game further serves to bridge the gap between the original Metal Gear and its prequel, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. For all intents and purposes, the game is a direct sequel set ten years after the events of Snake Eater, ignoring most of what took place in the first sequel starring Big Boss, Portable Ops. As with most games in the franchise, playing the previous Metal Gear installments are not particularly required for enjoyment of the plot, but it is much preferred as it helps to have a background on some of what has happened prior to the events of the game. Peace Walker makes no effort to catch new players up to speed on what’s taken place in the Metal Gear universe. This game was written with already established fans in mind.



The gameplay was designed with already established fans in mind as well. Players new to the series, or even players who played the previous games on easier modes will be in for a rude awakening with Peace Walker. There are no difficulty settings and this game features some of the toughest boss battles in the series history. While this may seem a bit off putting, this game provides more options and tactical approaches than any game that has come before it. Literally every weapon and item from past games makes an appearance here, plus a few more. Different camouflage designs and set ups can be utilized. Choose camo that has an all around percentage of blending in, or one that is well suited to a specific area? Choose an indoor suit designed for optimum stealth or one designed for battle and protection? Literally the levels are designed in such a way that players who favor run and gun tactics over traditional stealth can enjoy equals amount of success. That’s not to say emphasis is not placed on stealth. Peace Walker is brilliant in that while it doesn’t punish run and gun tactics and being discovered as much as previous games, it does however reward stealth much more than previous games. Given all of the new stealth options at the player's disposal, it's honestly more fun to use non lethal ways to dispatch. CQC has been improved to allow players to take out multiple enemies at once provided they are in proximity. Attacks can be stringed together to take out at least three at once and soldiers can now be thrown into objects or against other enemies. Many times taking out a group of enemies with CQC is faster than simply gunning them down. Not being seen and dispatching enemies non lethally not only raises your score at the end of each mission but enemy recruitment is a vital part of success. Dispatching enemies using lethal means not only runs you the risk of killing them, but most captures will display hostility towards your crew and not join automatically. So be a nice guy, it helps.



Capturing soldiers is not only fun, but vital to the management of your home base. Snake is not the only one who is available to take on missions. Often times, the soldiers recruited will have to take up the call to arms and in many missions Snake isn’t even available. Almost RPG like in it’s management; your home base has a variety of areas to which your recruits can be assigned. Each soldier has a variety of statistics that show which areas he/she excels. They can be assigned to a duty they must perform to help the base grow. Helping the base grow in turn increases productivity and your base can provide items and new forms of weaponry for use in the field. Other soldiers can be deployed to various regions around the world to gain battle experience in strategic engagements. How many soldiers that are captured and how well they are utilized can make the game significantly easier to complete. New to the Metal Gear franchise, missions can now be played with a buddy at your side. While most boss battles when played solo represent an enormous challenge, most of them can be played with up to 3 other players. Should an ally fall in battle simply charging over to the body and spending a few seconds to revive them basically ensures that no one will fail at any juncture and almost makes boss battles too easy. Most missions can be played with at least one other person, but they aren’t all that particularly challenging to begin with, and most veteran Metal Gear players might get more challenge out of simply just going it solo. While fun, Co-op gameplay is wholly unnecessary and it’s just as well; the game doesn’t support infrastructure and instead utilizes Ad-Hoc. So unless you own a PS3 and Ad-Hoc Party you may not be getting a whole lot of multiplayer in at all.



Multiplayer issues aside, this represents not just arguably the best Metal Gear game to date, but one of the best PSP games to date, if not the best. This is definitely a must have for any Metal Gear fan or fan of action games in general. If this is the final Metal Gear Hideo Kojima plans to personally produce, this then is quite the swan song.

What did Xbox 360 owners do to deserve this?

Seriously, what in the hell EA? It's not like you guys design the most original covers in the world anyway, the least you could do is put up a picture of Tim Tebow that doesn't look like he has to go to the bathroom/having a fit of roid rage with some winshield wiper fluid and confetti splashing on him in the background. I'm not sure where this ranks in the pantheon of bad game covers but it definitely is up there.

This 4th of July, Respect the Guile.

If there is any real true American patriot out there, it’s Guile ladies and gentlemen. Respect the Guile. Honor the Guile. Guile is more awesome than you could ever possibly imagine. Seriously, the guy has a freakin American flag tattooed on his arm. If that doesn’t scream “patriotic bad ass” I don’t know what does.

Not only that he can rock the camo in just about any color, even pink. Yes, he’s bad ass even in a pink camo uniform because of the way he simply destroys his opponents. Ken, Ryu, Zangief, Chun Li. They all fall victim to the Flash Kick. Flash Kick has priority over all. Shoryuken? Flash Kick. Spinning Bird Kick? Flash Kick. Spinning Pile Driver? Flash Kick. It is the answer to all of life’s problems. Flash Kick can cure cancer and stop world hunger.

But enough about the amazing Flash Kick. Let us not forget the hairdo. The epic hairdo that only the Guile can pull off. Never does he allow it to be molested or tampered with in anyway. The hairdo is always in a constant perpetual state of perfection. Never does Guile allow the hairdo to succumb to any flaws.
I can already feel you laughing. But you fools have no idea. You have no clue as to the power that Guile possesses. You see Guile only unleashes a smidgen of his power because most times that is all he needs. But when he needs to truly unleash his unfettered wrath and fury; he utters two words that make the Gods tremble.

SONIC BOOM.



That’s right. The mighty earth itself is shattered when the Sonic Boom is unleashed, destroying all who dare step into it’s path of destruction. Losers like that naked Pepsiman Seth try to emulate the Sonic Boom; a pretender in a feeble attempt to usurp Guile’s throne. No, you fools have no idea of the true power of Sonic Boom. Only one who is worthy such as Guile can attempt such a maneuver.
But do not worry, for Guile is on America’s side. He fights for truth, justice and the American way. I feel comfortable at night knowing that Guile is ever vigilant, protecting our nation at home and abroad. Evildoers beware when Guile brings his force of Captain America and Ken Masters. Such a trio of jingoistic American awesomeness can barely be contained. When the power of the Shin Shoryuken, Final Justice and Flash Kick mesh into one massive attack of United States patriotism, often times the arcade machines and consoles explode, unable to contain the power within. I’m glad they’re on my side. So for this 4th of July, respect our hero Guile and try your best to even amount to a fraction of his complete awesomeness.

Videogames are art and have always been.

So Roger Ebert has finally confessed that games may be considered art, eh? That’s not surprising at all. Game design itself, is a form of art and expression. The definition of art is thus according to Encyclopedia Brittanica: "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others." This can be achieved in many forms whether it be in writing, sculpting, painting, movie making, game design. Creating games is no more different of a form of expression than any other medium. Instead of canvases, they have consoles. Art is anything that is created by an individual, regardless of the medium used. Art does not have to conform to a particular idea or even have to tell any sort of traditional story with characters and a plot. Many paintings don’t tell any story in any traditional sense, yet they are conveying the painters feelings and those feelings emerge from the painting and are expressed to the viewer. Game design often achieves the same effect when a game is played.

Game design is like a fingerprint. Most of the prominent game designers have a stamp on their games where the player can say “this game was made by this person.“ Because game designers, just like anything that is created, often draw upon things they enjoy in real life and transfer that feeling and emotion into their games. It’s very easy to tell a Sakaguchi designed Final Fantasy from that of the contemporary ones designed by Nomura/Kitase. Even guys like Tomonobu Itagaki leave some sort of a fingerprint so to speak. For as much as we roll our eyes and say things like, “Oh God, Team Ninja and their boobs”, there’s an element there where we recognize his stamp on his games. Shigeru Miyamoto has stated on several occasions that many of his inspiration for videogames comes from his childhood. He mentions growing up in Japan and playing in the fields, wondering what was underneath a large rock or inside a large cave. Thorough his game design he transfers those feelings he has a child onto his games. In his game creation he tries to convey that same feeling he had as a child, the sense of wonder and exploration and discovery into his games. Hideo Kojima always has a commentary on philosophy and how he views human interactions and relationships in the world. Joke about Metal Gear Solid 2’s plot all you want, (and honestly, it was pretty out there) but the game had some very interesting commentaries on society as a whole. All of his games attempt to convey this emotion he tries to express, only his other works achieve this in a much more subtle and graceful fashion, not resorting to a proverbial swift kick to the nads to make sure you got the point. David Jaffe’s fingerprint is all over God of War. He has stated on many numerous occasions that game design for him is a way to lash out and vent his frustrations. God of War is likely the ultimate expression of that. His anger, his hate and frustrations with life’s issues all live vicariously in the form of Kratos. For all the God of War bashing I do and as much as I simply do not like those games very much, I will concede that with every eyeball gouged, every harpy wing ripped and every minotaur throat skewered, Jaffe achieves his idea of venting frustration and transferring that visceral emotion of simply just wanting to kick the crap out of everyone that we sometimes get perfectly. Koji Igarashi’s Castlevania games all find that artistic way of finding beauty within chaos. Sure you’re maiming and killing hideous monsters within a queer and grotesque castle, but it’s always done with a Phantom of the Opera-esque sense of beauty and style. The game looks and sounds beautiful while you’re doing it.

Ever since the days of Pong, game design has always represented a form of expression. Games have always been a form of art. Just like any other medium, those ideas can be better expressed with the improvements of technology. No one contests that the early silent films of at the turn of the century have no less artistic merit than say, American Beauty. No one would dare be foolish enough to argue that Casablanca is any less artistic of a film than No Country for Old Men. High value production stage plays on Broadway hold the same artistic value as anything Shakespeare wrote in the Globe Theater. The poetry of John Updike typed on a typewriter is taught in schools alongside poetry written by Robert Browning likely written with ink and paper underneath a candle light. No one contests that it isn’t art. Ever since Miyamoto created Super Mario Bros. he has tried to capture his vision of childlike innocence and wonder. Kojima has always tried to make some sort of social commentary; the very idea of Metal Gear, use your brain and only use violence as a last resort is often expressed in most of his games. David Jaffe has had a bone to pick with life ever since he decided shooting rockets with a mad clown truck was awesome and a great way to vent after a bad day. Castlevania has always had a sense of making normally grotesque things have a sense of beauty and refinement and of course Itagaki has left his….off beat style in his games ever since the first boob bounced in the original Dead or Alive.

Games are art. It’s often a debated subject that apparently still rages to this day, but honestly, this discussion should never even had taken place to begin with. Games have always been art. From the day Ralph Baer created his “Brown Box” he was creating art. Gaming has been and will continue to be a form of art and expression and deserves as much respect as any other form of media.