I’m gonna have to youtube a few of these just to see what this game is capable of looking like. it’s really wild to think this came out in 06 . still remember me taking the psp around trying to scan for soldiers.
I just watched a few vids, it doesn’t look bad on this emulator at all, just scrolling through all that texts though!
Outside of the cutscenes this game will never be glamour
But that’s the PSP’s charm! Do not ye fly too close to the sun, you will melt your lovely polygonal wings
I remember being blown away by the graphics on Crisis Core back in the day lmao, yikes
We all were, at the time the psp was kinda mindblowing, handhelds just didnt look nowehere that good. Crisis core was amazing, Syphon filter was another Killer app for the psp, felt like a ps2 game.
I actually played Crisis Core in January and I think (graphically at least) it still holds up alright all things considered. The pre-rendered cutscenes still look pretty great and the cutscenes using the in-game models look good too.
I enjoyed Crisis Core quite a lot despite its shortcomings.
Crisis Core is still one of my all time favorite FF games. I loved the sheer volume of everything that game had going for it, especially its soundtrack.
I do maintain that Portable Ops had a mostly good look to it, but everything is way more boxy than its console counterparts. Whereas Peace Walker had levels with pretty shocking amounts of detail to them, almost surpassing MGS3 at points.
wrong. way to fall is
OKAY Ive read enough of this weepy sentimental shit for MPO lmao. As someone who played MPO A LOT (I was living in missouri at the time [shoutouts to those who remember those days lol] and all I had was my psp and two games, MPO and MLB the show 08) to the point where I was top 10 on the NA leaderboards for awhile, I still have vivid memories of the games flaws and strong suits and I have to say, yall are giving the game way more praise than it deserves.
firstly, the good of MPO. IMHO the game excels at streamlining MGS3s biggest flaw, the controls. MPO is a much smoother play experience than MGS3, even with the odd base controls (which you could easily configure a way around on psp…more on this later).
The graphics and weapons handling were fantastic. For the younger viewers, try to put aside your 4k expectations and just realized that NOTHING LOOKED AS GOOD AS THIS ON A HANDHELD. Ps3 era had just begun and games with PS2 graphics were available. For comparison, imagine that ps5 is out, yet mobile games look as good as AAA Ps4 titles.
The Ashley Wood cutscenes were awesome and even tho some people’s voice acting was over the top (SNAKE and campbell to a degree, tho not nearly as bad as MGSV Kaz) and some voice acting was lackluster (null) the game had excellent voice acting and well known VAs
A great cast of memorable and noteworthy villains, unlike PW which…Hot Coldman? REALLY, Kojima?
MPO+ was actually awesome
This game has the best QHS mechanic of any pre-OTS style shooter MGS game. It’s snappy and quick and fucking awesome and fun
The bad was pretty bad tho. MOST OF THE MISSIONS WERE ASS. Theres a lot of “sneak through this area to just get to the square with the light” which the first time doesnt bother you because you want to clear out the area and capture soldiers sure but on repeat playthroughs, its just awful. It makes you realize the story is actually really thin on playability. Which leads directly into the next con
Every map is a square box, with the most detailed levels just having different floors of boxes. This ends up being really annoying and making the online multiplayer (Which, lets be honest, was the main reason to keep playing after you beat the story…it was the first PSP game I owned that had true wifi multiplayer and not that ad hoc shit) just a bunch of Kill House like maps
As I mentioned before, some of the voice acting is really bad and hammy. Everyone has some really cringe deliveries on some lines that still haunt me to this day. Most memorable is snakes “HRMMMM ENLIGHTEN MEEEEE” when hes captured. Also, the story ends on the weakest story note of any MGS canon or spinoff game ever, Snake just sitting in bed holding the microfilm.
The Multiplayer itself was plagued by hacked soldiers, I tried at first to not give in because I told myself my skill could beat any hacked player, but when you get a QHS and it only took half their health (IIRC headshots were worth 200 HP and hacked soldiers had 400 HP L M A O) I ended up caving and using one…and it was around that point the meta of the game just became ridiculous (something MPO+ fixed tbh…its just a shame MPO+ was a boring game when you werent online).
also, capturing soldiers in this game is the WORST CHORE. dragging them back to the store absolutely sucks. theres no way around it.
So that’s my take on MPO as someone who gave the game way more time than it deserved because I frankly had no other option lol. The most fun from the game came from the multiplayer and that was just because I liked the chaos. the online could be pretty brutal tho, losing a good soldier always hurt lol
but i gotta give it to em, this game had some of THE BEST TRAILERS
man that mpo+ trailer…i used to love playing as the marine soldier so much
Ngl, Old Snake looks fucking baller in those PSP grafixx.
The square box thing didn’t really bother me, especially as someone who just replayed the game on emulator a few weeks ago. I don’t think the level design of MPO is nearly as good as Peace Walker because the latter game had way more immediately accessible cover spots and more variety, or even remotely as good as V’s level design, which did everything I want levels in stealth action games to do. But there was structural distinction in each level, courtesy of the building layouts, the amount of different cover spots and the verticality in some maps like the Silo, Silo Entrance, Guest House, etc.
I gotta disagree about the streamlined controls too, since MPO makes you hold more buttons to do basic things like sneak around or shoot, whereas in MGS3, you just gotta hit square while you’re running and gunning.
The missions were hit or miss for me too. I didn’t mind the “reach the goal” side of things because that’s literally every MGS game that isn’t MGSV; the only game to have actual objectives to carry out in the whole series. The difference was that the other games masked that with cutscenes instead of the glowing goals of MPO.
No, what really bothered me about MPO’s missions was its shit-awful pacing. The way you constantly have to wait on reports or recruit more and more soldiers to put on spy teams for each map and play the guessing game before something finally happens and you can move onto the next story mission. I would’ve loved to have just cut out the middle man and let the game’s plot advance mission after mission. Or to have more main missions with objectives, like the one where you have to capture and interrogate an official who’s on patrol with a guard, or blowing shit up.
To me, the pacing really is the worst thing about the game, on top of the tedious recruitment system, overly busy control scheme and the limited item slots, especially in missions that force you to use C4 or TNT for the objective and leave you with one less item for a boss fight.
As for story, again, not why I play these games, but the game could’ve definitely afforded to have a proper epilogue instead of simply ending after Gene dies. It feels very Resident Evil-esque in its abruptness, so I’m not a huge fan of that either.
I do ultimately think the game is rock solid. Its foundation is very strong and lent itself to even better games down the road, with some elements still reigning better than its predecessors (mainly its boss fights being infinitely better than MPW’s and I’d say on par with V, but better for actually having villains and not “boss monsters”, as well as doing what I always wished MGS bosses would do in just having you up against a singular enemy you can run and hide from or face off directly against). It’s just one where there were some pretty questionable design choices and a clear dip in terms of budget compared to most MGS games.
as a story I think PO is far superior but for gameplay Id rather play PW…and thats even with my opinion that PW has the worst plot of the whole series lol
Oh by far, Peace Walker has better gameplay, especially on the PS3. But one thing I found about MPO is that, combat does have a better feel to it, especially in more cover heavy areas. There’s something very pleasing about popping cover and blasting bad guys with your assault rifle. Especially when it comes to the games boss fights.
Honestly, just imagine a game with Peace Walker HD’s controls, mission design, level design and giant volume of content mixed with MPO’s stealth action boss fights (like Python and Null), combat and soundtrack. I defy anyone to tell me that isn’t a dream game right there.
This is something that I’ve wondered for a while. How much does story in MGS really matter to you guys?
I ask because, for me, it means nothing because once the credits roll, when I replay a video game, I’m just skipping cutscenes and jumping straight to the fun stuff for shorter burst gameplay. That’s why the quality of the writing in these games never really dictated how much I liked or didn’t like any MGS game.
previous to MGSV, story was everything
That is genuinely surprising to me. I figured most folks did what I always do; skipped cutscenes after they’d already beaten the game since they know all the beats already, especially with how expository and one-sided so many of the cutscenes in this series tended to be.
God help anyone who always re-watches cutscenes and gets back to replaying MGS4 then, good lord.
i dont always watch every single cutscene but i dont just skip every cutscene lol
What Nick said.
I don’t like The Boss or MGS3 anywhere near as much as the average fan of the series but am I skipping her final cutscene? No. Absolutely not.
Am I skipping every single cutscene involving Huey because it’s beyond creatively bankrupt to use to the same character model, voice actor and personality and just say “Oh yeah that’s his dad”? Absolutely.
I’m skipping a lot of cutscenes in fairness, but some I’m watching every time regardless.
To be fair, for whatever reason, the game actually doesn’t let you skip her death or the end credits. (Almost none of the games let you skip the credits for some reason)
I guess, in my case, the story with almost any video game doesn’t matter long term anymore. Because if a game is truly really fun to play, that’s more or less gonna be the only reason I replay it after I beat it. And for games like the MGS series, I’ve replayed almost every game that wasn’t 1 and 4 so much that it’s exclusively for the moment-to-moment sneaky shooty goodness. Whereas if the game is one-n-done, the story may matter more, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have any incentive to replay it once I beat it.
Portable Ops, I think, actually benefits greatly from replays. The boss fights are a lot better when you don’t use non-lethal weapons. Pacing is way better when you already have the staff and can skip the waits to move onto the next mission. And stronger gear gives you more incentive to go loud, which I genuinely believe can be really fun in the right levels like Guest House or Silo. Of its cutscenes, I think the only ones I have any incentive to rewatch are Python’s and most of Gene’s shorter scenes, and especially this one:
I forever maintain Gene’s one of the best villains MGS has ever had. He isn’t getting undermined by anyone around him. He’s in complete control from start to finish and proves what a formidable opponent he is both physically and psychologically.
My bad it’s been a while since I played it. My point stands, though.
I was going to mention this scene in particular, actually. Only I googled, “Comrades, hear my words” and got nothing. Don’t know why I just didn’t go to YouTube. Possibly my favourite cutscene from the series.
Absolutely. Clear motives and objectives, no secret puppetry, imposing physically and mentally and like all good MGS villains, just a hint of the supernatural about his abilities but not overwhelmingly comicbook like. I was excited when I thought I saw him in an MGSV teaser.
Also he is Steve Blum.
I don’t think this looks bad in 60fps.
Holy shit, this actually just straight up looks good. It’s as if the animations were natively 60fps rather than 30. I was expecting jank like many other games.
Did PO just reuse a lot of MGS3 assets like models and animations but adapted/altered for the engine difference, does anyone know?
The assets are largely from MGS3 just with a lower poly count. The whole USSR gang is the GRU soldiers from MGS3 with some slight adjustments. And all the animations are the exact same as MGS3, right down to the guards patrolling and what not.
Peace Walker did the same thing, but reused MGS4’s animations instead with brand new models.