5 reasons to hate Metal Gear Solid

Gaming's silliest spy series has plenty to rag on

Words: Mikel Reparaz on April 26, 2011

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austincharlesbond - April 26, 2011 9:34 a.m.

1) - let's be thankful Hideo isn't a movie-maker, because a movie full of the stuff in 4) wouldn't go well on the tomatometer...
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ChiChiRocket - April 26, 2011 6:19 a.m.

Also, I vote for another round of Final Fantasy hate.
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ChiChiRocket - April 26, 2011 6:09 a.m.

#5 is the worst... I have been a Nintendo fan first since I was little, and I don't see the need for two portable consoles. So, with 3DS firmly in hand, all I can do is wait for MGS 3D.
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BLOODmuffins - April 26, 2011 4:45 a.m.

Yep, these are all perfectly valid. Still love the series though
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w40kfanatic - April 26, 2011 4:02 a.m.

The ending video for MGS4 lasted about one hour and thirty minutes. I missed five of those and had to go back and watch it again. I regret nothing.
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garnsr - April 26, 2011 3:38 a.m.

I have never gotten around to playing any of the games after the first MGS, but I can't think of any way that they could reasonably make Raiden the main character instead of Snake. Metal Gear is the epitome of Japanese gaming these days, you just have to suck it up and accept that there are going to be design choices that are janky to Westerners, but there's enough beyond that to enjoy. I've played all four Yakuza games, and they have that same feeling of being not quite right, but worthwhile nonetheless.
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The_King_of_Nothing - April 26, 2011 3:21 a.m.

That's funny because I just started playing MGS4 during the the PSN downtime. Which led me to think, what the hell happened to Metal Gear Rising? I haven't seen anything on it for a long, long time.
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CH3BURASHKA - April 26, 2011 2:57 a.m.

People give Raiden an endless amount of shit that he doesn't deserve. I've always maintained that MGS2 was a third-person-perspective story about Snake, and I loved it on par with 1 and 3, if not more. The end song really hit it home for me. Metal Gear Solid may be all of these things above, but it's still a fantastic series deserving of attention. Can't wait to see what Rising is all about - it's been nearly a year since we've seen anything.
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Errrrbo - April 26, 2011 2:33 a.m.

How did you not mention that the controls are absolutely atrocious? I didn't mind it in the early games, but in MGS 4, you couldn't even shoot from cover without standing all the way up. I know there's some nostalgia tied to crappy controls in MGS games, but to not have it fixed in 2008 is just annoying. If you need bad controls to make a game be liked, you've got problems. Also, the writing isn't very good.
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Riche666 - April 26, 2011 1:56 a.m.

What!?! Why start out the week of hate with this? I love Solid Metal Gears! One of the complaints was that the series had good games on a pretty bad platform? And you know the cutscenes are skipable, which is good if the story is too "complicated" for some people to want to follow anyway. I know one thing, I hate this article;)No, seriously, I hate it.
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Markstone - April 26, 2011 1:56 a.m.

I got into the series at MGS4 (good god those cut scenes lasted forever), so I really don't get all the Raiden hate, I guess I should pick up a copy of MGS2 and see what all the fuss is about. P.S. Great Article!
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Yeager1122 - April 26, 2011 1:49 a.m.

Yes i hate the overally long cutscenes in the mgs series i want to play the game more then watch it.
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crashonskis - April 26, 2011 1:44 a.m.

well I played through peace walker solo, no prob. exept the torture sequence, which had me stuck for hours ( I was on a roadtrip, so no google) but peace walker was amazing! best shooter on psp
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rockstarsean - April 26, 2011 1:39 a.m.

! BLASPHEME But yeah as much as I'm obsessed with Metal Gear, you're completely right. I'd also add: Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2 are both central to the canon and only on MSX or Subsistence --- Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence cost at LEAST £40-50 --- Fatman & the bomb defusing = zzzz --- It makes nearly every other series look basic by comparison --- that's it, can't think of any more.
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ricochetguro - April 26, 2011 1:29 a.m.

Remember this is the week of hate guys, don't get upset. The Raiden switch up never bothered me because I didn't get into MGS until a year or so after 2 came out(so I already knew you played as Raiden) Plus it furthered the story. And I love the psp so boo #5.
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Nin10DOH - April 26, 2011 1:26 a.m.

The damn PSP won't let me enjoy two quality MGS games. Then again, I'm also too cheap to buy one.
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usedforglue - April 26, 2011 1:15 a.m.

This link gives a good background of who Solidus Snake was and why he became president - He was basically put in power by the patriots. The MGS story isn't as complicated as it all seems if you can actually keep track of each character and each organization... No, never mind. It is overly complicated http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Solidus_Snake
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SolarPoweredShitMachine - April 26, 2011 1:12 a.m.

Isn't a Solidus a forward slash or "/" ? Why did it go from Solid Snake to Liquid Snake to... Solidus Snake? (Never mind just remembered that it's also Latin for solid. Derp.)
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Redeater - April 26, 2011 1:06 a.m.

Can someone please answer me one question? I played the second Metal Gear to death. I played the third Metal Gear. I haven't played the fourth one yet..... How is it that your half brother or clone or whatever the fuck Solidus Snake was supposed to be was never explained???? Seriously?? The president of the USA is your brother and they don't bother to explain it?? I remember hearing on t'dar about how they don't bring it up in the fourth one but if someone out there has some knowledge please explain this to me.
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BladedFalcon - April 26, 2011 1:06 a.m.

Yeah, I love the MGS series, but these 5 complaints are pretty damn valid. I don't mind the cut-scenes at all though, but the fact that Peace Walker was exclusive to the PSP did rub me the wrong way, hard.
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