Metal Gear Solid

Fact: every hero needs a good rival. So what could possibly make better rivals than the heroes themselves? With that in mind, here’s a look at some of gaming’s most memorable doppelgangers and opposite numbers…

One in five Americans are born with some sort of personality disorder – something that makes them zag when everyone else zigs. It might be as subtle as a nervous tic, as confusing as Asperger's or as overt as psychopathy. But mentally unstable individuals are part of the real world – and part of the world of videogames as well. Sometimes their damage leads them to be horrible, monstrous villains, and other times it can make them loyal friends, or complex protagonists. No matter what it does to them, though, it's usually hard not to be sympathetic to their problems, and to, in a way, fall in love with them... even if they're murdering sociopaths...

Once a videogame hero has more than one or two adventures under his or her belt, it simply isn’t enough to just have an archenemy anymore. To keep things interesting, they need a foil, a rival, or some other angry opposite number obsessed with matching wits with them. Sometimes, those characters stick around long enough to make themselves an indelible part of the series, even going so far as to make friends with the protagonist – although more often than not, their friendships tend to be shaky at best, and even those involved might never fully admit to them. Relationships like that tend to make for gaming’s most enduring and interesting rivalries, and what follows are some of the most notable...

In the immortal Arnie-endorsed words of Major Alan ‘Dutch’ Schaefer: “Get to the choppa’!” Or, in this case, get to some games with kickass helicopter battles by letting your eyes travel inside. Be it taking out a Russian attack helicopter with a stealthy hero or destroying a whirlybird by damaging its rotor blades with bottles of hooch during a zombie apocalypse; the following fights with airborne a-holes are the definition of badass… eh, if someone’s recently rewritten the dictionary. 

Corridors are useful for many things. Travelling from point A to B. Admiring picture frames. Getting savaged by a zombified dog… wait a minute. Yes, game’s really do love to take the normally boring hallway and twist it into a place festering with evil, death and chaos. Hey we’re not complaining. After all, some of gaming’s scariest moments have been brought to us by the letter c. Which stands for corridor… of death.

Sony seems to be on something of an HD remake kick lately. This week finally brought us long-awaited confirmation that the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection will head our way sometime next year; with last year’s God of War Collection and the upcoming Sly Collection, that brings to three the number of classic PS2 series Sony’s retrofitting with 1080p visuals and Trophies, before re-releasing as budget-priced PS3 games.

This is a trend we can really get behind; as much as we love our old PS2 games, we can barely stand to look at them anymore. Give them a makeover so they don’t look crap on our new TVs, though, and we’re all over them. With that in mind, here are a few other series from the last generation we’d love to see resurrected for the modern age of HD consoles...

Ever had that shameful feeling you get when you're horribly late to a party? Y'know, it's that horrible guilt which hits you as you pathetically paw through the last of the sandwiches that have started to go a bit funny and try to hunt down any leftover booze. This is exactly the feeling I had recently when a mate suggested I play through my beloved Metal Gear Solid 4's developer podcasts... which I only realised existed last week. Inside, you'll find out why you need to listen to them, while we also cover some of the awesome Easter eggs the devs reveal in their stupidly soothing 'cast.

Being the internet connoisseurs that we are, we stumbled upon a highly amusing article that pondered the deadly serious question of what superheroes would do if they were assholes. After we’d successfully boarded the roflcopter, we knocked up our own version starring game heroes abusing their skills. So if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Solid Snake used his powers of super sneakery for evil, you’ve come to the right place…

Ever since 1998, Hideo Kojima and his talented team have been giving us awesome boss encounters without fail. Seriously, their batting average is ridiculous. Whether trying to best Snake Eater’s ancient sniper in an hour long battle of endurance or switching pad sockets to psyche out Psycho Mantis, Snake’s epic scraps have constantly punched through the fourth wall. Inside, we’ll recap some of the best ones and look at what other games could learn from the Gear’s boss-battling master class.

Normally, we’ve got no problem with video game villians. Sure, they nick our bustiest wenches, salute digital democracy with a middle finger, and are inconsiderate enough to make us waste valuable bullets shooting them during a recession. Thing is, they’re always upfront about being assholes, which makes the shit they pull almost endearingly evil. What really gets on our teets, though, are those deceitful dastards who pretend to