Metal Gear Solid 3 - Beat the game

Man, I stayed up way too late last night doing this. At first it was midnight and I figure, I'll be done in an hour. Before I knew it, it was 3am when the final credits rolled and I was exhausted. But it was totally worth it.

The chase scene after defeating Volgin was awesome. I mean, it felt just like a good chase scene in an action movie. EVA is driving all erratically and you look around and guards are running in from everywhere and you have to aim and shoot to get them out of the way. Meanwhile, you are being jerked left and right as EVA attempts to dodge the huge, walking tank that is coming after you. It was just so hectic, frenetic, fast-paced, and most of all cinematic. Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid series, has always attempted to inject a sense of cinema into his games. Most game developers do this just with cut scenes, but Kojima has attempted to put it as in-game as possible. And the motorcycle chase scene totally served well.

After that, the boss battle with the Shagohod (walking tank) and Volgin again were kind of anti-climactic because they were so easy. I think it only took me two attempts each to beat them - actually, I think I may have beaten the Volgin/Shagohod combination on my first try. The next chase scene after that just wasn't as good as the first one, but still fun. And the final stealth part was just an excercise in using up all the tranquilizer darts.

The final boss battle with "The Boss" (yeah, that's her name) also didn't have quite the impact as some other boss battles. It is much more open than other battles. There is no right way to beat it, you can go hand-to-hand, or snipe from afar. It almost seems more laid back than other battles. Certainly this is because stealth plays more of a role. Aside the The End who tries to find a position to snipe you from, every other boss knows exactly where you are. In this battle you can camouflage yourself and hide in the flowers, waiting for The Boss to come in range. I found this worked best as I would crouch near where the tranquilizer bullets were, find the boss, and then shoot her full of tranquilizer from my silenced gun so she wouldn't find me.

And then the ending. Yes, the typical Metal Gear Solid ending, long on dialogue, especially expository stuff. The story is still interested, sets up all the conspiracies, and shows where this prequel fits in with the other games. The scene where Snake puts the gun and flowers on The Boss' grave was particularly well done.

Anyway, I finished it as a no alert, no kill game thus attaining the rank of Chameleon. I am very tempted to play through it again to attain other special ranks and get other special items. Of course, there is also plenty of bonus material I could play through as well - playing all the boss battles in order, the snake vs. monkey missions, or even the original Metal Gear or Metal Gear 2. I've beaten this game, but I don't think I'm done with it. Hence, I'll probably wait a bit on the review.