Via a new Metal Gear Solid Delta promotional video, Konami just laid bare one of Metal Gear Solid's greatest mysteries for all fans to see. After two decades of speculation, Metal Gear Solid fans all around the world recently received confirmation that the actress who played Eva in Metal Gear Solid 3 wasn't really the actress Suze??tta Miñet. Why? ??Well, because that person doesn't even exist and was likely made up by the patriots (citation needed).

The?? real credit actually Jodi Benson, the same actress who'd voi?ced Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid over 35 years ago. The explanation is rather simple. Benson built most of her career around family-friendly properties, so playing a highly sexualized role in a very violent game could jeopardize that.

That’s cool, especially as this piece of news comes just a little after we learned the identity of the actress who'd played Jill Valentine in the original Resident Evil �an even longer-standing mystery for fans. Still, there’s another really cool mystery few people even k??now ab??out.

If you enjoy the series but don't consider yourself a true fan, it's possible you've witnessed the spectacular performances of James Flinders, Carren Learning, Mae Zadler,?? and wondered why th?ey never did anything else after that game.

Well, that's because even though the original Metal Gear Solid completely changed what voice acting meant for games, its actors origina??lly forfeited real credit.

The original Metal Gear Solid was really cool for showing the voice actor’s name when introducing a character on screen, too bad those names were fake. Aside from David Hayter �who was mainly a screenwriter and not a voice actor before the game �few (if any) voice actor is given credit for their work in the game. That's because all the real actors such as Cam Clarke and Debbie Mae West are union actors who feared the dangers of entering the then still-legally grey area of video game voice acting. Things had already changed by the time Metal Gear Solid 2 came out, and all of its actors are properly credited. Good, but I like to reminisce of a time when actors in a spy thriller went method to the point of even using sil?ly-sounding fake? identities.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will release on February 27th,? 2025, for the PlaySt??ation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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When Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater first captivated the world, it left behind a mystery that many players have attempted to solve. It? all concerned the likeness of our favorite motorcyclist, EVA, a key character who somehow never got a voice actor reveal.

As we approach the release of Metal Gear Solid Delta, the time has finally come for us to put this mystery to bed. The MGS Legacy Part 3 unveils that Jodi Benson, the notable voice actor behind Ariel in The Little Mermaid, is, in fact, the voice of EVA. As someone who's been an EVA stan since the early days of MGS3, I'm both surprised and delighted, especially as a fan who grew up on The Little Mermaid films.

But now, you might be wondering: Why did it take almost two decades for this to be revealed? Fortunately, Jodi answers this question right at the beginning of the Anniversary episode. She starts by stating, "Just, the various projects that I am affiliated with in my career are sort of family-based, children-based, things like that." Given that Benson was prominently known for her Disney films and other fam??ily-based content, her part as EVA seemed a bit too risqué at the time. Let's not forget that the first few minutes of this character's introduction involve a spicy unzipping scene, which, of course, isn't the most family-friendly.

Jodi then says, "So, it was actually Kris Zimmerman Salter. That was our director, that she kind of sat down with me, and she's like, 'Maybe we need to change your name.'" This is where the pseudonym Suzetta Miñet was born, a title that started many EVA voice actor subreddits. When I was a kid playing MGS3, I remember seeing this n?ame and having it go completely over my head. I had no idea that it?? was all a part of an elaborate plan to keep EVA's voice actor a secret.

The choice to go with Suzetta Miñet was also discussed, as Benson indicates that it was actually an ode to her dog's?? name, Suzette Monet, growing up. Even though the pseudonym had pretty much kept EVA's voice actor a mystery, there were still plenty of theories surrounding Jodi Benson. So now, those fans who got it right can finally rest easy after all these years.

The rest of the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Part 3 series continues with a conversation between Jodi Benson, Lori Alan (The Boss), and David Hayter (Snake). This video offers a ton of interesting deep dives, including?? one part where Jodi and David explain how they did the??ir famous love scene. It's essentially just them kissing their own hands, which is something I never would have expected, even though it does make the most sense.

If you're a big Metal Gear Solid 3 fan, you should definitely give this one a watch. The nostalgia train is going at full ?speed, and it's wonderful to see the actors speak so highly?? of the characters I love.

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David Hayter, the original ??voice actor for Solid Snake and Naked Snak??e/Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, has recently made a surprise announcement on his personal Twitter/X account?? that may have hinted at?? his return to his most iconic role.

After this cryptic revelation, he followed it up by posting a GIF of Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. While Hayter didn't give any explicit confirmation, this most likely means that he's back at portraying the character that would eventually become Big Boss in the upcoming Snake Eater remake.

This is an especially interesting new piece of information because Konami had previously announced that Metal Gear Solid Delta will reuse all the characters' voices from the original 2005 PS2 release. This means that, even though we technically knew that Hayter ??was going to return to the role for a while, his recent announcement indicates that he may have had to record entirely new voice lines.

For what project did Hayter record new voice lines?

Fans? reacted to Hayter's post ??with a lot of excitement, but they immediately began speculating about what these new recordings may be for. It's possible that he recorded lines for promotional material for Metal Gear Solid Delta, like a new trailer or some form of online content. Another possibility is that, while Konami tried to reuse as? many voice recordings as possible, Hayter still ??had to record a few new lines for brand-new sections of the game, like tutorials or additional cutscenes.

Of course, some fans believe that these recordings may be tied to a different project set within the Metal Gear universe, with some of the ideas floating around being a potential re-release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in Volume 2 of the MGS Master Collection or maybe even an entirely new entry. Even though series creator Hideo Kojima left the company in 2015, there is a precedent for Konami making Metal Gear games without his direct involvement, with one of the most prominent examples being Portable Ops, a game in whic?h Hayter voiced Naked Snake as well.

Why Hayter's return is such a big deal for the Metal Gear Solid franchise

The community reacted positively to Hayter's potential return as Naked Snake because this would be his first time recording new voice lines for the character in a game since Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which originally launched back in 2010. Even though he was the iconic voice actor who brought both Big Boss and his clone, Solid Snake, to life for over 16 years, Hideo Kojima?? replaced him with Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland during the production of Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.

Back in the day, most fans of the series responded negatively to this decision, so now they are ecstatic about the fact that they will not only get to hear him once again as Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater but that he may have also recorded ??entirely new lines as t??his legendary character after more than a decade.

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In a recent talk with director Alex Garland for Famitsu that got caught by Automaton Media, Hideo Kojima spilled a few interesting details about the upcoming Death Stranding movie adaptation.

“Many of the offers I received [for Death Stranding’s movie adaptation] from other film companies proposed big-budget adaptations with extravagant explosions, but I didn’t want that. Together with A24, I want to make a slightly different fi?lm,�Kojima stated.

Death Stranding is being co-produced by A24, an entertainment company with a varied filmography under its belt. So far, it has been behind titles including Ex Machina, The VVitch, Pearl, Hereditary, and Best Picture Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once.

On top of the studio's eclecticism that Kojima will surely use to let his imagination?? go wild, ??A24 is also a company known for doing a lot with little.

Still, Kojima had some apprehensions. “With Civil War becoming a huge hit, I have a feeling that A24 is raising the budget and scale [of Death Stranding], so I’m thinking about how to suppress that.�/p>

Either way, Kojima stated ?that A24 has a unique presence in the industry, one that aligns with the vision of Kojima Productions, saying, “it will take time, but it will turn out well.�He also joked that A24 is probably the right choice, as his birthday is on August 24.

Kojima wanted to make it in movies before pivoting to the video game industry, and while he could have used this opportunity to finally jump in the director's seat, he decided to stick to a producer role. We still don't know who'll direct Death Stranding or when it'll come out, but, funnily enough, it'll likely see the light of day before the Metal Gear Solid movie adaptation.

As for the game sequel, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, is set to release sometime in 2025.

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The PS2 is arguably the best console ever created with many popular franchises like Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, and God of War taking root on the system. Other series really took off during this generation of consoles, like the Grand Theft Auto franch?ise. Here are the 10 best selling PS2 games, ranked by ??sales numbers.

10. Kingdom Hearts

The strange crossover between Disney and Square truly worked during the PS2 generation of consoles with over 5.9 million copies sold worldwide, as of 2007. Sora, Donald, and Goofy fought against dark creatures called the heartless in Disney worlds we all know and love like The Little Mermaid's Atlantica and Hercules' Olympus Coliseum. The action-RPG system is fast-paced, and lets you summon the likes of Dumbo and Genie to the battle. While the first game hasn't aged the best, the Kingdom Hearts franchise is still beloved worldwide.

9. Final Fantasy XII

After the success of the 10th entry, Final Fantasy XII took us back to the world of Ivalice, featuring kingdoms and olden-style language. It sold over 6 million copies, according to a 2009 interview with Yoshinori Kitase in Gendai. This entry in particular was different from other entries in the series, as it featured a real-time system similar to an MMO. "It was a triumph in many ways with its open world combat flow and groundbreaking (at the time) AI-manipulating gambit system," said our review for the remaster The Zodiac Age.

8. Tekken 5

Tekken 5 is also reported to have sold around 6 million units. This is the fighting game sequel that introduced the fan-favorite characters Asuka and Lili, in addition to the badass Dragunov and Raven. The game has an impressive 88 Metacritic score based on 62 reviews. "Better balancing, a ton of gameplay modes, smarter AI, and high-quality presentational elements are tough things to beat -- but Tekken 5 has all of them," said IGN's review when the game was released in 2005.

7. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

When you combine the reported sales of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Substance, you'll find that a total number of 7.03 million copies were picked up at stores. Launching in 2001, this game was a gigantic step in Hollywood-style storytelling within games. The second title also added a first-person camera for aiming down sights and the ability to hold foes up at gunpoint. Many love this game, despite a ??surprising switch of the main protagonist.

6. Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III revolutionized gaming when it first came out on October 22, 2001 because of its big open world mechanics and mature content. As a result, it sold around 8.3 million copies worldwide. I remember going around my friend's house at nine years old and being amazed at how open the game was, and freaked out by how many atrocities could be performed by the player. A remaster was released for this game, but the less said about that, the better.

5. Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X was the best-selling PS2 game in the series at over 8.5 million copies, according to a 2013 press release. This was a big deal back in 2001. FFX was the first game in the RPG franchise to have voice acting with James Arnold Taylor as Tidus and Hedy Burress as Yuna. The elaborate love story between the two main characters also attracted many to the RPG. Composer Nobuo Uematsu also constructed a musical masterwork in the game's soundtrack, with standout tracks l??ike "Movement in Green," "To Zanarkand," and of course, the epic battle theme.

4. Gran Turismo 4

The Gran Turismo series was huge during the PS2 generation, as its modern competitor Forza was yet to take shape. It drew 11.76 million racing fans to buy the game from store shelves in 2004. This game was praised for its fantastic graphics at the time and simulation mechanics. "Gran Turismo 4 is the Encyclopedia Britannica of driving, with more than 700 distinct sets of wheels to prove it, and introduces you to it with the restrained reverence of a martial arts instructor," said Eurogamer's review. "It wants you to win through training and discipline, not brute force and chrome elbows to the side panelin?g."

3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The Grand Theft Auto series began to take over the industry with its next entry, Vice City. It sold a total of 14.2 million copies worldwide (according to the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition book). This entry took us back to the '80s; the theming was exceptional, with a fantastic soundtrack and neon throughout the city everywhere. It also features an engaging narrative following Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Goodfellas actor Ray Liotta. "The game of fast cars and ruthless criminals packs more action and excitement into the first few hours than can be found in the entirety of most games," said IGN's 2003 review.

2. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec accelerated excitement from the PlayStation 2 fanbase even more, with almost 15 million copies sold in 2001 and beyond. It brought incredible visuals for racing enthusiasts at the time, and likely convinced many to take the leap from the PS1 to the PS2. The official website says the game added "impairing sunglare, shimmering heat waves, real-time reflections" and more to make this game as realistic as possible at the time. There was also an Arcade mode and a Simulation mode added to Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec to make it as appealing to a wide audience as possible??.

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Arguably the best of the PS2 trilogy, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is on top of the best selling PS2 games list with 17.33 million copies reportedly purchased by PS2 players around the world, according to the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition. Playing as Carl Johnson, you're living in the '90s, trying to save Carl's family after his mother was murdered and trying to flee corrupt cops who frame him for homicide. The game has an amazing 95% Metacritic average rating from 80 outlets.

Game Informer gave it a perfect score, saying "San Andreas breaks the video game mold an??d emerges as something far greater." (Via Metacritic) Despite a terrible remaster much later on, it seems to still hold a place in many fans' mind??s as one of the best in the series.

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For quite some time now, gamers have been accustomed to video game ending cutscenes featuring enough drama and gravitas to rival those of Hollywood's best productions. That, however, doesn't mean that video games have entirely done away with the fun and unexpected comedy that earned this medium the place it o?ccupies in our hearts.

Sometimes, even the most serious of video games are home to some of the funniest and ??most biza??rre endings, and we love them for it.

wacky spoilers below

Silent Hill's UFO ending

If you dare to venture back into Silent Hill after having completed the game once, you may complete an absolutely out there puzzle to find out who's really pulling the strings in the titular town. T?urns out it's aliens.

Even though it's obviously a joke ending, it gets bonus points for never really letting go of the scary element, from the weird noise the UFO makes in the sky when we trig?ger the ending, to the ending where the main character just gets taken into space for who knows what otherworldly rea?son.

Silent Hill 2’s dog ending

The UFO ending in the original Silent Hill is amazing overall, but its greatest strength is its completely unexpected nature. Silent Hill 2 also has a funny UFO ending, but it no longer catches fans of the series off guard. The developers were aware of that, so they came up with an even wackier ending.

Players who meet the conditions to trigger this ending will be treated to a cutscene that reveals that the mastermind behind all the treachery in the titular town: a cute Shiba Inu pup in an e??qually cute control room. Wanna know who that dog actually is? Try reading "dog" backwards, but not before you prepare to get your mind completely blown by this incredible plot twist.

The scene plays as a hilarious palate cleanser to the seriousness of the game's story, and the song that plays during the end cred?its is yet another masterpiece in game's already stellar OST. It's just completely unbelievable that this ending came to be in a pre-Internet meme era.

Undertale’s dog ending

Undertale has three different endings. The first is heartwarmi??ng, the second one is heartbreaking, and the secret one is just the best. After the game's credits, Sans tells us that a dog �that I assume is the "lengthshiftin??g" one we see throughout the game �somehow became the mayor. Sans says that he just sleeps on the throne, but that things have been really good ever since he came to power, so no worries.

World Of Horror's dog ending

I don't know exactly why so many games have dog-related endings, but as far as I'm concerned, all games should have dog endings. What I like most about World Of Horror's dog ending is that it has players searching through various locations for grey-alien like figures to figure out its strangest mystery, only to then have them abducted by a super advanced race of Shiba Inus, the Xenoshibas. To make matters even funnier, this ending concludes with a message saying the story will be continued in Galaxy Of Horror, an obviously made-up game �or is it?

Metal Gear Solid 3’s Time Paradox Endings

Metal Gear Solid 3 is a prequel to the rest of the series, and MGS3's time paradox endings are events that players can trigger in case they kill a character that would p??lay a vital role in the future of the series. You're not supposed to kill these characters, but Kojima isn't the kind of person to pass on the chance to lay a fun easter egg in his game. Thus, he filled the game ??with sneaky instances where you can kill off an important character and immediately get treated to a Game Over screen for pretty much breaking the universe.

Though these aren't actual endings of the game, you can ??argue that they're even more definite than the actual ending of the game, because they completely kill the game's continuity.

The most interesting part about the time paradoxes is that once you trigger them, you're confronted by Colonel Campbell telling Snake that he just created a time paradox. Thing is, Campbell only shows up in future games, so, does this mean MGS3 is actually Solid Snake reliving the memories of his "father" Assassin's Creed style? We'll never know.

Nier: Automata’s Mackerel ending

One of the first things we casually learn about the androids we play as in Nier: Automata is that they cannot eat Mackerel, as the presence of that specific type of fish in their bellies will prove their demise. That's interesting, but while we see our androids evolving and becoming ever-more multifaceted killing machines throughout the game, we can't help but feel tempted to go fishing and finding out whether it's tru?e or just a rumor. Either I am part of the conspiracy, or yeah, it's totally true, and you shouldn't eat Mackerel, or your ultra-powerful android will be treated to the most humbling ending in the history of badass main charact??ers.

Eternal Darkness' fake ending

As the name Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem suggests, the game takes special pleasure with messing with the minds of players. As we progress through the game, we'll be treated to various cutscenes and animations pertaining to extremely weird events, but most of those are hallucinations that give this game its unique flavor. One of my favorites leads players to believe they'd reached the end of the game, then even teases the culmination of the story in a made-up game: Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Redemption.

Sadly, a sequel to Eternal Darkness was indeed in the works for a while, but it ended up getti?ng cancelled. How I wish that was but a clever trick the developers at Silicon Knights pulled on us to mess with our sanity.

Far Cry 4’s ending for patient players

Right at the start of Far Cry 4's campaign, the villainous Pagan Min kindly welcomes the player to have a nice dinner at his palace, but h??e's interrupted by "terrorists" that he needs to deal with. Before leaving, Min asks players to just wait for a bit, promising that he'll help players upon his return. That's when most players try to get away from this tyrant, but those who actually stay will see that this is a monster of his word. Upon returning, Min will take us directly to the place where we're supposed to put the main character's mother's ashes, effectively concluding the main quest.

Elements in this end??ing still do allude to the fact that ??letting a vile dictator off the leash isn't a good thing for the people of the land, but, for players who only care about completing their own quest as soon as possible, this ending is the way to go!

Outer World’s literal dumb ending

Fallout games are famous for dealing with players who don't care much for their intelligence in hilarious fashion. Outer Worlds, being the spiritual successor to the old Fallout games that it is, goes even further. On top of various funny dialogue options that pop up in the playthroughs of players with low intelligence attributes, Outer Worlds features an actual ending where players c?an, against all better judgement, decide to make ?a shortcut to their destination that goes through the Sun. Spoilers: it goes just about as well as you'd expect.

Silent Hill Homecoming's UFO ending

Oh, were you expecting yet another dog ending? Nope. It's time for another UFO ending. This time it's the joke ending of Silent Hill Homecoming, the game that ?tried to follow ?the footsteps of the awesome UFO endings in the original series, and ended up getting one of the funniest ones but completely by accident.

One rule of joke endings in Silent Hill is that you'd never get them during your first playthrough. Searching for your daughter or girlfriend for hours on end, only to end up with your character tangled up with aliens and seeing no closure to their story would just make for a really strange first playthrough. Homecoming says screw that and makes it totally possible for the main character to ge??t beamed up into a spaceship an??d taken to space.

It's a terrible ending, but I just can't he??lp but to laugh at the irony of an end??ing that's meant to be funny but that only ends up ruining the game for everyone.

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The presence of acclaimed exclusives is something every single PlayStatio?n —no matter if they are home consoles or portables�has had in common since the heydays of the PS1. But which among the brand's current catalog can be co?nsidered the best?

For all looking for ??certain hits, here are the 10 best games that are to this day only officially available on either PlayStation consoles or services.

10. Infamous 2

• Release Date: June 7, 2011
• Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
• Where to play: PlayStation 3. Can also be streamed on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via the PlayStation Plus
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A direct sequel to the 2009 hit, Infamous 2 continues the story of bike messenger turned superhuman Cole MacGra??th, as he must prepare for his fateful encounter against the enti??ty only known as The Beast.

A title that screams the early 2010s for all of the right reasons, Infamous 2 wears its comic book?? inspirations proudly. The game also features significant upgrades in visuals when compared to the previous title, all while maintaining both its signature ch??oice-based narrative style and high degree of freedom when in combat or traversing.

9. God of War III (God of War III Remastered)

• Release Date: July 17, 2015 (Remastered) / Originally released on PS3 on March 16, 2010
• Developer: Santa Monica Studio
• Where to play: PS3 (Original) / PS4 and PS5. Also available for streaming on PC via the PlayStation Plus App (Remastered)
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The most brutal entry in the original God of War trilogy, God of War 3?? brings to players exactly what one would ex?pect from it, as Kratos hacks and slashes his way through Olympus in search of the objects of his revenge.

I consider God of War 3 to be a must-pick for those only knowledgeable about the Norse saga, as seeing Kratos completely submersed in his rage helps? segment how much the character grew. A?s an extra, the game features both the definitive version of the Greek saga's combat and some of the most jaw-dropping boss fights in gaming.

8. Vagrant Story

• Release Date: February 10, 2000 (PS1)
• Developer: Square Enix (Square)
• Where to play: PS1, PlayStation 2, PS3, and PlayStation Vita.
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A PlayStation 1 classic long overdue for at least a remaster, Vagrant Story follows Riskbearer Ashley Riot in his quest to find the cult leader Sydney Losstaro?t. Little does he know that the mission will lead to revelations regarding both the kingdom he swore to protect and himself.

A dungeon crawler at heart, Vagrant Story pairs the known excellence of Final Fantasy Tactics and XII's writer Yasumi Matsuno with an unforgiving combat system and a deep weapon and equipment crafting mechanic. Keep in mind, ho??wever, that mastering the latter will demand a lot of co??mmitment.

7. God of War II (God of War II HD)

• Release Date: March 13, 2007 (PS2) / November 17, 2009 (PS3 via the God of War Collection)
• Developer: Santa Monica Studio
• Where to play: PS2, PS3, and PS4/PS5 (via the PlayStation Plus Premium Classics Catalog). Also available for streaming on PC via the PlayStation Plus App
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If God of War can be seen as the tale of Kratos' ascendance, God of War 2 tells the tale of his downfall, as the Ghost?? of Sparta must ally himself with unexpected forces and search for the powers of the mythical Sisters of Fate to get his re?venge on Olympus.

Even if its narrative can be seen as bland (a feat shared by most of the main installments in the Greek saga), GoW 2 refines the formula introduced by the first game and increases its scope to a larger array of mythos. Just make sure to br??ing a spare controller, as the game requires a merciless amount of button mashing.

6. Final Fantasy XVI

• Release Date: June 22, 2023
• Developer: Square Enix
• Where to play: PS5
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The latest numbered entry in the Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy XVI puts players in the role of Clive Rosfield, the firstborn of the Duke of Rosaria, who e?mbarks on a quest for revenge against the Eikon responsible for the death of his brother.

Developed by the core team responsible for the revitalization and success of Final Fantasy XIV, FFXVI brings to the table a new s??pin to th?e franchise through a more mature tone and an action-focused approach to combat. Even if novel in many ways, the title is seen by many as both a celebration of the franchise's history and a return to form.

5. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)

• Release Date: February 6, 2018
• Developer: Bluepoint Games
• Where to play: PS4 and PS5. Also available for streaming on PC via the PlayStation Plus App
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A faithful remake of one of the most celebrated and influential games in history, Shadow of the Colossus (PS4) retells the tale of Wander, a b??oy who travels to the Forbidden Lands in the hopes of b??ringing a young girl back to life.

Although the original is dear to many given its feel and how its mechanics and concept influenced hundreds of releases, I decided to go with the remake as it succeeds in bringing the experience to a new generation while also keeping its soul intact and respectfully im??proving many of it's shortcomings.

4. Demon's Souls (PS5)

• Release Date: November 12, 2020
• Developer: Bluepoint Games
• Where to play: PS5. Also available for streaming on PC via the PlayStation Plus App
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In Demon's Souls, we take on the role of The Slayer of Demons after they arrive in Boletaria, a once prosperous kingdom that was immersed in an endless fog following its king's deal ?with the entity only known as the Ol??d One.

Released as a launch title for the PS5, Bluepoint Games' remake of FromSoftware's epic manages to flawlessly translate it to a new graphical engine, which resulted in what I consider to be the best-looking Souls game to date. Although its core gameplay might feel barebones for those used to the enhancements made by Elden Ring, Demon's Souls is the definitive versi??on of the title that started it all.

3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

• Release Date: June 12, 2008
• Developer: Kojima Productions
• Where to play: PlayStation 3
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The final chronological chapter in the main Metal Gear Solid series, Guns of the Patriots, tells the final chapter of Snake's saga, which many co?nside?r the best game in one of the most acclaimed gaming franchises. The reasons for that? Its solid gameplay, cinematic but just as impactful narrative, and how its graphics still stand tall to this day. The latter is even more impressive if we consider how the game debuted in the early years of the PS3.

Unfortunately, since its departure from the PlayStation Now catalog (now featured as part of the Premium tier of the PS Plus), only those who own a PS3 can play it. To see our impressions of the game on release, don't forget to check out our Metal Gea??r Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot??s review.

2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Release Date: February 29, 2024
• Developer: Square Enix
• Where to play: PS5
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For many —myself included�the favorite for the title of Game of the Year 2024, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues Cloud's story and presents across-the-board refinements compared to its predecessor. The latt?er is seen above all in its? facial animations, broader take on combat, and massive open world.

By directly tackling some of the core and more delicate themes of the FF7 story while also expanding it through connections to the ever-growing compilation, FF7 Rebirth does justice to the source material a??nd pairs it up with tens of hours of new ??content.

1. Bloodborne

• Release Date: March 24, 2014
• Developer: FromSoftware
• Where to play: PS4 and PS5. Also available for streaming on PC via the PlayStation Plus App
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Bloodborne mixes FromSoftware's high-quality storytelling wi??th a gothic feel and a more dynamic and high-risk approach to combat. That is then paired with a heavy dose of Lovecraftian inspiration, which makes the game feel unlike any of its siblings.

The only bad thing one can think of saying about the game is related to how it is not possible to play it officially at a stable frame rate. That is also the main reas??on players continue to ask for either a native PS5 port or for an of??ficial PC debut.

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Man??y of us grew up expecting games to have littl??e in the way of a great plot, let alone having great plot twists.

The greatest plot twist is that even though games have relatively recently flourished into an artform that can feature splendid storylines and character arcs, great game plots and plot twists aren't that new of a thing. Let's look at?? the best plot twists in the history of gamin??g.

Bloodborne is all about aliens

If there's one thing we've learned from nearly 20 seasons of Ancient Aliens, it's that it's never really aliens in real life. In Bloodborne, ho??wever, we spend most of the game thinking we're playing Victorian London's version of Leon S. Kennedy as we cull a plague of bloodthirsty humans, but that's not the case at all.

What brought the world of Bloodborne to the brink of ruin is e??veryone's addiction to "old blood." That's not a fancy way of talking about aged blood, bu??t what they call the blood of "old ones," cosmic entities whose odd bodily fluids humankind is completely crazy about.

In true Lovecraftian fashion, we don't know the cosmic entities' motives. We know that "The Hunt" we conduct in Bloodborne happens? not to help the people but to suit the n??eeds of the Moon Presence, the great old one pulling all the strings in the Hunter's Dream.

Solid Snake is the bad guys' greatest asset in Metal Gear Solid

Few games teach players a bigger lesson in humility than the original Metal Gear Solid. Hideo Kojima, always the master of deception, spends the entirety of the game letting players know tha?t Solid Snake is the best spy in the wor?ld. He's right regarding Snake's sneaking abilities, but, as Snake himself states at the start of the game, he's a pawn.

The thing is, we see Snake as a pawn ??of the US governm??ent when, in fact, he's unwittingly working for the bad guys. Snake ends up saving the day, but not before giving the terrorists occupying Shadow Moses nuclear strike launch capabilities after his evil brother plays him like a fiddle.

Kain is actually on our side in Soul Reaver 2

We spend the entirety of the original Soul Reaver trying to get revenge on Kain for dooming the main character to an eternity of torment?, only for him to escape right before we strike the final blow right at th?e end of the game.

Not too long after Soul Reaver 2 begins, we learn that we'd always been part of a greater plan of Kain's, one where the de??????????????????????????ath of the protagonist was never meant as a final punishment but as a necessary means to save the world.

Is it a retcon? Well, definitely. The original Soul Reaver was meant to end with Raziel killing Kain and ending the entire story, but the game had to be cut short due ?to budgetary constraints. That's a good thing because this originally unplanned twist allowed this once-by-the-numbers revenge tale?? to elevate the whole series into something so much grander.

Darth Revan's identity in Knights Of The Old Republic

RPGs love the amnesiac main character trope because players can fill in the huge gap with whatever story they want for themselves, and the writers don't have to bother coming up with a specific backstory for that character. The original KOTOR lulls players into thinking that's t?he kind of story they're in, but they're later hit with the revelation that their character's memory had been erased by the Jedi. Why? Because you're actually the story's ominous Sith, Darth Revan, and you're being used by the Jedi to secure a weapon you hid in your old life.

BioWare had big shoes to fill when writing a Star Wars video game with a big plot twist, and it deserves the Rebel Alliance's medal for writing what's arguably an even gutsier twist into Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic.

SHODAN returns in System Shock 2

Before GLADoS, there was SHODAN. The evil AI is the main antagonist of the original System Shock, but in the sequel, only the bad memories remain. At a later point in the game, we make a significant deal with a character, only to learn that said character is actually dead and that we'd been played by none other than SHODAN. It's a good moment in the narrative sense, but what sells it as one of the bes??t moments in the history of gaming is how it all plays out in real-time.

If you think that's scary, remember that the developers' original idea for the ending of System Shock was to have players think thei??r computer had been taken over ?by Shodan.

Learning that “the cake is a lie�in Portal

Learning that an AI is actually evil hasn't been a surprising twist for the past, say, 40 years. I mean, I'm pretty sure 99% of AIs �real or fictional �are evil. The thing about the reveal in Portal isn't that GL??aDOS seemed benevolent the entire time. It's that she spends the entire game acting very dubiously and then is revealed evil in a moment that's equal times cruel and hilarious. There'll never be another evil AI like GLaDOS.

Learning that Wheatley is bad in Portal 2

Portal 2 takes players through a narrative that mirrors many of the bea?ts from the first game, only this time we have an ally named Wheatley. Wheatley is a bit aloof, but he's very helpful in trying to disconnect?? the evil GLaDOS from the system.

The problem here isn't even that Wheatley is mischievous or straight-up evil. The problem is that he's a dumbass. How dumb, you ask? He was made by the sma?rtest minds in the world to be the dumbest AI in the world. He's very good at being dumb, so it really should come as no surprise that as soon as the now-deposed GLaDOS makes fun of him for being completely incapable of keeping things together, he proves her right.

Learning we'd been helping the G Man in Half-Life Alyx

The good people at Valve know that the people demand more Gordon Freeman, and so they have the players of Half-Life Alyx embarking on a quest to rescue the main hero of the series from the clutches of the e??vil Combine.

It's only in the very last scene, where we finally break Gordon's apparent prison,?? that we see the silhouette of a man with a briefcase. What the hell is that? Gordon would never carry such a business-prone item. Well, that's because we'd been tricked into releasing not Gordon but the G? Man, the most mysterious �and possibly most villainous �character in the series.

The truth about James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2

If you'd played the original Silent Hill before venturing into Silent Hill 2, you'd likely expect that you'd be visiting a creepy town previously populated by monsters. The good news is that the residents of Silent Hill remain a?s evil as the??y'd ever been, but they may not be the worst entities hanging around anymore.

The truth about James Sunderland, the supposed hero of the story, is that he's responsible fo??r? doing the worst possible thing to the person he loved most. The game doesn't reveal him as a villain all along but rather as a broken man who might never recover from his guilt.

The meaning of "Would you kindly" in Bioshock

Most characters in FPS games tend to either do as they're told or follow the scent of more enemies to kill. No player has ever complained about either option. In the original Bioshock, we get introduced via comms to Atlas, a polite man who never fails to utter the words "would you kindly" before asking us to do something. You'd think he's just being nice, or that's how people in the '60s era that Bioshock i??s trying to emulate spoke all the time, but it is n?ot.

That's because Atlas isn?'t even Atlas, but a master conman who'd "programmed" the main character to do what he was told, so long as he'd hear the words "would you kindly" beforehand.

This is not just a great narrative twist but also a fun dig at the speechle?ss and thoughtless main characters usually populating the genre.

The mysterious stranger in Tales From the Borderlands

At the beginning of Tales From Borderlands, we find the main characters imprisoned by a masked stranger who accuses them of treason. We then spend most of the game seeing flashbacks that take us up to the moment of their capture. You'd think that witnessing everything that took plac??e beforehand would help us guessing the identity of the stranger, but every new scene seems to only make it more difficult.

My recommendation is that you play this underrated gem and see �or g??uess �for yourself the identity of the stranger, as it's probably?? the most deviously clever reveal I've ever seen in all media.

The post The best plot twists in video game history appeared first on Destructoid.

When it comes to video games, th?ere are a lot of memorable characters. Outside of their design or role within a game, what makes these characters memorable is their voice, ?and every one of these comes as a result of actors spending hours in a recording booth. 

There are a lot of voice actors out there, but some are more prolific or memorable than others. Their voices resonate in our heads as part of the characters we come to love while playing, but who’s behind these voices and where else have the?y appeared?

Joel Miller (The Last of Us) - Troy Baker

Troy Baker might be one of the most well-known voices in video games. He’s not only the voice of Joel in The Last of Us but also Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding, John Jones in Fortnite, The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins, and the voice of Snow in multiple Final Fantasy titles, including Final Fantasy XIII.

Harley Quinn (Arkham City) - Tara Strong 

Tara Strong is a voice that’s iconic for multiple generations. To me, she’s Timmy from Fairly Odd Parents. To my daughter, she’s Princess Twilight Sparkle from the My Little Pony franchise. In video games, Tara has played not only Harley Quinn in multiple titles, but you can also hear her voice in Rage, and she’s the voice of Rikku in Kingdom Hearts II.

Snake (Metal Gear Solid) - David Hayter

While David Hayter is perhaps most well known for his role as Snake in the Metal Gear Solid franchise and outside of it in other titles, he’s also appeared as the Winter Soldier in Marvel Heroes, a Jedi Knight in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and has multiple voice roles in the Ghost in the Shell game, released in 1997.

Mario (Multiple) - Charles Martinet

I can’t in all good conscience write this list without including Charles Martinet. His voice simply is Mario to anyone who has ever played a single game of the franchise. However, Mario isn’t Charlesâ€?only voice role in the world of video games. He’s appeared as Orvus in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Vigoro in Skies of Arcadia, and, perhaps surprisingly, The Cat in the Hat in a few titles aimed at kids, such as Dr. Seuss Toddler. 

Asterion (Baldur’s Gate III) - Neil Newbon

If TikTok is to be believed, Neil Newbon is the voice of everybody’s favorite Dom. However, before he was the voice of Asterion, Neil appeared in the Resident Evil games as Karl Heisenberg in Resident Evil Village and Nicholai in Resident Evil Resistance. He also played two roles in Detroit: Become Human, Elijah Kamski and Gavin Reed.

Ezio Auditore (Assassin's Creed II Trilogy) - Roger Craig Smith

Roger Crag Smith, I’m not ashamed to say, played a pivotal role in the formation of my love for gaming. I was, and remain to this day, obsessed with Assassin’s Creed II and will always consider it the best of the Assassin’s Creed titles. However, Roger Craig Smith has appeared in many more video games. He’s played Kale Vandelay and SEB-AAA in Hi-Fi RUSH, Sonic the Hedgehog in multiple titles and Mirage in Apex Legends. Most recently, you might recognize his voice as Mission Control in Helldivers 2.

Tiny Tina (Borderlands) - Ashly Burch

Although most recognizable for her voice as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands games, Ashley Burch has played a lot of memorable characters in other titles. She’s the voice of Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, Mel in The Last of Us Part II, and also provided the voice of Chloe Price in both Life is Strange games. 

Urianger (Final Fantasy XIV) - Timothy Watson

Aside from gracing the world with the purely Shakespearean presence that is Urianger Augurelt in Final Fantasy XIV, Timothy Watson has also appeared in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as King Burgred, has multiple voice roles in Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, and played Mumkhar in Xenoblade Chronicles. 

GLaDOS (Portal) - Ellen McClain

The voice of everybody’s favorite psychopathic robot from the Portal games was provided by Ellen McClain, but it wasn’t the first time she provided an iconic robotic female voice in the world of video games. Ellen is also the voice behind the Combine Overwatch AI in Half-Life 2. She also appears in Cyberpunk 2077 as one of Delamain’s split personalities, th?ough this one was modeled after G?laDOS.

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) - Doug Cockle

Doug Cockle is the voice of Geralt in The Witcher game series as well as when Geralt appears in other titles like Soul Caliber VI. He’s also appeared as Bhaal in Baldur’s Gate III, Robert Nightingale in Alan Wake II, and provides multiple additional voices in Horizon Zero Dawn. Outside of gaming, Doug also played the role of Father John Maloney in 2001's Band of Brothers.

The post 10 most iconic? video game char??acters and who voiced them appeared first on Destructoid.

Whether you simply forgot that the character was coming, or, it snuck up on you (because that's what he does), Solid Snake makes his Fortnite debut today.

We've known the character was coming since the Fortnite Chapter 5 launch trailer dropped in early December. But today, we now know exactly what the tactical espionage exper?t brings?? along with him.

With the character's inclusion, Fortnite will also be adding EMP Stealth Camo as a new item. It can render players nea??rly invisible for a brief amount of time. You can activate it as often as you like, though there is a cooldown timer you'll have to wait through in between uses.

When the EMP Stealth Camo is disabled, an EMP pulse is discharged that will damage nearby shields and bring any vehicles in the area to a screeching halt. You can find the cool new item in chests, on ??the ground, or by purchasing it directly from Snake himself with gold bars in-game.

Also being introduced to the battle royale is Snake's iconic cardboard box. These empty boxes are litt??ered throughout the island. Some of them may contain special forces?? NPCs. Others will just be empty for you to take along with you. Just like the EMP Stealth Camo, you can find the cardboard boxes across the island randomly, in chests, or via purchase from Snake.

What Snake skins and items are in Fortnite?

As far as outfits go, we're getting ones specifically for Solid Snake's character. The standard Solid Snake skin is unlocked pretty early by completing page one of Snake's Quests. With it, you get the character's iconic look and can choose to toggle Snake's night vision goggles on or off. Completing page two of Snake's Quests will grant you the Old Snake skin from Metal Gear Solid 4.

Outside of skins, players can earn Snake's Stun Knife Pickaxe, Solid Profile Spray, ! Emote, an??d ! Banner. There's also an awesome-looking Tactical Advanta?ge Loading Screen that fans are sure to love.

On top of those items, you can also collect the Metal Gear Mk. II Back Bling, Hidden? Emoticon, the really cool-looking Slider Glider, and a Snake Skin Wrap. The requirements of each can be found in the most recent Fortnite blog post.

Today's newest trailer also hints toward Raiden's upcoming inclusion to the Fortnite roster. There h??????????????????????????ave been leaks recently suggesting as much, and the character can be seen towards the beginning of today's new footage as he snipes from afar protecting Snake.

If you have the latest battle pass, sneak on over to Fortnite and start working?? toward unlocking the greatest spy of them all. Solid Snake Quests end on March 8.

The post Solid Snake heads to Fortnite today – cardboard box included appeared first on Destructoid.

Of all the iconic moments in Metal Gear Solid, the battle against Psycho Mantis is tough to top. It's both a cool boss fight and a mil??d deconstruction of your gaming habits!

For those who haven't squared off against this gas-masked psychic, one of his powers was the ability to read your memory card and make note of what you've been playing. This largely hinged on how many Konami games you had saved, but it was still wild at the time. Look, it was 1998, so having a character call out Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was more than enough to blow your mind. 

Psycho Mantis can name a small handful of games you've been playing. For those he doesn't mention by title, he'll say something generic like "You like action games!" Been jamming Azure Dreams or Suikoden? He'll hit you with the "You enjoy role-playing games" shoutout??. Is he wrong about?? me digging Konami games, folks? Considering it was the tail end of the '90s, he was absolutely on point. 

But what about the true PlayStation outliers? There were plenty of games you'd rather scrub fr??om your memory ca??rd entirely, but Psycho Mantis sees all. Here are a few I wish he'd keep his prying mind away from. 

The Crow: City of Angels

"??You prefer the dark, blind to a?ll but the most garish of lighting. Ahâ€?yes, you enjoy beat 'em ups with tank controls!" 

The Crow was a cool movie, even enveloped in the dark shadow of Brandon Lee's passing. The Crow: City of Angels was not a particularly cool movie, and it made for an even worse video game. How could anyone blame me for trying out a game that promised "3-D fighting with a vengeance"? Unfortunately, City of Angels ended up turning into unintentional horror. Resident Evil sty??le tank controls are woefully uns??uited for what should be an exciting action game. 

Toss in deadeye enemies who quickly overpower you with firearms you can't hope to compete against and I'd much rather be stuck in a room with Psycho Mantis. Much has been said about how awful developer Gray Matter's attempt at The Crow is, but mere words will never suffice. 

Razor Freestyle Scooter

"You shun Tony Hawk, don't you? You prefer to live on the razor's edge." 

I'll totally own up to this: Not only did I rent and enjoy developer Shaba Games's Razor Freestyle Scooter back in The Year 2000, I did everything I could possibly do in it. I don't think I ever 100 percented any of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, despite playing them pretty much around the clock. I did, however, bask in a cool hundo with Razor, and I'll shout that bold accomplishme?nt from the mountaintops.&nbs??p;

If Psycho Mantis is truly seeing my memory card in this scenari?o, he's secre?tly impressed. 

Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi

"Put your controller on the floor. Now, grab your copy of Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi and weep!"

Believe it or not, there was once a time when Star Wars fans were hungry for new content. 1997 was a big year for the series as A New Hope celebrated its 30th anniversary, launching the original trilogy back into theaters with questionable improvements. On the other end of Star Wars: Special Edition's January opening was the November launch of Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi. While the concept of a one-on-one Star Wars fighting game isn't bad on its own, the execution of Masters of Teräs Käsi was?? just as clumsy and forgettable as its?? title. 

With games this rank in my personal collection, Psycho Mantis had no hope of wrangling the tattered remnants of my mind. The only way he could possibly have beaten me would involve actually challenging me to a round of Teräs Käsi.

Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winners Circle

"My demonstration is not yet overâ€?I see you enjoy the celebrity spotlight. But one star is not enough for your sky. Perhaps your skills are best served not with twin snakes, but with twin mistakes! Die in your winner's circle!" 

Psycho Mantis may fancy himself the foremost practitioner of the psychokinetic arts, but even he has his limits. Truthfully, I cannot explain why a sole save file for Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner's Circle rests deep within the weary bones of my PS1 memory card. If taking what may very well be the least offensively dumb game st?arring the Olsen twins for a brief gallop over 20 years ago is a crime, well, Psycho Mantis might as well deal the death blow??. 

It's all fun and games for a creepy video game character to spring to life in my mind and shout out all the cool stuff I've had the fortune of playing over the years. Calling out the duds is another thing entirely. As ashamed as I should probably be over my past choices for renting, borrowing, or (shudder) buying, I refuse to cower in discomfiture. I'll continue to proudly bounce?? his hypothetical barbs off my chest, knowing I lived a life well wasted in the '90s and early aughts. 

Besides, he's not ready for what I'm willing to play when the price is free. May Psycho Mantis never gain the ability to read my? Game Pass saves. 

The post The most embarrassing games Psycho Mantis ??could have? called out on my PS1 memory card appeared first on Destructoid.

Gamers are well aware of the notorious things that the Metal Gear Solid series does well. Still, Hideo Kojima has filled the entire franchise with awesome details that might go by unn?oticed just like Solid S??nake would.

Not anymore.

The original Metal Gear Solid is haunted by many ghosts

This one is a little hard to notice as it only shows up in second or further playthroughs of the original Metal Gear Solid.

When we go for MGS' New Game+, we'll get a digital camera from the get-go. Players can use this camera to snap pictures of cool-looking parts of the Shadow Moses military complex, but there's ??a secret, darker, reason why the camera is there.

In true Japanese horror fashion, it's there to capture ghosts. You'll never notice it when you're taking the pictures, but, when you go back to look at your gallery, chances are you'll see the spooky ghost of one of the game's many developers.

There's a secret game inside Metal Gear Solid 3

If you save and reload your game while Snake is in the cell after getting captured by the bad guys, you'll get back not to MGS3 per se, but to a game called Guy Savage. I'm gonna call it a minigame because it's very short, but this doesn't feel like just a minigame.

Guy Savage puts you in the shoes of a two-sword-wielding man who has to chop up a small army of enemies. The whole thing is wild because it looks and plays just like a demo for a real game, but Guy Savage doesn't exist outside of Snake's dream in MGS3. Can you imagine a team led by anyone other than Kojima making such a detailed experience and putting ??it in a place that most players will just miss?

I don't think anyone would ever accuse MGS3 of suffering from a lac?k of features, but it's nice to see Koj?ima will never stop going above and beyond.

Guards breathe realistically in Metal Gear Solid V

There are many ways to kill guards in Metal Gear Solid V. One? of the cheapest and most callous options is to knock them ??out and drop their bodies face down atop a body of water. Wait for a short while and they will simply drown.

An even viler mode �though one that shows the game's great attention to detail �is to order conscious enemy guards to lie do??wn on a body of water. I'm just pointing out that this is something you can do �not something you should do.

Sneezing can be Snake's greatest enemy in Metal Gear Solid 2

The Tanker at the beginning of Metal Gear Solid 2 provided one of the most impressive showcases of environmental video game design back in '01. Don't s?tay out to marvel at the beauty of the rainy Hudson River for too long, though, as this will cause Snake to catch a cold and start sneezing.

Snake's new ailment might feel like a bit of harmless fun at first, but be careful. It's only all fun and games until Snake??'s random sneezes begin ??giving away his position to nearby guards.

You can get Snake to puke in Metal Gear Solid 3

Snake can suffer from a bunch of ailments in MGS3. No ailment of the future Big Boss is funnier than a quick vomiting bout �especially when it's all the player'?s fault.

If you open the game's menu and decide to use the analog sti??ck to spin Snake around, he will throw up on the floor as soon as you return to the game. Please spin your Snake responsibly.

You can have a lot of fun at the bar in Metal Gear Solid 2

You can completely ignore the bar area in the Tanker segment from MGS2, but that would be a grave mistake. I don't mean that in the sense that booze rock?s. I mean that this discrete area contains a multitude of showcases of some of the most interesting examples of attention to detail in the history of gaming.

You can realistically destroy glass bottles with your gun, see wine spilling toward the floor, and, most interesting of all, engage with an ice bucket. This unassuming bucke??t displays proper physics and even drops ice cubes that will melt j??ust as if they were the real thing. The ice bucket/cubes serve no real purpose and only exist in the game in that tiny part of that one map.

It's just wild to think that the developers put who?? knows how many hours into creating something so spectacular ?that only very few would notice.

The many ways to bring about The End's end

You probably know by now that you can avoid fighting Cobra Unit's The End entirely. You know you?? can snipe him in the head before his boss encounter starts, by setting your console's clock ten days to the future, or simply by, well, sitting down for 10 days with your console on until he dies of old age. Those are all great, but did you know that The End owns a pet parrot that you can capture and use to find his location? That's true!

Regardless of your strategy, remember never to save during the fight against this boss. Loading that file will trigger a cutscene where Snake falls asleep and gets taken to prison. This will result in the worst fate one can suffer in an MGS game �having to backtrack your ??way to your previous position.

I love every single detail of this battle, and I like that not even this was enough to satisfy Kojima. Did you know that he originally wanted the battle against The End to require at least two actual weeks of your time?

Metal Gear Solid 2 features realistic seagulls

The development team behind MGS2 paid more attention to making realistically diabolical seagulls than many games pu??t into the creation of their human NPCs.

The seagulls in Metal Gear Solid 2 will poop on the eyes of players who dare to look up to enjoy the beautiful MGS2?? skybox in first-person mode. Also, walking over their poop will cause you to slip and fall.

Your natural reaction might be to shoot them, but I recommend against it. Any attempt to get violent revengeance will result in the game itself straight-up refusing to save your progress. Whenever you spot a seagull in MGS2, think of it as the one enemy you don't want to trifle with.

The post Top 8 things you may have missed in the Metal Gear?? Solid series appeared first on Destructoid.

It was recently brought to people's attention that the Master Collection of Metal Gear Solid was near unplayable on Steam Deck. Fortunately, Valve has been quick off th??e mark, and a ?fix is rolling out.

According to a recent Twitter/X post from Pierre-Loup Grifais �coder for Valve �a hotifx has been deployed. This should tend to the crashing issues people have been having with both Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3.

As is often the case when it comes to the Steam Deck, the problem appeared to be related to compatibility issues with the device's operating system. This new patch �sent out ?literally moments ago �addresses issues with Proton, the Linux-based software the Deck is built around.

What was the problem?

In a recent report/video from GamingOnLinux, the recent release of the first three Metal Gear Solid entries were shown to be not suited for the Deck. While MGS runs fine,? it seems to maintain its old-school 4:3 aspect ratio, and the game is locked at 30fps. This may not be an issue for some, but others may take exception to the sizeable black borders and lower framerate.

However, at least it was running on the device. The same could not be said for the second and third games, neither of which would play at all. Both Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater were crashing to the Steam Library,? meaning they couldn't be play??ed at all.

Given the popularity of the classic Metal Gear Solid games, it's not surprising Valve was pretty quick to act. Hopefully, MGS2 and MGS3 should run now, as the update's purpose is to "ad?dress a blocking crash in cutscenes." At the time of writing, a fix for the miss?ing audio in cutscenes is still being worked on.

The post Metal G?ear Sol??id collection is messy on Steam Deck, but Valve is rolling out fixes appeared first on Destructoid.

The first volume of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection is finally out, and it collects Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Snake's Revenge, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (plus extras). Naturally, a lot of Metal Gear diehards are ready for the next one: and we might? know what a potential "volume ?2" could entail!

Leaked by way of the game's Unity-based Master Collection launcher code (thanks Timo653), there are buried listings for Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid 5, and Peacewalker, all of which could make it into a subsequent volume 2 release. No, you're not dreaming: this was also poi?nted out back in June of this year, wh?en the same content lineup was leak?ed as a result of datamining efforts from the collection's official website.

The real "get" here is Peacewalker (even if it was released in 2011's Metal Gear Solid HD Collection), as "numbered" Metal Gear Solid games would clearly make it into some form of a compilation: but this would be fa?irly huge news as far as one core entry is concerned.

Will Metal Gear Solid 4 finally be released for modern platforms?

As many have pointed out ever since the moniker "Volume 1" was uttered by Konami, this would be a fairly huge deal for both entrenched and prospective Metal Gear fans. Most notably, Metal Gear Solid 4 has been stuck in PS3-land since 2008, which is absolu??tely insane to think about. I was in the process of moving for one of the first times in my life when it hit, and I managed to play half of it before relocating, and the other half afterward. It was a surreal experience that I'm looking forward to reliving once again. If thi??s second collection actually happens, of course.

What other Metal Gear games could come in a collection?

Here ar??e a few of the outliers that haven't be??en talked about yet:

• Ghost Babel (the Game Boy Color game that's flawed but super interesting)
• Metal Gear Acid (yeah they straight up called a game Metal Gear Acid)
• Metal Gear Acid 2
• Portable Ops/Portable Ops Plus

There's little chance of a new version of Twin Snakes seeing the light of day (the updated GameCube rendition of the original Metal Gear Solid), but I can dream.

The post If it wasn’t obvious, a Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 is likely on the way appeared first on Destructoid.

In just shy of a month, we’ll be able to jump into the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, which brings Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater �as well as the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and Snake’s Revenge �to Nin?tendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, and PC.

But, now we know what frame rate each of the Metal Gear Solid titles will have, and it says a lot about the experience fans of the series can expect wi??th this collection.

To start, the original Metal Gear Solid will run at a consistent 1920x1080, 30 fps across the g??amut of consoles, except for the handheld mode on the Nint?endo Switch, which will run at 1280x720, 30 fps.

When it comes to Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, they’ll run at a semi-consistent 1920x1080, 60 fps on all consoles except for �big surprise �the Switch, where it’ll r??un at 1280x720, 30 f??ps in handheld mode and 1920x1080, 30 fps in docked mode.

The chart does make it clear that the versions included in the Master Collection “have been up-converted to display at these resolutions.�But it seems like the HD Collection versions of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 are what we're getting here, so if you have played those versions, you have som??e idea of what to expect in the Master Collection.

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Sons of the Patriots finally headed to multiplatform

Ahead of the release of classic compilation Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol1, Konami updated its website with a timeline of the featured games �However, dataminers gon' datamine, and folks prodded aroun?d the website might have unearthed the contents of a yet to be announced Volume 2.

According to the uncovered data, the Metal Gear Solid timeline pages features placeholder buttons for a selection of latter-day Metal Gear titles, namely 2008's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, 2010 PlayStation Portable release Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and 2015's magnum opus, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which would be the final title in the series to be helmed by creato?r Hideo Kojima.

//twitter.com/Nitroid/status/16????71647361783721985?s=20

Should these titles prove to be the lineup for Master Collection Vol.2, then this will be the very first time that Metal Gear Solid 4 has been made available on a platform outside of the PS3. Seeing this release, as well as the other titles, on Xbox, PC, and other platforms will certainly be a moment in MGS history, so here's hoping that ??this datamine proves to b?e accurate.

Back in the world of Actually Confirmed releases, fans are looking forward to Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1, which comprises Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, along with the original Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge, and a selection of rad additional content. It will launch October 24 on ?PS5, PC, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch.

Metal Gear Solid? 4 finally freed?? from PS3 as part of leaked Master Collection Vol. 2 [IGN]

The post Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 contents seemi??ngly leaked appeared first on Destructoid.

I hope you have space, Snake

The Metal Gear Solid Master Collection (Volume 1) is coming to Switch and a bunch of other platforms.?? That's good! But on Nintendo's system, it's going to require an off-the-ca??rt download. That's bad!

So let's go directly into the bad news. Thanks to some extra info on the Konami website (??it's at the very bottom if you have the Switch version selected), we have an idea of how this is all going to play out. The site breaks down how much of the game is actually on the physical cart, and it doesn't look good. 2.4GB seems to be "front-loaded" on the cart, with the rest in your hands and your internet connection.

It gets worse when you look at the bonus content, which will bring the total download size up to 30GB. It doesn't seem like there's any wiggle room here, as Konami notes "to enjoy all available content, game data must be downloaded (free)," and an "internet connection is required." The site e??ven recommends ??a microSD card off the bat.

The bit of good news, which is actually kin?da-sorta false hope, is that these download sizes are "tentative" and "will be finalized by September 2023." Sorry, it's not actually good news, but you deserve some hope.

All of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Switch download sizes: What's on the cart?

• Physical Version : 24.1GB ( *Front loaded onto cartridge 2.4GB )
• Metal Gear Solid- Master Collection Version : 4.8GB
• excl. MG&MG2 : 3.4GB
• incl. MG&MG2 : 4.8GB ( Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake : 1.4GB )
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Master Collection Version : 8.0GB
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version : 12.2GB
• Bonus Content : 1.0GB + 30 GB for bonus videos

Have ??this all sorted before the game is out on October 24, 2023!

[Thanks John!]

The post If you’re getting Metal Gear Solid Master Collection on Switch, it has some massive download sizes appeared first on Destructoid.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1

Nintendo had a few surprises in store for their Nintendo Direct today, and one of them includes an October 2023 compilation release for Metal Gear Solid. It's called Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1, and it's coming to Switch, as well PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

[caption id="attachment_387820" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Here's what the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1 Switch compilation includes:

Title Lineup

• Metal Gear
• Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
• Metal Gear Solid (Including VR Missions/Special Missions)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (HD Collection version)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (HD Collection version)
• Metal Gear (NES/FC version)
• Snake's Revenge

Video

• Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Digital Graphic Novel

Digital book

• Metal Gear Solid: Screenplay Book
• Metal Gear Solid: Master Book
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Screenplay Book
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Master Book
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Screenplay Book
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Master Book
• Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2: Screenplay Book
• Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2: Master Book

Soundtrack

• • Metal Gear Solid: Digital Soundtrack

And here's the full rundown from Konami:

"The origin of stealth action comes to Nintendo Switch. Experience the thrilling cinematic story of the Metal Gear series as you infiltrate enemy fortresses and complete your mission to stop those wielding weapons of mass destruction from triggering total war. This collection features Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, along with the games that started the series �Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and the NES versions of Metal Gear and Snake’s Revenge �and plenty of bonus content. Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1 launches on Nintendo Switch Oct. 24. Pre-orders begin today in Nintendo eShop and in the My Nintendo Store on Nintendo.com. Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will also be available for purc??hase individually in Nintendo eShop."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxL0HnOQZ28

Screenplay books, mas?ter books (with story and character info), strategy guides for each game (!), and a digital soundtrack are in as extras. It's out on October 24, 2023, and pre-orders are open today. The first three games will be sold separately (for $19.99) if you don't want the whole shebang for $59.99!

For me, the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel is a gre?at addition that I love seeing preserved. I still have it on PSP!

The post A fairly big Metal Gear Solid com?pilation is coming to Switch and other platforms appeared first on Destructoid.

What accomplishment doesn't he want to achieve?

Being one of the most recognizable faces in all of game development, Hideo Kojima is known for his outlandish ideas. While he rose to fame with the Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid franchises, his legacy continued with 2019's Death Stranding, a game synonymous with surrealism.

Now, the man himself has shown an interest in literally reaching for the stars. In a recent YouTube video, Hideo Kojima was asked by Geoff Keighley about achievements he still has in mind as he approaches 60. Speaking through an interpreter, the director said that he wants to go into outer space. The comment inspires some laughter from the audience. Kojima then goes on to say that he wants to make a game in space that the ??player can play while also floating about in the cosmos.

To hear the quote, skip ahead to around 23:19.

//youtu.be/fAAbAAqHEic?t=1299

Anybody who knows the man and his work can say for certain that this is probably not a surprising dream. If you're a fan of his games, you may describe him as a "visionary." He's not always appreciated, but he definitely leaves an impact. Of course, seeing as Hideo Kojima likes to tease, it's entirely possible that ?this comment about going into space is a bit of a joke on his part.

Still, it's interesting?? to imagine what a game in space would be like, and if anyone's going to do it, it may as well be Kojima. However, we seem to be some way off before we regular folk can take trips to the stars. A video game that's been developed and is playable off-planet sounds kooky in a way that a lot of Kojima's ideas sound kooky. But, at the risk of bursting any bubbles, t?he prospect of such a game would probably be only suitable for the ultrarich. So Bezos could play it, but not you and I.

Besides, Kojima still needs to finish Death Stranding 2, not to mention that Xbox game he's said to be working on.

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Livin' in a Box

Metal Gear fans went into overdrive during Wednesday's PlayStation showcase, when it was revealed that not only was the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake a very real thing, but also that they'd be receiving a new opportunity to buy the old Metal Gear games for the 200th time via the all-new, all-old, Master Collection.

While the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 announcement included Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, some mystery titles were also teased. However, thanks to a new listing on PlayStation Store itself, we now know that these titles are Hideo Kojima's original MSX classics Metal Gear and Metal Gear II: Solid Snake.

//www.youtube.com/wat??ch?v=1YDauj2Ayog&ab_channel=Konami

The set promises "classic versions" of all included titles, complete with additions such as the MGS: VR Missions/Special Missions, and the HD editions of MGS 2 and MGS 3. The listing also notes that some small edits will, unfortunately, be made or copyrighted content. This likely refers to some of the stock footage used in cutscenes throughout the Metal Gear Solid series. "Regional versions" of each game will also be available as altern?ate downloads �suggesting the addition of localized voice tracks and text.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 will launch this fall on the "lastest platforms". Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is currently in development for PS5, PC, and Xbox Serie?s X.

Grab yo' cardboard box.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.?? ?1 also includes Metal Gear 1 and 2 [Eurogamer]

The post Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 includes MSX ?classics appeared first on Destructoid.

Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake

In a reveal stacking on top of a reveal, the news of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater's return was punctuated with the announcement of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1. This splash sc??reen promised that we can "sneak back into the original games on PlayStation 5" this autumn?.

So far, we know that the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1 will contain the following games:

• Metal Gear Solid
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The second and third titles will be based off the HD Collection versions of each game. Otherwise, we await more details?? about any extra features this compilation may bring.

A new promotional website for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1 promises the compilation will "allow fans to play the games as they were, as first released on the latest platforms." However, we have yet to receive official word on which platforms this collection will appear on.?? We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

Konami has pumped out retro compilations of its glory day games at a consistent pace. In other words, it's reasonable to believe that Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 1 will follow a similar trend. Even more intriguing is the "Vol 1" part of the title, implying that a second collection will eventually appear. We'll have to see ?how these games look on modern hardware later this year.

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Filling in a cultural gap

I have a confession to make: I missed out on Metal Gear Solid. I was a lame kid who liked cartoony platformers and power-of-friendship RPGs, and Hideo Kojima's epic saga of gruff military boys in cardboard boxes did nothing for my brain. Still, I figured I understood what Metal Gear was based on po?p culture osmosis - baffling lore, thoughtful political intrigue, and brief interludes of intense homoeroticism, all in a 3D stealth shooting p??ackage.

So imagine my surprise when I went on my very first journey with Solid Snake and didn't see any of that. See, when I start a task, I like to start it from the beginning. So when I committed to getting into Metal Gear, I went straight for entry numero uno: 1987's Metal Gear for the MSX 2.

Humble beginnings

Metal Gear is a game about a guy named Solid Snake, a rookie agent for a military organization known as FOXHOUND. I will admit, I don't know much about Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid games, but to the best of my understanding, he's a character in those games. To call him a "character" in Metal Gear would be a little generous. Mos?tly, he's a two-inch tall computer man who just loves infiltrating. He can't get enough of infiltrating! It's his favorite thing to do.

[caption id="attachment_359570" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Snake's second favorite thing to do is pick things up and take them somewhere else. He takes after Metroid's Samus Aran in this way; he's always finding an object in one place that makes it easier to navigate another place. That's great, because Snake's current mission is to infiltrate Outer Heaven, a very sinister mercenary stronghold in South? Africa that's full of objects that are absolutely vital for navigation. I'm not sure how anyone actually gets any work done in Outer Heaven?, given that multiple connecting rooms fill up with toxic gas for no reason in particular and there's only one gas mask.

Most of Metal Gear consists of finding things in one place and taking them to another place. While you're busy doing that, Outer Heaven mercenaries will try and shoot at you, so it's best to hide behind the architecturally nonsensical pillars scattered around the base. If you do get caught, it's probably best to just make a break for the next room over. Most of the time, if the bad guys can't see you, they'll fully forget you exist, which is good since Snake is terrible at shooting (it's possible that I'm terrible at shooting, but I'm going to lay the blame at Snake's feet here).

But is it any good?

I'm being snarky, obviously, but I actually think there's a lot to love in this humble little proto-Metal Gear. It's not what I expected at all, but I ended up having a very good time with it. The stealth is shockingly elegant for a game this old. I figured it would be Clunkfest 1987, but most of the time, if the bad guys caught me, it was fully my fault, and? if I caught them, it actually felt pretty good.

[caption id="attachment_359574" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Metal Gear has what could be described as a prototypical "stealth kill" mechanic: if you manage to g?et the jump on a bad guy by creeping behind them, you can pretty much stunlock them and punch them to death without alerting any of their buddies. Actually, you can do that by just walking up to their side, too, provided you aren't looking them directly in the eye.

Outer Heaven's boys are not the most attentive.

There are a handful of other ways to get around Outer Heaven �sometimes, agents will fall asleep standing up, and you can walk right past them without issue. My favorite method of conflict aversion, though, is Solid Snake's iconic cardboard box. The box is introduced with the kind of goofy reverence that suggests that the developers knew what they had on their hands. It's all alone in an empty room, it has no item description, and Snake's (spoiler alert) confidant-turned-nemesis Big Boss has absolutely no idea what to make of it. The first time Snake puts it on his head and disappears entirely,?? it's like magic.

Wit and wisdom

I also found myself really taken by Metal Gear's writing. There's not much of it, but what's there was very endearing to me. My favorite characters, hands down, are the captured FOXHOUND agents who spout off some of the most incredible advice of all time. I know when my government-sanctioned action hero comes to break me out of prison, I'm always ready to tell them what they might be able to do if they had a parac??hute.

[caption id="attachment_359571" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Metal Gear also plays host to a lot of authorial instincts that I instantly recognized as a fan of Death Stranding and PT. His ability to bump up against the fourth wall in ways that are simultaneously unnerving and playful is on full display? here, as is his willingness to mess around with genre and medium.

The "plot," if it can be described as such, is as thin and unimpressive as most games of the era �I got through all of Metal Gear in about three hours, and two and a half of those were dedicated to finding key cards, so there wasn't a whole lot of time for narrative development. Metal Gear is aware of this fact, though. Its characters are painted in broad, archetypal strokes. Solid Snake is every single action hero. The creator of the eponymous Metal Gear is every beleaguered scientist. The Big Boss at the end is literally named Big Boss. It's all lig?ht genre pastiche, and it's got a low-key sense of humor that makes it very en?dearing.

Plus,?? there's this girl, who is apparently Hideo Kojima's daughter.

[caption id="attachment_359573" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

In the end, I'm glad I finally got around to playing Metal Gear. It's got plenty of ridiculously dated design decisions, including elevators that take a??ges to ascend, holes that open in the ground and insta-??kill you with absolutely no warning (again, how do people work here?), and a boss fight with one of the worst gimmicks I've ever seen, but it was a good time.

I snagged it for a mere five dollars, and honestly, if it was a brand-new game at the same price, I think I'd still really dig it. I'm almost certainly going to chase it with all the other Metal Gear games, and I might? just give Kojima's other MSX-era games a try, too. Maybe I??'ll finally get to see some of that intense homoeroticism.

The post I played the original Metal Gea??r for th?e first time in 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Welcome (back) to the jungle

A new recruitment video from studio Virtuos has sparked internet whispers that the global game developer has started work on a new Metal Gear Solid project. The rumors circulated this weekend after "clues" were spotted in the p??resentation, which w??as designed to spotlight the studio's Montreal team.

While speaking with one of Virtuos' key concepts artists, Louis-Alex Boismenu, the hefty (and highly recommended) tome "The Art of Metal Gear Solid" is placed ta?ntalizingly in shot, with the book seemingly being used to prop up Boismenu's desk lamp. This might seem to be "reaching" on the fans' part, but it is rare that videos such as these would include such an odd detail. You'd think the book would be cleared aside ??during shot-blocking. I would have done so and I'm basically Kubrick.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWjDzBrmveo&t=73s

Lending further weight to this theory are rumors, sourced by VGC back in 2021, that Virtuos might have been handed the contract to develop a remake of 2004 adventure Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This still unconfirmed rumor, coupled with some recent recruitment adverts and the aforementioned video, has led fans to believe that the studio is working on something Metal Gear Solid-related. However, who knows quite what is on the books or when the trut??h will out, remains a mystery.

All t??hat said,?? it must be noted that sometimes a lamp prop is just a lamp prop... Still, it's not hard to admit that these various clues are all starting to add up.

The post Virtuos video sparks whispers of new Metal Gear Solid pr??oject appeared first on Destructoid.

Let's get this dude in a cardboard box

Top-tier thesp Oscar Isaac has reiterated his desire to get a Metal Gear Solid movie off of the drawing board and onto the silver screen �Speaking in an interview with ComicBook.com, the Star Wars, Ex Machina, and Annihilation star spoke of his continued ambition to make this ongoing project a real??ity.

"We want it to happen," said Isaac in an abridged quote. ?"Be excited. What's the script? What's the story? What's the take? [...] Hopeful that comes to?? fruition because there's so much potential for that. It's an incredible game. It's my favorite."

There have been murmurs of a big-screen adaptation of Hideo Kojima's masterpiece PlayStation title ever since its initial 1998 release. Right now, the possibility of a Solid Snake movie seems more likely than ever, with Isaac on board to star and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer, Kong: Skull Island) penciled in to direct. With only a few names on deck, and no production schedule or?? release window ev?en hinted at, we likely have some years to go before we hear the famous codec jingle rattling in our local IMAX theater.

In the meantime, you can check out Mr. Isaac's turn as Marvel's brooding avenger, Moon Knight, on the Disney+ network. In addition, his new, neo-noir graphic novel, Head Wounds: Sparrow, is available to order now from Legendary Comics.

Oscar Isaac Gives?? Update on Metal Gear Solid Movie [ComicBook]

The post Oscar Isaac still pushing on Metal Gear Solid m?ovie project appeared first on Destructoid.

Taking away digital copies will do that

Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D prices are pretty insane right now, thanks to an eShop delisting (that might still be resolved eventually) and the impending eShop shutdown.

As DoubleXP points out, the confluence of events has led to a storm of sales for the 2012 3DS port, including "cart only" sales approaching $100. Through our own research, we found pre-owned case-included copies selling for roughly $130 in recent weeks, sometimes more. Sealed copies approach $200. Double XP also highlights that the Metal Gear Solid series as a whole i??s increasing in price as more franchise games were removed from various digital marketplaces.

This sort of stuff isn't new for the collectible market in the last few years, which has generally exploded. But the combination of kitsch, it being a port of one of the most celebrated action/adventure games of all? time, and it being a decent port at that, all contribute to this being a potentially crucial time to add the game to your collection.

It's insane that this is where we're at right now: looking for loose copies of a game that should be available on the eShop. "The age of digital" was supposed to be convenient, but as we've seen time and time again via licensing issues and plain old bugs, some games are lost to time unless you have a physical copy. Hopefully this PSA will help someone get a Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D copy who needs one before the situation? gets even more dire.

The post Own Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D?? Prices are going through the roof appeared first on Destructoid.

This feels very wrong

Sometimes, in the effort to go fast, we don't ask if we should go fast. Case-in-point: a newly discovered Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater glitch that, when properly executed, s?kips its infamous ladder sequence.

MGS3 and Tomb Raider speedrunner "apel" showcased the glitch on social media today. They approach the ladder, flipping through their menu as they go. Then, at the base, they do some wall-hu??gging, followed by a? few menu selections.

Then, suddenly, Snake T-poses and rockets towards the camera. Rather than put hand over hand, foot over foot as the Snake Eater theme echoes?? throughout the maw ?below, he simply ascends.

//twitter.com/apel__/status/1513870004898484229

You can find the clip on Twitter here, and also on YouTube. In a follow-up tweet, ?apel clarifies that any three food items will work for the trick. It doesn't have to be snakes. They also say this is currently only possible in multi-s??egment runs, though they emphasize "currently."

Not for honor, but for you

I'm happy for the speedrunners, but wow. I did not know a man rocketing up a tunnel in a T-pose could make me feel emotions about the song Snake Eater.

The ladder sequence is probably one of the most famous parts of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a game chock full of incredible moments. It's haunting, beautiful, and ?bizarre.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8pg2XoQTlA

When speedrunners have showcased MGS3 at events like Games Done Quick in the past, the ladder sequence has always been a fun lull. Maybe there will be a Snake Eater incentive at future events?

Silly qualms aside, it's always cool to see runners and glitch-hunters find new ways to break games. Sometimes, even casual players and streamers accidentally find new ways to go fast. And following the sometimes-rapid evolution of runs is al??ways a good t??ime.

Th??e ladder may be skippable, but it will never be forgotten.

The post Newly discovered Metal Gear Solid 3 glitch lets players skip the ladder sequenc??e appeared first on Destructoid.

This year's lineup spans a surprising mix of new and old games being run for charity

[Update: AGDQ 2022 is now underway! Be sure to check out all of the action over on Twitch!]

It's that time once again. Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 will be hosted this weekend, running Sunday, Jan. 9 through 15. Throughout the online event, speedrunners from all over will perform exhibitions and compete, raising funds for the Prevent Cancer ??Foundation.

If you're familiar at all with speedrunning, then you probably already know about Games Done Quick. Speedrunners play 24/7 throughout the week, showing off their skills and skips while raising money for a good cause. Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 will once again be held online, which has surprisingly allowed for some really cool runs to be featured, like Beat Saber ??and the arcade dancing game runs we've recently seen at GDQ.

This year, there's a pretty interesting mix of games both new and old on the docket. The show opens with an Any% Featherless run of Nioh 2 from AxelSanGo, and later heads into Deathloop and Axiom Verge 2, and even Death's Door. These are some surprisingly recent games, so it's exciting to se??e them being run already.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdEISFAtHVg

There are, of course, still some retro runs at Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 for the fans of the classics. Sonic and Mega Man exhibitions are still present, and a bid war will determine which 3DS version of a Zelda classic�em>Majora's Mask or Ocarina of Time—will get showcased.

And closing the curtains on AGDQ this year will be an All Bosses Extreme run of Metal Gear Solid from dlimes13. My personal picks I'll be looking out for: the Final Fantasy XIII run and both the Slay the Spire and Hades exhibitions.

You can find the full schedule with the days and slots here, automatically adjusted to your timezone. The action will stream from Jan. 9 through 15 right here on the GDQ Twitch channel, and you can find donation information and prize info on the GDQ homepage throughout the event. Here's to another year of speed??runs galore!

The post (Update) Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 k??icks off this weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

The biggest conspiracy in MGS history

Konami has quietly announced that it intends to remove some classic titles in the Metal Gear Solid franch??ise from digital storefronts. The "temporary" removal will begin today on almost all platforms on which the affected titles are available.

The two titles being removed are 2001's Metal Gear Solid 2 and 2004's Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, as well as all collections and compendiums that include these games �such as the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. It seems that the licenses a??re set to expire on the titles' use of hist??orical footage for its cutscenes and FMV sequences, and while publisher Konami works to renew these licenses, it has no choice but to make the respective games unavailable for sale.

We're?? obviously talking a few seconds of grainy, jerky, black-and-white, out-of-context footage... But such are the ways of business. Konami has not offered any hint as to when the relicensed games will return. The affected titles are as follows:

PlayStation 3 �METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SONS OF LIBERTY HD EDITION
PlayStation 3 �METAL GEAR SOLID 3 SNAKE EATER HD EDITION
PlayStation 3 �METAL GEAR SOLID HD EDITION
PlayStation Vita �METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SONS OF LIBERTY HD EDITION
PlayStation Vita �METAL GEAR SOLID 3 SNAKE EATER HD EDITION
PlayStation Vita �METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION
PlayStation Now �METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION
Xbox 360 �METAL GEAR SOLID HD EDITION: 2 & 3
Nintendo 3DS �METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D
GOG.com �METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SUBSTANCE
NVIDIA Shield �METAL GEAR SOLID 2 HD for Shield TV
NVIDIA Shield �METAL GEAR SOLID 3 HD for Shield TV

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My hot take in stunning 8K resolution

One of the most impressive things about games is just how far they've come technologically in only a few short decades. There was a time when a few blinking pixels on a screen were cutting-edge technology, and now we have games that are so photorealistic that we can see every grimy pore on our player character's face.

Look, I would never b??e one to diminish the hard w??ork that people have put in to make that happen, but at the same time, I don't think that it's all that necessary.

For one thing, hyper-realistic games don't age super well. Something that we think looks real one year will appear outdated in the next due to constantl?y improving technology. Remember, there was a time when people thought the first Metal Gear Solid game was the most realistic thing they had ever seen. If a developer wants to go for a more grounded style, I think i??t works better to lean ever-so-sl?ightly into some stylization. 

The Telltale games are a great example. Those games are far from photo-realistic, but the art style ac??tually mimics the cell-shaded style of comic books, where many of the Telltale IPs got their start. They were great at creating atmosphere and a sense of place, which to me is so much more important than a one-to-one feeling that I'm in the real world.

Personally, I'm a big fan of stylized art forms. Even when you want to go for a more grounded feel, you can still use the art to help achieve that feeling. The art style can set the whole tone for a piece, and since games are such a visual medium, there's n?othing I love more than seeing devs use the art to help build on the game's tone, because I believe that's one of the most powerful tools they have at their disposal.

??We?? also can't ignore the fact that the more "realistic" you want to make your game, the harder your designers, artists, and animators need to work. We're at a point now where you can easily find a balance between making things look how you want, while also not crunching your developers into oblivion. The pros j?ust don't outweigh?? the cons in my eyes.

When the storytelling or gameplay is strong enough to carry a game?? on its own, that's what I really care ?about. If taking away a sense of visual realis??m makes your game ??unplayable, then I'm sorry, but you might just have a bad game on your hands.

Besides the visuals, then the??re's the actual design of the game itself??. Nothing annoys me more than design choices that are made for the sake of realism, only to find them as hindrances rather than being helpful. Take, for example, the inventory limits in Skyrim.

So you're telling me that I'm a magical b?eing who can shoot fire out of my fingertips and slay dragons, but I can't carry on??e more wheel of cheese because it's too heavy? Yeah, I'm not buying it. Of course you want to keep some things realistic, but I'm a strong believer in making a game as fun to play as possible (if that is indeed the goal of the game), and I never think realism should get in the way of that.

Aft?er scouring? Reddit, I found I'm not alone in this annoyance. Breath of the Wild's rain is a classic example of a hated "realistic" mechanic -- if you're going to make the weather system a thing in a game that so heavily relies on climbing, at least let us get an item that can bypass that annoyance later on. Other players share their distaste for the health regen system that some shooters have, where your screen goes black and while or red and you just have t??o wait it out behind cover. Another big one is having the player character slowly open drawers and cabinets to loot in real time.

I?? don't take issue with games where the whole point is to be as realistic as possible, like a racing sim or even a brutal survival game li?ke Rust, but wh??en the objective is to provide a fantastical escape for the player, why are we bothering ourselves with cherry-picking which details we want to be realistic? It's like how fast travel doesn't always make sense in the universe of the game, ?but we're cool with suspending that part of our disbelief for the?? sake of convenience.

Because games are still so young as a medium, it feels like we're all still trying to figure out what makes for the most fun experience, which in some cases means making the player do tedious tasks for the sake of realism. I know some people out there completely disagree with me on all of this, a?nd to each their own, but man, I can't wait until we move past this and just get down to what feels fun to play.

The post Sometimes games that are realistic…are worse appeared first on Destructoid.

Just hire Cynthia Harrell for the next Bond theme

"What a ?thrill..." you're already hearing it in your head! Yes, it's the Snake Eater song, and it's currently worming its way into your ear.

Playing Metal Gear Solid 3 for the first time at launch, with no guides or discourse,? was an absolute experience. I was completely alone at the time as my wife (then girlfriend) was out of town, and outside of a few minor obligations, I played through it unfettered. Even though I was already on board with Kojima's antics with two prior mainli??ne entries, I wasn't ready for love to bloom on the battlefield.

Part of the reason I was completely drawn into this world was the Snake Eater song: written by Norihiko Hibino and performed by the immensely? talented Cynthia Harrell. No joke, every time a Bond theme has debuted since 2003, I'm thinking "why isn't it Snake Eater, and/or why isn't Cynthia Harrell singing it?"

Sure, there's pageantry involved in choosing who gets to perform a Bond track, but the Broccoli estate (the stewards of Bond) have basically been chasing another Shirley Bassey ringer since she stopped contributing to title themes in 1979 (Moonraker, what a one to go out on). Harrell, right at this moment, evokes that exact same emotional sound.

And the way that it's actually introduced in-game is one of the greatest moments in the medium of action adventures. Snake is climbing up a giant ladder up to Krasnogorje for two straight minutes, and then this s??ong just pops off. Kojima has a penchant for making the dullest moments memorable, and he succeeded?? here in spades.

Oh, and just in case, it's on iTunes and Spotify! Given it a listen for me.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aHQnDTd1y4

The post Metal Gear Solid’s Snake Eater song still slaps appeared first on Destructoid.