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About a month ago, I submitted an RMA request to my power supply manufacturer, EVGA. My desktop had been randomly shutting down in the last couple of months, so I investigated a bit. The diagnosis didn’t necessarily confirm that the issue was related to my power supply, but I had enough evidence to make a case for it. The only problem was, I submitted this RMA request two weeks after my warranty ended. Luckily, the screenshot I provided (documenting the issue before the warranty ended) likely helped me out.

EVGA sent me a new power supply and it arrived as we were on vacation. After a month of not having my desktop, the longest I had ever gone without at least being able to access it, I was back in business ready to stare at my game library and decide what to play.

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Sneaky Sneaky

To those who know my tastes, it’s no surprise I typically have stealth-related game in my rotation. Right now, there’s actually two games. The first, a game I played in 2020 when it released on PS4—The Last of Us Part II. A divisive game with a story that is willfully misunderstood by many and appropriately critiqued by few. The discussion about the gameplay, however, is almost unanimously regarded as excellent. A perfect blend of action, survival, stealth, and the occasional downtime/light puzzle solving.

Interestingly, having completed multiple playthroughs of the first game, I never returned to Part II after my initial completion in 2020. In retrospect, I think it was a result of a combination of reasons that mostly boils down to the heavy/dark story, COVID, and major life changes. Oh, and the fact that I thought the game was over at like three different spots—the game was much longer than I was expecting which slightly turned me away from replaying it.

Anyway, here I am, playing it on PC around 80-90 frames per second and, of course, it still looks incredible. But, with a keyboard and mouse, it also feels incredible. Truly the best way to play this game.

In stealth games, I try to play a combination of complete stealth involving silent takedowns (through lethal or non-lethal means) and sneaking through without anyone noticing (i.e., a ghost). The playstyle adapts to what game I’m playing and the reward/penalty or canonical reason why the character may or may not use lethal means. For example, Hitman World of Assassination, you are extremely encouraged to only kill your targets.

I do my best to abide by that. I try to do the same in Dishonored and Dishonored 2; whereas in Splinter Cell games (particularly the classics), I try to be as ghostly as possible. Mostly because it’s thrilling to be right next to someone in complete darkness.

The second stealth game in my rotation right now, is an indie game called Intravenous II, a top-down stealth game inspired by… well pretty much everything. It even provides a list of games cited as inspiration as it loads for the first time. I have only played the first few levels, but it’s growing on me quickly. There are plenty of dark corners and pathways to hide or take. That, combined with an excellent dynamic soundtrack and a ruthless AI system, creates an immersive retro-style game feeling very fresh and modern.

The hardest part is getting used to the perspective and understanding sightlines. Enemy characters have strong perception skills, even on Normal difficulty, so knowing when and how you can be spotted poses a real challenge at times.

Stealth games aren’t all that great, despite probably being my favorite genre overall. This is more of a personal problem than it is as a genre, but I feel compelled to engage in an act known as “save-scumming”. This is when you save your game somewhat constantly and then re-load that save after failure. For example, I save the game, turn the corner, get spotted, re-load the save. I now know to not immediately turn the corner to avoid getting spotted.

This may not seem like much of a problem at first because let’s say before I turned that corner, I had 15 minutes of perfect stealth without getting caught. After turning that corner and getting spotted, I have “ruined” the last 15 minutes and have to restart. For me, this can lead to frustration and needless repetition. So, saving every so often, I don’t have to go back 15 minutes, I can go back to less than 15 seconds (or whenever the save was).

But, this isn’t that great either. Being able to save scum relieves some of the headache of repeating sections, but it can also remove some of the natural tension that builds. Successfully sneaking by enemies for 15 minutes only to have it end from a careless mistake can be session-ruining. But, having a perfect, full/complete run is exhilarating and rewarding.

I find myself torn between the two. These days, my gaming time is limited and I want to have a painless experience most of the time. But, I feel as though I’m robbing myself of reward. First world problems, I guess.

Some games attempt to mitigate or limit save scumming through checkpoints or by having a limited number of saves. Checkpoints ensure that failure will always return to that point, which may or may not be minutes in the past. By limiting your number of saves, you are more inclined to save your progress less in order to be more strategic with when you save.

Wow, I really rambled on about this.

In short, I love stealth games and have since first renting Splinter Cell on my Gamecube in the early 2000s. Which inevitably led me to my favorite series Met-

Etc.

In addition to these two stealth titles, I’ve been playing a game I’ve already mentioned here in a previous post. Need for Speed: Heat. In that post, I complained a little bit about the game’s tone. However, after putting many more hours into it the weeks following the post, I grew to greatly enjoy the game overall. The game is split into Day and Night events with Day events being sanctioned races without needing to fear the cops. This is where you earn your cash. Night events are reserved for illegal street races where you earn Reputation, a necessary “currency” to unlock new vehicles.

I won’t go too much into the dynamics of the game, but there are plenty of reasons to enjoy the game, even if racing is not your style. Making your car uniquely yours is easy, thanks to the robust customization options. If you don’t want to take the time to make your own, you can download other people’s creations. This leads to a lot of Pixar Cars-like customizations.

But, if you’re a person of culture…

Behold:

Next on the list to mention is a game I’ve been wanting to play after its direct sequel released last year. That game is Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

I’ve never played a Yakuza game, and I think the series is now going to be called Like a Dragon, which is very confusing considering this game has both titles. The story follows a young man, Ichiban Kasuga, who (through story spoilers) is thrown back into the world without a home or family and attempts to reintegrate with those who cast him away.

This game is able to balance absolutely absurd moments with genuine heart-wrenching storytelling in a way I have never experienced. One moment, you’re trying to catch a public urinator and the next you are shown the backstory to a person who was locked in a locker as an infant and nearly died before his father was able to save him.

Again, I don’t want to get too carried away with discussing too many details about the game, but I just got to a point where things really begin to open up. I have more freedom to explore the town of Yokohama and find more silly side stories. I am eager to continue and maybe even check out the sequel, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

Future

In just 10 days from typing this post, my most anticipated title Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will be releasing exclusively for the PS5. Unfortunately, I do not have a PS5. So, I’ll likely have to wait 9-12 months for the game to release on PC.

Sad. So sad. A host of sorrows.

Until then, I’ll be playing this on repeat.

Goodbye.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Gaming Disorders - First Edition

Attention-Deficit Gaming Disorder

Diagnostic Criteria

1. A persistent pattern of inattention and/or fixation that interferes with progressing or enjoyment of a video game, as characterized by (a) and/or (b):

   1. Inattention: Four (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is inconsistent with established patterns of game completion that directly negatively impacts progress or enjoyment:

      1. Often switches between titles or boots then closes games immediately after booting.

      2. Often has difficulty with sustaining attention in quests or other activities due to indifference.

      3. Often does not appear to be actively listening to game audio (e.g., personal music or podcast playing in place of game’s audio).

      4. Often avoids signing-in or uses “appear offline” feature to hide fickle gaming activity.

      5. Often resorts to using keyboard/mouse for a game typically played with controller just because they know the play session won’t be long enough to use said controller.

      6. Often stares at main menu without selecting an option (e.g., day-dreaming).

   2. Fixation: Four (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is inconsistent with established patterns of game completion that directly negatively impacts progress or enjoyment:

      1. Often researches other games to acquire instead of playing current library of games.

      2. Often insistent on playing a video game despite not appearing interested to outside observers.

      3. Often “going through the motions” when sitting at the computer (e.g., habitual methods of starting games).

      4. Often beginning new playthroughs of games already played multiple times, but only completed a small percentage of playthroughs.

      5. Often finds self playing game mindlessly, for the sake of playing a game.

      6. Often cannot seem to find other hobbies or activities in place of gaming.

2. Several inattentive or fixated symptoms were present prior to 2020 (COVID-era gaming).

3. Several inattentive or fixated symptoms are present in two or more settings (e.g., solo gaming, Discord voice-chat with friends, or Discord voice-chat with strangers).

4. There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, enjoyment of the played video game, social relationships, and/or video game discussions.

5. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of another gaming disorder or are not better explained by another gaming disorder.

   ---

Specify current severity:

Mild: Few, if any, symptoms in excess of those required to make the diagnosis are present, and symptoms result in no more than minor impairments in enjoyment or progress.

Moderate: Symptoms or functional impairment between “mild” and “severe” are present.

Severe: Many symptoms in excess of those required to make the diagnosis, or several symptoms that are particularly severe, are present, or the symptoms result in marked impairment in completion or enjoyment.

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So, let’s get back to that.

Distraction

As I’ve established numerous times, I was quite the little gamer growing up. There are a few games from my younger days that I’ll revisit each year (notably MGS & Zelda). This will usually mean playing the game or just simply having a longplay in the background while I work.

Every few years, I’ll get the itch to return to something other than my usual Snake or Link. Currently, it’s the original Need for Speed: Most Wanted (NFS: MW) from 2005. My brother rarely ventured away from multiplayer shooters, but Need for Speed was an exception. I can still remember entering his room seeing him leaning back in a folding chair/bed listening to the unforgettable soundtrack as he raced against the Blacklist.

I’m not even sure if that memory is accurate because I think he had vomited on these chairs well before 2005, but all of the pieces are there in my mind. As I said, he rarely played games that were not a shooter with Tony Hawk as one of the main distractions from the genre. NFS: MW gripped him enough to be distracted by SOCOM long enough for me to take notice.

Most Flaunted

Our introduction to the NFS series began years prior with NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 on the Gamecube. But, aside from the extremely edited and sexually toned-down version of Fever for the Flava, I don’t remember much from it. I think we had fun driving around and racing, but it never solidified itself into my mind.

It was forgettable.

Fast-forward to this “memory” and I was immediately impressed with MW. The visuals were gritty, the setting was realistic, and the premise had promise. In order to progress through the Story, you had to take on members of “the Blacklist”—a crew of 15 racers that were subsequently ranked by skill/street cred. It all began with a race that the Blacklist’s leader, Razor, rigged and sabotaged your (iconic) car, earning its pink slip.

In order to get it back, you must gain the attention of and then challenge the other Blacklist members through police chases, setting speedtrap records, and winning other street races. As you climb the Blacklist, the challenges and races get more difficult. I remember being seriously impressed when my brother was ranked 8 on the Blacklist and just kept climbing.

Overall, the story is pretty generic. The gameplay is above average. The police pursuits are downright legendary.

Prior to last week, the most recent time I played NFS: MW was on my PS3 probably back in 2013 or 2014. A digital version was available on the PS Store for $9.99 and I had immediately jumped on it. So, it’s been over 10 years since I last played.

Part of me was expecting my memories of enjoyment to be exaggerated. I was wrong.

I booted up my totally legit copy of the game on my computer and immediately went into the Challenge Series section as Nine Thou blasted the main menu. I chose the very first police pursuit and was thrown back into 2006 and 2013 simultaneously.

TWENTY YEARS LATER and this game still has the most immersive police chatter I have ever heard in any form of media. They don’t even sound like they are acting in the slightest. The officer’s tone is seemingly dynamic, reacting to the player as the chase lengthens and the stakes are raised. The sense of urgency to minimize personal and public injury by putting a stop to the reckless “protagonist” feels exceptionally real—and impossible for 2005.

What’s most convincing is that I’m sure I have heard repeat lines, but they are given so realistically that I can hardly notice. I have to really try.

Give a listen below.

Throughout the chases, the officers request certain countermeasures to thwart the illegal racer and put an end to the chaos. Once you play enough, you’ll start to recognize what they are requesting and can plan accordingly. It’s extremely immersive and hectic at times. One of my least favorite (but also most favorite) is the use of “Heavies” where they send two SUVs to collide with you head-on. If you are not quick enough to evade, the results can be devastating, essentially stopping you in your tracks and giving them a chance to block you in.

Some challenges will ask you to remain in a chase for 30-minutes and then successfully evade. This will cause the Heat Level (basically difficulty) to increase, which throws more officers, increases their aggression, strengthens and speeds up their vehicles, and can sometimes spawn Sgt. Cross, a unique interceptor “antagonist”.

God, it’s so fun.

I am gushing a little too much about it, so I’ll wrap this up soon. Basically, it led me to want to play a more recent title, so I looked up some of the more recent NFS games and chose NFS: Heat (2019) for its favorable reviews and pleasant Miami-adjacent setting.

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Cooled Heat

The presentation is quite good, especially during the night. I seriously could not care less about the story. In fact, I hate that it almost feels like GTA in the sense that you have to drive to locations while speaking to a passenger or on the phone with another character. Just let me race and evade police!

That gets me to one of my complaints though. If you viewed the above video from MW, the sense of speed and immersive police is extremely convincing. It really feels like I’m flying down the road. In NFS: Heat, however, I began a race that feels like a snails pace. The engine is revving like no other and those wheels are going hard, but it seems to take forever to actually get moving.

A quick glance at the speedometer says I’m only going… sixty miles per hour?! What? It feels like I’ve barely broken 10mph. That little traffic cone took like 10 seconds to drive by!

But, even more disappointing is the police. They just… sound so fake. I finished a race, entered a chase, evaded, and the dispatch called off the chase. The responding officer says “Aww, can’t we keep the chase going a little longer?” like he’s asking his mommy for more TV time before bed.

I understand the overall tone is very different from MW and not taking itself too seriously, but it was still a bit disappointing. I am still enjoying the game and I plan to play it off and on for the coming months. As I mentioned, the presentation is impressive at times and I particularly enjoy the rain effects with the neon at night.

I’m just not sure EA will ever be able to recapture what they created in 2005. I’m not sure EA will ever take chances anymore, either.

The final day of 2024 was wholly unremarkable. Seed was with her father while Nook and I relaxed on our holiday break. We had plans to venture into Downtown Dayton to partake in our NYE tradition we accidentally created years prior. Dinner and drinks at a local favorite.

However, that morning, we decided to stay home since we were recovering from a busy week of holiday travelling. We reveled in our decision and were ready to bask in the warmth and comfort of our home.

Except, I had an idea.

During that aforementioned busy week of holiday travelling, Nook and I briefly played Donkey Kong Country, a game from both our childhoods, on my dad’s Super Nintendo Classic. Some time in 2023, we (mostly Nook) played DKC on my computer through emulation and completed the game. It was a bit of a hassle each time we “booted” it up though.

First, I’d have to open the emulator program, plug in an additional HDMI cable into the TV from my computer, drag the emulator window over to the TV, crane my neck to look at the screen to ensure things were working, and don’t even get me started on ensuring my PS4 controllers were properly connected.

Needless to say, it was a simple process, but plagued by technological hiccups and glitches (mostly with the controllers). The ease of turning on that SNES Classic at my dad’s was burned into my mind. That is, until I saw the inflated price. If I was going to spend that much money, I might as well get something worth it.

To Micro Center, I went.

Gathering Ingredients

I’ve been emulating video games since… I don’t know? 2011? 2010? I had a Sony VAIO VPCEB33FM/BJ (yes, I still remember that model by heart) in high school. For some reason, I think I bought it myself, but I’m not sure if I spent $600 of my own money on it. Maybe my parents helped? I digress.

What I’m trying to say is, I’m not a stranger to the basics of emulation and emulators. For those not familiar with what an emulator is and does, it’s (very basically) this:

It is a computer program designed to mimic the hardware and software of a video game console, allowing your computer to run games or applications made for that console. For most of my emulating in the early 2010s, I used Project64, an emulator that let me play Nintendo64 games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and TLOZ: Majora’s Mask on my personal laptop.

Even though I had the capability of playing those exact games on their actual hardware, there was something technologically fascinating that I was able to play these games on a completely different machine. OKAY, this is getting way too long. Back to what I said before I started this section.

TO MICRO CENTER, I WENT.

Following a 40-minute drive to the sacred retail establishment known colloquially as Micro Center, I immediately walked to a locked case on the mid-center, left-hand side of the store. I knew where to go because I have peered into the case numerous times, pondering about the day I would finally ask to be able to retrieve something from it.

This special case housed Single Board Computers, or SBCs. The specific SBC I was looking for, was the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. Instead of buying each component separately, I purchased a CanaKit, which comes with literally everything you would ever need to get this little gizmo running, including the gizmo itself.

In that same area, there were USB video game controllers. One of which resembled the SNES controller, but with all modern buttons. Perfect.

The purchase was made and I drove another 40 minutes home, eager to get this Pi in the oven.

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Following the Steps

Immediately, I rushed upstairs. I opened the box and I’m greeted with neatly packed cables, a gloriously white plastic computer case, and encased in an anti-static bag, the Pi itself. Hardware installation took less than 10-minutes.

Now, this thing is beyond tiny.

The CPU fan is about half the width of my AirPods Pro case. It fit snugly into some plastic clamps thanks to the brilliant CanaKit case. I was seriously floored with how awesome these little computers are.

I downloaded Batocera, a free Linux-based operating system designed specifically for emulation, and flashed it to the SD card included with the CanaKit. Put that SD card into the slot on the Pi, and pressed the power button (which was on the cable to the Pi, again courtesy of the CanaKit) and the little guy did his thing.

All within half the time of driving to and from Micro Center, my little Pi was baked and ready for some toppings.

Emulation is a bit of a legal grey area. Without getting too into the weeds about this, I believe emulation is a great way to preserve games that are lost to time. Or, at the very least, a way to play games you already own when your physical hardware craps out on you since it was never designed to last nearly 20 years of operation. The used device market is also saturated with overpriced original hardware and games, due to their limited quantity.

And, even if you do have original hardware, you’ll likely have to jump through some more hoops just to get it to play well with your modern TV, since most no longer have input for component and AV cables.

Also, if you’re buying a used game on eBay that was made in 1997, are you hurting the company that created the game? They don’t even get the money from the eBay sale.

I think you can see where I’m going here.

Anyway, it’s about 7:00pm and Nook is ready for the reveal. With hardly any effort on my part, she is looking at a 50” TV with DKC’s iconic intro playing, ready and waiting for her input.

Batocera (the operating system) has some built-in filters you can put on your game to change how they look. Sometimes, classic or retro games look a little too good on modern devices and these filters can add some of that ye olde TV look to them. The one I have chosen for most of the games I’ve been playing mimics the look of CRT TVs. The filter even adds some curvature to the edges to simulate the curved TV. Quite honestly, it looks phenomenal on a lot of games.

In addition, all qualms I had with emulating on my computer were gone. I just simply turn on the Pi (with the CanaKit, they added a button so you don’t just plug/unplug it when you’re done—underrated feature), navigate to the game I want to play within an easily customizable UI, and start it up. The 8BitDo USB controller (pictured above) works immediately when plugged in, and my PS4 controllers that gave me so many problems on my PC work as soon as they are connected through Bluetooth without any other software.

We ended up playing the majority of Donkey Kong Country (I controlled Diddy and she controlled Donkey) and only raged on a few levels as we neared midnight. The level that ultimately stumped us for the night was Slipslide Ride, an infuriating level that utilizes different colored ropes that signal whether you will be sent upward or downward. That, combined with the tight platforming and icy floor made it the perfect stopping point before the neighborhood fireworks welcomed 2025.

The next day, we finished DKC and began DKC 2, which we completed within the next week.

What an awesome way to start 2025.

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I’ll be 31 in nine days.

Many forms of media suggest that your 30s are the beginning of the end—everything gets worse from here. The general population seems to agree and any time I express feeling any sort of discomfort in my body, I hear “that’s what happens in your 30s”. The thing is, I feel just as good in my body as I did ten years ago.

But, video games? That’s where I feel my age.

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The Generational Cycle

The classic “old man attitude’ has been at the forefront of my mind in the last few months. Somehow, I've become the grump who believes his experiences were better, more important, and more character-defining than the current generation's. And by character-defining, I don't mean video game characters. I'm talking about what shapes us as people.

I know as each generation matures, there are many aspects of your own generation that you believe to be the “proper” way to experience something. The generation following you doesn’t understand and the generation before you resents how “easy” you have it compared to them. This notion has been discussed around education, politics, social-media, and everything in between.

When it comes to video games, I believe the older and younger generations have mostly missed out.

Then vs. Now

Then

I was born in 1993. I remember having a Super Nintendo and playing Donkey Kong Country as my earliest memory with video games. It’s a little fuzzy, but it’s there. Fast-forward over the years and many, many, years had genre-defining gameplay that still influences the releases today. A few examples of games that released as I was growing up:

• 1996: Super Mario 64

• 1997: GoldenEye 007

• 1998: Ocarina of Time

• 1999: System Shock 2

• 2000: Deus Ex

• 2001: Halo: Combat Evolved

I didn’t play each game listed, but these are some of the most influential video games in history. They have impacted the future of video games and were imaginative, creative successes that are rarely seen by the youth of today. And that—that’s just fine. I do not think my 13-year-old nephew needs to play Ocarina of Time or Metal Gear Solid.

But I think he should play games influenced by them.

Now

Fortnite. As much as it is hated by many, you cannot deny the absolute powerhouse this game is, was, and probably will be until a sequel or successor is released. Though I am not a fan of the game myself, I understand the appeal and adore that kids (and adults, but I’m focusing on the youth aspect) have the ability to play with their friends.

When I was 13, I had one friend who I was able to play SOCOM: US Navy SEALs with; I think it is incredible that kids can just party up with numerous friends or classmates and simultaneously talk and play a game together. I would have loved this if it were readily accessible in the early 2000s.

As much as I played SOCOM, I played other games. These games defined my preferences, my tolerance for slower-paces, and my interest in creative stories. Currently, I work at a high school and talking about video games is one of the main ways I build rapport with students. However, the top three games that these high schoolers play are: Warzone (Call of Duty), Madden, and GTA Online.

In reality, there’s nothing wrong with playing these games. Competitive and cooperative gaming is a great way to facilitate friendships and put your skills to the test against others. Humans are competitive and selfish; we want to know how we stack up against others—video games are a great way to do that. And, games like Fortnite are essentially a celebration of gaming.

It’s is an amalgamation of numerous series and demonstrates just how many incredible characters and stories have been created. It also provides exposure to these older titles (such as Metal Gear Solid, which has been referenced numerous times in this post) that otherwise would never see the pixels of the 60” flat screen TV in your 10-year-old’s bedroom.

And yes, I genuinely believe this is a good thing. Surely there are some Fortnite gamers out there who see these unique characters and think “Who is this? I need to learn more about the game they come from” which sends them down a rabbit hole of convoluted plot lines and incredible story moments (like in Metal Gear Solid; I like MGS, OK?).

Why It Bothers Me

It just seems so… sad.

As I mentioned, I work at a high school and talk about video games somewhat regularly when I am with students. Except our conversations are extremely limited. The popularity of consoles and PCs are at all time highs, but the depth of enjoyment and discussion is shallow.

Not only do I enjoy playing video games, but I enjoy talking about video games. When I was in high school, I would have loved to have had a teacher or other staff member to talk about what Ocarina of Time meant to me, why Red Dead Redemption was becoming one of my favorite games, or the first time I played Sly Cooper. These days, the students are all the same.

“You mentioned you like to play video games, that’s awesome! I am quite the gamer. What do you play?”

“Yeah, I’m really good at Warzone.”

“Okay, that’s cool man, do you play anything else?”

“GTA.”

“Nice. Now, that we know each other let’s start this IQ test.”

This is definitely an exaggeration; I spend way more time with rapport building, but this is how some conversations feel. Knowing that many kids are missing out on great video games because they are overshadowed by what’s popular is unfortunate. The desire to branch out and experience something new almost seems to be selectively removed from upcoming gamers.

I know I’m grumpy and the way I experienced games isn’t the “right way”. But I liked it. And… I want others to have similar experiences.

That’s all.

The End?

As I’m sitting here figuring out how to wrap this up, I feel nostalgic, but content. Sure, I might groan about the modern era of gaming, but I also recognize the incredible advancements we've seen. Not only in technology, but stories and creativity, too.

I should stop the lamentations about what today's gamers are missing. When it all comes down to it, whatever you’re playing, it's about your own personal interpretations—the adventure, the challenge, and most importantly, the fun you have.

Just, maybe encourage yourself to expand your tastes.

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Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MGS3) was not just my introduction to the series; it also serves as the foundation. Unbeknownst to me during my first playthrough, the game introduces some already established characters, albeit much younger versions. Playing the third game before the first two did not detract from my experience. If anything, the experience was heightened.

For those unfamiliar with the series, at this point in 2007, there were a total of five games in the series.

1. Metal Gear (1987; MSX2, ported to NES)

2. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990; MSX2, ported to NES)

3. Metal Gear Solid (1998; PS1)

4. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001; PS2)

5. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Subsistence (2004/2006; PS2)

Let’s not get into much more than this because this is already more information than I knew going into my first playthrough in 2007… So…

…enough of this. Let’s get started!

Locations in this section:

• Dremuchij South

• Dremuchij Swampland

• Dremuchij North

• Dolinovodno

• Rassvet

Characters Introduced:

• Naked Snake - “Jack”

• Major Zero

• Paramedic

• The Boss

• Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov

• Ocelot

• Colonel Volgin

• The Cobra Unit (unnamed right now)

• “Sokolov’s Lover”

The Menu Game

On the PS2 copy of the game I played, navigating the main menu was very difficult for my little brain to handle. You see, the button for Select and Back was the opposite of what I was used to. This is due to this being the default control scheme in Japan.

Muscle memory really messed with me throughout this game. Just wanted to mention that!

Let’s get started!

Opening Credits

From the get-go, this game was already unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Most games I had played up until this point did not focus on their cutscene presentation. MGS3 begins with a gunship flying in the darkness before dawn breaks. We hear two voices, a British man later introduced to be Major Zero, and an American man called Jack. Jack is later given the codename Naked Snake with the term Naked referring to how little equipment he was provided for this mission.

The mission, designated the “Virtuous Mission”, is to rescue a scientist named Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov from Russia’s control. Two years prior to the Virtuous Mission, Zero was successful in retrieving Sokolov from Russia to live safely in America. But, a deal was made between the Americans and Russians and America relinquished Sokolov back to Russia.

Insert “here we go again” meme.

Dialogue and exposition roughly follow three methods of informing the player. Movie-like scenes (AKA cutscenes), character voices over government archive footage, and codec (radio) calls. Being an impatient 14-year-old, I was not interested in the latter. The cutscenes were the most engaging and enjoyable experience. They were the soul of the game.

Snake and Zero are aboard the gunship, but Snake is in the cargo section of the plane. The camera fixes on Snake as he sits calmly smoking a cigar while he is instructed to put on a mask for his departure from the flying fortress. After not complying, the soldier giving the order comments to himself,

“Does this pantywaist know what he’s doing?”

implying that Snake is young and inexperienced.

Following a command from Zero, Snake complies and puts on his mask. The plane begins to depressurize, and Snake leaps out for the world’s first HALO jump (High Altitude, Low Opening) while the sun rises. We learn that Snake’s presence here is to be completely secret, not a single person is to find out that he is here. If found, the government will deny any involvement and Snake is on his own.

Snake lands in the Russian jungle, a fictional region called Tselinoyarsk.

Snake, Try to Remember Some of the Basics of CQC

The controls are handed to the player for the first time in the ~15-minute-long opening sequence. A black screen with Russian text and English translation provided the name of the area of Tselinoyarsk we landed in.

Dremuchij South.

Again, as an impatient 14-year-old, I was ready to “play” the game. I wasn’t quite convinced that this game was for me at first despite being intrigued by the story so far.

Figuring out the basics of the controls was easy enough. The left analogue stick moved Snake while the right controlled the camera. Cross (✖) to crouch and Circle (〇) to punch/kick. The second layer of shoulder buttons were used to access Weapons and Items. I felt fine with this and crawled under a fallen tree to reach a backpack that was lost during Snake’s parachute down. It took me a second to realize that Triangle (Δ) was the “action button”.

I climbed the tree, got my backpack, and…

[CALL] flashes red in the middle of the screen paired with a ringtone.

I’m brought to a screen where I can see Snake in the background and a picture of Zero on the left-hand side.

MORE talking?!

No, this will not do. I found that holding Δ skips the dialogue quickly, as if scrolling through it on a smartphone.

During that scroll, I noticed Zero’s photo changed to a woman and I stopped holding the button. Characters were no longer speaking their lines. It was like I paused the game but could only skip to the next line. I wanted to know who this woman was because she was not introduced before.

I tried reading the dialogue, but realized it was going to take a while, so I just went ahead and skipped it all and cut my losses.

A short cutscene plays after the call while Snake pulls his gun and knife from their holsters and that woman’s voice says,

“Snake, try to remember some of the basics of CQC.”

I don’t know why, but that quote stuck with me. I’ll never forget that moment.

Snake commences the Virtuous Mission, and we are given control yet again.

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Commencing Virtuous Mission…Now.

We move into the next area, Dremuchij Swampland, and are introduced to how the wildlife and terrain can be not-so-friendly. Gavials lie in wait in tall grass around deep mud. The gavials can hurt the player, but the real danger is the mud.

Embarrassingly, I’m pretty sure I died in the mud my first time through.

After restarting from my death, I used the tranquilizer to put a gavial to sleep and moved onto the next area, Dremuchij North. Moving through the load barrier loads directly into another cutscene.

Alright, at least it isn’t another codec call, I thought. We are introduced to our first enemies and…

…a codec call starts. Gah! I held Δ and skipped it all.

I quickly learned that shooting enemies in the head with the tranquilizer gun put them to sleep immediately. Otherwise, an Exclamation Point appears above their head, but no, not an alert, just a hey, I felt something. Shooting their body puts them to sleep over time instead of an immediate K.O., which can be helpful when you have a group of enemies to take out.

I was vaguely familiar with stealth games, since I played Splinter Cell in the past. But, what MGS3 did differently was that when an enemy soldier noticed a comrade knocked out, he would walk over and kick his sleeping buddy to wake him back up without going on alert.

How cool is that?

When soldiers notice sleeping others, they often ask, “What’s wrong?” which gives you a heads-up that someone spotted your handiwork. Dragging sleeping enemies is possible, but I didn’t know that just yet.

The trickiest part about playing MGS3 for the first time is controlling your aim.

Here’s my description of how to shoot:

Holding R1 brings your third-person view into first-person view. Then, you press and lightly hold the Square (▢) button to aim your gun. Depending on what gun, it might aim down the sights or aim from the hip. If you’re aiming from the hip, you have to also hold L1 to aim down your sights. Once holding R1 and lightly holding ▢, you fully press and release ▢ to shoot. That is, only if it’s not an automatic weapon. If it’s automatic, you’ll be shooting when ▢ is fully pressed down.

But wait! There’s more!

Once you have this figured out, you can hold R2 to lean right, L2 to lean left. Holding both R2 and L2 raises your view; if you do this while Snake is standing, it’s almost like he is standing on his tippy toes. This is handy for being prone in grass, as you can peek above the grass and still be hidden.

There could be a time where you are holding up to five buttons just to shoot an enemy.

That’s kind of nuts and is one of the reasons why I think this game is a tough recommendation for people to play today. I’m curious how the remake will handle the modernization of the controls.

You’re Pretty Good

Anyway…

The next section, Dolinovodno, is iconic and memorable for many reasons.

Reason #1. The introduction to this area is a short cutscene where Snake is looking through his binoculars (where you are prompted to hold R1 to view in first-person). He zooms in on a hornets’ nest above an enemy soldier and gives the most devious smile the PS2 could handle. This is a not-so-subtle hint to shoot the nest, which, if done, makes this brief section a cakewalk. Doing so makes the soldiers run away from the hornets and leave the area for you to freely explore.

Reason #2. Crossing the bridge without Snake falling and grabbing the edge of the bridge is nearly impossible.

Reason #3. A cutscene takes place on the bridge later that defines Snake’s future. I’m being vague here, because I had limited information on my first playthrough, and that’s what this is about.

If you’re observant, you can see items below the bridge on the far side where the XM16E1 awaits. Then, you’re on your way to Rassvet, the area in which Sokolov is waiting to be rescued.

Reaching Sokolov begins another cutscene in which Snake explains the rescue mission led by Zero. Sokolov explains that a man named Volgin is planning to capture him, which is why there were guards outside. The two exit the building only to be ambushed and surrounded by Russian soldiers.

Then, my favorite character emerges. Instead of writing this section, let’s just watch it happen.

The dramatic entrance, the fancy shooting, the meow, the banter from Ocelot and the close quarters combat… everything about this scene sold me on this game. I knew I had to continue just to see what else this game had to offer.

I was entertained, intrigued, and just having pure fun watching this scene play out. Snake’s badassery and Ocelot’s determination to be impressive and not just “pretty good” made me hungry for more between these two.

Snake mentions that Ocelot’s technique to twist his elbow to absorb the recoil is a technique used for revolvers. Let’s keep that in mind for the future.

Until then, let’s continue.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara

Ocelot is unconscious on the ground as we are given control again. Before moving on, you can actually shoot and kill him, which I definitely did on my first playthrough.

Once killed, the screen fades and has the text Ocelot is dead, and an unfamiliar voice says something like, “Snake, what have you done? You changed the future! You’ve created a time paradox!” because Ocelot is a prominent character in MGS1 and MGS2. I later learned that this unfamiliar voice is actually Colonel Campbell, the man who speaks to you in MGS 1 & 2.

At the time of my first playthrough, I didn’t understand the significance of killing Ocelot. Now that I’m a veteran of the series, it’s an awesome detail to even have the chance to shoot and kill him.

Now that you’re back in control and Ocelot isn’t dead, you run three seconds back to Dolinovodno.

A cutscene begins as Snake catches up with Sokolov and they are about to begin crossing the bridge from earlier. A massive machine is spotted on the mountainside in the distance and Sokolov explains that it is the weapon that he has been working on for the Russians.

The Shagohod.

The Shagohod is a tank-like machine with gigantic rotating treads that allow it to reach incredibly fast speeds that act as the beginning stage of launching a nuclear warhead. Since it can provide extra speed to nuclear weapons, it is capable of striking anywhere in the US.

Sokolov has since become afraid of the Shagohod which is why he is wanting to be rescued; he believes it cannot be completed without him. The duo begin to cross the bridge.

This time, it’s much foggier and someone is walking toward them from the other side. It’s the same woman that told Snake to “remember some of the basics of CQC”! Snake clearly looked up to and idolized her. Her codename is The Boss; something I missed earlier when skipping through the dialogue.

The Boss says that she will be taking Sokolov and that she is defecting to the Soviet Union. I don’t think I knew what “defecting” meant when I was 14, but this scene clearly defined it. The sheer look of betrayal and disbelief on Snake’s face said it all. She was switching sides. Storm clouds appear out of nowhere and she says, “It’s raining blood. Is he crying?” as you can see a ghost of a hooded man behind her.

Creepy.

Colonel Volgin, the man Sokolov is hiding from walks into the scene. Electricity pulses from his hand to the railing of the bridge.

His first words are “Kuwabara, Kuwabara”, another one of those unforgettable lines that just stuck with me from the moment I heard them. There are two things you’ll immediately notice about Volgin. The first is that he has scars all over his face. The second is that he appears to be able to create and control electricity. I assumed the scars were from his electricity powers.

I admit, I was not expecting to see something supernatural in this game and I was slightly disappointed. I thought it was going to be a realistic and grounded military stealth game. I was wrong and eventually very happy that I was wrong. More on that in the future.

We are told that The Boss is joining Volgin, along with her old band of soldiers, the legendary Cobra Unit. A helicopter full of unnamed, uniquely dressed, soldiers arrives and it is implied that these guys are the Cobra Unit. Oh, and Ocelot is also there.

Below, on the bridge, hornets begin to surround Snake and Sokolov and a man, hanging upside down just like Spiderman, grabs Sokolov and hoists him up to the helicopter.

Wait, what?

We then see a large man, clad in yellow and black, slowly waving his arm toward the bridge, hornets all over the arm. So, he’s controlling the hornets?! What is happening?

Some old man is shown on screen and his eyes kind of popped out of his head a bit.. yeah, I was getting confused now. Basically, each of these weirdos was claiming how excited they were to be with The Boss again.

Volgin begins to act all tough and electric while saying Snake cannot live since he has “seen his face.” The Boss, Snake’s ex-mentor, proceeds to whip his cheeks in CQC and dismantle his tranquilizer all within the same motion. Clearly, she is not someone to mess with.

Snake, for some reason, comes at her again, but this time instead of breaking his gun, The Boss breaks his arm. The snap, the scream, and I was unsettled. I respected this woman and did not want to cross her path because I valued my body and belongings. Snake half-collapses on the bridge.

In a motherly and gentle tone, The Boss apologetically says, “Jack, you can’t come with us” and holds out her hand. Reluctantly, Snake takes it, and she elbows him in the ribs and throws him over the edge. Just before falling over the edge, Snake manages to grab hold of the bandana around her head. He holds it while he falls in the water and sloshes around uncontrollably in the current.

The Boss places her hand on the rail and says, “Drift away, my place is with them now.”

Remember The Alamo

Wrapping up the intro sequence (and this very long post), the Cobra Unit along with Volgin, the Boss, Ocelot, and an unnamed woman they claim is Sokolov’s lover fly away with the Shagohod.

Volgin takes the Davy Crockett recoilless nuclear device and fires it as they fly away despite Ocelot’s attempts to stop him. This frames the United States for the nuclear explosion, something we will discuss in later posts.

Snake is gravely injured and is told via codec by Zero and Paramedic that he needs to heal himself. This sequence serves as a tutorial for the Survival Viewer menu, which allows Snake to heal various ailments. In this case, broken ribs, a broken arm, and numerous cuts. There’s an inventory of first aid supplies and—I’ll be honest—on my first playthrough, I did not take the time to figure out which supplies needed to be used for a certain problem.

So, I clicked through each healing item until it was healed. In reality, this would mean Snake attempted to suture broken bones and use a splint on an arrow stuck in his body at times. Hilarious.

Anyway, Snake mends his broken arm in a cutscene and the aforementioned nuclear detonation is seen in the distance and the shockwave is felt by Snake. Zero calls to let him know the Fulton Recovery Balloon will pick him up soon and we are given the option to SAVE our game at this point.

This concludes the Virtuous Mission.

What an introduction! If I hadn’t made it clear before, I will say it now. I was extremely hooked, despite the somewhat disappointing supernatural elements. I was absolutely looking forward to playing more and seeing the story unravel.

Coming Up Next:

EVA

What really gets Snake going…

The First Boss Battle

Ocelot sure is a strange one…

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This is for fun and my own entertainment. I have found that writing is something I have wanted to begin for years, but never let myself fully express my thoughts/feelings due to embarrassment. No more!

Welcome to the first retrospective post for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Subsistence). I am beginning this venture on October 17, 2023. My hope is to have this project completed by the time Metal Gear Solid: Delta (the MGS3 Remake) is released. At this time, there is not an announced release date.

I will do my best to differentiate between what I remember to be my initial impressions of the game and my current feelings about the game. I will complete a casual playthrough of the game as I write each section.

Introduction (circa 2002-2007)

Growing up, my parents would often rent movies at our local video rental store, the now forever-closed, Crown Video in Webb City, Missouri. I was an avid PlayStation 2 player already, with the likes of SOCOM 2: US Navy SEALs and Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 on our daily rotation of gaming. “Our”, of course, refers to me and my older brother, Rian.

We had countless hours playing both of those games online (amongst others) through dial-up (and later Broadband) in our kitchen—the only room with access to the internet where our Windows XP computer was stationed.

Our kitchen had a peninsula bar protruding from the wall that separated the cooking area from the dining area. On the bar, against the wall, sat a small TV with a screen no more than eight inches.

The dining side of the kitchen is where our PC sat, along the same wall as the TV. One day in 2004 or so, my dad and I wanted to see if we could connect our PS2 to the internet and play the original SOCOM online.

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I brought the PS2 equipped with the network adapter (still with the yellow sticker over the Ethernet port) into the kitchen and we plugged in our phone line. After a short while configuring and connecting, we were successfully online and ready to make my first online username. My dad, the classic 80s movie fan, told me to make my name Maverick, and I stylized the new moniker as >>Maverick<<.

I was online!

For those of you familiar with SOCOM, I can still see images of my first-ever online experience in my memories. The match was on a map called “Blood Lake”. The map featured a central lake in a jungle region with lots of dense fog. I was on the SEALs team tasked with extracting hostages from their POW camp while the terrorist team (other real-life players) sought to stop the SEALs.

I ended up accidentally killing a hostage because I wasn’t sure what to do at the time, so we lost the round. It was my first ever experience playing a video game online; I never would have guessed what that experience would lead to.

From that day on, my brother and I would bring our PS2 into the kitchen most weekends and play SOCOM. Eventually, around my 11th birthday that year, my parents would buy us SOCOM 2. Instead of sitting at the bar and playing, most nights we would place the TV on the floor and sit on piles of blankets and pillows as we played.

If I wasn’t playing, he was, and vice versa. The GameCube we received for Christmas in 2001 still got quite a bit of use from me, but it was the PS2 that delivered special experiences of competing against others who didn’t live in the same house as you.

There were subsequent SOCOM sequels, but the game we always returned to was the second iteration. Heck, to this day, Rian still plays SOCOM 2 thanks to community efforts and emulation.

Now, back to that video store I mentioned earlier.

From our home, we’d drive down Madison St. (which is also Historic Route 66) until it turned into Range Line Rd. I probably asked to get Braum’s ice cream as we passed, but I knew we wouldn’t. It never hurt to ask. Once parked, we’d enter through the entry-only door, and I’d immediately walk past the centralized check-out desk to the other side of the store where the video games sat on tall wooden shelves. This section looked more like a library and felt comforting to me.

Plastic cases displayed their games’ box art proudly, except for the ones that were replaced with blue paper and the title in black text. Others that were too close to the window were sun bleached. I didn’t want to play those games. I’d grab one that looked interesting and scout for my parents in the movie section. Then, we’d head home, and I would read the instruction booklet to absorb as much as possible.

I honestly don’t remember the specific trip that led to the rental of Metal Gear Solid 3 because they were all so similar. But I do remember placing the game in the PlayStation for the first time and thinking, “Metal Gear Solid: Three? Do I need to play the first two? I’ve never even heard of these games.” The version I played was the Subsistence update, an updated version of the original Snake Eater I wouldn’t know about until after I completed the game.

Once home, I pressed the power button on our original, “fat” PS2 and the now iconic start-up sequence began. MGS3 loaded and I was met with the title screen. The screen showed a stylized animation of men in hand-to-hand combat against a colorful camouflage pattern with a jungle/tribal theme. Excitement and intrigue arose, and I was ready to begin.

The makings of an unforgettable first impression.

Coming up next:

Initial Annoyances

I was fine with the cutscenes, but the…

Virtuous Mission & The Boss’ Defection

…this is when I knew this game was something special.