I love Metal Gear Solid, I actually love the series so much, I've lost count how many times I've finished each of them. When Metal Gear Solid first came out, I hadn't played the original Metal Gear, or Snake's Revenge, and really didn't know what I was getting into in terms of gameplay.

All I really knew were that my friends were diggin it, And I had to play it. Now I was pretty young when this game came out, and it was hard. I do not know how many times I rage quitted during the first Vulcan Raven encounter, Only to find out later that I had to chuck grenades at him. Or how much time I spent being stuck at the "Look at the back of the CD case for Meryl's frequency" sequence (I borrowed the discs, not the case from a friend, D'oh)



In many ways the Metal Gear Solid series has shaped me as a gamer, In my first playthrough of Snake Eater, I plowed through the story, not looking for an edge via more advanced weaponry and gadgets that I could pick up through out Grozny Grad, but in my next playthrough I noticed that I found more equpment lying around, and that the equipment were in sections of the game world that I hadn't visited the first time around, so from that point on, I became obsessed at finding the best equipment to use in each of the boss fights (having Thermal Goggles really helps you in the boss fight with The End) This is a trait that I've since brought with me into other games, which in turn has rewarded me greatly in game.

We all know that the MGS games can be somewhat different from each other, so in the interest of fairness here are some of the key points that I look for in a great MGS game.

- Good Story
- Good Boss Battles
- Good stealth mechanics
- Kojima Insanity
- Good level design (both technically and aesthetically)

I might not touch upon every key point in my short reviews and reasoning for the respective ranks the games have been awarded, but rest assured it was in my mind when making the decisions

Alright ramblers, Let's get rambling, Let's start with the "Worst"


Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty




I know, I know, Some of you love this game, And I do to, I'm not saying that this game is bad, I'm just saying that Kojima totally screwed me over, by having me play Raiden for most of the game.

Nah it's not just that. The story is a bit convoluted and at times pretty boring, there are characters in this that really doesn't fit into the Metal Gear Sold "Lore", There are Boss fights that are "un winnable" and the level design is pretty much just steel colored walls on black floor boards or orange rails on orange floors.

If Big Shell didn't feature so heavily as it did in the game, and they kept the level design a bit more varied (Like MGS3 did with it's jungles, Russian Army camps and 60's styled offices) it would have been a bit easier on the eyes


Raiden was already pretty nifty with the sword

But the game did some cool stuff too, It gave the player another perspective on the main protagonist of the series, Solid Snake. In MGS (Twin Snakes) everything the player experienced, they experienced as Solid Snake. Adding Raiden to the mix helped build the "Solid Snake: Legendary Soldier" character that we all know and love. The game also pays tribute to "Escape from NY" by giving Snake the "Irroquois Plisskin" cover identity, And Raiden isn't half bad either, His backstory is pretty bad ass, having fought as a child soldier in The First Liberian War, his complex relationship to Solidus Snake is pretty interesting. And he certainly looks awesome in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance (due out this february).


#3 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots



Another game I guess people will disagree with me on is MGS4

While I loved the games way of concluding the saga of Solid Snake (thus far) the gane just felt wierd to me, The controls are different, the setting is waaaay different, and at times the length of the cutscenes gives me a sort of "disconnect" that took me out of the experience.

Where MGS4 succeded is in the way they brought everything back for a grand finale, they tied up loose ends as if they were possessed. Bringing back fan favorites like Eva, Naomi, Meryl and Mei Ling, And creating all new favorites like Drebin and Akiba (Though I do believe I met him before somewhere) Giving some more focus on Meryl and elaborating on her relationship to Campbell, Explaining Vamp's "Immortality", and finally giving us the Liquid Ocelot v. Solid Snake Standoff we've been waiting to se for such a long time


Nothing quite like watching two old geezers beating each other to a pulp

The level design is pretty bad ass, leaving the "insertion into an enemy base, equipment to be procured on site" recipe behind for once, and letting the story take you several different places (and the long expected return to Shadow Moses). The way the design lets you "choose your own path" most of the time is pretty cool, and lets the player try different approaches to how they want to reach their goals.

In the end Metal Gear Solid 4 might be the best game Kojima and the gang have created. It just doesn't feel enough like a Metal Gear Solid game for me to give it a higher rank on this list.


#2 Metal Gear Solid / Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes



The first entry in the Metal Gear Solid series. Metal Gear Solid brought the magic from the original Metal Gear on the MSX2 into a 3D enviroment for the first time. at at the time it was released,it was a pretty revolutionary game, atleast it was for me. It brought hollywood-esque story telling akin to movies like "Escape from New York" and "Die Hard" in a game for the first time, "Amazing" graphics (atleast at the time) and a gallery of characters that sticks with you: Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis, Otacon, Revolver Ocelot, Liquid and last but not least Solid Snake

The way the story played out kept you just enough in the dark that you constantly wanted to find out what was going to happen next. Why were the people Snake was sent to help dying of a heart attack all of a sudden, Who is the Cyborg Ninja, what the hell is up with that Psycho Mantis character, and why won't my controller work (OH WAIT, I have to plug it into the other controller port)


This scared the crap out of me when I was a kid

Level design is so and so, but It's a military installation in Alaska, What more did we expect than steel and snow, You might judge me for that comment since I criticized the level design in MGS2, but keep in mind MGS were created for the original PlayStation, and MGS2 were created for the PS2. The original Playstation had some serious constraints on when it came to the visuals, while MGS3 (which I will talk about in a second) was also released on the PS2 and looks hell of a lot better that MGS2


#1 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater



The epitome of the Metal Gear Solid series. This game does everything right

It has cool and exciting level design, amazing boss fights, captivating story that actually ties into the series as a whole, and manages to answer some questions that the fans have been asking ever since the original Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge.

MGS3 added so much to the existing formula that it ended up defining how Metal Gear games should be made. when they showed me Ground Zeroes at the 25th Anniversary of the Metal Gear series, Two thoughts were in my head. The firs one was, Holy crap that looks amazing, and the second was, I hope they make it like "Snake Eater"


"Raiden's narrative justification came from a theme that has always pervaded the Metal Gear theme: exceeding your predecessor." - Hideo Kojima

It is hard to narrow down exactly what makes this game so awesome, but if I had to choose one thing over all the amazing things this game manages to deliver, it would have to be the setting, Putting the story right smack in the middle of the Cuba Missile Crisis and giving us an alternate history spin to the whole East vs West ordeal of the Cold War era. The game also explores a character so far left "untouched" by the series, The father of the Three Snakes, Big Boss. and paints a very human picture of him. And after having "witnessed" his trials and sacrifices, I truly understand how he could justify his later actions

"Snake Eater" brought it and keeps on bringing it today, and stands as my favorite Metal Gear Solid game to date, and one of my favorite games of all time.


So that it guys, My ranking of the Metal Gear Solid series, "Worst" to Best. So all it remains to ask you guys is:


Did you rike it?

Sound off in the comments

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about something: How many people can name the key people of developers like Treyarch, People Can Fly, 343 Industries or Arkane Studios, without looking them up on Wikipedia

These developers weren't picked completely at random, All of them "inherited" big franchises from their original developer. Treyarch has Black Ops, People Can Fly are in charge of the new Gears of War game, 383 have Halo 4 and Arkane did Bioshock 2.

All of these games are sequels to titles that really set the standard of how our new AAA environment looks like today. Games that did something you hadn't seen before, or perfected a formula that had tried and failed before.

I think we can all agree that the original Bioshock is an amazingly crafted gaming experience, That Gears of War is one of the best exclusives that the Xbox 360 have had over the years, that the Halo series brought split-screen multiplayer back from the dead, and that Call Of Duty series, love it or hate it, is one of the best online multiplayer experiences of this generation, and one of the biggest software successes ever.



The one thing all of these games have in common (except being shooters) is that they were made by people we all should know the name of.

Ken Levine (Bioshock)
Cliff Blezinski and Rod Fergusson (Gears of War franchise)
Jason Jones and the BUNGiE team (Halo series)
Vince Zampella and Jason West (Call of Duty series)

Now I'm not saying in any way that these people alone deserve praise for the finished project, big games like that are always a team effort, But I believe that it was the vision that these guys had that fueled their respective teams to create the great games that they have made over the years.

And we need those guys, Guys like Tim Schaefer, Ron Gilbert, Warren Spector, Peter Molyneux, and Gabe Newell, to push our medium to new heights. Because the absolute worst thing that could happen to this industry, is that we don't find new ways to reinvent ourselves.


Peter Molyneux: One of the greatest minds of our time

If we as gamers continue to buy into the games that serve up the same old S#!¤%, while ignoring the people who actually make breakthroughs with their products, not spending money on their ideas, Industry giants like EA and Activision are more inclined to fund the games that makes that can guarantee them the most money. and in the current market, that's the military shooter brand, And I for one, have had enough of those to last a lifetime

While it's great to look back to those guys I mentioned before and their hallmarks, It's also important not to let them outshine their counterparts of tomorrow. Markus Persson made a little game called Minecraft, and the first time I saw that game, it BLEW my mind. The game really pushed the boundaries of what we had seen before and in it's wake, more and more titles have tried to push the envelope of what we expect from a game now adays. And there is some great stuff out there.

Telltale games made one of last years best games, winning several game of the year titles, with The Walking Dead, While the formula isn't new, Adventure games like it have been around for ages, Telltale managed to craft a truly heartfelt experience that left several players in tears by the end of it. Something that has been sorely missing in the industries until it came along



That Game Company have made several contributions to the "Games as art" discussion with titles like Flower and Journey.

I believe that, with our support, the lesser known developers of today can be the star developers of tomorrow. and going in to the next gen, we could all use some changes in the gaming landscape as it stands today

I'll admit, this post will stray off the beaten path of my usual posts, whom primarily revolve around games and gaming culture,but it's worth it because this is the blogpost where I announce to the Destructioid community the birth of my son, Bjørn. who was born wednesday night.

We were way past our due date and they had to start the birth at the hospital, and after 8 hours of labor,we had a son in our arms.We didn't know the gender beforehand so it came as a surprise, I've always said it would be a boy, and turns out I was right. A healthy little boy with ten fingers and ten toes, and the best part of it all, he inherited his good looks from his mother.

Now, at the dawn of our new life with this baby boy, I've been reflecting about becoming a father, and how that will change me, as a person. I've always loved kids, I have 2 nephews and a niece from before, so I'm no stranger to this "new" state of living. but still, this is something I don't get to watch someone else do, and comment upon that, this is my journey into fatherhood, or our journey, me and my partner's, into parenthood,

As I see it, anyone can become a Father, Not everyone can be a Dad, after all, all it takes to become a father can be done in a few minutes. But being a Dad, that's hard work. You'll have to dedicate a big portion of your life to these little creatures, create a stable environment around them, keep bringing in income so that you can support them. and put your dreams on hold for a while so that you can care for their well being.

So even with all the inherent fears and doubts we may have towards ourselves as parents and being able to raise this baby together, We'll now have to face those challenges, And I don't think we'll do all that bad to be honest. Not that I want to take anything away from people who have been or are raising children, It's hard work with a lot of sacrifices, I know that. As we all know, it takes a village.

But still, We turned out okay, and having the support of our parents, and siblings around us, I think we'll do just fine.

But in the end, Only time will tell if we are fit for the challenge.

Well another year has passed and yet again we are faced with creating out top 10 lists of games that were released in the passing year. I will warn you though, this list is subject to change in the future, because I haven't had time to play every game that came out last year (nor do I intend to, in some cases)

I'll count from spot number ten all the way up to number one, so without further ado:


10# Hitman Absolution

While it didn't quite capture me like the previous games in the installment (especially not as much as Blood Money did). The game did deliver one of the best game engine's I've ever laid eyes on. If you haven't already, take a look at the "Chinese New Year" level, the amount of detail and NPC's they are able to stuff into that level is jaw dropping to say the least. It's weird but somehow the best Assassins Creed game (as I wanted them to be from the start) is not an Assassins Creed game. In the end, the game's focus on story and action hinders it from reaching it's true potential.


9# Uncharted: Golden Abyss

I love the Uncharted series, It's the main reason I own a PS3, so when I heard there was going to be a Uncharted game on the PSVita, I knew I had to get a PSVita, So I picked up one this Christmas, and I absolutely love both the console and the game. The thing that makes this game stand out so much for me this past year is that despite it being on a portable system, it can still stand tall beside it's console brethren.

8# Mark of the Ninja

Stealth games are near and dear to me, I've always liked being able to sneak through a level in a game without being noticed. moving in closer and closer to an unaware target, striking as fast as lightning, the target not knowing what's going on until it's over. Mark of the Ninja is one of the best stealth games I've ever played. because unlike it's AAA counterparts it's not burdened by it's story and non stealth gameplay mechanics, and it manages to deliver one of the purest stealth experiences ever made

7# Sleeping Dogs

A game that borrows a little bit of everything from many different genres and delivers one hell of a ride from start to finish. Formerly True Crime: Hong Kong, Sleeping Dogs emerges as a phoenix from the ashes, mixing Hong Kong cinema with GTA/Sandbox gameplay and is able to create one of 2012's most exciting new IP.

6# Spec Ops: The Line

I'll have to admit, If it weren't for Extra Credits, I would have totally passed on this one. I mean look at it, If you haven't played it, everything points to it being just another bland military shooter in the shadow of industry juggernauts like Battlefield and Call of Duty. But if you can shell out 20 Euros it costs on Steam, I highly suggest you do. No other game has ever shook me the way Spec Ops: The Line did. In the end all I can say is that it's one of the most intriguing video games I've ever played.

5# Civ V: Gods and Kings

While not a standalone game, the Gods and Kings expansion to the already fantastic Civ V shakes things up, introducing religion and espionage to the mix. The game feels fresh and new and addresses a lot of the concerns players had with the original game. Being able to spy on the competition, Spreading your own religion left and right is awesome and is sure to entice the Civ players once more. One more turn

4# Mass Effect 3

Controversy aside, Who here didn't love Mass Effect 3, Show of hands.... Thought so

I loved Mass Effect 3, While it wasn't as good as Mass Effect 2, it delivered exactly what I wanted out of a Mass Effect game. BioWare made the appropriate adjustments where it was needed (cover system finally works as it should) and delivered an epic conclusion to Shepard's story. Hell, even the multiplayer was awesome.

Could we ask for more?
If the ensuing controversy is anything to go by, I would say yes, But the community's complaints are as hollow as a Reaper Husk. Complaining that the game didn't have enough endings. ME and ME2 had 2 endings each, ME3 had 3 endings, Last time I checked, That's 33,3% more than we previously had.
I am appalled by the fact that BioWare catered to these ungrateful fanboys shipping out an extended ending that weren't at all needed.

I'll stop my rant now.
The game as it were before the edited ending, was to me the perfect ending to Shepard's story, I couldn't have asked for more and that's why Mass Effect 3 is in the 4# spot on my top ten games of 2012 list

3# Dishonored

Some times this industry will just give you a total 180. With the market currently over saturated by military shooters, with games like COD breaking the sales record every year, being increasingly worse for each year that passes, Out of the blue comes Dishonored. A game that is as far from the military shooter mold as it can get. Delivering a "play as you want to play" mentality that's reminiscent of Deus Ex, with an art style that invokes memories of Bioshock. Yes this game could just as easily have been the love child of Ken Levine and Warren Spector. It is that awesome. and luckily it sold well enough for Bethesda to say "Yupp, We got ourselves a new franchise"

2# XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Only having heard about the older X-Com (UFO) games, I didn't really know what to expect from this one when I first heard of it, Could this be the Bioshock-ish shooter that they had advertised some years ago? But then I heard Sid Meier and Firaxis were involved, and it peaked my interest, And man am I glad I checked this gem out. An invasion simulation where you play as a commander tasked with stopping the current Alien invasion in it's tracks. The slightest misstep might spell the doom for the planet. XCOM: EU doesn't hold your hand more than it absolutely have to. and if you screw up you might not even notice until 10 hours later when all of your soldiers are being slaughtered out in the field

1# Journey

Those of you who've visited my blog before probably saw this one coming, But come on, This games really hits home the fact that games can be art, and instead of explaining why again, I'll just link you to my other blog post about Journey

2012 had been a quite year for me gaming wise, Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've ever spent this much time in front of my TV and computer screen, but that's more related to the fact that I had so many games from last year to catch up on, and the fact that the year got off to a bad start for me as I had lost my license to drive in a speed trap the previous November.

2011 had some great games, Deus Ex, Witcher 2, Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, the list goes on. 2012 though? Not so much, not for me at least, Mass Effect 3 was great, but didn't deliver all that was promised. Max Payne 3 felt a bit soulless, especially when you think of the great games that Remedy made before Rockstar took over the development.

It wasn't until Sleeping Dogs, XCom: Enemy Unknown and Dishonored came along I really felt that there was a chance for 2012 games, And hey there was Walking Dead and a few other notable titles, but other than that, I haven't been playing much of the games from 2012

But what I've been doing is catching up with an old friend.

Some background:

Back when I were an up and coming gamer, I first had a Sega Genesis, then I settled for my PC for awhile, but for my birthday one year my sisters got me a Sony PlayStation, It was bought used from my sister's boyfriend, and he had a wide catalog of games, Everything ranging from Soul Calibur to the original Resident Evil. I was instantly charmed with the console, the first console I had that didn't use a cartridge.

The start-up sound is as fresh in my memory as it was the day I first turned the console on.

Furthermore getting the PSX formed me as a gamer for the coming years, I eventually moved on to the PS2, which was also my first DVD player, Having enjoyed the Sony franchises like God of War, Metal Gear Solid, and Crash Bandicoot, It should have been a given that I'd turn to the PS3 when it came out.

Pretty early on we heard rumors of the PS3, I remember gathering around the school computer and drool over the latest rumors IGN had to serve up. But we kept getting dates for the console's supposed release, but it never came when the dates were due. Eventually the console market saw a new console, Two actually, first Nintendo Wii (which I remember under the name Nintendo Revolution) and the Xbox 360.

I'd never really played the original Xbox other than store demos of Halo, so I was a skeptic. Remembering the god awful controller the Xbox had didn't make me want it any more either. When the PS3 hit the market, it was expensive as hell. So for a time I didn't have a console, and returned to PC gaming full time.

A local Gamestop opened up and I could pick up some used PS2 games for a while, I couldn't afford the 100 dollar price tag that comes with newly released AAA games over here since I was a poor as hell student.

It seemed like I was missing out on all of the good games that were arriving with the new console generation. I played GTA IV and Uncharted at friends houses but it wasn't the same, I didn't get to sink my teeth into it. And even though I swore early on that I wouldn't ever jump ships from the Sony brand, when the console retailer offered a bargain on the Xbox 360, and I got to experience first hand how awesome Gears of War 2 were online:

I switched brand

And after doing so, I've had few regrets. I got to play the Gears of War series, Mass Effect series, even games that weren't console exclusive like Fallout 3, Darksiders, Assassins Creed. and much, much more (seriously, you should see my games library)

If there were a Sony exclusive I wanted, I had 3 of my closest friends who owned PS3s so that I could play them, If I wanted to watch Blu-ray movies I could do that elsewhere.

So for a while, I was content,

Now a days I consider myself as a collector of games, (you should look up my blogpost about my Sega Genesis and how I started collecting those games) so even though I did own an Xbox (and me and my girlfriend also bought a Wii for Twilight Princess) I'd always wanted to get my hands on my very own PS3. But it was hard to justify it to myself, I had a console of the current generation, Two actually (though the Wii is more stuck in a place between generations), What more could I possibly want. And even worse I was still an apprentice electrician making barely enough money to get by from month to month. So it was postponed

Until April this year.

April was a milestone for me this year for several reasons, I got my license to drive back, I finished my apprenticeship, and me and my girlfriend decided to buy an apartment and settle down, have kids.

I came over a wall post on my Facebook, a guy who were in the same group as me, wanted to sell his old PS3, as he was buying a new one, I leapt at the chance to own one myself, I don't really know why, but I did. Something called at me and said "You need to own one". and I guess now in retrospect, I did.

So when I haven't been playing a game I missed from 2011 or one of the few games that caught my eye in 2012, I've been playing on the PS3, And I've played God of War Collection, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted games, I even gave Flower and Journey a try, and loved them.

So my favorite gaming moment of the year 2012 has been:
Catching up with an old friend, Sony, on their latest home console, the PS3

This blogpost will revolve around the fantastic experience that is Journey, A video game created by ThatGameCompany. If you are tired of reading about this extraordinary piece of art, Back button is usually placed somewhere around the upper left corner of the screen, See you later :)



Still with me? Good. On to the buisness at hand. Roger Ebert is a name who should be known to both movie lovers and gamers alike. If you are a movie lover you should know him from being one of the biggest, if not the biggest film reviewer of our time, and this dude knows his stuff, His accomplishments are too many to write down here, but I'll add a Wikipedia link HERE, so that you can go read all about this dude.

Why should gamers know him you ask? Well to quote Wikipedia:

"In 2005, Ebert opined that video games are not art, and are inferior to media created through authorial control, such as film and literature, stating, "video games can be elegant, subtle, sophisticated, challenging and visually wonderful", but "the nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship to the stature of art""

Now I was one of the many who wanted to scream at the dude for being ignorant at the time, but as time went on, I could kind of see his point, while not agreeing with it. And it's kind of hard to argue that games can be art, when the non-gaming enthusiasts mostly are exposed to the games Fox News show them. But the flip side is that it's also hard to argue that games like Journey isn't art.

Because what is art really? The Encyclopædia Britannica Online defines art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others"

Journey is definetly a product of the skill and imagination of the team behind it, It's aesthetic environment is something you can only experience in Journey, or atleast I've never seen anything like it before. (Might be using the word aesthetic wrong, as it's a word I've often heard, but seldom used) And Journey is something everyone (who owns a PS3 and has a credit card) can experience for themselves.



What makes Journey so special to me is its use of color and atmosphere to tell its story, and it's stunning aesthetic is something that, to me, is unprecedented. It's so hauntingly beautiful that I get chills whenever I think of it. The story isn't told in words, but you get the story none the less, and in the video below you'll gain a deeper understanding of the mechanics at work within Journey

I won't get to much into how Journey works, or why it works, Extra Credits have already given Journey it's due in that apartment, so I'll just embed their video below.



Now there are several more games that can be considered as art, Journey isn't alone in this. A good friend of mine suggested Minecraft, and I can't really argue with that, having sunk countless of hours into Minecraft and still be amazed of the things people keep creating in that game.

Not all games are art, similarly not all paintings are art, I've got a drawer full from my childhood that can attest to that. But that doesn't take away from the fact that some paintings are art, Look at the works of Da Vinci, Rembrandt or Gogh, they've all established that paintings can be art.

And Journey is the one that hits it home for me.

Games can be Art

Do you have any games you consider as art? Please sound off in the comments as I am itching to try some new games that impresses me as much as Journey did