Here's an account of my time with MGS3, which I'm playing for the first time after being inspired by Metal Gear Scanlon 1 and 2. I recently beat MGS2 and really loved it, so now I'm off to see what kind of crazy shit 3 has to offer.

Day 1, hours 00-02

Alright, this game is set before the events of the first game(I think). Kind of a bummer, but that leaves the interesting stuff for the PS3 to handle, so that's cool I guess. Very similar opening to the previous games so far. I'm some dude named Jack, or Naked Snake-- AKA Big Boss. I'm curious to learn more about The Boss and what impact she'll have on the story. She seems pretty mysterious. Snake has weird blue eyes.

I guess I bought the other version of MGS3, Subsistence. It asked me at the beginning if I liked MGS1, 2 or 3, or I could also pick "I'm new to the MGS series". I didn't really know the difference that each option would have on the game, so I just picked the MGS3 one, thinking it was the safest, "purest" choice. I immediately switched over to Normal mode for the camera option, as third person mode just didn't feel right. So far, I'm kind of disappointed that they take away your permanent radar. Not knowing where the sentries are looking or where they are at all times really changes the flow of the game, and I'm not a huge fan. But maybe that'll change or I'll get used to it. I hardly did any stealth stuff because of the change, though, opting instead to just plow my way through and hope I'd be alive at the end of it. The shotgun is an amazing weapon.

I ended my session with the rescue of Sokolov, who told me about GRU and Volgin. Then "Ocelet" popped up and fucked shit up. That guy is Revolver Ocelet, right? I tried shooting him in the face when he was knocked out and the game immediately ended. Maybe he's important.

Day 1, hours 02-03 (spoilers below)

So some stuff went down in this part, and I don't really know what is going on at this point. Boss lady betrayed our unit and gave electric dude, Volgin, some recoilless nuclear warheads. Also there's a ghost man and Solokov is kidnapped by the king of hornets. And then there's this guy:

Then a bunch of cutscenes happen and the long and short of it is that we have to kill Boss and Volgin or else America gets nuked.

I also got to experience a little more gameplay. Is it me, or are the enemies like 10 times more difficult than they were in the other games? It's basically impossible to sneak up behind them and there's no neck-break move to my knowledge. They're really good at swinging at you with their knives and it takes like 10 bullets to put them down unless you get a headshot, which makes sense, but… I don't know. I'm only playing on Normal and it doesn't seem too bad, but that encounter with the Ocelet guys took me a good 15-20 minutes before I could move on. It's a nice change that they've made those guys a bit more challenging, but I'm pretty terrible at that stuff so I can foresee some future difficulties. I couldn't imagine playing this game on European Extreme.

I also changed back to third person view, and the game makes a lot more sense now. I crossed some electric fences and am now in front of some sort of military base thing, and there are a bunch of dudes everywhere. Metal… Gear?

Day 2, hours 03-05

I decided to kind of just run through the base thing because I wasn't having much luck in sneaking up on guys to take them out. I've been trying to use the d-pad to walk up behind enemies, but I move so slowly when doing that and enemies can just whip around at any moment and spot me from across the map it seems like. I picked up an AK-47 from a building and then barreled my way onto the next area, where I encountered Ocelet again.

I think it was in this fight that I really started to dislike the whole backpack system, constantly having to go in and equip weapons and items, heal my wounds and cuts, burn leeches off my body, take tummy ache pills and eat rats. I might warm up to it at some point, but right now it's just a chore to manage all of that stuff.

Anyways, in this game I feel like I'm doing everything the wrong way. The fight with Ocelet was mainly me just fumbling around trying to grapple with the aiming system to get a shot on him until he died. I tried lobbing those incendiary grenades at him from the tree, but that wasn't working out so great. It's kind of hard to aim those grenades. After beating him, I was attacked by bees and then spent half an hour trying to navigate my way through some dark caves. Fun stuff. I felt like I was 10 years old again, trying to get through that tunnel in the Pokemon Red/Blue games without having the proper HM. Luckily, things start to brighten up when the game figures you're an idiot and need some help.

Then I ran into The Pain. He threw some hornets at me, I shot some bullets at him. After killing him, Zero calls me up and assumes I know who these people are? I know the Boss is leading them and they're the Cobra unit or whatever, but other than that, I know next to nothing about these people. I should probably pay more attention to using the codec to get info like that. I don't know how the hell I'm going to beat the Boss, considering how she completely kicked my ass on two separate occasions.

Day 3, hours 05-14, game beaten

I didn't really enjoy this game as much as I wanted to. The big twist at the end didn't have much payload. MGS2 had smoother gunplay and an overall better combat system IMO. The stealth stuff doesn't work that well. It just feels weird, ineffective, and out of place. I think this game is good, but it would not be the one that I'd point to if someone asked me which MGS they should take a look at. In a nutshell, pretty lukewarm experience.

Godspeed, Drew and Dan.

Picking MGS3 unlocks a bunch of cheat camos, because the game (rightly) assumes anyone that says they like MGS3 has, you know, played MGS3. It was added in Subsistence and wasn't an option in the original release.

I think you made a big mistake not using the third person camera. I played all the MGS games when they came out (loved 1, super mixed about 2 but generally it was interesting) and I didn't care for 3 and abandoned it pretty quickly for the very reason you mention in here (couldn't deal with what the game was asking me to do and the old camera and not getting seen be enemies).

The third person camera fixed all of it. It lets you get a good feel for the environment and the enemies and where they're moving and looking from what seemed like a reasonable distance to me. It led me to do a bit of ranged silent sniping and was a fun and effective way to play the game.

I think it's definitely the superior camera. They kept this camera for all the other MGS games to come after. The switch is so important for me that I went from hating the game to then it being one of my favorite games ever. I think you should use it given your complaint.

I immediately switched over to Normal mode for the camera option, as third person mode just didn't feel right. So far, I'm kind of disappointed that they take away your permanent radar. Not knowing where the sentries are looking or where they are at all times really changes the flow of the game, and I'm not a huge fan.

You're making this hard on yourself. The 3D camera is supposed to make up for the lack of radar. Also you do realize you have a tranq pistol right? Did MGS2 not teach you how to sneak with it? It's even easier in this game, especially when you get the thermal goggles.

@kasaioni: @artisanbreads: Yeah as soon as I got into some real action I realized normal view was just awful for doing or seeing anything, and have since changed back to third person view. I'm going to miss the way things worked in the first two solid games, but it's cool that they went in a new direction for this one.

@TechnoSyndrome: Ah I see, I wouldn't have picked that option had I known that. It didn't seem all that clear. I'll try my best to not use any of those camouflages.

I wish I would have known that. MGS3 for me has always felt like the game in the series that's hardest to play well. I went through it a few months ago and still had a hard time.

One thing that helped me immensely was using the D-pad to sneak, as it won't alert enemies to your footsteps. Then when you get up close, just use CQC. I was all about the tranq gun in 2, but 3 seems built for CQC. Also, read item descriptions. There's one part of the game in particular that I've NEVER understood how to handle properly. After talking to a friend about it, it turns out that there's an item that makes it a cake walk, but I never read said item's description.

I actually found MGS3 to be the easiest one of the series to complete in its hardest mode. If you abuse the camo system with the tranq gun you are virtually invisible. tl;dr Crawl a bunch with the right colors.

For some strange reason, you can only sneak up behind people if you use the D-Pad to stalk. Otherwise they will hear you.

You can still run up behind people and take them down without triggering an alert phase. All you have to do is run full speed up behind them, then as soon as they turn around, continue push the left stick in a direction and press and hold circle. Basically your CQC-throw down has a radius that is big enough to get guards as soon as they hear your footsteps. It's OP when you know how to use it.

Some people already said this but its worth mentioning again becouse you have to go through like 100 random codex conversations before they tell you anything about this vital technique in the game.

Use D-pad to move without making sounds, the slow walk with the analog stick aint silent in this game for some reason!

Other than that you should have no problem with closecombat. Press O to grab an enemy and its foolproof, it works on alerted guys and it works from at least an arm away. While grabbing you then have loads of options, interrogate, cut throat, drag, knock out, throw etc..

A question though as im also doing the same thing as you with my first playthrough of MGS3, at this point in the story has anyone said or hinted at "Jack" being the big boss or are you just assuming?

@rethla: I'm just assuming it's Big Boss because of some of Dan's comments during Metal Gear Scanlon 2, and the fact that the game takes place in the 1960's and you play as a weird version of Snake before he gets his bandana and all that other stuff.

I might be totally wrong in thinking that, but then I'd be curious to see who Naked Snake actually is? I dunno.

@featheredLOOK. UP. THE. CONTROLS. :-)

I will enjoy reading the rest of your playthrough! But you neeeeeeed to look up how to do all the CQC moves, especially interrogation, or you'll miss out on a ton of stuff. You can use the D-pad to sneak up behind guys. You can throw your rations and tranquilized animals around to really screw with the guards. Call everyone on the radio for a bunch more tips.

Don't rush. Play around with your equipment and actions. Try using everything in different ways. You will have a much more fulfilling experience, I promise. But this game does not tutorialize. Look up the controls!

Also crawlcrawlcrawl, and change up your camo constantly. This game is all about camo and crawling. Crawling + camo is amazingly overpowered. You're invisible even on bare ground with the right costume. If you try to play it like MGS2 just hiding behind stuff (too many people do), you'll fail miserably.

I fucking can't stand the 3rd Person Camera! So I think you made the right decision.

Having played the game roughly a dozen times, I'd say the easiest way is to use both camera systems.

People always just assume the new one is superior, but it is factually not. They both have pluses and minuses.

There are many, many environments where the old camera can basically see through (over) walls, trees and other objects, giving you a massive advantage. And people always forget that once you turn off Camera Switching you can use the Right Stick to position the camera and R3 to lock it. This is again, a huge advantage over the 3rd Person Camera, which can never get up as high. The major bonus from the new camera is just that you can see forward more easily.

Also, I really thought from your thread title that you were blind.

Also also....

A PLEA FOR SENSITIVITY

I had a teacher when I was a kid who had that eye disease that made his eyes bulge out. I have nightmares sometimes about how kids made fun of him every single day. So let's pour one out for those dudes. Harsh times.

Edit: there are amazing quick video tutorials of every move in the game. Just check from the main options menu.

Glad to hear you went back to third person camera. It really changes the feel of the game for the better imo.

@feathered I can't emphasize enough that if you are just trying to rush through, you will not have as good an experience. This game is a treasure trove of hidden secrets and Easter eggs. That base alone has dozens of them, and it's an awful shame to just gun through it. Are you crawling and using your camo? You shouldn't be getting spotted from too far away unless you're really neglecting your camo, even standing up. You may not yet have realized that you can get RIGHT UP NEXT to someone, if you have good camo, even on bare ground. Have you used more CQC grabs yet? Slit any thoats? Choke anyone out? Interrogate anyone for information? Tranquilized a snake and thrown it at a guy? Used the Bug Juice so you don't have to worry about leeches? Thrown magazines and rations to distract guards? Also, for sneaking, run up fairly close, then D-pad the last few yards to grab a guy. You can use CQC in-combat, too!

You are probably not using the Codec at all, and you would be well served to spend about 1/5 of your play time just calling people, especially when you enter a boss fight. Heck, have you even called Sigint once? :-) You're definitely right that you need to use it a lot more.

I really, very highly recommend that you slow down and learn the game for a bit. It assumes that you're paying close attention. I promise it will hugely improve your experience!