Hey folks. Long time no chat. Dan here, breaking my hiatus from the blogosphere to announce my participation in this year's Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run.

Now in its tenth year, the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run is a community-driven initiative spearheaded by Giant Bomb moderator @thatpinguino, wherein members of this incredible online community stream all manner of video games over the course of an April weekend to raise money for good causes. This year the GBCER is attempting to raise $15,000 in aid of COVID-19 Response via Direct Relief, an initiative that aims to provide healthcare workers with personal protective equipment and other items crucial to the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. As a patient-facing NHS worker over in the UK, this is a cause I can identify with and get behind on a personal level, and I have every faith that this amazingly generous community and those connected to it will help us to smash the target.

This is my fourth year participating in the GBCER, following on from 2017's Pokémon Gold Randomizer Nuzlocke, 2018's "Karma by Committee" run of InFamous 2, and last year's attempted lv1 Proud Mode run of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. I have to admit, I've found it particularly difficult selecting a game to build my challenge around this year. I was initially thinking about returning to the Nuzlocke format and streaming a standard Nuzlocke of Pokémon Sword on the Switch, but I ultimately decided I'd rather not retread old ground and instead do something new. I spent over a week thinking about what to play this year, knowing that it would need to be something I had a good working knowledge of, as well as something that would lend itself to player-imposed difficulty modifiers to satisfy the "endurance" aspect of the challenge. After a lot of deliberation, and a little help from a friend (thanks Tom!), I've managed to make a decision.

What I've settled on is a playthrough of perhaps my favourite stealth game of all time - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Not just any playthrough, mind - I'll be attempting to beat the game on its Extreme difficulty level. Full disclosure - I have never played a Metal Gear game on anything above Hard difficulty before now, so Extreme is going to be completely uncharted territory for me. Thankfully the game itself won't be. I've played through MGS3 several times, most recently as part of my Metal Gear May Madness series back in the Spring of 2013, so I do have a pretty good working knowledge of the game's structure and systems which I'm hoping will stand me in good stead in the face of the ramped-up difficulty. I'll be playing the HD Edition on PlayStation 3, which utilises the full-3D camera from the Subsistence re-release rather than the top-down angle found in the original.

In addition to the challenge posed by MGS3's Extreme difficulty, there is potential for you folks at home to make things even more frustrating for me, by way of a series of handicaps that will be implemented as I reach certain milestones. These are as follows:

• $50 - No Mk22 - A lot of Metal Gear players consider the advantages gained from using tranquiliser pistols to be game-breaking. Historically I've relied heavily on the Mk22 "hush puppy" when playing MGS3, but once I hit $50 raised I will no longer be able to fall back on this overpowered snooze-inducer.
• $75 - Naked Camo Only - Camouflage plays a big role in MGS3's gameplay, with the player expected to periodically switch Naked Snake's equipped camo and face paint to better blend in with their surroundings. Once I raise $75, I will forfeit the advantages of camouflage and be forced to play the remainder of the game with Snake in his 'Naked' state.
• $100 - No Treating Injuries - MGS3 introduced a number of survival mechanics to the series' stealth gameplay, including wounds and injuries which would need to be treated in order to keep Snake in good health. Once I hit $100 I won't be allowed to treat these, meaning I'll have to suffer any deep cuts or broken bones sustained along the way.
• $125 - No Active Sonar, AP Sensor or Motion Detector - In the absence of the series' staple Soliton Radar, MGS3 offers a variety of gadgets intended to keep track of enemy movements. When $125 has been raised, I will have to stop using these useful pieces of equipment and rely on my own eyes and ears instead.
• $150 - No Night Vision or Thermal Goggles - Useful in MGS3's dense jungle environments and almost necessary for some boss battles, these ocular augmentations are invaluable parts of Snake's arsenal. But if we hit my target of $150, I will remove them from my backpack entirely.
• $200 (STRETCH GOAL) - Backpack Blocker - If the generosity of my supporters truly knows no bounds and we manage to hit $200 raised, then whatever equipment is in Snake's backpack at that point will serve as my permanent loadout for the remainder of the game.

In addition to these milestone-based incentives, I am also offering an incentive for individual donations. For every donation of $20 or more received during streamed gameplay, I will perform a rousing rendition of Snake Eater's iconic opening theme live on air.

I guess all that remains is for me to promote the heck out of my planned schedule, so here goes. I'll be splitting my stream across both Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April, playing twelve hours each day until I either beat the game or twenty-four total hours pass, whichever comes first. Each day's stream will run from 9:00am to 9:00pm BST (which I believe is 4:00am to 4:00pm EDT). I'll be streaming my gameplay through my YouTube account, or through ExplosiveRuns.com (along with everyone else's contributions to the event). If you'd like to donate towards my challenge directly, you can do so by following this link. Alternatively, click here for the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run's Team page, where you can either check out the other participants' individual challenge pages or donate to the Endurance Run as a whole.

I think that's all I have to say for now. Thanks very much to everyone who's taken the time to read this. Hopefully I'll catch some of you in the chat on my stream next weekend. Until then, take care, stay safe, and I'll see you around.

Daniel

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Currently playing - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW)

Good luck, Dan! I have trouble with these games even on normal, so that’ll be fun to watch and not have to suffer through myself.