I've been playing the Metal Gear games in succession (staying ahead of Drew) and I've started playing Peace Walker... I really hate how this game plays, I know what it was going for on the PSP and such, but it is really not hitting me in any positive way gameplay wise.

I'm enjoying the comic style cut scenes and the story though, so I'm basically wondering if there's any reason I shouldn't just watch the cut scenes and story beats elsewhere?

A lot of Peace Walker's appeal is playing it to build up your base. If you don't like that part, watch a Youtube movie with some gameplay spliced in.

I stopped a few hours in because I didn't like the PSP controls. Meant to play the HD version but went the Youtube route. It's a fine way to experience the weird story, although it'll feel a bit disjointed.

I liked the game and liked playing it but if you don't then just watch a Let's Play. You'll get the story out of it and get to see the absolutely insane end game shit that you would have to grind for hours to get. I recommend Chip Cheezum's LP because the he does absolutely everything.

If you already bought it I'd stick with it at least for the first ending, there's a secret true ending later, but that also depends on how far you are. Part of the appeal of the game is the base building and item development but if you aren't feeling that you should be able to breeze through the game's first ending fairly easily, just be sure to develop C4 as it's required for a story mission, also a couple duders have offered to co-op with people, myself included, which could help bypass bosses if that's an annoyance.

I don't know it kinda depends how far you are and what you don't like about it I guess.

@thephantomstranger: Well I got the HD collection free way back during that Silent Hill HD Collection fiasco, so I don't really care about that. I just generally don't like the way it plays or what it's going for so I'm very early on.

@lackluster: Well what it's going for is MGS3 x Monster Hunter.

@corevi: That Monster Hunter aspect is what seems to be killing it for me

@lackluster: Then just watch it. The game just becomes more MH esque as it goes along(specifically fighting the same boss multiple times) and you'll probably hate it. Either watch the LP I linked above or co op it with somebody who already has everything unlocked and can show you the entire game without you needing to grind.

@corevi: I've started watching. Thanks man!

Can someone explain to me what the Monster Hunter aspect of Peace Walker consists of? I've never played a Monster Hunter game but all I've heard of it is that you kill giant monsters and make stuff out of their carcasses. I know there was a Monster Hunter mode in Peace Walker but outside of that I don't understand why people keep referring to it to describe how Peace Walker plays. Is it the co-op, the big boss battles with giant robots substituting the monsters, something else?

@probablytuna: Yeah the 4 player co op boss battles where you have to attack certain parts to get certain drops are very Monster Hunter. Otherwise it's just the basic structure of the thing with going back to town, making new equipment,and then doing another mission off the job board.

As someone who's played it, I say watch. The gameplay is nothing to be concerned about missing. My least favourite MGS.

I'm surprised to see that I'm the outlier here but I actually think Peace Walker has by far the best gameplay of the series. I tried replaying 4 recently and found it incredibly hard to go back to pre-Peace Walker MGS.

Sometimes I randomly stop everything I'm doing and seriously consider the possibilty that the name "Hot Coldman" is the coolest thing about Peace Walker. Tried playing the HD version, but those boss fights don't feel MGS in style. Couldn't do it.

I'd say watch, and I'll probably do the same when MGSV is close to release.

Just watch the cutscenes if you aren't feeling the gameplay. For the most part, the game is a very barebones and bitesized MGS game. The maps are small and most missions are completed in less than 10 minutes. It's very apparent that it was designed to be played for minutes at a time. There are a lot of side missions, but they reuse the same areas from the story. The boss fights are Monster Hunter-esque in that they have a ton of health and encourage coop play. The base stuff isn't really required and much of it isn't really fleshed out well. That said, the story and codec sequences (in which there are a ton) are ace.

@lackluster: Are you playing it on PSP or console? I personally wouldn't play it on PSP, I couldn't get into it then, but on consoles, after a while it turned out to be a superb experience. If you're on consoles, I'd say stick with it. If you're on PSP, I'd say get the console version. My biggest, and one of the only problems with Peace Walker I had was that as a solo player, there was a bit more grinding for upgrades than I'd like. The game came out to be about 30 hours, and I would have liked to spend more of that time venturing through the story, seeing new stages and what have you, but there's a lot of times when you either replay a stage, or go into the shooting gallery shoot targets for a while. I loved it in the end, and I recommend anyone that wants to see the series through, play it to the end. Portable Ops on the other hand, that can be just watched on YouTube. I would also say since you have five months until Phantom Pain, take you're time and don't worry about wanting to get to the end of it all quickly, because hurrying yourself can diminish the experience by making you feel you need to do things such as this: not actually experiencing it. I wish I felt like finishing Portable Ops, it's the only one I haven't finished, but the controls in the game, and playing on PSP is just not ideal to me. I really don't recommend to anyone just to watch the cutscenes, it kind of ruins an experience that you might want to actually end up having.

We all should start a Peace Walker Group so we can play with each other online. The "boss battles" are effing lame by yourself.

@ch3burashka: I liked them when you are upgraded just enough, but they are more challenging I assume and perhaps not worth it. I hadn't played it online.

read the wiki

You'd be ok just watching. There's a 3 hour video on Youtube of all of the cinematics strung together. I've recommended friends to do this as well. The story is absolutely great and if you don't have the time to devote to the game, you should really at least see the story.

do what u like

@hollitz: But if you watch that you miss out on the tape recordings (this games version of codecs). The Paz and Strangelove tapes are both pretty important and some of the other ones are amazingly dumb.

@ch3burashka: I made a Co Op thread.

Peacewalker is an excellent game.

One of the best in the series. I'm having a hard time processing that so many people are recommending it just be watched.

There's so much to do in that game and so much worth doing and if you don't like the gameplay but you like the other games I don't understand because it's literally just 3+4. Plus you miss out on all of the codec conversations if you just watch the story which are important D:

Solid Scanlon should play it by Sept. 1st.

@artelinarose: I really like Peace Walker, but I completely understand why people wouldn't like it. The core gameplay isn't as good as MGS4, it reuses maps extremely liberally, the boss battles take forever solo and the grind for the true ending would be fucking excruciating if you don't love the game by that point.

@corevi: The 'true' ending you don't have to grind beyond what you're already doing since you just have to fight the weakest Metal Gears in the end to get all the parts. I thought I had to do way more than I had to when the Zadornov missions came, so I only did a few initially and stopped for months, but went back and disappointed in myself, found out I didn't actually have to do that much. I mean, I can understand what you mean by the grind, but adding the 'true ending' doesn't really mean anything, unless there's another secret ending I don't know about. That's another thing people should know, this game doesn't end when the credits roll.

@ntm: There is actually another story thing you get after you S rank every mission.

@corevi: The Kaz mission?

@ntm: A Kaz audio tape, in the tradition of Metal Gear games ending with phone calls.

I'm going to play it. The only obstacle for me is the approach to bosses.

I decided to watch it tonight after getting through the first three boss fights. I thoroughly enjoyed the series up to this point, but I just couldn't get into Peace Walker...

That ending, man. Wow.

I started playing it a while ago but got quickly put off by how different it plays and the Monster Hunter like map-zones. Those missions where you have to fight a tank aren't really fun. I'm also thinking about just watching a YouTube Playthrough and start with GZ.

@lackluster: if you hate how it plays then by all means watch it. It's an important part of Metal Gear lore so if you can't get any enjoyment out of it then you might as well know the story. It plays a lot like a Metal Gear themed Monster Hunter which can obviously be a huge turn off.

It's a fantastic game.

Peace Walker was hands down my favourite Metal Gear game.
It's like Metal Gear mixed with XCOM. It's awesome. The story, however, isn't amazing.
It doesn't do a whole lot to fill in a hole in Big Boss' story or anything.
Play it!

I watched it and didn't feel like I missed anything.

Most of the MGS games are better as videos, because the gameplay didn't get reasonable until 4. MGS is like the skyrim of stealth games. Just horrible controls and combat mixed with an amazing game. Let others take on the agonizing task of playing these things. Kick back and enjoy.

Oh boy, peace walker..

I played it(on ps3 btw) until I "finished" the game and then until I had half the metal gear parts and went like fuck this. I didn't enjoy any of it to be honest. And I thought the story was really really dumb and pointless in all the wrong ways. I also don't get what is important about it for the lore at all, I cant remember anything of significance happening in it. Its been a while but it hasnt been THAT long ago that I played it...maybe a year ago or something.I also didn't like the game part of it at all so I may be forgetting stuff, can anyone explain what's supposed to be so important about it?.

And other than peace walker I love every other metal gear game I've played to death. (Didnt particularly like revengeance either which doesnt really count anyway but I wanted to be clear on that just in case)

I also could never understand how anyone could have difficulty with the metal gear controls, their not THAT complicated right? I always found it a baffling complaint even as a 12 year old idiot...

PS: Only ones I havent played are ghost babel, acid 1+2 and portable ops. Would love to get my hands on a nice boxed ghost babel :)

@lestephan: Ghost Babel is alright. It plays like a much improved version of the MSX/NES games, with some of the mechanics from MGS1 like leaning against walls and being able to crawl. The story is nothing great, it's basically a mishmash of MG1 and MG2 (infiltrate jungle base, destroy Metal Gear, etc.), but I liked some of the bosses.

@lestephan: The important stuff is mostly contextual. The fact that Big Boss built a base (alliteration!) and that Kaz is here now; and most importantly, filling in the story of the development of the Patriots (which you would have missed if you didn't see the true ending). Imagine going from 4 to V, or from 3 to V; you really do need to know what happens in Peace Walker. You would have a point if only MGSV didn't exist, but MGSV's existence makes PW's importance in the saga increase by leaps and bounds.