And boy is it worse than I ever expected. There is really not a single redeeming quality to this game, I hope steam honors my refund after the 2 hour mark. I play MGS1-5 once a year, I've watched metal gear scanlon through twice, and I have a Big Boss tattoo, so I was absolutely in the mindset to love in spite of its flaws. But its just....terrible. The food/water meters decrease at a rate that infuriates, the base building is extremely unsatisfying, though im sure it gets more complex I can tell it will never become fun. Its probably a little late, but fans of Metal Gear, stay far away.

Is your Big Boss tattoo on your stomach with an arrow pointing down

Man, that's a $40 impulse.

@gtb08: Not commenting about Metal Gear; Survive, I do admire your commitment.

I too am thinking of the MGS1-5 tour.

@stumblebee: Most places in the UK are selling it for £20 (about $27) so I imagine you could get it cheaper in the US too.

Out of curiousity did you find the stamina/healing/hunting stuff in MGS 3 to be fun? I've never been a fan of that stuff and found it quite annoying back then but for whatever reason my tolerance for it in Survive was quite a bit higher. I guess because it's in the name and i've played far worse survival games since. (both in quality and in harshness)

But yeah this isnt really an MGS game, it's a survival game wearing MGS V's skin. I enjoyed it for what it was but it pales in comparison to MGS proper. (even 3 which I didnt care for as much) I will say i'm playing Portable Ops atm and I consider it to be worse than Survive but I think it's just aged poorly. (speaking of which MG1 looked tedious too in WTBB)

But anyway enough about bad Metal Gear. It's probably my favourite videogame series but its got a lot of baggage.

Sorry you didnt like it, duder.

@boozak: MGS3's survival elements never bothered me, but I have to add that I always go for perfect stealth, and would either load or die when caught so the bullet removal stuff never really affected me since i was always creepin. I'm glad you're able to enjoy survive, I thought i'd be in the same boat but it really grates against me. As far as portable ops, acid, and even peace walker, i dont have a ton of love for the non "numbered" MGS games.

@bybeach: I like to watch Metal Gear Scanlon, and then play through with them while skipping the cutscenes myself as the Dan/Drew commentary is either hilarious or clarifies things

I think the Metal Gear name hurts this game more than helps it by setting people up with the wrong expectations about it. This game is better approached without the baggage and expectations that the Metal Gear name carries. If this game was just called "Survive", with no attachment to Metal Gear or Konami or anything, and it was taken at face value, without pretense, as a budget-priced Japanese survival-loot-shooter, it would still not be a mainstream hit, but it would comfortably find a passionate niche audience. By nature, this game is deeply obtuse in ways that have long dogged a certain strain of Japanese games (steep learning curve, slow beginning, clunky/deliberate controls, menu-heavy UI, repetition-oriented gameplay, best content is back-loaded, etc.). In many ways, Metal Gear Survive reminds me of the early Monster Hunter games.

Playing through all the games seems like a commitment but then again I think some of them are a lot shorter than I remember. Isn't MGS1 particularly short? When I played it for the first time in like 1999 or 2000 it definitely felt like a long game but then again I never really played anything like it up to that point and was pretty blown away.