Two games both alike in genre, in fair GiantBomb, where we lay our debate. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two games a generation...or so...of gamers choose their side.
I call to the ring two masters of espionage, fighters in the dark, and gun slingers of the modern age! On one side we have Solid Snake...a clone with a deadly purpose; and on the other side a once government man through and through now turned rogue, I give you Sam Fisher...but who would you bet on?
‘Splinter Cell’ (SC) is a game with a strong sense reality at its roots, combining authentic weaponry, believable characters and a, to some degree, realistic storyline... a true Western nugget. In contrast the ‘Metal Gear Solid’ (MGS) franchise is based firmly in a fantasy world with exotic locations, characters with superhuman abilities and technology still yet to be invented...a true Far Eastern gem. I love both games and even though they are part of the same genre they are vastly different in terms of their style, content and execution...and I think that is why both franchises appeal to me. I would be torn and find it impossible to favour one over the other, Sam’s sticky cameras are so fun use as is the human shield and recently implemented execute mechanic; but the environments and especially the characters of the MGS series just go to show what great imagination the Japanese have (which is also apparent in many Anime movies).
MGS is just so unique mainly, I think, because of its cast. I have a proclivity towards stories that use characters with special abilities as it reminds me of ‘The Fist of The North Star’ (the animated Manga film) where each character had their own fighting style which they used to devastating effect and also ‘Ninja Scroll’ where Jubei has to fight the ‘Devils of Kimon’ whom all have individual unique special abilities. I just cannot get enough of stuff like that.
On saying that though it is good to have a break from the fantasy once in a while and the SC series offers that at the same time as offering players a bit of the same old tactical espionage action. Sam Fisher is a great character not just because he kicks ass but also because he is believable and he uses sophisticated ultra cool g adgetry. Taking down bad guys has and I think always will be a dilemma for Sam as he has so many tools at his disposal...he just does not know what to use first, the rubber round, the EMP grenade, sticky camera, shot to the head or maybe he’ll just do it the old fashioned way and use his hands!
I just do not know which franchise to prefer, maybe SC...no, no, no, I meant to say MGS...oh I just cannot make up my mind they are both great series in completely different ways but within the same genre. In both the lead characters are fantastic helping to drive the stories forward and their graphics are both nothing short of phenomenal giving yet extra texture to both franchises...I got to say neither the Fisher catch the Snake nor the Snake bite the Fisher...I call it a tie.
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This is my first blog post on GiantBomb so I thought I would rework a blog post I have on antoher site and start dual posting from now on. This post will say a little bit about myself and maybe help me find out a little about you...that is whoever clicked on this page by accident.
I am very much into my video games and music. I buy games regularly as well as CD’s, and yes I know I probably should be buying vinyl but it takes up too much space and I like being digitally clean. As far as music goes the Holy Trinity in my book is Son House (where it all began), Led Zeppelin (preaching and spreading the word) and Pearl Jam (keeping the spirit alive). Pearl Jam was the band I grew up with and just in case you are wondering I also own every Nirvana album...I never take sides when good music is to be heard. It’s funny but I kind of started out at the front and worked my way back, and by that I mean I started out listening to Rock/Alternative music and then ended up in the last five years becoming a hard core Blues fan. Blues and Rock are my favourite genres of music but I do listen and buy tons of other styles and genres of music. If anyone has any interest whatsoever in modern musical history I would implore them to watch ‘Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues’; it is a seven part documentary, about which, the title says it all.
Anyway...I also, surprise surprise, play a lot of video games and have been playing since the days of the original Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. My dad had a thing for Atari, which I did not complain about because it meant my brothers and I owning one of the first Atari systems and then subsequently us getting an Atari STe...I was also one of the few, and I think lucky few, that had an Atari Lynx; O the days of ‘California Games’.
Does anyone else remember when games not only came in the cartridge format but also on tape? It used to be an art form in getting the tape games to load; as I recall my oldest brother would stick the tape into the deck which was connected to the system and then creep back to my other brother and I who would be waiting at the other end of the room by the door. It was then just the case to prey for half an hour or sometimes longer, depending on the game, for the game to load. The tape games were so temperamental that even the slightest interference would cause a loading error and therefore the need to start the process again. However today I think our family logic was flawed as even when we left the room completely there would at times still be loading errors.
Even though I started gaming early on with one stick/one button controllers and loved games such as ‘Ikari Warriors’ and ‘Rainbow Islands’. It was not till much later that I got a real passion for the pastime.
It was 1997, and the only video game genre I had really been playing was fighting games such as Tekken with friends. Then...POW!....out from nowhere came ‘GoldenEye’ for t he Nintendo 64 system. This game brought everyone together. I do not know a single being or piece of matter for that matter that does not go crazy with nostalgia when they hear word GoldenEye...some people even think the Nintendo 64 system was built only for that game. Ahhh, the memories come flooding back of the four player deathmatch games where the set up was ‘Pistols’ (as weapons), ‘Licence to Kill’ (as scenario) and ‘Basement’ (as level). I still own the original cartridge with my ‘007’ save game on it.
Still; there was one more game that blew me away and I still class it as the best video game of all time...some people will agree, some will not...but those touched by the magic of ‘Final Fantasy VII’ still pine for the days of Cloud’s battle against Sephiroth. ‘Final Fantasy VII’ just had it all; great graphics, great characters, great gameplay and a superb out of this world story. At the time, ‘Final Fantasy VII’ made you think that they must have had a million Umpa Loompas frantically programming and used technology from Mars to make the game. It just felt huge! So much thought had gone into every aspect of FFVII leading it to be, in my opinion, the greatest game of all time.
So this leads me to some questions for you. When did you start gaming and what was the game that really made you appreciate video games? I am also interested to see if any newish gamers out there or rather people that started gaming after me play old games like ‘Ikari Warriors’, ‘Final Fantasy VII’, etc and actually appreciate them as well. I say this because I find it very hard to go back to old games, the out dated graphics do not help but mainly I find it harder to play older video games. It seems as though as time goes on developers are streamlining the controls and movements of characters and vehicles you control making it easier to traverse the gaming world...yet, I will add here, not making their games as a whole any easier.
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