Caltrops - Reviews - Re: Way better than Psi Ops

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by Lizard_King 11/25/2004, 9:31pm PST

FABIO wrote:

Well I'm so very sorry us drooling mouth breathers are constantly dumbing down your videogames and horror movies. Psi ops had lots of exploding head gore, so I guess that immediately docks it to a 5/10.

I didn't say it was dumb. And the gore was one of the best parts. Bleeding rag dolls are the shit. It's just more of a toy than a game, as in simcity vs civilization. Like Morrowind was great to fuck with the construction set and the random exploration, but no story to speak of or, I don't know, that something that makes you emotionally invested in a character (tipping the scales of gay, here, I know).

Metal Gear Solid: Has some amusing details and 4th wall breaking that was original in the first game but became old after that. Fun and well paced boss fights that they forgot how to do right after the first game. Have fun the first hour experimenting with the various new ways to screw with guards, but after that get bored and just stick with the most efficient (i.e. boring) way of taking them out with the silenced pistol. Thrill as the time spent on codec conversations is squared with each new sequel. OMG spend hours tediously collecting all 100+ dogtags to unlock items that....give you unlimited ammo. Yay.

Time spent on codecs thus far is pretty minimal. There have been some badass cinematics, tho, and pretty much the scope of the extras are things like taking out bosses with the tranq gun or your bare hands (par for the course) for extra camo and things like that. A lot of exploration is rewarded well. And I have so far used a lot of different approaches on guards. Granted, I have a lot of pent up MGS faggotry in me thanks to completing almost all of the substance missions in 2, so it comes naturally at this point to leave out a girlie magazine to lure a guard under a tree to drop a beehive on him.

Psi-Ops: Take the guard screwing fun of MGS, triple it, then watch as it never gets old. Collect easy to get evil garden gnomes to unlock hidden levels where you try to set off the most efficient barrel exploding chain reaction, play telekinetic pool with exploding barrels, etc. Boss fights where you fling suicide bombers around and get entire train cars dumped on you that easily trump anything MGS has to offer.

I just thought it had little balance, which serves its purpose fine but I enjoy being the underdog. I never felt remotely threatened in Psi Ops except for the pseudo platforming. In MGS3, the boss fights have a lot of variety in subtle ways without giving up a lot of the flashy differences. Then again, I got a kick out fighting a fat guy on roller skates without the radar. SPeaking of which, the radar being gone helps a lot in improving the gameplay. You really get that jungle paranoia thing going, and I think the old school perspective is entertaining rather than the serious problem many reviews play it as. Also, the violence is ramped up, especially in terms of sound effects. The throat slash is fucking great, the shotgun is hilarious.