Konami Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops – Sony PSP

Probably the most underrated Metal Gear game….well next to Metal Gear Solid 2. IMO So much better than Peace Walker. If you enjoyed the stealth gameplay from MGS3 THEN YOU’LL LOVE THIS! Interesting characters to recruit to your cause (in game bosses, famous metal gear characters, etc) , good boss fights…well at least imo better than the ones in Peace Walker. The story is good but I admit it’s not necessary to play this game to understand the series. However if you’re interested in how Big Boss got the idea for Outer Heaven and how Foxhound was formed than get this game! It’s a fun play!

This game follows on the heels of MGS3: Snake Eater, and adds on to that story in some ways. I never got very far in Snake Eater, but this game refers back to many of the events I do know about, namely The Boss and the introduction of Revolver Ocelot. The graphics are near what MGS2 was, and though the camera was a lil cumbersome at times, it was a minor flaw. The greatest change in this game was the ability to capture & recruit enemies to fight on your side. This is essential in the game, as it’s much easier to use double agents to move around in the open in many parts rather than having to carefully sneak everywhere. There are soldiers with different abilities and a particular focus that keep the gameplay much more interesting. For example, the “Scout” skill enables a soldier to sneak at a faster rate, and the “Rescuer” can carry bodies away faster and medical items have a greater effect when used.

All in all, this was an excellent game, and recieved the “Editor’s Choice” award from […]. I think it was well-deserved. A must-buy for fans of the series and the genre.

I thought that I had never played this game before or at least finished it. I bought it after I realized that I never beat it and never played Peace Walker and TPP was announced and I knew I had to get through these games. Hideo does another great job here. I had a lot of fun even though the game play was different than what most expected out of a MGS games. Turns out by the end, I have beaten it in the past, I had just forgotten about it. Silly me. Still I am glad to own it again.

En ninguna parte del producto indican qué sea la “Greatest hits” como coleccionista eso le quita mucho valor

I made the mistake of buying Portable Ops Plus first instead of this one. Now, I own this one, and boy what a difference! First off, I must admit that the game is much, much more enjoyable when there is an actual story to follow. It just helps to keep your interest, and helps you feel like your accomplishing something besides just wandering around at random.

For this review, I’ll just cover the basics of what most reviews do. Graphics, Sound, Control, and Replayability.

Graphics: I don’t know why, but this game’s graphics seemed much sharper to me than Portable Ops Plus even though they should both be using the same graphics engine. The facial detail on Snake’s face and suit are really impressive when you consider that all of this has been squeezed into a system as small as the PSP. Excellent work from Konami. I think the animated cut scenes lend an interesting feel to the story and help you get in the mood for the missions that you will embark on.

Sound: The sound is good too. I have a feeling that certain things could have been done better, but I found it to be totally engrossing and nothing sounded cheap. The music matches the feel of the combat/stealthy nature of the game. This is another high mark for this title.

Control: This is probably the only area that I have a gripe, and I’m sure you can imagine why. Moving Metal Gear to the PSP was undoubtedly a dificult task given the PSP’s single analog joystick. But also, the camera will move into the strangest angles all too often and can be downright frustrating when you least need it to be. I personally think that it’s a small miracle that Konami pulled off what they have with the PSP, but there is room for improvement. The way the camera zooms in and out should be an option, not an automatic feature of movement. It takes getting used to, but once you do it’s okay.

Replayability: There’s a lot to be enjoyed with this game. Even if the levels are limited in size, you feel as though there’s a lot to do and discover. Again, the presence of a good story is such a big part of what makes this game so good. I’m usually the type who doesn’t even need a good story. I’ll play a mindless shoot em up as quickly as anyone. But this title actually shines because of the story. It makes you want to know more about the Metal Gear storyline/universe. By all means, BUY THIS GAME!!! Were it not for the control issues, I would have given it 5 stars.

I really love the metal gear franchise, really good story and plot twists. For what I remember, this game was very straightforward and you didn’t have to know much of the other games to be able to enjoy this game.

Stranamente mi è arrivata la versione normale nordamericana usata (in condizioni veramente ottime, sembra quasi appena aperto) invece che la “Greatest Hits”, quindi mi andata anche meglio del previsto!

Premetto che l’ho giocato su PPSSPP (è sicuramente più godibile su PC), l’ho preso solo per collezione. Portable Ops è un gioco innovativo ed è anche più unico di Peace Walker (pur essendogli inferiore sotto ogni fronte). É un gioco abbastanza breve e privo di grind: c’è ben poca roba da sviluppare, le armi si ottengono trovandole in giro o rubandole alle guardie, l’unica cosa difficile da sviluppare è la Stealth Camo.

I comandi sono abbastanza terribili (sono quelli di MGS3 ma un po’ menomati) e la telecamera è a malapena gestibile: si muove da sola nella direzione in cui va il personaggio, cercando di stargli alle spalle, quindi la si deve aggiustare in continuazione. Capisco che probabilmente su PSP sia meglio così, però così sfortunatamente su emulatore non lo si può sfruttare al massimo. Poi non capisco perché in prima persona si muova la visuale con la levetta sinistra (come in MGS2 e 3) invece che con i tasti frontali (che muovono la visuale in terza persona), è bello che ci si possa muovere in 1a persona, ma invertendo i comandi di movimento e telecamera mi si cortocircuita il cervello ogni volta.

Il combattimento è poco responsivo visto che l’impostazione è quella di MGS3, ergo niente mira precisa con visuale dietro la spalla del personaggio come in MGS4 e Peace Walker, perciò o si mira in 1a o si deve pregare per beccare qualcosa.

La storia (con una buona dose d’incongruenza anche solo con MGS3, senza contare i titoli successivi, ergo il fatto che è considerato in buona parte o completamente non canonico), le cutscenes e i dialoghi sono molto subpar rispetto a qualsiasi altro MG principale e le boss fight sono le peggiori della serie, sono veramente brutte, poco creative, mal pensate e difficili solo a causa dei controlli ed il design pessimi.

Graficamente è sia migliore che peggiore di Peace Walker. I modelli dei personaggi sono più dettagliati, non sono molto distanti da MGS3, però gli scenari sono molto semplici e meno curati di quelli di PW.

Le uniche cose che mi hanno fatto apprezzare il titolo sono:
-La gestione del proprio esercito (che ha un po’ più usi che in PW o nel V) reso anche più familiare dal fatto che non ci sono volontari, devi catturarli tutti ed esteticamente son più vari di quelli di PW o il V.
-Il controllo di 4 personaggi scambiabili quasi in ogni momento durante le missioni
-La struttura delle missioni e dei vari obiettivi da completare, molto più realisticamente spionistico, con missioni di ricerca di vari obiettivi ed azioni di guerriglia.
-Il fatto che si possono usare personaggi speciali, sono particolarmente innamorato di Zero, Para-Medic, Sigint e Null.

In conclusione, è un buon gioco? Non direi, è mediocre sotto praticamente ogni aspetto e purtroppo non ha neanche una buona storia che lo possa redimere di tutti i suoi grossi difetti, MA è interessante ed alcune meccaniche non le ho viste in nessun altro videogioco stealth e non.