2 reviews liked by Phat_Baby


Scorn

2022

brilliance ruined by incompetence

at first i saw the scores and reviews and though to myself ''it can't be that bad come on'' because i was looking very foward to this game, turns out it is that bad and some more.

this game is a bealtiful and well crafted puzzle alen adventure with grotesque visuals that legit can pull you into this very atmospheric world, ABSOLUTELLY ruined later by shitty combat, don't get me wrong i am very familiar with survival horror but it legit (this is not my discovery, plenty of people point it out) shows that combat was an last minute implementation otherwise you finish the game in under 2 hours, the ass combat is there to add 1 more hour.
there is no other way to explain other than the enemies were designed to annoy you till you die, they will buggy block your path despite being made for you to get past them, turn on the aimbot and hit you, if you die you gotta deal with the awful checkpoint system that sometimes sends you 30 minutes back from where you died, making you re-do a lot of puzzles you already completed, but lets say you run past all enemies and avoid dying to cheap enemy blockage, then you finish the game in under 1 hour and a half, look i would be absolutelly fine if this game was a short but sweet experience, but its painful now, even more that there is bealty in its world, not even the ending bothers me and that one irked a lot of people.

Not for honour, but for you...

I knew about Snake Eater's sterling reputation going into the game, but now it's very clear just how much that reputation upholds itself. If MGS2 was Hideo Kojima's (all too prophetic) observations on the rise of AI, then this is his ode to classic spy cinema and action movies. And he's having a blast doing it.

What makes Snake Eater stand out from the other MGS games (and a lot of other games of it's ilk) is the unbridled sense of fun running throughout it. From the sublime opening credits theme (and it's reappearances throughout the game), to the hilarious codec calls about the various animals you can eat and movies Para-Medic/Kojima has seen, I had a big smile on my face throughout the game. And yet, when the game's emotional moments do hit, they hit hard. Everyone knows how iconic the final boss fight is but when the theme music kicks in again during it, it really hits home how special this game is.

Of course, I still suck at the core stealth gameplay, but I feel like this time around you get a little more leeway in how you can approach things. In MGS1, getting caught was practically a death sentence, but with Snake Eater I found myself being able to get away and reposition pretty easily, with the camo system particularly coming in useful. I didn't have to mow down everything in my path when the going got tough (which turned out to be helpful when it came to The Sorrow, I've found out since).

Speaking of the bosses, I kinda loved how over-the-top and comic book villain-y Cobra Squad are. Man who can control hornets? An old sniping master who's practically dead? An insane pyromaniac astronaut? I thought MGS2's Vamp and Fatman were pretty silly, but these guys were damn goofy. The tense game of cat and mouse I played with The End was a particular highlight for me.

The only real problems I have with the game are a couple of annoying parts; The Fury's boss fight wasn't very fun, and the section near the end where you have to escort EVA made me want to rip my hair out. Speaking of EVA, I'd be interested to know the community's general thoughts on her. I'm not really sure what to make of a woman over-sexualised to the point where it's almost comical, but on the other hand she's pretty compelling too. In any case, she's certainly memorable.

I've decided to emulate MGS4 and Peace Walker rather than wait for the next volume of the Master Collection, so expect me to try and cram those in before I fully immerse myself back into Baldur's Gate 3 and the upcoming Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.