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With all the uniform-switching, fake identities and weird colour codes going on I'm surprised anyone knows who to shoot at this point.
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Mar 26, 2019 15:10
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 08:13 |
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I would make a joke about us playing the villain the whole time and ends with Snake shooting himself, but this is a Metal Gear game, and acid may have been taken while writing the script, so I don't know what would be too batshit crazy to be in the game. Maybe we won't get a card that lets us shoot BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES?
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Mar 27, 2019 02:16
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Well, we know he won't die. It's not like Acid 2 stars a different Solid Snake.
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Mar 27, 2019 02:21
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Part Thirty-Two: Should Have Brought Stun Grenades Once the guard's changed, the mission starts up for real.   In the hallway, there are two guards to worry about. You can see that regular enemies now have 100 HP - this is actually the first time we've seen regular enemies since the factory.  There's also this guy and a surveillance camera in another branch, but they don't matter. No reason to go over here.  I brought this gun into the mission like a fuckup. I will not be firing it.  Here's some inside baseball: I restarted this mission a couple times so that Teliko would have both cards right off the bat. Back when I did the Chronicle Pack rundown, I tried to get more cards, but no luck.   For whatever reason, I decided not to kill anyone on this map, so I went back to the ol' Stealth trick. The two guards here cover the door well - a cardboard box probably would have worked, or I should have brought Stun Grenades. Tranquiliser guns were out, since the M9 is an Equip-type weapon, I only have one copy, and I didn't want to waste deck space on weapons.  Here's more inside baseball: I initially ran Teliko straight through this door, stranding Snake on the outside. I restarted the mission at that point.   When you do go through the door, you have to be careful of this camera - it won't detect you unless you go all the way against the wall, and there's no reason to, but still.  And then you have to be careful to crawl. It's difficult to see because of the pillars, but there's a laser gate here.  Fun fact: laser gates can see you even when you're invisible.  Which is why you crawl past them. As far as I know, there's actually no other way to get past them. Unlike MGS2, you can't shoot out the sensors.  The one weapon I did make sure to bring into the mission was Chaff Grenades.    The thing is, past that first door, the only enemies are machines. Downstairs, it's just these cameras - easy enough to get around.  Teliko doesn't need Stealth for a bit now, so she gets to carry both keys.   The goal of the downstairs section is to get upstairs. If you, say, accidentally leave Snake on the other side of the level 1 door, you can't do this.  The final goal is right over there, behind that level 2 door.    To make things difficult, there are a bunch of patrol bots and cameras on this floor. The cameras here are actually gun cameras - when they spot you, they'll immediately shoot you.They're actually quite powerful, probably worse than the regular cameras, since there's no downtime to get hidden.  Hence, Chaff Grenades.  When you get to this door, it's very important that you crawl in order to make the bullshit behind it slightly more expedient.  Popping chaff (or using Stealth) is also very important because there's a gun camera immediately behind the laser gate immediately behind the door. On one of my practice runs, Teliko got spotted by the camera, which killed her. Killing a character knocks off whatever they've got equipped, so that knocked off her Card 2, which meant that the run was over.  Oh, also this tiny room takes at least two full turns to properly navigate.  First turn to get to the door, crawl to the second door, then step in here.  When you do, there's a sniper rifle!   Snake: Now all we need is a little spare ammo. Teliko: All right. Let's find some.   I don't know if this is good storage practice or not, but at least it's convenient. Teliko: This should be more than enough ammunition. Snake: OK. Let's get out of this armory. Teliko: Right.   And so, Teliko beat the absolute poo poo out of this guy while hopped up on Cost reducers.  Then they got out of the armoury.   Cost that's subtracted by Cost reducers doesn't count - this definitely took more than 113.  Also, I missed a card pack... and it was a new one, too.   Here's the action on the PSG-1. High accuracy, long range, very few hits, and anti-armour (but that's not on this page). The damage is okay here, but the first sniper rifle you get isn't actually indicative of the potential of the category as a whole.  Naturally, the clear bonus cards are MGS1 pack poo poo.  Finally, the post-mission wrapup. Snake: Good. Let's get outta here. Teliko: There's nothing like a nice rifle. No other weapon makes me feel so...at home. Which is the better place for this conversation, a women's washroom or front door 20 feet away from the guards?  Unfortunately for Teliko's gun lust, someone's on the horn.   When you don't know who's on the line, you gotta crouch. ???: Join up with Leone, Snake. Snake: Your name. Gimme a name. ???: Can't do that. Just think of me as a friend. Ah, it's Grey Fox.  Snake: You expect me to trust someone who can't even tell me his own name? It doesn't say "Solid Snake" on your birth certificate, genius. Buddy: There's no time to explain. If you don't hurry, Leone's unit is done for--completely wiped out.  Good answer. Buddy: You don't get it, do you? They were invited here. They're outsiders. Go on like this, and the two of you will end up facing ACUA troops all by your sorry selves. Snake: ACUA troops? Buddy: They're fearless. In fact, ACUA troops lack any sense of emotion, or individuality, for that matter. They work in unison, like a heartless machine. Join up with Leone, or you don't stand a chance.  Snake, we covered this.  ...He hung up on us! Teliko: It sounded like he was masking his voice. A little childish. Snake: What do you think, Roger? Roger: We couldn't confirm an ID here, either.  It must really be bothering him if he's asking Alice. Roger: Alice isn't here right now. Snake: Oh...  Who told you about Hans Davis? Snake: ... Roger: At any rate, you've gotta get to FAR and find out if Metal Gear really exists. Boy, it would be egg on our faces if Metal Gear didn't exist. Could you imagine? Roger: Head for the suspension bridge. Snake: We're on our way.  Hope it goes better this time!
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May 10, 2019 02:06
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Still chuckling at the dry sarcasm. Glad you still continue this here and there.
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May 10, 2019 02:40
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The ultimate twist: there's no such thing as Metal Gear, only Acid. Lots and lots of acid. That last part is not a twist, it's very obvious in fact, but it's worth pointing out regardless.
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May 10, 2019 03:19
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Our mysterious informant here is way late, the minefield was ages ago!
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May 13, 2019 02:20
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Part Thirty-Three: Crossing the River Now that we've got a sniper rifle, we're finally back where we were ten updates ago, ready to cross the river to get to FAR.  The first point of order, of course, is to make sure someone has the PSG-1. Otherwise:  Teliko: Have to come back.  While the PSG-1 is strictly necessary to play the level, Chaff Grenades are also important. Having Chaff on hands locks this map down completely.  Stealth is out, not for any particular reason other than it is very cheap.  With the preparations complete, it's on to the rope bridge.  Teliko: Are you ready, Snake? Snake: All set. Teliko: We have to take out those Cyphers all at once, or we're in for some serious trouble. "All at once" is not actually an operating clause in this mission, which is nice, since I don't think there's actually a way to do that kind of AOE damage in this game.  Teliko: You nervous? Snake: No, no. Just worried about you. Teliko: Aww, how sweet. But if that's a pickup line, give up while you're still ahead. It's probably the opposite of a pickup line, as in "don't pick up your gun and shoot Snake."  Teliko: Hmm. ...Sure you didn't. Anyway Snake, if we're caught in Danger Mode, enemy reinforcements are sure to come in droves. And if that happens, we're done for...most likely. Snake: We'll have to combine our skills to take them out. Teliko: Sounds like a plan. That's not a plan... Teliko: Time to move, Snake. Let's finish this quick and get on this mission. Snake: Yes, boss... I'm right behind you.  And, finally, the mission begins. You can see here that the objective is to destroy all the drones, rather than just move through the place. I guess this is just to reconcile the narrative demand for the rifles with the gameplay.  The map starts a handful of tiles away from the bridge proper, so you don't get spotted immediately.     Up ahead, there are five UAVs, including two that are too far away to highlight.  In short, every enemy on the map is a machine.  Once that grenade pops, this is no longer a sneaking mission. It is now skeet shooting.  Snake has the XM8.  Which is largely wasted, because you need to be close to things to shoot guns at them. An assault rifle is well-known for only being able to shoot about 5m.  A fair non-zero amount of what I do on this map is waiting for a second rifle card to load the first.   If you don't have Chaff, this is a tough map because you don't have enough space to manoeuvre around the Cyphers/enemy reinforcements.   Logically, if you do have Chaff, Snake and Teliko should just be able to sprint across the bridge. Hence, the "destroy all enemies" objective.  That said, since Snake's got a melee weapon, he's pretty much done now.   Gameplay-wise, other than assault rifles, sniper rifles are the best choice to use. They have "long" range, high accuracy, and they're armour-piercing. Their main weakness is they only fire once or twice, but that will be dealt with eventually.  This is the last one!  And so, the mission is over.  I popped at least two Chaff Grenades, but according to this, I don't think the first one even ran out.   Naturally, there are no cards to gather on the bridge.  But at least I do get... Cost -4.  The real reward is this amazing shot. That's cinema, baby!  Snake: Yeah, you're not bad. Teliko: But you're better, Snake. I've always had confidence in my sniping skills, but I'm no match for the "Legendary Hero." Within Metal Gear Solid as a series, Snake's epithet of "Legendary Hero" tends to be used with a certain irony. Usually, it's more narratively interesting than someone praising his sniping skills immediately after he doesn't fire a sniper rifle.  Now, what could this be?
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Jul 10, 2019 17:13
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*Proceeds to wait 3 years for the next update*
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Jul 10, 2019 17:34
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This next/final section should, hopefully, be more consistent and quicker. I was pretty busy the last couple months, and I was thinking about letting this drop until a couple of days ago, when I was thinking about how much I like elements of Metal Gear and how this game doesn't get the attention I think it deserves - for its story, at least.
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Jul 11, 2019 01:20
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Regallion posted:*Proceeds to wait 3 years for the next update* Look, you have to kill The End one way or another, and I'm glad Cool Ghost is showing that particular easter egg in the game. ...Wait, wrong Metal Gear.
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Jul 11, 2019 02:27
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This seems to traditionally be the point where the helicopter shows up. Hope the Chaff card works against rockets!
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Jul 11, 2019 15:27
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Part Thirty-Four: Alliance As they hang out on the bridge, Snake and Teliko are suddenly approached by... uh...  Okay, there he is. It takes Leone a few seconds to wander into the shot here, for some reason.  And apparently something's happened to him? I couldn't tell visually. Leone: My unit's been destroyed. ...Those bastards were wearing our uniforms. They blended in perfectly. Those "zombies" created with Flemming's drugs... the ACUA troops. Oh, that's the stuff not-Grey Fox warned us about.  Leone: Anyone who has a certain amount of ACUA pumped into him loses the capacity for independent thought, and can only follow the orders of Neoteny. Flemming thought the ACUA data would make him a billionaire, but really, how marketable is a "combat enhancer" that makes your soldiers slave to some child?  Teliko: Neoteny? This Teliko missed the first half of the game, remember. So Leone is basically just a crazy man to her. Leone: Two research projects were being developed in this lab under BEAGLE's orders. Firstly, the production of ACUA Troops; human weapons. Secondly, the creation of a Neoteny to control them. Metal Gear, which they were also developing, does not qualify as a "research project."  Teliko: So this "Neoteny" is sneaking around somewhere, controlling the ACUA Troops as we speak? Leone: That's right. Neoteny is known as the "Mind Bender." Speaking of "Mind Bender," Flemming said that the only people who would know the word Neoteny were him and Hans. Where did Leone hear it?  Leone: BEAGLE kidnapped 130 kids from several countries, just like the Pied Piper. Why does everyone keep comparing it to that? The dude wasn't just a flautist who loved kidnapping. Leone: Apparently all of the kids had psychic abilities of some sort or another. Ones who showed the highest potential of becoming the Neoteny were then chosen using various...methods. The final selection was made in that storehouse. The top ten children to make it through the preliminary selection process were forced inside, and the storehouse was locked down tight. ...The sole survivor would take the title, Neoteny. They called this method the Ritual of Conjuration.  She missed this part, too. Leone: According to the Eastern lore of the Yin and Yang, bugs or small animals are trapped in a jar, and forced to eat each other alive. A sorcerer then uses the survivor as a kind of familiar. Apparently such demented sorcery actually exists. Does this mean that Hans and Flemming are technically wizards?  Clown said that butterflies were good luck in the spring.  Leone: She might've been hired by BEAGLE to protect Pythagoras and Flemming. Snake: So who was the survivor of the ritual...the Neoteny? Leone: Someone called No. 16. But No. 16 apparently escaped from this lab three years ago. Flemming told us earlier that No. 16 was the hijacker, so that's not a surprise.  Leone: If a Name-Knower ingests ACUA, he'll be reduced to Neoteny's puppet, no matter how strong he was before. A rag doll on strings pulled by Neoteny's will. Supposedly, No. 16 took control of a guard, and marched out the front door with him. I wonder how the guard got ACUA in his system. The scientists giving it to him on purpose would be stupid, but not necessarily out of character.  There's also this. The phrase has come up a couple times. Leone: I'm not sure. Everything I've been telling you is information extracted from the lab workers we captured soon after arrival. They didn't say anything else about Name-Knowers. I can say for sure that No. 16 is your hijacker, and that it's an attempt to exact revenge on BEAGLE... I don't think No. 16 gives a rat's rear end about about Pythagoras. Roger told Snake that the hijackers had specifically asked for the Pythagoras data - but it's certainly not impossible that Snake, Roger, or both are being manipulated. One more mystery. Leone: It's all about making BEAGLE, Flemming, and especially Hans Davis, suffer as much as possible. No more, no less. Maybe Leone's right. Maybe Snake is just here because No. 16 knows he's secretly Hans Davis, and Pythagoras is just a smokescreen.  Teliko: Why would No. 16 order the ACUA Troops to attack you? Wouldn't that be taking sides with BEAGLE? Leone: No. 16 is simply toying with us, and there's more toying just around the corner. Leone said he came here on an anonymous tip. Was it a trap?  The mystery man said the same thing.  But Snake's got other things on his mind. Leone: I don't know. The workers we captured only knew his name. No one had even laid eyes on him. Flemming may be the only one who can identify him. How convenient.    At this point, there's really no option other than to see it through. Leone: You can't get in. Breaking into FAR is impossible. Snake: Why's that? Leone: Unless... I help you out. Then it's a whole new ball game. Snake: ... Leone: If I could just get my hands on Pythagoras and expose it to the public, two or three of the top execs at BEAGLE would be finished.  Leone: Both you and my unit were invited to this island as "guests," just to make BEAGLE squirm. Even if you get Pythagoras to the hijacker, I don't think No. 16 will let up. No matter how you slice it, that plane is going to crash. So what's Viggo Hach's role in all of this, anyway? He's definitely not on the level, but it's hard to figure out much beyond that. Leone: Join up with me, Snake. I'll show you how to get into FAR, and help you get what you need. If you insist on getting Pythagoras, that's fine. I'll be happy with a copy, BEAGLE has to fry!  Presumably, the line's been open. Leone: Roger?  Leone: ... Leone thinks Snake's just gone nuts. Snake: Leone, set your Codec to 145.11. Leone: ... 145.11 isn't a frequency used in any of the other games. No easter eggs here, unfortunately.   But hey, Leone's making friends!  Well, "friends." Roger: Snake, you can't get into FAR without Leone's help. Join up with him. Snake: ...Yes, sir. Leone: Now we're talkin'. OK, Snake, first you need to head for the power plant. Of course we can't just go straight there.  Leone: It's in the northeast. You need to disable FAR's frontal security system in order to get in. To do that you'll have to cut the power supply at the northeast power plant. Go on. I'll fill you in on the details later. I need to make preparations here. What do you need to prepare on the rope bridge?  He says "here" and then immediately leaves.  Snake and Teliko linger to avoid the awkward situation of saying goodbye to someone and then continuing in the same direction. Roger: Snake, I probably don't need to say this, but be wary of Leone...just to be on the safe side. Snake: Yes, sir. Roger: Now, go northeast to the power plant with Teliko. Snake: Right. And so, the cutscene ends.  ...And another one starts right up! We're back with the bomb, which Minette has presumably just been staring at since Snake and Teliko left the factory.  You should just have her freeze it. I've heard that works for bomb disposal. Minette: Yellow, then blue. OK. Alice: ...  Because of the limits of the visual novel-esque presentation, this scene doesn't really work. There's no tension or real emotion or anything, it's just text and character portraits cutting in and out. Alice: Next is green. But you have to strip the green cord and only cut the thick wire inside. Cutting any of the wires wrapped around it will trigger a relay, so be careful. Slowly but surely. Minette: I'll give it a shot.   Compounding the issue is the lack of narration. Minette is in an extremely high-stakes situation where a quarter-inch is the difference between life and death. But that's all lost when you just get the dialogue - no shaking hands, no nervous sweating. Just "hey this is tough" followed by "I did it." Metal Gear Acid's strength is in its writing, but the presentation just doesn't do it justice. Alice: You're surprisingly good with your hands, and doing much better than I could! Are you a pianist? Minette: Yes. I love playing piano. My daddy says I'm talented. And, on that note, I'll see you next time for... filler.
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Jul 19, 2019 20:18
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Well that’s ominous news about an evil psychic child. Good thing they immediately show us Alice being a good psychic child. Wouldn’t want a sense of tension to build up.
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Jul 19, 2019 20:27
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I feel like the infrequent updates help The schizophrenic feel of the game
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Jul 19, 2019 23:02
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Part Thirty-Five: AA Quality Filler Now that we've made actual forward progress for the first time in ten updates, we have two filler maps before we actually hit the power plant. Mustn't go too fast, you know.   And so, Snake and Teliko are unceremoniously dumped into the Mountains map.   The only new thing on the map are these flying platform guys. They're guards on flying platforms, which means you can't punch them if you get close. Similar to Ciphers, I guess, but Chaff can't mess them up.     Other than that, this is a map where you follow the path from the entrance to the exit.  Since I didn't really want to deal with the interstitial area and stealth, I'm just going to kill everyone in the way.  Platform guys, by the way, explode upon death.   Teliko knocked this guy the gently caress out.  But Snake is serious about his job.  I'd like to imagine some banter or something between them, as Teliko tries to keep things quiet and Snake is just blasting fools.  The path kind of circles around and you have to get behind this guy, but he's watching part of the path to get there.  Another guard was surprised when Teliko shot a sniper rifle.  I know that the idea is that you wait for the guards to move and you can find a way through, nobody sees anything, &c. But here's the problem with Metal Gear Acid vs. Metal Gear Solid: Metal Gear Acid is turn-based.  Everyone moves according to how much Cost they've built up on their turn.   But my deck is heavy on Cost-reducers, because that lets you, you know, play the game more. Not only do you not have to wait while each enemy makes their individual moves, it gives you a tactical/numerical advantage to just move more frequently than anyone else on the map.   In Metal Gear (Solid), you can sit in a secure place, watch guards' routes, and then move when you're clear. In Acid, the only way to do that is to sit, burn your turns while guards move through their routes, and then respond.   On top of that, guards don't have very efficient decks, so if you're pinned down or a guard is watching a choke point, you might have to burn two or three turns before they move even once.   It technically counts against you at the end of the mission, but it's just so much faster to shoot your way through.  Now, if you want to, you can use non-lethal means - tranquiliser guns, stun grenades, &c. - but you have to build a deck for that. Those don't work on robots, but everything can be shot.   You can pop into a map, check out what's on it, then go back to Intermission and build a deck specifically for it (there's no presets, by the way) and then use an adapted weapon set. Or you can just rush everything.  And that's a wrap on the Mountains!  Points don't matter, because you can farm them.  Nothing to pick up here, but gathered cards don't matter, because they're random and you almost never need random cards, so you're better off buying from the store and save-scumming.  Bonuses don't matter, because they're MGS1 cards. The point is, Metal Gear Acid's systems aren't well-enough integrated with each other to support these little interstitial areas. They stick out badly because they lack any kind of story progression and the stealth/card game loop isn't realised well-enough to deal with a small area full of choke points. But that's the Mountains.  Past the Mountains is Outside FAR.  We are now directly on the other side of the Drawbridge. We're now very close to the endgame.   This time, there's a bit of introduction.  Roger: It must be FAR.   Snake calling Roger, then getting immediately called by Leone is a tiny bit funny to me. Leone: Rush into FAR now, and Gun Cameras will turn your rear end to Swiss cheese. My man, you ever heard of Chaff Grenades? Leone: Keep going east and get to the powerhouse. I had never in my life seen the word "powerhouse" used to refer to a power plant before this, but this game is pretty married to it. Roger: Do as he says, Snake. Snake: ...Right.  Here we are now, Outside FAR and headed to the power plant.     This map is just a path around a central square, one guard on each corner.  Like the Mountains, the goal is just to run across the map to the exit.   Around the square are a few of these little pillbox rooms, each one containing a card pack.   Being inside is useful as the guards move around. On the west side of the square, they converge.   This made one of the squares you need to move through inconvenient, so they had to die.  Watching his friend get murdered by an unseen man upset this guard, and he ran off to call for help.   Teliko gave him some bullets as an assist, but he didn't care much for the delivery mechanism.  If enemies see someone die, and they call for help, but they don't actually see you, it'll trigger a Caution phase. This doesn't count as being spotted, but can actually be useful because of some of the more mystical mechanics of enemy movement and turn order.  This guy's too far to pop.  So I picked up the Chronicle pack, instead.   Back to enemy movement/turn order. Based on some inscrutable rule, sometimes enemies don't actually get a turn - it seems to be based on how far away they are from Snake/Teliko. Probably meant to keep things brisk, but it doesn't always help.  I killed this guy who was looking at a truck because I had too many guns and not enough movement cards or Cost reducers. Didn't want to see if he'd turn around and cause problems.   Once that's done, it's just a jog to the exit.   And mission complete!   The MGS2 packs are nothing special.  But the Chronicle pack contains an actual useful card. RC Missiles are required for the next map.  A FAMAS and a scope are not required for the next map.  Teliko: Right.  Not so fast, Snake!  Leone is on the line! Whatcha got, Jeff?  Leone: Take Nikita Missiles to the next powerhouse. Teliko: Nikita Missiles? Leone: Yeah. I guarantee you'll need 'em. RC Missiles will work fine, too. So don't forget to add RC Missiles or Nikita Missiles to your deck. I find it kind of charming when Metal Gear games just kind of guide the player directly like this.  Next time: the power plant!
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Jul 26, 2019 18:30
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Powerhouse is a pretty common term in relation to hydro generation stations. What portion of all cards (and all useful cards) do you have at this point?
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Jul 27, 2019 13:42
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According to the game, I have 120/204 cards, so about 60% of them. Useful cards, well, I've got most of what I need right now. There are still some upgrades of things to get (move cards, Cost reducers, &c.), but most cards in this game are pretty specialised.
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Jul 27, 2019 18:41
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It's a little surprising to see we're close to the endgame. I'm pretty sure the next update or two should cover where I stopped playing way back in the day and I don't really remember thinking the game felt close to being over. Maybe I stopped right before the game goes full Metal Gear during the last act? Either way looking forward to seeing what's actually going on in the plot.
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Aug 5, 2019 16:58
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There are definitely still a lot of revelations/information that will be sort of dumped out in the last act. And, like Metal Gear Solid tended to, this game goes right to the end.
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Aug 6, 2019 15:55
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Part Thirty-Six: The Genius of Stealth Today, we're heading to  the Power Plant.  It grates me that they weren't consistent within their own game about what the place is called. Snake: Affirmative.   Leone: To get into FAR we have to take care of two things. First, disable its frontal security systems. In order to do that, you need to cut the power at that powerhouse. If you manage to cut the power, it'll take five minutes for the auxiliary power to kick in, which will rearm the security system. A password must be input to open the door before that happens. If you knock out the power, won't the computers be out? How are you going to input a password? Snake: So you're telling me we have to cut the power at this powerhouse, then input a code at FAR's front door within five minutes?  Leone: You two deal with the powerhouse, and I'll take care of the password. This is exactly the wrong split for this. Leone, the man with the anti-tank rifle and the army is standing in front of a loving door for the duration, while Snake and Teliko are, uh, you'll see.  Leone: There's a control room at the back. You'll find a power supply system there, which must be destroyed. As soon as the power is cut, I'll punch in the password, and get in through the front door. Then I'll fix it up so the doors can be opened from inside the building.  Before we can carry out the plan, we're treated to an actual cutscene.  Here's Leone.  There's the door.    Mission loving complete. Leone: When security's down, I'll set fire to some oil drums to draw out the ACUA Soldiers on guard duty. Gimme a signal right before you cut the power, Snake. Snake: Right. Roger: Leone, we don't know the building's layout. Could you give us an idea where to start?  Leone: The control room is in the back of the powerhouse. Roger: There you have it, Snake. If you're paying attention, you know that he didn't actually tell us anything we didn't know.  Snake: Right.  Alright, time to just jump right in to this horseshit.      This hallway is filled with ACUA Soldiers.  Most notably, this one. This man is the real titular "genius of stealth."  You can move this far into the hallway without getting spotted.  If you do, this soldier moves to stare at a wall.  But, uh... son of a bitch, hang on.  The game refused to give me a gun, so I had to start the map over.  Anyway, this soldier doesn't move and is too far away to hit with anything but a sniper rifle.  I missed with the first shot, so I used a Sniper Wolf card to boost Teliko's accuracy.   Sniper Wolf's card clip is just her poppin' benzos.  With this man's death, the disaster parade has begun.  But this man being here is the real poo poo.  You need RC missiles to do this mission, and Teliko didn't draw a sniper rifle, so I decided to shoot him with an RC missile. Why not, right? This is a mistake.   Oops, Snake took care of it.  Well, whatever, I'll just blow this guy up.  This has two effects: first, blowing up a missile inside causes an Alert phase. Second, Snake was in the blast radius. Things aren't lookin' great for him. A good player would have restarted, but honestly I thought it was funnier to play it out.    The World's Greatest Mercenary manages to climb a ladder, miss a bunch of shots, and then burn to death.  Teliko, meanwhile, still can't find her rifle, so she's stuck trying to fistfight this guy who has Front Evade equipped.   Here's a spoiler: I managed to get through the map.  When a character goes Out of Action, they recover after 20 Cost, but with only 10 Life.  They also lose whatever cards they had equipped and whatever was in their hand. It's a big penalty, and I think it works pretty well to balance the fact that you can't get a game over as long as one of the characters is standing.  So all I could manage to do was get Snake over here to kick this guy.  Eventually, Snake and Teliko's teamwork pays off and they manage to knock a man out.  At which point Teliko promptly found her PSG-1.  Was it necessary? No. Did it make anything better? No.  But we managed to survive.  Now, on to the second room of the Power Plant.  This is a big room full of gently caress-all. You go up the stairs, follow the catwalk around, back down the stairs, across the room, up the stairs again, follow the catwalk, and...  I'm just going to skip over it. There were guards here; they're dead now.  Moving through the filler room dumps you into another hallway. The Power Plant is a very long map.  This hallway is full of ACUA Soldiers facing away from the entrance, equipped with Read Evade Lv. 3.  And, up on the walkways, these guys, who don't have Rear Evade.  This guy has armour.  I was not having fun at this point. I was already frustrated trying to sneak by the Genius in the first map - I was originally going to go for a no kills/undetected run, but that dog wouldn't hunt. And then, once I brought in the PSG-1, I had to restart the mission twice. When you restart the mission, you have to sit through all the dialogue and the cutscene where Leone strolls over to the door of FAR.  So I killed everyone in the hallway and moved on.  To the first room of the Power Plant that actually loving matters. There is, legitimately, the germ of a good map contained within this one. Cut it down to the first hallway and this room and you have a good setup, but instead it's two-thirds filler. This is really a microcosm of the game. Back in the day, I spent far more time with Metal Gear Acid 2, which strips out a lot of the chaff and builds on the generally-solid core aspects of the game. Unfortunately, in order to learn a lesson, sometimes you have to make a mistake, so this game is very bloated and deeply frustrating.  Teliko: ... Unlike the hallways and the second room, there's actually something to this room. Snake: This floor is charged with high voltage electricity. The return of a classic Metal Gear trap.   Upset that Snake's stopped moving, Roger calls in. Snake: We've got a problem here. The floor is electrified. Roger: An electric floor? Why such tight security?  Oh, and here's Jeff. Leone: When that generator is shut down, most of the security in the entire plant is temporarily shut down with it. Snake: We gotta stop the electric current somehow. Where's the switchboard?  This is how the electric floor trap works, naturally. It wouldn't be very effective if the switch was on the same side whomever you're trying to keep out. Teliko: Great. So we get to be flame broiled on our way to it? Just wonderful.  And there's the other half. Snake: You mean fire an RC Missile into the switchboard to blow it up? Roger: Yes. There's no other way. You must've done something like that on a previous mission. He says that so nonchalantly.  I mean, yeah, he's right, but he shouldn't be. Roger: There's no time, Snake. Fire an RC missile into the switchboard, disable the electric floor, and get into that control room! Snake: Right. And so, we're given an objective that isn't just go from point A to point B. Next time: the second half of this long-rear end level!
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Aug 27, 2019 17:49
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My dad used to work as an engineer at a power plant. The building with the massive steam boilers that produced the power was the power house, so I just assume that's the catch-all name for the building with the actual machines producing the power.
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Aug 28, 2019 03:20
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Is there a chance of going dead-man-walking if you don't have a RC missile in your deck?
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Aug 28, 2019 16:36
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Decoy Badger posted:Is there a chance of going dead-man-walking if you don't have a RC missile in your deck?
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Aug 28, 2019 20:14
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I just checked, and it will let you start the mission even without RC missiles. It doesn't even stop you at the electric floor room, and you can't actually move over the electric floor. So you'd have to quit to the intermission, come back, and watch the cutscene again - and on top of that, if you gently caress up and don't add the card to your deck, it'll let you do it again.
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Aug 28, 2019 21:29
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I stand corrected! 
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Aug 29, 2019 01:20
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Something else I just thought of while doing some farming is that you're not guaranteed to have RC missiles. They're a random draw from the MGS2 and Chronicle packs. They're not rare or anything, but there's a non-zero chance you won't have any.
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Aug 29, 2019 01:32
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This game is just so deeply baffling on so many levels
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Aug 30, 2019 11:42
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In a way, this game reminds me of Metal Gear 2, where the devs maybe didn't know exactly what to do to expand on the core mechanics, so you end up chasing pigeons or standing outside a door, burning through your entire deck for the key.
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Sep 6, 2019 17:09
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Part Thirty-Seven: Lights Out! Here we are, in the middle of the Power Plant, where we have to take out the electrified floors.    This entryway is, of course, pretty heavily guarded.  There's one dude just sorta hangin' out over here, too.  Plus one in the way, way back.   Scanning around, we can also see two control panels. This spoils the "surprise" of the map, which is that we have to do the electric floor trick twice.  Another thing that's spoiled in these white targets showing that this is not the end of the map.     These guys all tripped and broke their necks so that I could park and do missile stuff.   Missile stuff includes this guy having just the worst possible day.  I cut out most of the shots of it, but I'll talk briefly about RC missiles here. Once you fire one, it can move 5 squares per turn, as long as it's still got fuel. The trick is, while it's out there, whoever fired it can't move (or play other cards, like Cost reducers), so they're a sitting duck for patrols. The missile itself can also be spotted and shot down.   Clear out the guards and it's pretty easy to deal with the panel.  Roger: OK. There's one more electrified panel left.  The camera pans over to show you where the second panel is, but it's up a ramp. Teliko: But in that position... Can't get that with a missile from here. Roger: Snake, isn't there anywhere high up you could shoot from?  This is kind of bizarre because it's nominally a puzzle, but the game just spells it out for you. You have to get to the pictured vent which is, of course, along the path we just opened. Snake: I'll check it out.  The side-effect of setting off an explosion is that an Alert phase pops.  Not only does the guy protecting the second panel come after you, but more guards show up:  so that's what Teliko is doing.  Snake, unfortunately, is Out of Action for a while.    Yet again, I was sure this would be game over, but Teliko held her own.  It was very close.  But Ms. Friedman won the gunfight.   Once the guards are down, Snake takes out the second trap. I'll mention here that, unlike other missions with required cards, the game does nothing to stop you from starting the mission or getting this far without having RC missiles in your deck. On top of that, there's a chance that you won't even have any RC missiles available - they're common cards, but they're still random pulls from the shop.  Roger: Nice work! Now go down the hall and head to the back, where the control room is located.  And so.   The big thing to watch out for is these two IR sensors. The wide one you can crawl under, but the one-tile one actually goes all the way down, so you have to be sure you go around it.  With all the guards dead, this is just a stroll down the hall.  And into another hallway!    There are a bunch of guards huddled around these explosive barrels.   And, on the catwalks, a pair of patrol bots.  This is a loooooooong loving map. Keep in mind that this is a portable game.  The placement of the barrels means you can't just run down the hallway on the ground level.  That, in turn, means you have to pop the patrol bot or blow up the barrels.  I shot all the guards/robots and ran through, which is my MO for the map.  Thankfully, that was the last hallway. This is the (entryway to) the last room of the area.  Snake and Teliko have to split up here to get through to the control room. Roger: Leone, which way do they go? Leone: They have to go both ways. Snake: What do you mean? Leone: A lot of terminals are in the sections up ahead. Each one is an open/close device corresponding to certain doors.  On top of having to split up, the BRC-026 gimmick is coming back. The brilliant return of having to stand around to hold the door for the other character. Leone: It's the same idea. Teliko: OK. Let's do what we can. Leone: You have to pull it off for our plan to work, Snake. Why didn't you mention this beforehand?  Also, this metaphor doesn't really work when the man is called Snake. Roger: Don't let him get to you, Snake. We're counting on you and Teliko to get the job done. Snake: ...Right.  Snake goes left, Teliko goes right.  Opening the door reveals the whole mess. It's less of a pain than it looks like - two linear paths that cross over each other with a few locked doors in the way.     And, of course, the standard guards.  Once you get through the door, Snake calls Leone. Leone: ...Metal Gear? Snake: ...Yeah. Leone: The nuclear-equipped walking battle tank... Boy, what a surprise it would be if Metal Gear wasn't here. Come all this way and oops, bad intel. Leone: The problem with weapons of mass destruction has always been how to transport them. Top of the line technology is indispensable, especially for intercontinental ballistic missile guidance systems. It just wouldn't be a Metal Gear game if it didn't have an inopportune conversation about nuclear weapons. Leone: It's been extremely difficult for developing countries to create such weapons on their own. The Metal Gear developed here is a nuclear attack system with all the necessary elements - wrapped up in a pretty package. Apparently, this one is being developed specifically for sale. Leone: Its walk-based mobility even allows it to get to those hard to reach places. The hard to reach places from which you can launch the intercontinental ballistic missiles.  I'm not 100% sure Leone understands Metal Gear. Leone: I'm sure a great many countries are dying to get their paws on it. Snake: So...this Metal Gear was built to sell? Leone: BEAGLE likes to think of it as a tool for fomenting worldwide conflict. Ah, of course, the business power move of starting a global thermonuclear war. Snake: If something like that gets distributed worldwide, the consequences would be devastating. As a concept, Metal Gear makes sense - uh, "makes sense" - as a Cold War deterrent, a new step in the nuclear arms race, or as a terrorist weapon. It does not make sense as a thing that you just sell to people. Without nukes, it's a tank that can walk. With nukes, it's a loving nuclear bomb. Leone: Tell me about it. A quarter century has passed since the Cold War ended. Once again, the world will be faced with a nuclear threat. Only this time... it's much more serious. Roger: Where is Metal Gear?  Makes sense.  Now, back to the rest of it.  Snake has to chill at this console.   Doing so opens the door so that Teliko can chill at this console.  Remember this from BRC-026? It's just as good the second time.  This guy saw one of his buddies get ventilated and now he has ideas.   With the door open over here, Snake can grab a Stinger missile. This is actually a dead end.   Running around a bit more, it's time for another call. This one features a great view of a railing. Leone: No. 16 ordered Flemming to activate the ACUA Troops. No. 16 will most likely continue the ongoing threats until Hans Davis comes out on his hands and knees crying for forgiveness. But Hans Davis is nowhere to be found. If his true name and identity were revealed, he would be destroyed. Hans Davis has to be a high ranking official with a reputation to uphold. Little bit of dramatic irony here, if Hans is actually Snake.  There's probably supposed to be a shot of Snake here, but it obviously didn't work. Leone: No. 16 will force Flemming to activate Metal Gear. A nuclear missile will then be launched at a major country, and BEAGLE will be held responsible. That would be the perfect revenge for No. 16.  This call is in a bit of an awkward place. Gotta dump that plot somewhere, eh? Leone: It told me that if I was aiming to retaliate against BEAGLE, I should find and take Pythagoras, which is hidden in a laboratory on Lobito Island. The voice also told me that Pythagoras would ultimately sound the death knell for BEAGLE.  Snake: Yeah. Leone: Now I know who was behind the voice. It was...No. 16. Snake: That was No. 16? I didn't know Grey Fox was psychic.  Leone: Once again... I've been shown great contempt and disrespect. This is one of those classic Metal Gear calls where everyone's chit-chatting but gameplay-wise, someone's just loving standing around in the open. Leone: Before it was BEAGLE, but this time, I was used by No. 16.  That was the end of that call, and the next one starts soon enough. Now we can learn a bit more about Jeffrey. Leone: My unit was hired by an anti-government organization in Moloni to fight in a domestic war. We fought many battles there. Eventually, when I thought we were close to final victory, the enemy's military power suddenly increased dramatically. Almost all units were instantly eradicated by ACUA Troops being tested at the site. My unit and my employer's organization were the only ones left. The domestic warfare was brought to an end.  Leone: Yeah. The organization that employed us was actually under BEAGLE control. I guess standing outside got to Leone. He just had to talk to someone.  BEAGLE, huh? Hard to believe. Leone: Moloni's anti-government militia just wasn't strong enough. Combat wouldn't drag on long enough.  ...Which is why they want to get Metal Gear involved. Leone: BEAGLE invited my unit into the mess as an attempt to balance the power - to make the war last longer. They manipulated us. They went to all this effort to start a civil war, but only ever spent five minutes naming their conspiracy. It's just not a very threatening animal! Also, I just realised that there's a guard staring right at Snake at this point. Solid Snake is literally having this conversation with a gun at his back. Leone: Once we realized that BEAGLE was led by high-ranking U.S. officials, my men were furious. That's when No. 16 called up with the invitation. Snake: ...   Roger is absolutely correct. Snake: Right.  I'm activating this MGS2 pack.   That's what you get for listening to my phone call, douchebag.   Now, finally, I can open the door.   To open this other door.   So that we can get to this third door.  And, up here, finally...  This door.   loving finally.  C's get degrees, baby. I'm gettin' my MGA.
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Sep 6, 2019 20:40
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That’s a lot of Metal Gear for one mission.
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Sep 6, 2019 20:55
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Wandering around listlessly while someone talks about Metal Gear at you is a very Metal Gear experience.
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Sep 9, 2019 15:42
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Decoy Badger posted:Wandering around listlessly while someone talks about Metal Gear at you is a very Metal Gear experience. I guess Kojima agrees; you spend a very large amount of Phantom Pain doing pretty much that except you have to manually start up the cassette tapes for people to talk about Metal Gear/Sahelanthropus/insane pseudoscience.
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Sep 10, 2019 02:41
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Captain Walker posted:I guess Kojima agrees; you spend a very large amount of Phantom Pain doing pretty much that except you have to manually start up the cassette tapes for people to talk about Metal Gear/Sahelanthropus/insane pseudoscience. Well yeah, what do you expect from an Open World MGS game?
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Sep 10, 2019 04:42
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Man, I remember that long hallway with the explosive barrels and robots on the upper landing but I do not remember running around opening doors and being talked at in the area after. Also I like how Snake and Teliko were near death the whole time. It's understandable since healing cards are worthless draws in every situation except when you need to heal so they aren't worth the deckslot. Maybe they should have had an option to use all cards as an inefficient bandage like you can for movement.
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Sep 27, 2019 22:19
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One way to get around that is to staple some bonus effect to the healing. Even just “draw a card” is usable, but combining with movement or cost reduction would easily make healing worth a slot.
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Sep 28, 2019 04:37
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