1.) This is not a fact. The shooting is not factually substandard it is IN YOUR OPINION substandard. I don't agree with this opinion. In addition I play MGS as a stealth game. Shooting only occurred during boss battles and when I needed to tranq enemies.
2.) This is not even a factor at all. Wow a game has loading. Big deal.
3.) I'm a MGS fan. To bring up cutscenes and try to relate them as negatives to me doesn't work. They a large reason why I enjoy these games as much as I do.
4.) I do not claim that the story is OMG SO FUCKING AMAZING OSCAR WORTHY FUCK YEAH, but I love watching it unfold. I've been there since the beginning, and even though I don't agree with all the storytelling decisions I love watching it.
5.) The only low point about Act 3 is the "follow the frenchie" section. The cutscene, the chase, the boss battle, and the final cutscene were awesome. No point in arguing with me here. I liked it.
And every game has low points. The entire first two chapters of Gears of War 2 were kind of boring, but the game ramps up later on. Regardless of the boring first two sections Gears 2 is in my top ten.
6.) Thanks for your opinion on the boss battles. I don't agree. Especially on Crying Wolf, which is the best boss battle in the game.
7.) See point 4.
8.) Pacing was fine to me.
9.) Where? When?
1. It is a FACT that the shooting mechanics are substandard in comparison to any other good modern shooter. The fact that you have to play it as a stealth game and only shot at bosses just proves my point. It's not a coincidence that the only Act in the game that I really enjoyed (Act 2) is the only act that's designed from beginning to end with stealth in mind (aside from the shitty boss battles). And it's undeniable that the cover mechanics are truly terrible and half-baked.
2. The game engine is ridiculously unoptimized. In this day and age where I can move around huge open worlds with zero loading, the tiny play areas and frequent installations are just amateur, which is amazing since this is probably the most expensive game released this year.
3. I felt the same way back in 1998 when cutscenes were novel and mostly brief and to the point. What we are stuck with now is preachy and incredibly long-winded. Kojima needs an editor. Badly. The only one I thought was cool was the end of Act 3.
5. "Follow the Frenchie" was the majority of the Act. The "loads every 30 seconds" chase scene was terrible. Who thinks it's a good idea to put you in a chase scene without a decent, high-ammo weapon to use?!? That just wasn't fun, at all. I can give you dozens of games that have better on rails sections.
6. The boss battle scenarios aren't all bad. However, they are sabotaged by the unwieldy controls.
Especially Crying Wolf.
8. Are you serious? Between the uneven gameplay sections, the incredibly long cutscenes, the long loading/installation, and the endless before/after mission debriefings, you think it's well-paced?!? YOU GO AN ENTIRE ACT WITHOUT PLAYING THE CORE GAME. That's inexcusable.
9. It's easiest to see in Act 1, but it can happen throughout the game if/when you're spotted. I know it's not the same as it is in COD4, but it's still ridiculously annoying to have to go hide in a locker for a minute at a time. This was novel in 1998. It's just annoying as fuck now.
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