Weekend Confirmed 99 - Double Fine, Reckoning, Cell HD: emergence

Jeff Mattas, your problem with the Metal Gear games sounds like more than simply an issue with the cinematic over-the-top action and melodrama, but more of a total disability of comprehending gameplay and control design philosophy on a holistic level, which is another way of saying: You're neck-deep in western game design and don't know heads from tails when looking at Japanese design and its demands.

My first suggestion is to stop trying to play Metal Gear Solid 4. It sounds as if you didn't even play 2 or 3, let alone to completion. You need to go back to Metal Gear Solid 1 (for PS1), as it is still mechanically sound and holds up to some degree. If you wish to tackle this struggle of yours, you need to reboot your gameplay comprehension away from modern western design bias.

The first thing to acknowledge is that the Metal Gear Solid control scheme design philosophy is based on action and function. I don't understand why you struggle with the idea of X being to crouch (especially when there are plenty of other games that do the same, like Call of Duty and Battlefield with the Circle button).

Tap X to crouch, hold X to prone. This is consistent across all of the 3D MGS games. Moving while crouched turns into crawl/prone, with exception to MGS4 and Peacewalker.

Square, for MGS1 (PS1) can be a little touchy. Grabbing a soldier from behind in the PS1 game requires Snake to stop moving. If your analog stick is tilted slightly, he'll throw the soldier, eventually alerting the alarm.

The Soliton Radar system and the First-Person view are your best friends. Treat the radar like you were playing Pacman. There is no shame in navigating while looking at the radar more than the game screen, unless there are claymores abound.

The Codec system is the game's Hint system. In ways, this is revolutionary game design as the codec is largely voluntary, but rewards the player with both hints and color commentary that expands the world's lore and character development. The Codec calls serve as a human connection to the story, generating endearment and involvement.

The controls vary or have minor tweaks throughout the series, sometimes having absurd button controls for aiming in first person while peeking around corners or over boxes/rails, but once you've played through them, you should gain a greater appreciation for MGS4 in that regard.

(To Xav: One of the main game design themes of Metal Gear Solid 3 was "Survival." Clearly you either ignored or forgot this during your playthrough. If it helps any, the HD collection provides a far superior and sleeker experience thanks to the lack of giant pixel aliasing in an otherwise busy jungle forest. Menus load faster too).

When you get to Metal Gear Solid 3, please keep in mind that the original control scheme expected the camera to be over-head, with the ability to click and lock the camera away from Snake's center. The Subsistence and HD Collection version of MGS3 loads the game set to the 3D camera set to default, but made no efforts to adjust gameplay controls to accommodate this (as these revisions were improved upon in MGS4).

Treat MGS3 more like an open-world game, catching and killing animals for food, sneaking through the high-grass, changing your camoflauge, etc, instead of a linear corridor shooter of some kind, or even the past MGS games. Let the setting set your pace.

(to be continued)