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[Vic Viper]

did anyone here got the OPM demo yet ?

i heared the Official Playstation Mag is already out in some areas. ive search just about everywhere today looking for that mag but with no luck..

[merylsilverburg]

Not yet...as I said before, it's probably gonna come late for me, so don't expect me to have it yet...damn, I want it though.

[merylsilverburg]

I GOT IT!! I got the magazine - I mean, I got the demo!! I just finished playing it (actually, I didn't *finish* the demo because if you don't move constantly the demo thinks you're not doing anything and keeps taking you back to the stupid main menu, arrghhh! ) but...

OH MY GOD

I kept my eyes glued to the screen every minute. Damn, the graphics have improved! My jaw just fell open at the sight of the sunset when Snake (Snake for short, but his codename is "Naked Snake") jumped out of the gunship. Basically, the opening when he jumps off the gunship is probably stuff that's been shown in trailers already, so I don't need to talk about that since I assume everyone (but me) has seen it. It was amazing!

First off, the graphics are so terrific! The trees and bushes look so realistic...the way the bushes sway as you move in them and all...wow.

A lot of the controls seem to be the same except one new feature is using the directional buttons to stalk your enemy. When you first jump off the gunship, Snake loses his backback containing all his weapons and items. You start off going to retrieve it by climbing up the tree using the triangle button. Hang off the tree branch, using the triangle and retrieve your bag.

Afterwards, you're supposed to go and rescue a guy named Dr. Sokolov being kept prisoner by the Russians. That's where the whole stealth thing begins. And that's where the camouflage comes in:

You know, I thought the camo changing was supposed to be a quick change option. Where you'd press R2 or something and you can instantly change your camouflage. Well, I dunno if this is going to change, but in the demo, it's not so. You have to press the Start button to get your camouflage options, then select which one you want, and then press Start again to go back to the game screen. Honestly, this is a hassle and it causes a disturbance in the game flow.

Otherwise, the camouflage is really a genius because the patterns Snake wears really blend into the areas. I lost him once in the tall bushes...that's when I got discovered by the enemy... But, I think the more the game progresses, the more this camo feature will really be put into use. Along with keeping track of the enemy soldiers.

I think stealth will really be enhanced in this game even more...playing the demo brought back the rush of fear (which I didn't feel in MGS2). The fear which comes from actually being discovered by the soldiers. Picking the right camo helps, but if you're not covered fully (around 60% or so), the soldiers will pick up on you. Crawling is going to your main way of getting around it seems...but even crawling, the soldiers pick up on you.

One bit of problem I have with the camera/FPS is during the crawling. While crawling through the tall bushes, it automatically switches to first-person mode which prevents you from seeing where the enemy is. I mean, those bushes are tall. It's hard to see beyond them...I just wish the FPS thing would come up only if we want it to.

The codec scenes have been changed...it's still a 3-D model, but it's more of a photo of a 3-D character. There's no activity going on because it's trying to keep with the time era, so it's in black and white and no movement. Snake's chief/boss this time is a guy whom we are supposed to call "Major Tom" (I have no idea why Tom). Everything follows the traditional MGS storyline; you have the chief/major and you've got the female paramedic/doctor (like Naomi or Rose) and then...there's a woman called The Boss who was Snake's mentor and advisor and she will be supervising the mission.

The game will be much tougher I feel because there are many limits now to your weapons. For example, you have an MK-22 tranquilizer gun, an M1911A1 hand gun, and an M16A1 assult rifle/should rifle all which you can attach a supressor to. Unfortunately, the more you shoot with the suppressor, the more it wears out and there's a meter showing you how much durability your suppressor has. Wear it out compelety and you don't have a suppressor anymore.

Same with the motion detector and one other item I forgot. They use batteries, so the more you use it, the more the battery will be used and run out.

The stamina bar is important because it keeps Snake "up and running". You need to feed him otherwise his stomach will growl (as what happened to me -_-;;; ) and the enemy will hear you. This will also keep up his endurance and he'll heal quicker if it's full. The healing process is this: you hide Snake out somewhere and stand still...his health bar will recover gradually depending on his stamina.

The demo seems very long, unfortunately I don't have the time to play it all the way through right now.

I do have a question for those who have the demo: how do you kill the gators and get their head? I tried various things (knife, handgun, shotgun <--- this blew it to pieces though...) and I just wondered if I'm just stupid and couldn't figure it out, hehe.

[Vic Viper]

wow meryl thanks alot for a great impression. i have few questions..

How is the Close Quarter Combat system?

How many camo patters are there?

Were there any boss battle ?

Did come across any monkeys in the demo?


btw, i still cant find the demo around here, they say ill have to wait till tuesday to get the mag..

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Vic Viper

How is the Close Quarter Combat system?

Ah, whoops, I forgot to mention this because I mainly tranquilized all the soldiers (I'm a wuss ). The CQC is very effective and very improved now. Facing the enemy, you do a basic punch, punch, low kick which causes the guy to hit the ground. From behind, you press the O button, then you grab the enemy. From there, you can do various things:

- Interrogate the enemy by holding down on the O button and pushing L3.
- If surrounded by enemies, pull out your gun (square button) and use the guy as a human shield.
- Knock/shove the enemy to ground using the left analog stick and O (then you can pull out your gun and scare the guy, causing him to drop weapons...like in MGS2)
- Finally, you can (my favorite) slice the poor guy's throat by pressing O again.
Also, the roll move (which was really slow in MGS2, IMO) has been improved because Snake rolls much quicker.

Originally Posted by Vic Viper

How many camo patters are there?

There's probably a whole bunch more but for the demo, there's only 7:

Naked: Just shirtless (I dunno why they can't just say shirtless...) Going shirtless, obviously, makes you a open target as anything can see you. If you're feeling macho, this works, hehe.

Olive Drab: The basic camo you arrive in the jungle in...until you get your backpack. This pattern is a solid color of just an olive green (not good because it's a solid color...you hardly wear this afterwards)

Tiger Stripe: This pattern works with soil, trees, and bushes. It's a tiger pattern but in green/brown tones.

Leaf: The most effective and most used pattern, IMO. Since there's so many bushes and greenery, this pattern helps you blend into them nearly 95%. It's patterned with light green leafy tones.

Tree Bark: Well...it's good for trees only. Actually, I hardly used this one at times because even while you're pressed up against a tree, it's only about 80% of coverage. -_-;;; It's got a horizontal tree bark pattern with mostly dark browns.

Squares: It's got a black-and-red checkerboard pattern. This is only useful later in the demo when you infiltrate the base where Dr. Solokov is kept prisoner. The base is entirely in a brick pattern, so this is the one to use.

Black: This is just a solid black color and it's only effective in dark areas, but you know...I hardly used this one because there weren't many dark areas and everything was covered in green shrubbery. Unless you're in "Splinter Cell", this won't work. ^^;;

Originally Posted by Vic Viper

Were there any boss battle ?

I actually managed to finish the demo and no, there weren't any boss battles. But, in the magazine, they said right after you rescue Dr. Sokolov, the young Revolver Ocelot makes his appearance.

Originally Posted by Vic Viper

Did come across any monkeys in the demo?

LOL! No, there weren't any monkeys....I have no idea when that will come into play...I was on the lookout though.

Originally Posted by Vic Viper

btw, i still cant find the demo around here, they say ill have to wait till tuesday to get the mag..

That sucks, man. I really hope you get it soon...honestly, I was surprised to receive mine! But yeah, I hope you get it soon, it rocks, you'll love it.

Also, I have some corrections/revisements to make to what I said in my first post, but I'll do that later, I gotta go. -_-;;;

[merylsilverburg]

I can't edit my post, but I have a correction to make with the CQC:

Bared-handed, if you go up behind the enemy, you'll knock him unconscious.

Stalk at all times if you want to do the following:
If you equip the knife + gun, then you can use the guy as a human shield.

If you equip knife + gun or knife only, interogatte by pushing and holding down L3. Then the guy will say funny things/advice like, "The large snakes are the best!"

You can experiment using the area you come to after Snake looks through his scope. There will be a lone soldier that'll come walking through, all you have to do is wait, then stalk (be sure to stalk, otherwise he'll hear you) and then do whatever you like with the guy. If you mess up or something, all you have to do is return to the previous area then go back. Everything will return to normal.

Also, one other thing with the graphics and enemies...the blood thing has been improved much now, so if you shoot the enemy in the face or the leg or something, blood will seep out and stain the ground, leaving a mark. Keep this in mind if you kill someone and drag them away. (A cool thing about crawling and shooting the enemy at close range in first-person...blood will splatter on the camera lens and it drip down slowly. )

The weapons Snake has in the demo are only in the demo for now. In the actual game, in the first mission, Snake will only have the MK-22 and knife only...Kojima only wanted us players to get a glimpse of the potential weapons Snake'll have for the game.

The items that consume battery are: Thermal Goggles, Night Vision Goggles, Active Sonar, and Motion Detector. The Thermal and NVG have improved in graphic value, as it looks so much more realistic now.

The Codec moments: I forgot to mention...the conversations are not split-screen anymore...instead, you will see Snake's full body as he crouches while the person he's talking to will be a photo. Sorry about that.

The food Snake eats: the ones he likes (such as the reticulated python), he'll express with vigor (which sounds a bit unusual in the Japanese version). The ones he doesn't like, he'll just mumble something. Apparently, if Snake doesn't like a particular food, in the real game, if you constantly keep feeding it to him, he may grow to like it.

Finally the stamina thing: in the real game, apparently, if you have a low stamina and save your game, coming back to it a few days later, the game will realize that a few days has gone by meaning that Snake "slept" in your absence. When you load up your game again, the stamina bar will be full.

Err...that's about it, I think. ^_^

[Vic Viper]

thanks alot meryl, i cant wait to play the demo.

[Vic Viper]

i just got the magazine today, but i think i got a defective copy of the demo, it cant play any of the demo games at all. worse part is that i cant exchange this piece of crap cause i already got the last copy of the mag.. im so fucking pissed off, that i throw away the fucking magazine along with the demo in the trash, im never buying an OPM mag again ..

[MakgSnake]

I have been trying to get my hands on that OPM for the last 1 week. CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE. Its killing me, But thanks meryl for the impression, I didn't read all of it, because I wanna save some for myself and to go crazy, but from what I read, it sounds amazing, thanks.

[merylsilverburg]

That's terrible Vic! What bad luck! And geez, what's up with OPM? Why won't they supply their in-store magazines with workable demos?
You can call SCEA at 1-800-345-SONY (7669) where they can give you information to repair or replacement services.

Or

if you kept your receipt, you can send it to "OPM Replacement Disc". Of course, this applies to a magazine not containing a demo disc.

Sorry again Vic.

Originally Posted by MakgSnake

I have been trying to get my hands on that OPM for the last 1 week. CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE. Its killing me, But thanks meryl for the impression, I didn't read all of it, because I wanna save some for myself and to go crazy, but from what I read, it sounds amazing, thanks.

Yeah, it's better to experience the demo yourself, there's a lot of things you can do, though it's rather short. Hope you can get a copy soon (and not a defective one!)

EDIT: Vic, if you want the OPM address to ask for a replacement, let me know, okay?

[MakgSnake]

That really sucks Viper. I remember something like that happened to my DEMO, I still exchanged it, because I got it from WallMart, those people exchange anything. Hmmmm........try complaining or just pick up another copy, I know its money going away, but still sometimes you have to do extra stuff to get your hands on "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" kinda stuff.

I am still going crazy over not finding OPM November issue anywhere.

[bigboss]

Why do I have to live in bloody England! we don't get the demo for ages and all i can do is sit here and read walkthroughs so i can pretend to play it. what makes it worse is that we don't even get the actual game until MARCH...MARCH what is that!!! some sort of anti-europe conspiracy everyone will have completed it repeatedly and got bored of it by the time it comes to us and all the secrets will be splattered all over the ne so I won't be able to avoid them!!!

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by bigboss

Why do I have to live in bloody England! we don't get the demo for ages and all i can do is sit here and read walkthroughs so i can pretend to play it. what makes it worse is that we don't even get the actual game until MARCH...MARCH what is that!!! some sort of anti-europe conspiracy everyone will have completed it repeatedly and got bored of it by the time it comes to us and all the secrets will be splattered all over the ne so I won't be able to avoid them!!!

Whoa now...March?! Why? Last I heard, it was supposed to be released in December...why did they decide to push it back to March? That's terrible, I feel so sorry for Europe.

[MADRUCKIS]

woah woah, did I miss something?

which month of OPM is this in? Nov or Oct?

[Vic Viper]

Originally Posted by MADRUCKIS

woah woah, did I miss something?

which month of OPM is this in? Nov or Oct?

november. good luck trying to find a copy though.

[MADRUCKIS]

even if I hafta punch a three year old in the face

but I'm sure here in ny, itll be easy to find.....gimme a week
(and I say a week cuz I'm lazy and I dont want to go to the "sure place" I know thatll have it)

[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by MADRUCKIS

even if I hafta punch a three year old in the face

LMAO! Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

I think you could also find some on Ebay, but those guys on there are being total rip-offs: I saw one auction selling the magazine for a "Buy It Now" price of $75!! That's crazy! No one bid, btw, I wonder why.

[MADRUCKIS]

if it has to happen, I'm sure a 3 year old wouldve gladly taken one for the team

but no need, I easily found it today whilst I wasnt lookin for it (which is when you naturally find things). So much so that I dont have my ps2 in my house so Imma hafta wait till tomorrow to go pick it up

the screen shots in the opm are noice...noice noice

[Keyblade Master]

I got the demo from an issue of Playstation magazine, and I did fairly
well judging by the fact that I'm not very good at those type of games.

[The Echuu]

They really spoiled us in the demo by giving us nearly every major weapon in the game. Though it was fun to snipe all of the guards across the bridge, CQC is just the badass way to go through the game.