MGS3 is "Da Bomb"

Thanks, Pro, for starting this debate. To clarify, I'm arguing against the R1 assertion that MGS3 is the *best* PS2 game ever. Instead, I offer that GOW2 (God of War 2) is the better Playstation 2 game. I'm actually a lot more familiar with San Andreas and other GTA games which I feel to be superior; however, I figured MSG and GOW would make for a better comparison anyway. 1. Plot MGS3 is essentially a game about a former American soldier stopping the Russian bad guys and saving a scientist. Wow. Talk about original [sarcasm]. On the other hand, God of War's game revolving around a mortal warrior battling Greek gods is incredibly innovative. Not only is it entertaining and a refreshing contrast to the typical shooting war games, but it's also educational in terms of dealing with Greek mythology. The epic battles between the gods and the story behind it is out of the box and interesting. 2. Ratings Let's take other people's opinions into consideration on this one (including hardcore gamers). [1] MGS3 -- Critics: 9.2 Users: 9.4 Game Spot: 8.7 [2] GOW2 -- Critics: 9.3 Users: 9.5 Game Spot: 9.2 As you can see, God of War out-performed MGS. The experts at Game Spot rank MGS in the level of "great" and GOW as "superb" which is considered a higher denomination. They also note, "games that score in the 9 range are also typically well suited to new players. Games that earn 9s are naturally uncommon, and earn GameSpot's Editors' Choice Award for their outstanding quality" [3]. So, GOW is more user-friendly and suitable for n00bs in additions to veterans alike. But let's not let Game Spot be the only judge. IGN ranks God of War ahead of MGS [4] as does Game Spy [5]. and Game Pro ranks God of War II as the best PS2 game EVER [6]. MGS has never held that title from anywhere as far as I know. 3. Game Play So why is GOW2 ranked so high? The game is straight up fun. There are tons of challenging puzzles and mini-games intricately woven into the storyline which make the game unique and intricate. The settings and battle sites were glorious, the boss battles were "da bomb" and the combat was fierce; they even incorporated new magic and techniques and abilities into the sequel which made it even more interesting. In GOW2, there were new more awesome weapons, bigger and longer levels, and the movie-like scenes weren't drawn out or boring. As far as MGS lacking in certain areas, Game Spot writes, "The gameplay itself really hasn't changed much since the last installment, and it's aged noticeably during these past few years." 4. Graphics Big time gamers go gaga over good graphics. I could easily fetch graphics ratings all of which list GOW2 as the superior candidate. However, let's let the viewers decide for themselves with screen shots from both games: MGS3 -- http://cdn1.gamepro.com... GOW2 -- http://www.swotti.com... 5. Characters Snake from MGS is cool, but the characters (mortal warriors and gods) from GOW are infinitely cooler. The whole idea of using Greek gods is brilliant in general, because then protagonists can have both mortal and magical or god-like attributes sort of like super heroes. Snake is inferior because he's limited by his humanity whereas the protagonist Kratos from GOW flourishes because of it. Actually, it's a huge aspect of the entire story line (his mortality and the subsequent challenges) making him just an overall better and more well-rounded character. In addition, the villains (bosses) in GOW are cooler and more unique, instead of the same ol' Russian bad guy routine we've seen a million times. Game Spot writes, "These characters make pretty good foes, but with maybe a couple of exceptions, they're just straightforward comic book bad guys." I'll let Pro respond to this before analyzing further. 6. Controls I'm not a video game connoisseur, but I struggled getting used to the MGS3 controls. I thought it was just me until GS said themselves that the controls by today's standards are rather awkward, and that if you've been playing other first-person or third-person action or adventure games, that you'll probably have to spend at least a good hour getting accustomed to this game's particular way of doing things. That's no fun. Further, GS notes that you're given very limited control over the game's camera, so you often feel like you're running blind in the game's environments, which tend to contain enemies who can see or hear you even when they're off screen. 8. Action Many cite Kretos as the greatest game hero ever. I'll let this video speak for itself [7]. 9. Criticisms While I agree that MGS3 is a cool a-ss game, it could have been improved (whereas GOW is virtually flawless). For instance, the story was too dense (dramatic and time consuming) and it seemed exactly like its predecessors. Game Spot writes, "So suffice it to say that the plot here is very much in the same vein as that of the previous two Metal Gear Solids... Unfortunately, the story gets off to an almost painfully slow start - you'll have to put up with a lot of wordy, sometimes tedious exposition in the first couple of hours, and these hours are almost literally devoid of gameplay." 10. Semantics In case people are going to hold me specifically to the resolution instead of what the R1 argument is (that MGS3 is the best PS2 game ever), then I'd just like to point out that MGS3 is not da bomb or any bomb :p Sources: [1] http://www.gamespot.com... [2] http://www.gamespot.com... [3] http://www.gamespot.com... [4] http://ps2.ign.com... [5] http://ps2.gamespy.com... [6] http://www.gamepro.com... [7] http://www.gamespot.com... [1] Is for Game Spot