Oh geez. It was awesome.
I think Peace Walker/Snake Eater are the best. Peace Walker's inferior story (when in opposition to Snake Eater, it is by no means a bad game) is balanced out by it's superior gameplay (in opposition to Snake Eater.) And vice versa.
I enjoyed Peace Walker a bit more than Snake Eater, TBH. But I cant still see why people love Snake Eater (hell, I love Snake Eater.)
Peace Walker changed my opinion about David Hayter playing Snake. Whereas in MGS/2/3, I thought he overdid it a little bit, he sounds fucking awesome in Peace Walker. Very grizzled, and doesn't sound like he's imitating Batman, but becoming his own character's voice, y'know?
And then finally, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes...
Probably the best game I've played all year.
Despite it's poor content/price ratio, the game is stunning. It's clear that Kojima was given a blank cheque for The Phantom Pain, and ever cent is visible on screen. The game has seemless(?) cutscenes, which means that there's no loading or fade in, it's captured directly in-game. The game runs at a silky-smooth 60FPS, and looks stunning in 1080p. Rain drops remind me of the 2012 Watch Dogs trailer. Voice acting is superb, Kaz's line, [spoiler]"They played us like a damn fiddle!"[/spoiler] is so awesome.
I actually really like Kiefer as Big Boss, despite him having barely any lines. I'm not against him playing Snake. I wouldn't be angry if he returns for The Phantom Pain* (but I'm backing Hayter because the fans love him so much.)
The gameplay has been refined to the point of perfection. Seemless(?) integration of the prone dive, crouch and crawl. TPS aspects are great as well, and switching between it and FPS is quick and efficient.
All in all, I'm so glad I took the last two weeks to just dive into the universe. GZ effectively makes all other games this year irrelevant in the wait for The Phantom Pain.
Only game I have left to "play" is Metal Gear Solid IV.
*I'm not sure if he's returning.
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See, I wasn't a fan of Peace Walker, I found it too disjointed, apart from a couple of missions that didn't allow him, there was no reason ever to use anyone other than Snake, 90% of the weaponry was useless, I think I got through the game using maybe 3 or 4 guns, I liked the idea of growing my base but... Well it's just an idea, you barely get anything for your work. I dunno, I just didn't see what was so great, still, if you had fun with it then that's the main thing. Ground Zeroes, however, I absolutely agree with you on, I've put almost 8 hours into that game and I've only got 40% of max completion so the idea that it's too short is a tad baffling. Still, the gameplay is solid, the story is a great way to set up The Phantom Pain and it's put MGS back on my radar as #1 game to look forward to... Maybe Persona 5 could beat it, we'll wait and see.