The End

I recently picked up a copy of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Xbox 360, with the goal of playing through the series in chronological order. That means that I start MGS3: Snake Eater.

I've played every game in the series in some capacity or another, but the only two I've beat are Twin Snakes on the Gamecube (which, if you don't know, was a remake of the original MGS for Playstation), and Peace Walker on the PSP. I must say, that MGS3 is the best of the series. Of course, I'm only part way through the game and still have the rest of the series to play, but this game is GREAT. With the HD treatment, I'm hardly even aware that I'm playing a game that's almost 8 years old. The voice acting and cut scenes, while sometimes over the top are awesome. The story is fun, and Snake as one of my favourite video game characters of all time.

The End is near.

Today I reached a part of the game where you have to fight one of the main antagonist's soldiers, know only as, "The End." The End is an old man (like, over 100 years old) that only ever sleeps until it's time to fight. Then he's this agile old man that is a peerless sniper. This lead to probably one of the coolest boss battles I have ever fought. Most boss battles are the of the "run,dodge, fire, dodge, repeat" variety, but not this one. This is a game of sniper versus sniper. You must methodically comb a massive area of forest, using all the tools at Snake's disposal (including thermal goggles, a directional microphone, sniper rifle, and motion sensor, to name a few) to attempt to sneak up on the old man and hit him before he hits you. I spent close to an hour on this fight, looking for his heat signature, tracking his foot-prints, and looking for the flash of sunlight of his sniper scope, in a true test of gaming endurance.

I understand that this sort of boss fight is not for everyone. In fact, the guy who made the YouTube video above hates this fight. I, for one, found it to be an awesome departure from the standard boss fight fare of most video games. Hideo Kojima has been pushing gamers for years with the Metal Gear series, and I hope he continues to do so in the future.

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Oh, and did you hear that Metal Gear Solid 5 was announced today?