Saturday, March 11, 2017

Just How Similar Two Video Games of Different Genres #1 Resident Evil vs. Metal Gear

Hello everyone I'm Jack Red, most doesn't like comparing games from different genres. Although I could respect that, it is widely noticed how similar. Capcom's Resident Evil is to Konami's Metal Gear. I actually noticed more things in common than doing their respectively rivalries. It is absolutely mind blowing just how much.

1. Resident Evil 2 vs. Metal Gear Solid
Both Resident Evil 2 & Metal Gear Solid got released on PlayStation 1 with two discs. Often considered one of the greatest games in their respective franchises. Resident Evil 2 has a remake in development adding to Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes on Game Cube. Also both games packs a lot of story for PS1 games.

Better game: Resident Evil 2

Sure it isn't more survival horror than Metal Gear Solid being an stealth game. But it does pack so much content for it's time. On just PlayStation 1 alone had two versions of RE2 with some changes. Also Resident Evil 2 surprisingly got a good ported history. You get more than just the campaign to keep going for hours. Four possible scenarios split between two PS1 discs. Yet all unlockables are present on both discs. There also exists more console versions of Resident Evil 2 with some changes.

2. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis vs. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Let's get this out of the way, both numbered 3 games are amazing for their time. Both attempted a lot of great ideas with a great level of challenge. Both add more story to the time line in a different way. Resident Evil 3 takes place both before & after Resident Evil 2 centering around the same event. Metal Gear Solid 3 was the origin of legendary soldier Big Boss. This guy played an huge role in many Metal Gear games. Parts of it does explain many things later down the road. Both games can be difficult for some same reasons. A huge problem in both of them is getting lost & trying to figure out what they do. Despite all the help you can get some bosses are still challenging to take down. Believe it or not both their titles is directly referencing those stalking the main character during the game. At the end of both games marks a beginning to horrible things to come.

Better game: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Yes both games are challenging but Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has plenty of ways to die fast. Especially when you are running away low on health. Resident Evil 3 has harder locations to keep track of. Some quick decisions does alter events & placements of key items. Thus if you aren't that familiar with the game you could screw yourself over not knowing every choice. Nemesis is a tough obstacle to overcome because he's difficult to avoid & take down. Even with hidden weapons, some enemies can still kill you. The Mercenaries Operation: Mad Jackal is a tough mini game. This was meant to held off fans while making CODE: Veronica. Capcom at this point kept making US releases of Resident Evil tougher than original Japanese versions. In comparison there isn't much harming the experience in Metal Gear Solid 3.

3. Resident Evil: Revelations vs. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Both were originally released on handhelds. Both took nearly a year before getting ported to consoles. Both allows you to play as several characters in the campaign. Both has fun ways of unlocking hidden weapons. Both games seem like the perfect mixture of classic & modern styles of their respective franchises. Both has government cover ups involved. In extra content can choose levels to increase replayability. You can unlock costumes that can be wear anywhere in the game. Some notable changes to fix some of the original version's problems for their ports. A particular military unit stops an horrible attack from happening.

Better game: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Both games pack a large amount of content to keep you busy for hours. But voice acting was okay in Revelations. The way they went the story could've been done better. In comparison as expected Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker nailed both of those with flying colors. I could criticize how frustrating that button mashing part is. But I can replay any level regardless to keep getting better & earning great stuff. Sadly you can't do that the same way in Revelations' campaign. Sure there is a ridiculous amount of missions within Peace Walker. A great number of them are very fun to keep replaying. Although Revelations does have better boss fights. Peace Walker had better weaponry, enemies & more locations to explore. Some other modes within Peace Walker does spice things up. Yes Peace Walker does spike in difficulty a lot during the game. It also won due to how brutal the new Infernal Mode in Revelations is.

4. Resident Evil 4 vs. Metal Gear Solid 4
Both highly praised games of their time. Often considered one of their respective companies finest games. There are strong similarities that not people notice between Resident Evil 4 & Metal Gear Solid 4. For starters, both involve majority of enemies being manipulated by someone else. Both completely change game play style for a new generation. Both pack a lot of content to play for hours. Both main characters are now widely known from these games. Both did get released on PS3 after a few years gap. Both games are heavily inspiring to the gaming community. Let's be honest both are true master pieces that no body can truly recreate. Also counting RE4's Separate Ways mini game reveals a lot of stuff going on during the campaign.

Better game: Resident Evil 4

Either way I choose in this particular case. I am pissing off an fan base so I'm biting a bullet. Both games are really good by their standards truly timeless classics. But Resident Evil 4 has been ported to many consoles. Which makes getting that much easier in comparison. In terms of replayability Resident Evil 4 nails it again. You have three mini games with Separate Ways being an second campaign. This was meant to reveal most unanswered questions during the main campaign. Also hidden costumes really did spice things up. Yeah MGS4 had some of those too but didn't stand out as much. Knight Ashley is too heavy to be lifted & can survive anything making some portions even on Professional Mode much easier. Resident Evil 4 is easier to learn how to play & much better to coming back after a long break from playing it. Yes both had great boss fights but I felt RE4's stands out a little bit more. There was more variety of bosses in RE4 than in MGS4. There surprisingly exists two versions of MGS4 with later version adding trophy support. It fails in comparison to Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition.

5. Resident Evil 6 vs. Metal Gear Solid V
I am going to point out both games had rushed developments. Sharing a lot of the same problems that hurts the experience. Such as not working out all it's mechanics. Leveling system can be frustrating in both games. Most bosses are more of a pain than actually being fun to take on. Both games packs an very large amount of content taking several days to fully play em all. Both has an train wreck of an story for different reasons. Believe it or not both were missing content before release. I'm not talking about their dlcs either. Resident Evil 6 forget to add Agent character for Ada's campaign & No Hope difficulty. In MGSV's case an particular mission & ending got removed from the final game. Both have several endings taking an ridiculous amount of time to fully play through the campaign.

Better game: Resident Evil 6

Let's be clear I dislike both RE6 & MGSV with an passion. But if I had to choose which one to replay. It has to be Resident Evil 6 for a few reasons. Metal Gear Solid V does spike very often in it's difficulty. MGS: Ground Zeroes is mostly one short campaign mission with an handful of extra missions. MGS: The Phantom Pain is a bigger mess than Resident Evil 6. Sure you have to play through all four campaigns to unlock several stuff in RE6. However the way they got you going for other endings is stupid. Instead of replaying the game from beginning or like what Peace Walker did. They force you to replay missions you already done under difficult close to impossible conditions. Doing a few missions after you first beat the game gets you the next ending. It keeps going until you finally unlock the true ending. Which involves defeating Metal Gear without getting hit with limited equipment set to hardest setting. Possibly one of the most hated gaming endings ever. This particular ending killed any reason I want to play any Metal Gear game. It is so bad even Agent Hunt mode in RE6 looks like a master piece & that's one of my least favorite game modes in gaming. In terms of getting better equipment both games are tedious in this area. You get slightly more help in RE6 due to weapon customization. Yes you can get infinite ammo for weapon types while in MGSV you need the bandanna to do it. The real reason this wins is because all dlcs added more stuff worth playing with other people.

6. Resident Evil Remake vs. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Both remakes are based on PS1 games released on Game Cube. Both came with two discs required to fully play the game. Both made notable changes from the original PS1 classics. Both stand as two of the greatest video game remakes. Both brought in mechanics from later games. Both have multiple endings depending on stuff.

Better game: Resident Evil Remake

It kinda wins by default due to all of it's changes. Let's compare them shall we, MGS: The Twin Snakes extended a lot of cut scenes. Maintaining the same cast as PS1 classic which is rare this occurred. In most video game remakes, they use a different case like Resident Evil Remake. Yes Metal Gear has better voice overs by a huge amount. But they really changed the game feeling like a new one. A lot of canceled concepts got reused in this remake. Such as newer parts of the story & Real Survivor Mode. This is how at one point during PS1 version's development going to have the game play like. In this variation item boxes aren't connected to each other. Forcing you to keep track of several of them listing down on paper what you put in each item box. This is automatically set to Hard actually tougher than regular Hard difficulty. They felt it would be too hard for anybody to play. Now Chris & Jill has two new costumes with one also affecting Rebecca. Their first costumes are referencing movies. Their second costumes comes from another Resident Evil game. More recently with Resident Evil HD Remastered added two costumes from Lost in Nightmares of RE5 with the ability to start with any costume. According to Shinji Mikami about 75% of Remake is different from the original game. This greatly affects everything from puzzles to enemies. Crimson Heads had an new level of intense that's difficult to explain. I recommend playing it & run into one of these things to see what I mean. Also included are some hidden weapons & Invisible Enemy Mode. This variation of the game makes every enemy including bosses invisible. You must use your ears & memorizes every enemy placement as well as attacks. By adding firing controls from later games in The Twin Snakes took away a lot of it's challenge. Resident Evil Remake is more survival horror than Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is of stealth. Which by itself is very impressive. Comparing every cut scene to their original versions. Their similar in Metal Gear Solid's case more than you expect it to be. In vice versa, Resident Evil Remake plays like an different game overall. Sadly Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes never got ported off Game Cube. Another major reason why I'm going with Resident Evil Remake.

7. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 vs. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Both are newer 2 games taking place later in the time line. Both has you play as a few characters during the campaign. Both has an mini game you can play as several characters with having variations. Both reference previous event in game during the later portions. Both has an mysterious character standing out. Both have criticize endings that didn't deliver what most of the game promised us.

Better game: Resident Evil: Revelations 2

I know this is going to upset a lot of people. Please let me explain why I chose Resident Evil: Revelations 2. Both had great stories but it led to disappointing endings. At least there Revelations 2 had two endings. Sometimes having more variations of a game does help coming back to it. Now hands down Metal Gear Solid 2 has better boss fights. But Revelations 2 wins in enemy variation. You unlock weapons in Revelations 2 that really change up the game. Comparing VR Missions to Raid Mode, this quickly became no contest. I am aware this easily could piss off Metal Gear fans. Yes VR Missions is more you only have your skills & that's it. In some cases having more in several areas works incredibly well. Which seems to be the case of Raid Mode. It may not be perfect but you did a lot more help in many ways.

8. Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X vs. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Both games are widely known for being one of the toughest games in their respective franchises. Both had a great variety of enemies that adds up to it's level of challenge. Both had tough boss fights that requires both skills & memorizing. Both had tough puzzles to figure out with failing some will lead to death. Both uses several types of environments to change up the game play.

Better game: Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X

In terms of difficulty, I get more help in CODE: Veronica X. For starters it is easier to avoid enemies. Although it takes longer to learn how to deal with some bosses like the last two Alexia boss fights. There are more ways about killing the bosses. In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, some bosses can only be defeated by a particular weapon. This always leads to unneeded frustration. You can keep your supplies up more in CODE: Veronica X. Sadly that isn't the case for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. For example trying to keep up rations is surprisingly frustrating. It isn't like most Metal Gear games where you could easily keep your supply of them up. Oh no once you pick up a particular location ration. You can only get it again after using it up. Also there isn't many rations in the game itself. I found more health items in CODE: Veronica X. You can unlock two powerful weapons making CODE: Veronica X a cake walk. The biggest reason of all why CODE: Veronica X wins is two words Battle Game. You get four characters with one having two versions. The fact you can play it both in first person & third person was mind blowing at the time. This mini game alone was the main reason I sided with CODE: Veronica X. Honestly Metal Gear 2 is an amazing game but it's puzzles are more unforgiving. Sure I could agree some puzzles in CODE: Veronica X are frustrating. But those that will lead to death are much easier to figure out. In Metal Gear 2's case it's the opposite with one particular puzzle that always annoys me. Everyone should know it by now the infamous swamp puzzle. You must follow a strict path through the swamp in several sections. It is incredibly easy to get loss & drown to death. There is little to no help way to know for sure which way to go. This puzzle alone is the most difficult in both games.

9. Resident Evil 0 vs. Metal Gear
Both were first in canon for well known characters. Both games are easy to memorize after a lot of trial & error. Both had mostly okay boss fights possibly being the closest in this particular case. Both games make it ridiculous easy to keep up your supplies. Both games are often over shadowed by other games in their series.

Better game: Resident Evil 0

Once again Resident Evil 0 wins by default. I'm not saying I'm not into the original Metal Gear. I do enjoy playing both games a lot. Sadly though for every major thing I could bring up for Metal Gear. Resident Evil 0 easily out does it. Keep in mind Solid Snake isn't that kind of character we all know & love today yet. Back then he was a rookie that was fighting against his own army the entire time. Rebecca Chambers wasn't that much different from 0 & 1. Resident Evil 0 had better puzzles overall. Metal Gear after a while becomes too easy to memorize. But some of it's puzzles are confusing. For example trying to find fake walls in one section can be tedious. You must have explosives before going around all sides punching away. Thankfully the game does help in differing parts of the wall. But why was it so necessary to do that. Resident Evil 0 you play in between two characters spicing up the game. Leech Hunter mini game is still very fun to play today. The closest thing Metal Gear has to this is Boss Rush mode. This addition in Metal Gear isn't as challenging as collecting 100 leeches or killing every enemy. Thanks to Resident Evil 0 HD Remastered this is even more obvious. In this version they made it better with the costumes. Instead of going to a particular area on the train with a key. You can automatically switch out costumes with new dlc ones. Sadly Rebecca gets majority of dlc clothes. I wish Billy would've gotten at least two more to help even things out. The big reason why Resident Evil 0 wins is two words Wesker mode. Holy crap Wesker is playable in Resident Evil 0. Some changes make it feel kinda like he's actually in the game. He was only shown in cut scenes prior to this addition. Finally boss fights are just more satisfying in Resident Evil 0. A good number of bosses in Metal Gear are either too easy or cheap. A great example of this is Bulldozer boss. You are given a limited amount of space in a tight area. Touching Bulldozer is instant death but constantly leaving the area. Resetting the boss back to top of that area making the boss fight much easier. Although only one weapon works on it. This is the only boss to count for both types found in the game. Thankfully no bosses in Resident Evil 0 can kill you instantly. Also you get better weapons overall in Resident Evil 0.

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