Metal Gear Solid - Peace Walker (PSP)

Bought this to entertain me on flights there and back from our holiday this year, and was not disappointed!

The game turned up really quickly and was a very competitive price, no problems with packagining and all brand new and good quality.

The game itself is massive, will take many, many hours to complete fully, and as I've come to expect from MGS games (but was not necessarily expecting from this PSP game due to the less powerful system) the presentation, story-telling and sheer quality of the gameplay was outstanding throughout.

The flights flew by and I think that tells the story as this game is immersive and generally brilliant from start to finish.

I've held back from a 5* rating as the control system can be a little fiddly on the PSP and the depth of the game and strategy elements can be a little overwhelming, so as a pure gaming experience I dont think I can justify a 5* score which I would reserve for something that I would consider to be perfection, but as far as PSP games go, and in my humble opinion, this game is head and shoulders above the rest and the finest game for the system that I've certainly seen and am aware is out there! Hopefully that's recommendation enough!

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===INTRO===
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After finishing Guns of The Patriots i was a bit lost. What now?
Could it be that my all time favourite video game series has come to an end?
Of course not, i have been super excited for Peace Walker and it didn't disappoint me.

WARNING
Its best if you have someone to play the game co-op with, it greatly improves the game.
In the UK you probably wont see a lot of people with a PSP on the bus or train. If i did
i would be too scared to ask the group of chavs at the back of the bus if they wanted to
help me defeat the Boss in co-op out of fear of having my PSP stolen from me. So get a friend
or relative who owns a PSP, find an empty weekend and enjoy this great experience together.

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===STORY===
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The story revolves around Big Boss, it occurs after the events of Snake Eater and Portable Ops.
Set in 1974, Snake has killed Boss and left America. He makes his own militiary group which
helps people in their missions and fights for their own causes. A group of people ask Snake
for his help, the CIA has invaded Costa Rica and the country does not have its own militiary.
Snake refuses the offer initially, but he is then played a recording which shows Boss is alive.
Then a mad professor comes into the mix and he has found a nuclear missile which he wants to use.

Unlike previous games, the story is quite straight forward. Snake accepts this new mission because
he needs to uncover the truth about Boss still being alive. This is what drives Snake and the story
as a whole. Taking out the CIA from Costa Rica and stopping the mad professor and nuke are another.

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===GRAPHICS===
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To be honest i don't buy or play PSP games often. My eyes are used to 1080p on my PS3, when i do pick
my PSP up and play it just doesn't look great to me. It never will due to it being a handheld console,
but im pleased to say Peace Walker made my eyes happy. The cut scenes are in a new watercolour and ink
style and just looked beautiful. The comic book type graphics coupled with 3D models looked really nice.

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===GAMEPLAY===
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Familiar 3rd person gameplay. Crouch, sneak, choke, hold up, CQC and tranquilize enemies as you make
your way through the jungles of Costa Rica. CQC is easier than ever, and can also be combined for combos.

A new element which involves manging your sims also comes into play later on in the story. Snake is in charge
of managing new troops which are recruited into his militiary group. You must organise them into combat teams,
R&D teams, Medical, Intel and Mess Hall. Some tasks include helping the wounded, having enough cookery staff,
collecting and researching on missions and maintaining weapons. The sim system gets even deeper later on when
you unlock Outer Ops - here you can send your own units to battle other units in different parts of the world.

The combo of the usual stealth action gameplay and sim management works well. You complete missions and when
you come back your army has returned from battle. Managing the Mother Base is essential because the rewards
you gain from it (money, supplies, army victories) allow you to improve your main missions. e.g. the money
you earned in sim managment allows you to buy better weapons and gadgets like night vision goggles to use.

Camo suits, as well as offering better camoflauge in some situations (jungle, urban etc) also have different
advantages such as carrying more items and weapons, or carrying limited items but being 100% silent all the time.
Battle suit is heavily armored and has access to more weapons, ideal in Boss fights.

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===THE BAD===
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No game is perfect, and its important to understand the flaws before making a purchase i always believe.

Firstly is the PSP console itself, im not blaming the game here, just the PSP. The console is terrible
for playing FPS games on. With just 1 analog stick its troublesome to say the least. And as MGS does
have some FPS elements to it, the frustrating controls do take away from the experience a little bit.
Of course its not something which will make you not buy this awesome game, just something to keep in mind.

Second is the difficulty. Im not a poof! I do like a challenge and always try to go for the 'Hard' setting
in most games. However, in MGS there is a flaw in the way some of the missions are designed. They are made for
co-op. Multiple players helping one another take on a bigger threat, something which would be a bit too much
to handle if you were on your own. And if your going to be doing this solo you will be in for a world of hurt.
The Boss battles especially become increasily frustrating. Again however, despite being very annoying at times
its not something that should make you not buy this game. Playing co-op is brilliant, its the way the game
was meant to be played, playing solo is still a good experience, but it does get annoying at times.

So co-op is the way to go if you want to really get the most out of this game. To play online you need to go
through the ad-hoc party option, this requires a PS3. I do have a PS3, i tried this and it worked fine. However,
not everybody has a PS3. This isn't that fair to be honest, to really enjoy this game you need a PSP & PS3.

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===CONCLUSION===
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If you have a PSP then buy this game, its one of the finest PSP games i've ever played. I enjoyed it more than
some console games, that is the truth. Its classic MGS, with new features, unique artistic visuals, and despite
a few minor annoyances, if you get together with a friend and do this co-op, it will be an amazing experience.

Another great installation in a fantastic series! Makes good use of the PSP's more limited controls and makes for a dynamic, engaging playing experience.