Welcome to the fourth and final week of the new Community feature here on Gaming Union called New Game Plus! The idea is to play an awesome game with the additional bonus of knowing that there's a whole group of people in the GU community at exactly at the same point as you! What a <em>plus</em>!

Founding on the basic premise of an bookclub, but with video games instead of books, New Game Plus gives participants a pre-determined checkpoint each week in an ongoing game. From this point you have a whole week to complete the section and join in the discussion with other people. Anyone taking part can post to discuss every and anything about the game, whether that be the amazing dialogue, the infuriating boss battles, or the sense of humour of the director; everything goes, so long as it is relevant to the section which the group are playing that week. And don't forget, there's no point playing along and then not joining in the discussion! There's no plus to that!

We take it for granted as gamers that everyone has an opinion on a trailer, review or of a game as a finished product, but New Game Plus tries to introduce a rare occasion for to take a much more detailed look at a game while you're playing. As we have a set amount to play each week, it gives community members the chance to think a little bit more about what they're liking or loathing, or if they've played the game before, experiment with different ways to complete something they're already familiar with.

This is the final week of this series of New Game Plus and I think it's safe to say that the majority of our participants have had a lot of fun. Don't feel sad if you've missed out, as the previous weekly threads are still available to peruse over in case you want to feel a little closer to us! Or maybe you wanna speedrun the whole game in a week? You can do it, we're all rooting for you! We've been playing the stealth classic Metal Gear Solid over the last month!

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Last time on "New Game Plus - Metal Gear Solid"...

Otacon: You're incredible... Like a movie hero or something.
Snake: No... You're wrong. In the movies, the hero always saves the girl...
Otacon: ...You mean Meryl? ...Sorry... Forget I said anything... Snake, there's something I've really got to ask you. It's why I followed you up this far... Have you ever... Loved someone?
Snake: That's what you came to ask?
Otacon: No, I mean... I... I was wondering if even soldiers fall in love...
Snake: What are you trying to say?
Otacon: I wanna ask you... Do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield?
Snake: Yeah... I do. I think at any time, any place... People can fall in love with each other. But... If you love someone, you have to be able to protect them...
Otacon: I think so too.

Starting off in the awkward position of Meryl bleeding on the floor and Snake pinned into a corner by Sniper Wolf, our trusty hero found himself having to backtrack all the way back to the Armoury to pick up a Sniper Rifle himself. Whether or not people sidetracked to grab more equipment was entirely up to them, but back in battle, it didn't take long before the frankly ill-dressed Sniper Wolf fell. Unfortunately for Snake, that didn't help him evade capture and he was swiftly dragged off to be tortured. Tortured by Liquid Snake's speeches, that is.

After inflicting RSI on ourselves at the hands (or should that be hand?) of Revolver Ocelot, Snake manages to break his way out of capture, generally at the expense of poor Johnny. Once free, he returns to his mission of bringing down Metal Gear Rex, and heads to the Communication Towers. After playing kiss chase with a whole regiment of guards while climbing the tower, Snake finds himself faced by a little surprise at the top. Liquid's got himself a Hind and he isn't afraid to use it. After rappelling to relative safety, Snake climbs to the top of the second tower where he single handedly takes down the chopper with a Stinger. After an awkward conversation with Otacon, Snake finds himself in an even more awkward position of "small talk" in the elevator. Ho Hum.

Once that's taken care of, Snake finds himself arriving at the Snowfield, which holds a hidden passage to the underground base holding Rex somewhere. Before even beginning the search, Snake gets called out by a bullet straight from Sniper Wolf. They battle, for the last time, and Wolf falls, much to the distress of the lovestruck Otacon. After replenishing your inventory stock, Snake makes his way forward on to the second disc of the game...

GUIDELINES
- You can play this game either with an original PSX disc, or via the PSN store download ($9.99 USD). I hear that it's also available on PC! It's entirely up to you. Try to avoid playing Twin Snakes, because the selected weekly break ups won't make for an even playthrough as it's a slightly different version.
- A new thread will go up each Tuesday telling you what the next check point is. All discussion for each section must go in the relevant threads. Previous threads will remain open for some time in order to let people catch up and let the conversation continue.
- You MUST resist playing on past the scheduled check points. For these discussion threads to work we need to all be at the same point in the game. Besides, it's not in the spirit of this activity.
- DO NOT post spoilers for things that haven't happened in the game yet. We love that you're enthusiastic about it, but some people will be playing this for the first time.
- However, you CAN post spoilers for anything that happens within the given section of the game, so long as you use tags [ spoiler][/spoiler ] to protect those still playing through it.
- Talk about anything and everything! Story is just one aspect to this game (though a very important one), but if you love the music or hate the map, then speak up! Get a little more specific and in depth than usual!
- If you get hopelessly stuck, feel free to say so in this thread as soon as you can, and I can guarantee that there'll be a whole bunch of people willing to offer up their strategies or tips.
- On the converse, feel free to challenge yourself if you've played the game a billion times before! Suggested challenges could be No Kills or No Alerts.
- Remember to HAVE FUN!

We've split Metal Gear Solid into four sections. This is Week 4: THE FINAL WEEK!

The checkpoint which you need to play up to is:
The End of the Game! (Head to the Underground Base and deactivate Rex).
Inside the following spoiler tags is a slightly more in depth description of all the locations you go through before you get to this point, just to dispel any confusion:
ALL DISCUSSION FOR WEEK 4 IN THIS THREAD.
Also if you need any clarification of the guidelines then please ask!
Have fun stealthing guys!

Just want to take a short moment to say a huge thank you everyone that has taken part in this first New Game Plus. I consider it to be really successful, and I hope that you've all had as much fun playing along with everyone else as I have.

For this final week I'd like to ask you to report back on the following: Which ending you got and all the details from your final ranking (Codename, play time, kill count, alerts, etc). It would also be nice to hear about what your favourite section of game was and your overall reflection on playing Metal Gear Solid with New Game Plus.

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Let it be known to all that I seriously HATE the boss battle with Vulcan Raven -_-

::EDIT:: took me 4 tries, but I did it... now on to the next part

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I used claymores for that in my last playthrough! And a fair share of C4. Very handy traps lol. I'd probably do the same this time around too!

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I just nikita the guy, its usually not that hard.

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(February 14, 2012 07:05:59 PM)Colin Wrote:  I used claymores for that in my last playthrough! And a fair share of C4. Very handy traps lol. I'd probably do the same this time around too!

I generally stick to claymores with him, but only problem is that he is unpredictable, thus you really can't truly control the battle like with the other ones

(February 14, 2012 08:44:13 PM)TheVoid Wrote:  I just nikita the guy, its usually not that hard.

yea, 90% of the time for me, he usually spots them and blows them up

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anyway, I just beat the game my final stats are:
Game Level: Normal
Play Time: 7:30:30
Saves: 4
Continues: 22
... and my controller just got bumped, so I lost the rest
I think that I got spotted 17 times...

but that being said, my ranking is: Leopard

(I feared this might happen, so I had saved at the last point, thus why it was 4 saves... I'll go through it again and try to get the rest of the stats)

btw, for the sake of mentioning the ending I got
::EDIT:: alright, here's my missing stats:
Spotted: 19 times
Enemies killed: 65
Rations used: 70

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If you get the Nikita in line with Raven quickly enough, there'll be time for it to speed up before it hits him and he won't react in time to shoot the missile.

I usually use a combo of Nikitas and C4 to kill him. Not a hard fight.

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yea, I just can't seem to work the Nikita missiles right, and C4 is all about timing... I just have always stuck to spamming claymores everywhere and waiting for him to run into one. If only he had a set pattern though

on an off topic note, Kev, the number of bronze trophies you have is equal to the maximum hexadecimal value (255, or FF) just a random note seeing as I'm staring at your little PSN card atm

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I really enjoyed playing this game as part of GU's first NGP game. idk about you guys, but I found it great to know that I was playing the same game as many others for once. I look forward to seeing everyone else put their final stats up, and sharing their favorite moments in the game, especially when it comes our first timers, who were practically going in blind.

Being this was my 5th complete playthrough, and 2nd complete from scratch, I found it interesting how easy it was compared to my first time. The first time was almost a train wreck imo. especially when it came to the Hind and Rex battles. This time out, there were a few mistakes here and there, but I felt good about my results.

Also, I highly suggest that everyone try to play the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, seeing as you've played and beaten this one (and even if you haven't you might enjoy it) I've always found it funny how there are some inconsistencies within the entire story overall (Colin might have an idea of what I'm talking about here) It almost makes it look like Kojima was trying to confuse us at points... oh, wait...

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(February 15, 2012 04:40:14 AM)Zero Wrote:  on an off topic note, Kev, the number of bronze trophies you have is equal to the maximum hexadecimal value (255, or FF) just a random note seeing as I'm staring at your little PSN card atm

Eagle-eyed, nicely spotted If it was up to date however, it would read 256...

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I'm near the end of the game, stuck on a surprisingly difficult fist fight.

I still like MGS a lot. There have been a number of interesting twists in this part of the game, and they've all been set up and executed really well. But I am wondering:

By the way, any tips on beating the fist fight? It seems really straight forward, but, judging from the number of times I've lost, it's actually one of the hardest fights in the game for me.

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"Aren't you a little young to be a l'Cie?"
"Why yes, yes I am."

@LockeStockeAndBaryl: as for tips in the boss fight, my suggestion is to just stick and move. find openings in his defenses and just try not to let him lay more damage on you... It may take a few tries, but that is my favorite fight in the whole game ^_^

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