No this isn’t some new extra sepcial limited edition version of MGS 3, just my final attempt to play & get into this game.

I’ve attempted to play this game twice before (once with the normal version, and once with the Subsistence special edition) and both times hated it; absolutely despised it. And was rather ranty and vocal about it on my blog. So for some totally mental reason I decided to try a final time - this time playing on Very Easy and determined to make some progress. Well finally it’s clicked, I’ve got past the really annoying ruined factory section at the beginning and started to get drawn into the game. It was obvious that Very Easy mode did what it said on the tin and was very, very easy - far too easy. So I started again (yeah the into was getting pretty dull by this point) but on Normal difficulty.

All my initial reservations are still there, the controls are really archaic, the gameplay is at times clumsy and the initial starting mission has a vertical difficulty curve for what should be a gentle intro to the game.

But I’m loving the mad as a hatstand plot, the attention to detail and minutia such as all the animals you can hunt, kill & eat or using a cigar to remove leeches. It’s certainly a game that brings out the OCD in the player. But it’s not without humour (despite what I said before) If I’m totally honest I kinda want to get this out of the way so I can play Metal Gear Solid 4 but for now it’s got me hooked. Goes to show - don’t judge a game by it’s terrible first section and hour of play.