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| Old vs. New |
As I barely mentioned in my review of Ground Zeroes, the game itself overall had six missions: the main story mission, four other side-ops, and finally a console exclusive mission. With the console exclusive, the mission you got depended on the platform you got the game for. For the people who had bought the Playstation versions of the game, you would get Deja Vu- a mission dedicated to moments from the original Metal Gear Solid back in 1998. And the people who bought the Xbox version would get Jamais Vu- a mission dedicated to an earlier game that MGS creator Hideo Kojima had made back in the 90’s called Snatcher, a cyberpunk game involving body snatching aliens taking people’s places among society.
But as of May 1st, a patch has been released which now allows both the console exclusives to co-exist on each platform. So, I thought for some fun, I would give an overall opinions on these not-so-exclusive-anymore missions.
Deja Vu (Playstation exclusive):
When I first heard of this mission, I have to admit, I was really excited. I had played the original Metal Gear Solid about a couple years ago, and a mission to relive some nostalgia did sound like some fun to be had.
This mission is to go to seven specific locations around Camp Omega in order for Snake to recreate SCENES (yes, they say it in CAPITALS, so I’m doing it too) from the original game, with pictures that you can look at from your iDroid to locate them. You can end the mission once you’ve recreated just one SCENE, or you could get them all, and receive a bonus when it is completed. However, in order for the SCENE to count, you must not be in a combat mode, (basically, don’t get caught) otherwise, it won’t count.
The mission also recites lines from the actual game itself at certain points, either from Miller or Snake. These do give a feeling of nostalgia when going around and recreating these scenes, as well as listening to lines and finding cool little easter eggs based off the original game. (P.S: Whatever you do, don’t go near one of the porta-potties at the beginning) The side-objectives and records in this mission also reflect upon this, as there are MGS title tags hidden all around the base, as well as two spotlights that resemble a certain logo. And if you find a rifle with a specific light, and aim it at one of the MGS tags… that’s all I can say from there, but it is a 50/50 chance it’ll do something.
Of course however, I do have my problems with it. The mission does let us recreate scenes from the game, but are more like “Go to this place at a certain angle, or do this particular thing and you’ll get the scene”. There’s nothing particularly big, not the idea of reliving a single boss battle (even though they have throwing a grenade into a tank as one of the scenes). I feel like if they had redesigned the base to a certain degree like the original Shadow Moses, and maybe use it in a way like a short summary of the original game, it would’ve given the mission more of the nostalgic feel it wants to give.
BUT what we do get after recreating all the scenes is still cool too. After the credits roll, you are given a quiz (depending on difficulty) based off events from MGS, and if you answer them all right, you unlock one of the retro Snake skins from the original game. Get one wrong, it’s over, no continues. I really loved this concluding part, comedically shooting off more memorable lines, and it gives a real test on how much you really knew the game. (apparently, I need to play it again)
Overall, the Deja Vu mission delivers a flawed nostalgia trip back into the original Metal Gear Solid. Though it could just be me wanting more out of this mission than what I got out of it, but even with that, what was there was enough to satisfy.
Jamais Vu (Xbox exclusive):
For a mission concerning Raiden, the underappreciated second fiddle turned badass cyborg ninja of the Metal Gear series, and relating to a cult-classic title involving body snatching aliens, it’s almost a match made in odd heaven. A cyborg from a war-torn future- sent into “one of many universes” of 1975 to assassinate unknown entities known as “Snatchers” that have taken over Camp Omega and disguised themselves as most of the soldiers.
This mission is still focused on stealth, but it mostly relies on your binoculars to mark out the normal enemies from the suspiciously green extraterrestrials inside their bodies. (again, like in my review, more reason to use the binoculars than in previous installments) The job itself is to kill all the Snatchers you do spot, (you can’t knock them out) while trying not to kill the normal soldiers. In the end, it all goes into a final battle with the Snatchers as you try to eliminate them all before they destroy your helicopter for evacuation.
I did enjoy the more gunplay based aspect of this mission, especially towards the final showdown, and it’s really respectable to give Raiden some spotlight in this title, and make this mission his own, including taking music directly from Metal Gear Rising, (makes me want to buy it now, still haven’t played it sadly) as well as bringing some sound cues and music from Snatcher. Although it bums me out that they wouldn’t let you use Raiden’s sword from Rising within the mission. Plus, the mission still takes points away every time you get spotted, which really sucks, considering the fact it is damn easy to get spotted during the final shootout. If they had programmed a stopping point when the finale occurs, then that would’ve made sense.
However, despite enemy position changes and a different character, it looks as though they did not change that much between the two Vu missions. (MGS title tags in same locations, the same starting point, and even the Kojima Productions logo spotlights, although they did change one of their locations) I mean, I can understand this since it could be because it was originally an exclusive for the Xbox version, but you would think they would mix it up a bit more than that. They could’ve swapped some elements (tags, for example) with some things that would relate to Snatcher, or even related to Metal Gear Rising for this mission. (they put the Platinum Games logo on the side of a helicopter at the mission opening cinematic)
Gripes aside, the Jamais Vu mission does bring a concept that is pretty badass in its own right, but really needed something of their own instead of reusing the same layout from the other mission.
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In the end, the one I enjoyed the most, was Deja Vu. Despite their somewhat misuse of the game’s famous moments, was still a pretty fair trip back to the original game, with enough easter eggs and and references to make your head turn. While Jamais Vu did what they could with Raiden and Snatcher, they really needed more than just easter eggs and a barely changed layout in order to impress. But that’s just my opinion on a seemingly pointless argument, as these missions are now available for everyone with an Xbox or Playstation. So whatever mission you prefer, who’s to stop you?
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