When designing a video game, one must accommodate for the lowest common denominator, when creating a fool proof, accessible system. To that point, I’m reminded of a quote attributed to a park ranger who reportedly once said: “There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists”, and I think about that a lot when analyzing game design.

That’s gonna be a no from me, dawg

I was waxing nostalgic about the memetic makeup that differentiates the individual entries of the Metal Gear Solid (MGS) series last night, reinforcing the notion that the design movements of said titles, when viewed through a Hegellian perspective, makes evident Kojima and his team were mindful about what worked and what didn’t when moving from one game to the next. Not that they’re unique in that regard, many game developers share in the same proclivities, some just misjudge what went “right” with some of their design methodologies, and end up doubling down on dodgy mechanics or imperfect systems that are further exacerbated by a needless dumbing down effect. This kind of thing also occurs when developers are of sane mind with their senses in working order, with seemingly sound judgement at their disposal, too, and till favor the dumbing down effort moving forward, likely in the name of attracting larger crowds of casual players, who have no need for complex systems, and may even feel overly intimidated at the first sign of complexity they need to grapple with. I’ve been thinking of the Elder Scrolls series the entire time I was writing this unfortunate foray into the watering down of game design just now, and it never stops hurting, when I think about that particular series nuances going the way of the Dwarven Dodos as a result, but I digress, mournfully so, back to Kojima’s work on MGS, before I truly go off the rails and accidentally write a somber 26 part mini-series about why Morrowind was so awesome, before the cruel world spoiled the pedigree of the series that sweet child was born of, right in front of our virgin eyes.

Refocusing on the topic involving the simplification of game systems, MGS3, (As mentioned in a previous article, while my current efforts in writing are about a Delta playthrough I’m in the midst of, the remake is largely interchangeable with the original Snake Eater, FYI.) does introduce a number of new, but graciously simplified systems not found previously in MGS1 or 2, as 3 was attempting to differentiate itself by having more of an outside setting, the story largely set in jungle like environments, as opposed to the drab olive and grey scale industrial bases we became so accustomed to. The irony of these new systems is that, while they are great simplified in their execution, in taking almost no time to understand or utilize, my cynical, greasy heart is tempted to assume that most people probably did not give a shit about using them much at all, as in my experience, the average player is completely apathetic about being quiet and unseen in stealth games, so why then, would they care one iota about excelling in any regard, and to that point, be curious enough as to be investigatory about the camouflage/cure/stamina system that takes several whole seconds to fully understand? I have serious doubts, you see.

Obviously, the most simple of these is the stamina system, which essentially just adds another element of micro-management to the minute to minute, as now that every one of Snake’s actions cost him a little but of energy to do anything, you can no longer pull of your deeply flawed Superman impressions, and must be more mindful of just what action you want to do, how much you can do it, and being sure you don’t get too tired in the process. I say this system is arguably the most simplistically straight forward, because, while technically ignorable, one almost has to will to life an intense, almost absurdist imagination process to ignore said system, as stamina is granted its own meter right below the health system, there are animals everywhere to contend with, and having low to no stamina has the largest effect of the three systems in the minute to minute gameplay, thusly urging the player to have to confront with it more so than the other two available. Different food sources, which include flora and fauna that you can hunt for and harvest in the jungle, have different qualities, and some can heal your health, some grant you more stamina, others still, poison you, it’s a fun way to gamefiy the “nutritional system” of the game, and generally adds more enjoyable engagement to the experience than boringly complicate or needlessly dilute the overall formula. Of the three new systems available in MGS3, this is the one most people likely ended up taking advantage of, in spite of the average individual losing a battle of wits to the bears of the wild, as most are so impatient, many simply do not pay enough attention to how different elements affect gameplay on a regular basis, bringing into scrutiny the relative usefulness of any given system in question.

The next system to discuss is the Cure system, which just adds layers of complication to monitoring Snake’s physical condition. Based on how Snake is hurt, you will have to manually heal him in the options menu, where you can remove bullets, disinfect the wound, bandage up the damage etc. This one is not quite as engaging/fun as the stamina system for obvious reasons, as it ends up boiling down to more of a menu browser moment of slow down, as opposed to a gamefied system that encourages you to engage and explore the world more. I get what they were going for, but it’s one of those weird half measures of realism in a game that regularly dabbles in magical surrealism, so the question remains on what kind of authenticity it brings to the experience in making it ??? MORE REAL ??? I phrase the questionable observation in such a queer manner, as if you truly boiled down how the system functions vs real world tendencies and the ludicrous realities present within the pretense of the game world, the actual lack of realism almost has the reverse effect, in making MGS3 even more clownishly cartoonish then it already is. Once again, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people thought the tutorial in drawing attention to the system in the Virtuous Mission, wasn’t in fact mistaken as a singular story related moment, and straight up never used it again, outside of the game directly prompting you to do so, for the reasons detailed just now.

The last one is the camouflage system, which is somewhere between the two, in being streamlined enough that people would likely take advantage of it, though whether or not that’s in the name of playing “dress up” (or “dress down”, depending on how much of a fucking gooner you’re feeling like at the moment) is anyone’s guess, but a fair speculation I may add. Once again, most people I have ever talked to in gaming, simply loathe the conceit behind stealth games in general, and just possess absolutely no patience for sneaking around. With this in mind when considering a player being mindful enough in switching camouflages to match the environment to blend into it more effectively…yeah, probably not happening a great deal, I reckon. And just to drive home the sad reality of just how few of people have the time or patience to understand systems in general, it is worth it to note that just because you put on appropriate camo on to match your immediate situation, doesn’t mean you are infinitely undetectable, as a slight change in background, too fast of movement, not being concealed by grass, drawing attention to yourself etc will either drop your camo index significantly, if not negate it entirely. If one also considers how bad people are at math, I equally wouldn’t be surprised if they look at a camo index of 90%, and think to themselves “that must mean there’s very little chance they will see me!”, not realizing that such a notion is unrelated to the reality of numbers, and how they are functionally implemented within the context of mathematical equations at large.

As an aside, I get that due to the limitations of the original PS2, something like Octocamo, which was the extremely savvy equivalent system of camouflage found in MGS4, was likely just not possible to implement, that is, if the team had even thought of that gameplay hook back then in the first place, but its existence in MGS4 does bring into focus a great relative truth in terms of game design. Players do not pay the fuck attention, and just want to GAS GAS GAS at any given time. Due to both of these realities, and how little patience so many have, the onus is on the designers and developers to streamline as much of gameplay as physically possible, for any of the systems present within the game, to create that sense of flow for the player, so they never have time to stop and think about the reality of what they’re doing in the moment, “immersed” in the reality of action, as it were. To this point, QoL (quality of life) is huge in making games more accessible, and is usually one of the defining lines that make many games go “mainstream” with mass appeal, as the easier it is to just pick up and play without mucking about in menus or small details, the better. All of that in mind, MGS4’s Octocamo is the exact way you deal with the entirety of the reality just mentioned, as it does all of the thinking on behalf of the player, in some ways, bending the very fabric of spacetime to its whim, without bothering you with the nitty gritty mathematical relevancy of how that is possible. When you compare that to say, the camouflage system in MGS3, where one has to slow down to mess with it, and it brings into question just how many people are going to put aside the time to even care about grappling with the system in the first place, which arguably goes for all three of the systems mentioned in MGS3. The old saying “change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change” is a great way to frame how most adaptability works in video games, if not all of life, in my eyes, and how relevant any gameplay mechanic or system ends up being, relative to its usefulness, vs ease of access vs why a player should care about it in the first place.

-Pashford