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I will watch this once i actually play the games lol. I watched way too many metal gear videos without actually playing the games except Metal gear rising: Revengeance. I want to get the collection on steam.

Thank you for buying an ad. Peak video btw

Great review. You hit on really important points I haven’t seen many other reviewers cover.

Well the gameplay definitely did evolve in the end

le media literacy

Miami hotline

@ShyCorn I just stumbled upon you and man your video is one of the best one I saw in years Thanks

The Hotline Miami duology is certainly memorable, but there is a lot I feel was not properly addressed in the video and its conclusion is altogether incorrect. The "futility of violence", or the questioning of the audience's enjoyment of a highly abstracted representation of it, was not novel or highbrow for a video-game in 2012-2015. Spec Ops: The Line, a shooting game questioning the audience for a war crime that, in reality, it had no participation in, released in 2011, the same year as Drive, the neo-80's mid-budget film that glorifies its own style & indulges in brief moments of violence with manufactured shock through timing, pacing and context. The Last of Us came out in 2013 as a big jump in narrative presentation and nihilistic violence. All 3 are huge hits with cult status, but all 3 are fallible, derivative titles. Decades after a novel like Blood Meridian, or violent films actually released in the 80's. Fight Club is a very intelligent piece & I certainly think Hotline Miami was somewhat inspired by it, but a bigger inspiration is probably First Blood, a.k.a. Rambo, but very obviously Cocaine Cowboys, which is cited as a primary influence. In his Reddit AMA, Hotline Miami developer Dennis Wedin, when questioned "Whats your least favorite popular videogame?", replies "metal gear.. all of them", while his own series mirrors its major themes & contextual existence quite closely. It surprises one that he seems to have a distaste for MGS. Both series show primarily violent action; both set in the backdrop of Cold War tensions between NATO v. USSR and their historical evolution, with revisionist commentary on the geopolitic calculus & ethics of the time; both directly accuse the audience of enjoying killing by participating in the experience; both had highly-anticipated postmodern & polarizing sequels. The original planned name for MGS2 - "MGSIII" - is similar to the meta-commentary of the "Hotline Miami 3" screen. MGS2's prologue is a bait & switch to the audience like "Midnight Animal" in HM2; the inclusion of the "Fans" characters who represent a demographic that idolizes an aspect of a piece which was not meant to be idolized is similar to MGS2's refusal to playerize Snake while attacking the idea of a 'blank slate' Raiden; the backlash against MGS2 later caused Kojima to apologize by releasing the "fan-pleaser" MGS3 - the first major leap in sacrifice of its own integrity in exchange for audience pandering, overtly set at the height of the Cold War and implicitly condoning Soviet rapprochement (a view that could really only exist during the 'Khruschev thaw' or the "liberal" period of early 2000's Russia, but not today). Hotline Miami's greatest strength, besides the enjoyable style, music & fun arcade gameplay, is the mystique created through subjectivity, non-linearity, non-reality, misdirection & disorientation. Any 'analysis' of the "anti-war message" is as effective as the messaging of MGS was on its audience. Evan, the journalist character, though trying to piece together the known facts of the narrative, is deliberately portrayed as being of questionable character & useless motive; he is probably the player character who acts the most ethically (besides the actor, whose narration is ambiguous), but despite being 'closest' to foiling the political conspiracy (through HM2 easter eggs), cannot do so. Trying to figure out the "timeline", or "who won" between Jacket v. Biker, or collecting the pieces for the 'secret' ending of HM1 - a text of a "conspiracy to destabilize USA vs USSR relations", is neither satisfactory nor cathartic, but simplistic and inconsequential. The horse pulls the cart, and the cart is the aesthetic of the real-life Miami Drug War, which caused REAL public panic, violent crime en masse, corruption, addiction & police escalation. I won't outright say that the game does not have an anti-war message, but that is not its goal. Jacket was a war veteran character with a personal motive. If he spoke, he is not expected to break down in soliloquy & explain his PTSD, like in the climax of First Blood, or decry the actions of the military, war, violence, his copycats, or even 50 Blessings. First Blood's highest message is, irrespective of the political details of the Vietnam war or the violence depicted during its narrative, not "anti-Vietnam-war", "anti-war" or "anti-violence", but the alienation felt by a loyal war dog removed from his position of unity, trust & valor and met with a home population that considers him a dishonorable and undesirable misfit. Referring back to Dennis Wedin, his view is that many of the characters in HM (at least the first game) attempt to be "good", but live in a "bad", corrupting world, and he ultimately calls both games "evil", so the final message of the game is: The documentation of the butterfly-effect of continuous moral decay and self-destruction of a society that loses all taboo for terror. The audience is a vessel for that society, not for any one character or belief. The series climax - the nuclear apocalypse (*second* nuclear apocalypse within its own timeline) - is so hard-hitting because it's an unavoidable calamity. It's not unlike the apocalypse endings of Outer Wilds or Mother 3. By the time Jacket is done fighting the Biker in HM1 (the outcome of which is deliberately ambiguous, as the two POV's are mutually exclusive and we are also presented with a 3rd alternate of both surviving), Richard explicitly states that his actions thereafter will have no consequence. An additional context that is missing is the state of videogaming in regards to depiction of sexuality or sex crime. A crude representation of male genitalia was "shocking" in 2009's GTA IV: TLaD, at least to Protestants in North America (even as gore is accepted), though male genitalia depictions are common in art throughout all history, and it's peculiar that a brief allusion to rape in the intro of HM2 caused vocal backlash that scared the developers into including a disclaimer & option to skip this inherently safe scene on a 'movie set' in the narrative, and safe within its own internal portrayal. Jacket's relationship to the prostitute from HM1 is by all merits deeper & should be more polemic, from screentime to ethics. If anything, the actress character in HM2 and the disclaimer are reminders of the audience's own moral failure, greater than the commentary painted in red sprites & grotesque character portraits accompanying large-font rudimentary dialogue.

Just an FYI concerning the word 'aforementioned': czcams.com/video/MR4cU3gkMWw/video.html

my condolences to you and your family good sir. Your review and analysis were excellently done. >> You're pretty good

The Pain’s arena fight was intense and really made you think on your feet.

Eva is such a mysterious character, but she plays a pivotal role in Snake\'s journey.

Snake’s relationship with The Boss is so deep, it’s tragic how everything turns out.

The codec calls really capture that feeling of being stranded and alone.

The Cobra Unit is an incredible concept, each member representing a stage of grief is genius.

Snake Eater’s survival mechanics were so immersive, felt like you were really there.

The jungle environment in MGS3 added so much tension to the game!

MGS3 nailed the themes of grief so well. The gameplay adds such a strong sense of isolation.

Man, the fight with The End always kept me on edge!

The Fury’s boss fight gave me chills, especially with all the fire everywhere.

As much as fans misunderstand the series, i can kinda see why. The amount of loose ends hotline miami 2 left kinda made me expect something more out of it. Why the fuck is the russian mafia in miami? What the hell happened to biker? Who is richard? Who were the 50 blessings operatives we sometimes see in the first game (the pig mask guy biker is interrogating, the dead operatives other than jake who we can collect masks from, like earl, charlie, etc? All these unanswered questions kind of left me thinking that there would be a third game explaining all of this, not necesssrily a sequel, but a prequel or spinoff or something. But it just leaves us there. Cus after all, the loose ends left in the first game were explained in the second, i would've expected a third to explain the remaining too. The level editor does give us some ways to patch this up ourself. But at that time it just left me wondering. So theres food for thought 😅

okay but id like another game, call me a bloodthirsty media illiterate neanderthal if ya want

7:41 the moment I saw the animated sprites of animal masks I myself thought I was hallucinating alongside Jacket

4:52 what a brilliant opportunity it was to cut straight to the question "DO YOU LIKE HURTING OTHER PEOPLE" asked by Richard in the dark room voiced by the most sinister voice imaginable

The lil thing you did was awesome with the switch

Great essay! Personally never felt like the series needed a third game - devs got their artistic point across and anything more seems kinda forced. Wishlisted that guys other project on steam tho! Looks interesting

Phenomenal video essay, really nice work. HM2 ironically elevated the series to a work of art it seems a lot of people didn't initially see. This was a great added viewpoint on the series

eh... I honestly rather prefer exploring a different world, rather than social commentary pieces... If this is indeed what the actual idea of HM series is, then it kinda ruins it for me. In this regard, the best worldbuilding involves changing something simple and building from that. My go-to example is mass effect - the one change from the reality we're actually in is the existence of the element zero that enables FTL travel. Every other change in that universe pretty much follows from that. ...big extra points if the story is set up in a way to take a turn where the supposed bad guy ends up being conclusively, objectively right to do what they've been doing, and it is the "good guys" that are naive, narrow-minded and misguided, and, again - not in a social commentary form, but within the world that has been built. I absolutely despise real-life impressions on fictional storylines - this can be seen in how series have open-ended season endings, just to serve as a plausible conclusion, but to also keep a further story a possibility, should the season end up making enough money. Not the same as social commentary, which, even though I personally dislike, I can respect as an art form.

Thank you for making this ❤

“What is grief, if not love persevering?” - Vision in WandaVision

Son of a… how did I miss the grief theme? The stages of grief in the boss names and even how those fights play out. Even the silly “I’m covered in beees!” guy is hinting at something much deeper. Beautiful! This game is even better than I remembered! Thanks so much for sharing this!

I'm glad I subscribed :)

Excellent analysis for an excellent game, you’ve given me a new appreciation for The Cobra Unit. I’m sorry for your loss, losing a loved one is never easy

This was an interesting lens to look at the game through, I liked your takes especially about the Boss and Snake's relationship. It's been too long since I played MGS3 and I'm gonna have to find a port to play it again because it was always my favourite for some reason.

MGS3 is Kojimas finest hour. A stunning piece of work.

i never realized the cobra unit represented the stages of snake's grief in losing the boss despite playing the game Many times. snake's grief is never a conversation subject, never outright mentioned, and so it's so easy to miss. and yet it's literally shoved in front of your face through the whole game !!!!!! knowing that changes my perception of the game so much....... mgs3 literally never fails to impress. amazing essay!!!!!!

"you're pretty good".....at bodying a video essay on mgs3 😏

did not think it was that deep, ended up in mariana. banger.

Here's a weird fact everybody gets kinda wrong about MGS3 that I spent way too much time researching: So many people claim that Volgin's phrase "kuwabara kuwabara" means "mulberry field" and it's a protective, superstitious chant designed to protect a person from lightning because according to legend, mulberry trees don't get struck by lightning. When I first heard this I thought "Okay, that's cool... but what legend are they referring to?" And researching this became a nightmare. Some people claim it originates from a 9th century Japanese aristocrat called Sugawara no Michizane who admittedly, had a very interesting life... but people claim he ruled over a land called 'Kuwabara' and was exiled after a whole bunch of political conflict. After dying, his spirit was said to throw lightning bolts at those who wronged him as part of his vengeance except he never struck Kuwabara (his home turf) and so people began saying "Kuwabara, Kuwabara" in hopes that Michizane would be hesitant to lightning strike them. This is all well and good... but I can't find any evidence that Sugawara no Michizane actually ruled over a land called Kuwabara except for uncorroborated claims. But it gets weirder still because there is a famous writer in Japan called Moku Jōya who is famous for writing about Japanese culture and he wrote a book called "Japan and things Japanese" which explains the origin differently. He claims that Kuwabara was a village in the Izumi province of the Osaka prefecture (which technically does still exist today although Google maps just sends you to a random bus stop) and that... a bolt of lightning fell into a well in the village and the villagers managed to capture it. They basically negotiated with this bolt of lightning and said they would release it if it promised to never strike the village of Kuwabara again. During research, there were also a bunch of people who claimed that a historical figure known as "Mr Kuwabara" was famously afraid of lightning... or something... I dunno, it gets really weird the deeper you look into it. The bottom line is that it doesn't seem like anybody really knows for sure. The idea that a village known as Kuwabara became impervious to lightning is why people think Mulberry trees have something to do with the legend (because thats what the translation says) but this doesn't seem to be the case. It'd be like if you went to a village called "Daffodil" and you found out that nobody ever got sick there and so you assume that daffodils prevent people from getting sick... somehow. Even if they don't grow daffodils in "Daffodil". There is no evidence that Kuwabara was famous for its Mulberry trees... it might have just been named that for arbitrary reasons or reasons that became outdated as time went on. I spent way too much time on this but I do know that... guess what... Mulberry trees aren't immune to lightning... because why would they be? I even found a video of one being struck by lightning lol.

Shyc0rn back at it again with an impeccable video. You truly never miss👍

SECOND (😡) (💚)

Oh heck ya

one of the best videos ive watched in months

Such a good video.

Rockstar PLEASE GIVE ME MAX PAYNE 3 FOR PS4 😭, If I have Max Payne 3 with GTA 5 and RDR 2 on PS4 I'd die a happy man

I've come back to this essay a few times and it really knocks me on my ass every time. Its so well written and puts forth one of the strongest cases for game design as a vehicle for storytelling that I've seen. The ludonarrative harmony on display in these games is incredible and I'm enthralled by the dev's ability to tell such a potent anti-war story. Thanks so much for this essay, and I hope to see more interesting things from you!

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This game got away from me on release. I was in the middle of a big life move, new job, new town, etc. But I remember it's release. Always a big fan of the series, from the original back in 2000 in college. I picked up MP3 on Steam last year some time, and have finally gotten around to playing it. What a game, I'm about 60% through it so far. I have a very new rig (13700k/4070ti) and if you turn up everything on this game, it'll really give it a workout to this day. It still looks phenomenal. Great game, I'd love to see more from the series, but I understand it was to be the finale.