Gamespot have MetalGearSubstance...on XBox (1 Viewer)

[paul h]

Have to say it makes disappointing if not surprising reading...

"Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is now available for the Xbox, and we're here to bring you some first impressions of the game now that we've gotten our hands on it. Essentially a straight port of last year's highly acclaimed PlayStation 2 version of Metal Gear Solid 2, Substance also has some notable extras, as well as a few apparent shortcomings that we were quick to identify. Most notably, we witnessed some extreme amounts of slowdown during the game's rain-soaked oil tanker area (the very first area of the game), in places where last year's PlayStation 2 version of the game ran perfectly smoothly. Considering the Xbox hardware should be able to easily handle now what the PlayStation 2 was capable of a year ago, these performance issues seem very strange.
Beyond that, the core of Substance is a straight port of Metal Gear Solid 2, and, notwithstanding the technical problems, it looks and plays exactly the same as last year's game. Substance also adds five different "Snake Tails," brief side stories starring the popular Solid Snake. These all take place in environments lifted straight from Metal Gear Solid 2, but they lack the same production values, as there is no new voice-over or cinematic cutscenes to go with these sequences. Rather, the Snake Tails are introduced with pages of onscreen text.

The game also packs in more than 300 brief VR missions, which you can initially play through as either Snake or Raiden, though several slots are available for unlockable hidden characters. The VR missions should be readily familiar to those who played the original Metal Gear Solid game--they are basically action-oriented or puzzle-oriented challenges that become increasingly difficult as you proceed.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance was released with far less fanfare than last year's game. Xbox owners who've never played MGS2 should stay tuned for our full review later this week to find out if the game is worth their while. For now, have a look at our new screenshots and movies of the game in action. "

 

[Romier S]

Even better news. The game does not support 480p.

 

[ChristopherS]

If I had to choose between two stealth games, it still looks like SplinterCell is the clear winner in this category. It is pretty sad when a game actually runs worse on faster equipment.

Chris

 

[Brian J Dupuis]

The game does not support 480p.

God, people are lazy, aren't they? Just disgusting.

 

[JoseEduardo]

WHATTTT??????? THE GAME DOES NOT SUPPORT 480P??????
ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS????? I CAN'T BE!!! IF IT DOESN'T SUPPORT 480P I'LL PASS ON IT AND I'LL JUST GET SPLINTER CELL AND MEDAL OF HONOR!!!

 

[Andy Anderson]

Honestly, I'm with Chris and Jose. I was extremely excited once I heard that MGS was coming to Xbox, but after I heard about Splinter Cell, read reviews and especially after I played the demo on the OXM disc this month, I couldn't care less about MGS. For those of you who haven't considered Splinter Cell, check it out--it's freakin' incredible!

 

[Chris Bardon]

This is certainly distressing-is this the final build of the game that they're playing? I can't imagine why Konami would release something that slows down that badly.

 

[Adam Nixon]

Aren't ALL X-box games required to support 480p, or am I mistaken? Either way, this sounds like an extremely lazy port.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beginning to believe that I need to shy away from ports of any title. In rare cases (Tony Hawk 4) they seem OK, but 9 times out of ten they're just garbage.

 

[Romier S]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beginning to believe that I need to shy away from ports of any title. In rare cases (Tony Hawk 4) they seem OK, but 9 times out of ten they're just garbage.

One bad port does not make them all bad, In fact most of the multi-platform games I have bought have been on the Xbox.

Blood Omen 2 looked substantially better than its PS2 counterpart with an improved framerate, 480p support and multi-channel sound. Silent Hill 2 Restless Dreams again included superior graphics, 480p support, multi-channel sound and an added scenario not available on the PS2 (in the US). Genma Onimusha was a greatly improved port making the game substantially harder and it included the regualr Xbox features of 480p support and multi-channel sound.

For all of the vitrol that gets lobbed at EA at the very least they include 480p and 5.1 along with decent widescreen support on thier Xbox ports.

For every bad port there is a good one to match it and excel on the Xbox. You simply need to stay informed as to which is the best version of the game and buy accordingly.

With that said I have to say I'm disappointed with the port job that Konami did on this game. The 480p issue is definitely a problem but even moreso is the framerate issues. There should be no reason for the framerate drops here. I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing the PS2 version of Substance. I'd like to see if that version includes the same framerate drops found here...

 

[Conroy Tesa]

I'm playing this game at the moment(well not at THIS moment)
It IS 480P on my 36XBR400. It also says right on the packaging.(HDTV 480p)

I have no idea where this rumourstarted. The graphis look great to me and the 5.1 sound is amazing.

 

[Romier S]

It IS 480P on my 36XBR400

I have a rental copy and mine sure as hell is not 480p. I can guarentee you that. Unless they went and distributed different versions out to rental stores I dont know whats going on then. (For the record I have a Tosh 42H81 and Ive played quite a bit of Xbox games on this set)

EDIT: Im going to buy the damn game now just to check! (I'll return it tommorrow)

 

[JamesH]

Why would Substance chug on the PS2? They don't have to redo the engine for new hardware. Just looks like another case of not spending enough time on optimization.

 

[Conroy Tesa]

Romier

I know for sure it is 480p on my tv as Sony has DRC (their line doubler).
It turns off when it senses a 480p or 1080i signal. We know the game is not 1080i so ....

Strange
Now looking at the back of the package, at the bottom it lists features in some sort of check list and Players 1, and in game dobly digital are checked off but HDTV 480p isn't along with custom soundtracks system links.

BUT I KNOW MY TV IS GETTING A 480p signal.

STRANGE.

BTW
I'm in Canada but that shouldn't make a difference because I bet they are all made in the same place.

 

[Romier S]

BUT I KNOW MY TV IS GETTING A 480p signal.

Believe me Conroy I don't doubt your telling the truth here! I rented the game last night and on my set it gets no prog signal!! (I doubly checked with other prog scan games to make sure the set and the Xbox were working and Halo, Jet Set..so forth so on were fine). Either one of two things is going on. The game disc is FUBAR or there is a different version of the game out there (which is doubtful IMO). This is in fact STRANGE.

Im on my way to buy the game right now. Ill be back on to report when I test the bought copy. If it is in fact 480p then I'll be the first to apologize to Konami!

 

[Steve Deacon]

With regard to the frame rate issues, I do remember that the PS2 version of MGS2 slightly cheated in the rainy exterior sections, as frame switching on vblank was disabled, whereas it was enabled everywhere else. This meant that the rainy section gained some fps, at the expense of some screen tearing.

I'm not sure about the xbox TRC, but it may be that they don't allow that kind of trick, as I know they are very strict in other areas of presentation.

 

[Conroy Tesa]

I tested out a number of games and ones that are progressive disable the DRC on my tv and the ones that aren't(booooo) don't.

Except gfor MGS2:substance. Strange

 

[JamesH]

The screen in the PS2 MGS tears everywhere, not just on the ship deck. Try looking at a complex area in first person view and moving the view around quickly.

 

[Derek.Dixon]

Aside from 480p is it 16:9 at least?

 

[JamesL]

do we have final confirmation on this - is it 480P or not?

 

[Demetri K]

I just got MGS2 Sub. For ps2(I live in Japan. I can tell you though The Xbox(at least the version I have scene) does not have Progressive scan. I do not know if there are any other versions out there( I doubt it) But Oh well it is still a good game. Espcially if you never played the regular version of Metal gear2.