Nothings Perfect, but why not try?

Metal Gear Solid and GTA: The fourth time is the charm

Let’s talk cinema. Gone with the Wind was filmed in Technicolor, on an inferior grade of film. Its sets and backdrops couldn’t hold water with even the simplest of Mel Brooks comedy. Now Casablanca? No color, there’s grain all over the place, the soundtrack is in mono, and there’s no blood when someone gets shot.

My point?

A perfect score does not equal perfection. It equals as close to perfect as anything can be, a pinnacle worthy of some hyperbole, the mark by which other movies may be judged. These aren’t perfect movies, it’s that in spite of their flaws they manage to transcend their banal medium of celluloid and glitz. That’s what sets them apart. When works of transcendency and wonder do occur, there tends to be a lot of hyperbole about how great a game is. People can and always will find a flaw, and proclamations of perfection is just that. Gamers are not the same group who all owned Super Mario 3 and fell in love with sidescrolling perfection. There’s too many games, too many choices, and too many nuances to ever achieve such universal acclaim. It’s naïve, but not a sin, for people who play video games to extol the virtues of games they consider near perfect. Time will stand up to the critics and the naysayers.

Metal Gear is a game that’s as cinematic as a movie, with engaging characters and enough humor to know when to just be a video game. It’s deep and nuanced for replayability if you have the patience for it (most people don’t). It’s long, but it’s merciful. The load times are amusing AND practical. If you don’t take breaks during the course of this game, well, your eyes or sex life are not long for this world.

Grand Theft Auto is a game that I always assumed as an exercise in anarchy. This game is an exercise in being a thick rubber band. It’s thick and hard to move, but with enough tension things explode and there’s a magnificent twang. There is no voice acting this good in any video game. There are few games that decide to create this kind of world. This game shows where Nintendo goes wrong. It’s not about the maturity level, it’s about the detail. It’s a hell of a ride.

Of the games that come out this year, when you train a designer what to appreciate from this era, when you need to play something that defines an era, this is what they’ll look at.

And that’s as close to perfect as we can get.

And that’s always a 10.