Faceoff! Gears of War vs Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

I admit that I wasn’t sure how to approach this weeks edition of Faceoff. For the most part, I conceived this feature as a way to bring back fun debate between our favorite games. In the current gaming climate, however, it’s hard to have such discussions when everything can be construed as a flamebait for the increasingly frustrating and annoying console war. Fanboys fuel it, but even the gaming media itself have become party to feeding the ravaging fanboys that thirst for the blood of their hated console.

I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know that Gears of War and Metal Gear Solid 4 are practically poster children for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 respectively. Of course they are. They are two shining examples of what those machines are capable of. This comparison, however, is not about the Xbox 360 vs the Playstation 3, but of two 3rd person shooters with very distinct takes on the genre, with both influencing the other in some ways. With that said, I hope that this article/opinion piece brings more positive, fun discussion, instead of brutal hatred and vitriol. Now, let Faceoff begin!

Little Big Planet “MGS Level Pack,” Features new Trophies, Paintball Gun

The folks over at PS3 Fanboy have some very intriguing news regarding the recently revealed Metal Gear Solid Level Pack set for release in the near future.

The pack will not only feature costumes of your favorite MGS4 characters, and pieces to construct a Metal Solid Gear style level, replete with stickers, but the Level Pack will also boast a new set of Trophies, and more intriguing, a new paintball gameplay mechanic. That’s right, your Sackboy/girl will now be able to pack some firepower to take out foes with.

Metal Gear Solid Sackboys Coming to Little Big Planet

Am I good or what? I totally called the MGS “Level Pack,” and here it is, confirmed only a few ours later by the folks at Playstation Asia.

Unfortunately, no price or release date is given, but I’m going to hazard a guess and say within the next few weeks, given the weekly release schedule for LBP DLC.

Source – asia.playstation.com

Metal Gear Solid Theme = Plagiarism?

Classical Russian composer Sviridov produced this theme in 1974 for Pushkin’s verse “Metel”. The song bears a few striking resemblances to Metal Gear Solid’s main theme.

Hear it for yourself below:

YouTube

Personally, I think there are moments of the song that are similar to the Metal Gear Solid theme, but I also detect a bit of “Frog’s Theme” from Chrono Trigger as well. It’s a beautiful song, and I think Sviridov would be amused that another composer (who apparently had never heard of Sviridov), would craft something equally beautiful 24 years later. Especially with that composer having never heard his music before (allegedly; you can never be 100% certain in these matters).

I’m not sure which theme I like more. They are both fantastic pieces of music. So what do you think? Are the Russians onto something? Do you think a lawsuit is valid? Or is it just one big coincedence?

I don’t actually know myself. The majority of both songs are so different from one another that I find it hard to scream “plagiarism” for a few melodies that are simple.

Source – Youtube