I am, of course, talking about Konami's 1998 PS1 Classic Metal Gear Solid.
Constantly being on every top 100 games list, You can't go too long without hearing about the original Metal Gear Solid. Released on the PlayStation in 1998, MGS broke new ground for being not only an amazing stealth game but one of the first instances of games being cinematic. But enough of my dribble, let's start the review!
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| The new Corner Cam in action. |
Metal Gear Solid takes place in 2005, set 6 years after the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Terrorists have taken over a nuclear disposal facility on the remote Shadow Moses Island in the middle of the Fox Archipelago, just off the coast of Alaska. In response to this, the United States government issues one man, armed with just a pack of cigarettes and a pair of binoculars , to deal with the situation. Solid Snake, the man who destroyed two nuclear machines beforehand, was injected with a transmitter and nanomachines before the mission began, so that he could keep in contact with his support team consisting of: Colonel Roy Campbell, Dr. Naomi Hunter, Head of Technical Data Mei Ling and Nuclear Weapons expert Nastasha Romenkov. Along his journey, he would meet up with Master McDonnell Miller, Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, Meryl Silverbergh and someone who goes by the alias "Deepthroat". Snake's mission is to infiltrate the facility and see what the terrorists - a rebel group of FOXHOUND, an elite Spec Ops group - are planning and to rescue the head of ArmsTech Kenneth Baker and the head of the US DARPA, Donald Anderson. He gradually finds out that something is not right about his mission and begins to doubt his comrades when both Baker and Anderson die of a "heart attack". Snake has no choice but to stop the terrorists and destroy their final weapon, Metal Gear REX.
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| THE SAFETY'S ON!!! |
Metal Gear Solid is a stealth action game. Since you're barely equipped at the start of the game, fighting enemies is not recommended. You have to use the environment to your advantage and sneak around undetected. If an enemy spots Snake, the game enters Alert mode where the infamous numbers "99.99" appear at the top left of the screen replacing the Soliton Radar (a device that allows Snake to somehow see the enemies field of vision).. When in this mode, Snake must either get away from the enemies as fast as possible to let the timer tick down or eliminate the threat. If Alert mode is cleared, the game enters Evasion mode where another 99.99 countdown begins. In this state Snake must remain hidden until the timer reaches zero, otherwise enemies will spot him and come in with force. Occasionally, there is a boss fight with a Member of FOXHOUND, which all have their own unique strategies. Control wise, it's perfect for this type of game although sometimes getting out of a crawl position can be finicky. My only problem with the game is the length of some of the Codec calls. They're interesting sure, but they can be drawn out quite a bit at times.
Graphically, well for a PS1 game it does the job well. Environments are in Full 3D and character models are detailed enough for a game of this era. What blew everyone away though when it came to MGS's Visuals weren't the graphics, but the cinematics. The game was packed with around 4 hours worth of widescreen cutscenes all fully voice acted. It gave the game a movie like feel and gave it a cinema-esque quality.
Graphically, well for a PS1 game it does the job well. Environments are in Full 3D and character models are detailed enough for a game of this era. What blew everyone away though when it came to MGS's Visuals weren't the graphics, but the cinematics. The game was packed with around 4 hours worth of widescreen cutscenes all fully voice acted. It gave the game a movie like feel and gave it a cinema-esque quality.
In the sound department, the soundtrack isn't the most memorable thing in the world, but it is suitable and it works in the games favour. The famous Encounter music is one of thee most famous pieces in gaming and the repetitive but great Tank Hangar theme is pretty catchy too. The voice acting is superb, especially for a cast of unknowns. The cast would go on to voice the whole MGS series until 2014's Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
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| Get ready to see a lot of these. |
Metal Gear Solid is considered a classic for a reason. It introduced many gamers to an almost unheard of series, the gameplay was - for alack of a better term - solid and the presentation was astounding for the time. It is one of the best games on the PS1 for a reason: It just kicks so much ass.
Story: 8
Gameplay: 7.5
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Personal Enjoyment: 8.5
FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID: 8.2/10
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