Metal Gear Solid

"And the winner for best PSX game goes to...."

Metal Gear Solid. These three words together bring warm smiles and evoke fond memories from many Playstation owners. Many can remember playing the game for the first time and opening their eyes wide as they were treated to the tour de force known as Metal Gear Solid. New gamers were treated with the elaborate detail of this much-anticipated game, and the veterans were rewarded with a worthy follow-up to the Metal Gear series started so many years before. Master game maker Hideo Kojima incorporated the core elements like the story, controls, and gameplay and replay value with the new technology directed towards stunning visuals and superb sound. The package he came up with is like a new polished wooden floor. There are no nicks and no scratches; it is just smooth all the way through.

I first found this game on a fall/winter demo disc that came to my doorstep every few months. After playing through Metal Gear Solid, I had the strange urge to play it again, and again, and soon I had played the demo through ten times. After realizing how many times I played through the demo and how much fun I had, I decided to commit to the $75(Canadian) this game cost. Well I can safely tell you three years later that this game was well worth it.

It is pretty impossible to explain the whole story. You would have needed to play the original two Metal Gear games for the NES. It would ruin 2 perfectly playable games to explain the prologue so I’ll just give you the slim on this game.

Members of the ex-mercenary group Fox Hound take over a nuclear facility on Shadow Moses Island, Alaska in 2005. They demand one million dollars and the remaining DNA of the infamous ‘Big Boss’ or they will strike the United States with a nuclear weapon. Of course not wanting to cause pandemonium throughout the world, the United States government decides to hire the former leader of Fox Hound Colonel Roy Campbell to handle the situation as he sees fit. Campbell knows exactly who to call on so he kidnaps ex-Fox Hound member Solid Snake and briefs him on the mission that he will have to regardless of his opinion. Campbell’s medical advisor/nurse Naomi Hunter injects Solid Snake with nanomachines to keep him alive in the frigid Alaskan climate. Snake is launched in a one-man submersible vehicle so as not to alert the terrorists. He then ditches the submersible and swims the rest of the way into a small area of the compound. Snake must make his way to the elevator and up to the rest of the compound. Once he gets there, you’re mission begins, there is no turning back.

Folks, that is just the beginning of an epic tale. Metal Gear Solid is gold all the way through. The game itself is heavily dependent on the story, and it never falters. Unlike its sequel Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, MGS1 has only a few plot twists, and there is one late in the game that will have you slapping yourself silly. I kid you not when I say this game is what action games, and role playing games should be like. The story does not become boring, nor do a million things happen at once. Hell even MGS2 could learn from it. Kojima hit a good note when he thought this one up.

There are two modes in Metal Gear Solid. The first is a VR program, which allows you to hone your skills before playing the game. There are two modes you can choose for VR training. You can either do it unarmed, or armed with a Socom pistol. Doing the ten unarmed levels will really help you when it comes to the first bit in the game because for that first 15 minutes or so, you are completely unarmed. Armed VR training teaches you how to kill the guards fast and efficiently without alerting them beforehand or others after the matter. This will help you a lot (and I mean A LOT) throughout the game. Also, you have the chance to do each of these in a timed session too. So essentially, there are four different modes in VR missions with 10 levels each. That means you get 40 levels of practice. Although MGS: VR Missions has about 250, just remember that this is not all of the game.

The actual game itself is quite fun as well. The whole point of the game is to evade guards and infiltrate the nuclear compound and this game has an arsenal of moves that can assist you. Although there are not as many moves as there were in Metal Gear Solid 2, there are plenty. You have your basic kneeling and crawling which can cover you behind or under an object, you have a nice little knock that lures guards off of their path, and you have a strangle hold that can be used to either drag a guard or snap his neck. These moves combined with a good sense of timing can save your butt in action.

Also in this series are two forms of communication that can assist you through the game, the codec system and the Soliton radar system. The codec lets you communicate with allies over a radio-like system that is implanted in your ear. It really helps when you are stuck and you need a bit of assistance to get you set on the path again. The save feature is also included in this area of the game, which is somewhat of a godsend since you can basically dial up from anywhere at any time to use the codec. The Soliton radar isn’t really a ‘communications’ item per se, but it is a radar system that tells you what the guards can see and your position in the compound. Although if a guard catches you, you’re wanted level covers the radar system, rendering it completely useless. But hey, they have to add some element of difficulty in this game!

The lineup of weapons in Metal Gear Solid is somewhat low though. There are only about six different types of guns in the game but where they lack in quantity, they beam with quality. The aiming system is quite easy to get a hang of, you just point yourself in a direction and it automatically locks on to the closest target in that direction. Some other aiming systems include the incredibly primitive looking and sounding sniper rifle and the Stinger missile launcher. One of the most interesting and entertaining guns has got to be the Nikita missile launcher, which basically launches a missile and lets you control where it goes with your controller. It’s quite fun for finding new ways to sadistically kill guards.

Bosses are also considerably better than most bosses in other games. It comes as no surprise seeing as Kojima is a master at these kinds of things, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Bosses are also not very repetitive and a wide array of weapons is used for those fights. I would say that even compared to Kojima’s past and present games, this has got to be the one with the most original and creative archrivals.

So you’re wondering, “What does a game like this look like?” Lets just say they are DAMN good graphics. I swear at some times you will forget what console you’re playing it on. Although the computer version released a year later had considerably better graphics, the Playstation puts its back into and dishes out a spectacle of amazing graphics. All the movies are done with in game graphics, and even so, they look amazing. I’m not talking FFX FMV amazing, but excellent for game graphics. Characters also look great and have an almost perfect animation. No choppy movements, just smooth sailing all the way though.

Objects and guns and even the background are well made. Although Playstation was notorious for jaggies, Metal Gear Solid displays relatively few. I mean there are certain objects that fail to be smooth in any way, but they are few and far between. All of the guns look like their real life counterparts. Take the FAMAS automatic rifle for example. If you look closely at the one in the game and a picture of one in real life, you will notice that there isn’t much difference between the two. Overall, I would say Metal Gear Solid displays some of the best graphics on the Playstation. I can’t really say they are stunning now that PS2 and Xbox are out, but the detail it displayed on that magical 32-bit console is simply art… pure art.

Music and speech play a big role in this game as well. One thing I like about the music is that it runs in unison with the game. During stealth mode, you can easily sneak around to nice mellow music that is almost like a background noise, but once a guard notices you, a big surge in the music occurs and it takes a front seat, creating a feeling of exhilaration while you run from the guards. Voice acting is also very well done. If there is one game on the market for Playstation that can offer you nearly flawless audio, it’s Metal Gear Solid.

Now for the difficulty of this game. Well it depends what mode you set it on, because under very easy, you get a lot more rations and supplies, making it an accommodating game, but once you get into hard and very hard, all those accommodations are pulled out from under you and you basically go in there with nothing but your instincts (no soliton radar!) And scrounge whatever you can find on the premises. It basically means this game is accessible to anyone who wants to play it. Whether you are a good gamer or not, you will have a chance at beating it.

To fully experience this game, you’ll certainly have to play it through at least a few times. It’s probably one of the only action games I know of that has multiple endings. Each of the endings unlocks something different for you to use the next time you play through the game. Not only that, but there are also goodies found inside the game after you beat it a few times. It really boosts the replay value compared to other games. The only gripe is that it’s so damn short. Anyone should easily play through this game in less than 10 hours, and under 5 hours if you know what you’re doing.

In conclusion, this is a must have Playstation game. Many regard this game as the best Playstation game of all time, and unlike some other popular games, this one excels in every category. There is not one part of this game that you wont sit there going “wow”. As for whether to buy or rent you ask? You should definitely buy, even if you have a Playstation 2. It’s been out for about 4 and a half years now so its fairly cheap. So you get a lot of bang for the buck. It’s nearly unanimous when it comes to critics. This is one KICK ASS game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/03, Updated 03/18/03