Metal Gear Solid

"Poink!"

Think of all those great action blockbusters that you all love to watch so much, one man faced with a daunting task and a whole lot of bad guys in his path. You can’t help but think “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could take control of a situation like that and save the day?” But thanks to a whole lot of work on behalf of Konami and Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid was released to the absolute delight of millions of gamers around the world (and if you weren’t delighted what’s wrong with you). Much in the style of the previous Metal Gear games on the NES, the action was heavily based on the art of stealth, going into the fray commando style wouldn’t achieve anything except a heavy defeat, you had to plan your moves carefully and make your way strategically through the game. Couple this advanced, thrilling style of gameplay with an absolute killer story and Metal Gear Solid was always destined for glory.

It’s not very often that I comment on the story of a game, but the quality of the plot offered in Metal Gear Solid is of such a high quality that one can’t help but mention it. You’re Solid Snake, a spy bought out of retirement, you’re deposited onto a base in Alaska that is occupied by some evil members of fox-hound. In the beginning your knowledge of the mission is minimal, but as you progress deeper into the game you encounter characters, good and evil that shape the way that the game unfolds. There’s a huge amount of twists and turns plotwise throughout the game that will leave you on the edge of your seat in anticipation for the next unlikely turn of events. This story gives the game the real ''cinematic'' approach, making Metal Gear Solid seem at times more of a movie than a game. It’s so good that one could actually tape it as they play through and play it back to be entertained, top stuff indeed.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is innovative, and when it’s put into action it’s scintillating. At the beginning of the game you’re left alone with nothing on your body (except your trusted cigarettes) and a simple objective to complete. From here on in you have complete freedom on how you go about playing the game, you can either avoid the guards or take them out in one of many ways. You have to be careful though, as if the guards are alerted to your presence you’ll be running for your life as they swarm upon you, reappearing as quickly as you dispose of them. This means you have to use guile and cunning rather than exercising firepower, it’s much more cerebral than the bog-standard shooter. Weapons and all your other gadgets need to be searched out and collected, items are strewn throughout the place or will be given to you for stealthy disposal of the enemy, play well and you’re rewarded accordingly.

To give the game a good sense of direction you’ll be given a series of keycards as you progress, this means you can’t enter the all-important room until you track down the card, but it can also result in some annoying backtracking. There is a most terribly irritating spot towards the end where you have to run back and forward to rooms of different temperature numerous times to progress in the game, this is the only weak spot of an otherwise flawless game route. Most of the rooms and various locations have a good design, plenty of hiding spots to launch an ambush from or cower in, everything is set up logically and it makes navigating your way around more enjoyable.

The AI shown throughout the game by the enemies is pretty good. If they hear a noise or see something suspicious then they’ll certainly follow it up and in many cases this can lead to your demise. It makes being REALLY careful of the utmost importance and the top priority. Of course there are a few holes here, after a bit of searching for you (even if they spotted Snake) they’ll simply stop and go back on patrol. This makes them seem dumb, but if they never stopped hunting for him think how difficult the game would become. Some of the situations you’re placed in can be quite entertaining and thought provoking, you’re trapped in a cell with a guard on watch, all you’ve got is a bottle of tomato sauce and a bed against the wall…what do you do? It’s choices like this that show the true genius of the game.

There have been a few complaints of how you’re sometimes ''babied'' through the game, for there’s a couple of nifty inventions at your disposal, the first is a radar that shows your position, building outlines and also enemies and their point of direction. This isn’t anything too extreme, but the second gadget is a CODEC, this lets you communicate with a number of people back at the base. If ever you’re stuck simply ring the up and you can get a pretty clear idea of what to do next, it certainly lessens some of the difficulty of the game and can sometimes grate on your nerves.

During the course of the game, Snake will face off against the elite members of fox-hound. These boss fights require you to utilise every trick you’ve learnt playing the game and can be quite tricky to beat. There’s a good range of fights, from a sniper face off to a battle of gun skills, or even a simple one on one fist fight, they’re always high on action and provide quite a bit of fun to the player. If you don’t feel that your skills are up to scratch then you can take a trip to the training mode (the pre-cursor for the VR Missions add on disc) to hone your abilities. In these missions you progress through small stealth-based stages trying for best times or simply yearning to finish them. This can really help your in-game abilities and make you become a better player.

Overall, the gameplay has some great stealth elements to it whilst incorporating a nice bit of fast-paced action into it. It’s a splendid mix, creating tension that will keep the player on the edge of his seat. The whole theme can be a bit overwhelming for some, they feel that being spotted is the end of the world and tend to panic, but once one gets over this then you can’t help but enjoy the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid.

GRAPHICS
The graphics have obviously had a lot of work thrust upon them, the attention to detail is just astonishing. The surroundings that Snake travels through have a high amount of realism, if there’s something that one thinks would appear in a certain spot in real life then chances are that it’s included in the game. The cells that prisoners are kept in are dingy and on the verge of rusting, the outside wilderness is packed with snow and realistic trees, the furnace room has pits of boiling hot lava with steam emanating from them. It’s all very atmospheric, a lot of the scenes you’re presented with can be quite daunting, looking ahead and seeing snow falling all around you that will leave incriminating footprints, puddles that will alert soldiers to your presence and of course a lot of cameras and searchlights to give you away, there hasn’t been a thing forgotten anywhere, it’s quite astounding. There’s just so much eye candy that a player is treated to as they play throughout the game it isn’t funny, the closeness to detail can really absorb a player into the game, make them think that they’re facing an actual life or death situation.

The people that you come across throughout the game are realistically modelled and have accurate size ratios, there is some blockiness to be found in their overall outlook, but this complaint is a minor one and fades into insignificance in the big picture. The designs of their figures are quite good, from the muscly he-man type characters to the scrawny little computer nerd, they’re all accurately modelled and look quite good. The attires of the hero and assorted villains are quite memorable and fitted to them well, I’m surprised that black body suits didn’t suddenly become fashionable as Snake looks damn good in one of them. Most of the animation's that they perform are close to real human movements, they perform all of the gestures and take poses that are common in the human population, and sometimes you could swear that they were real from the way they walk and talk. All of these features make the character list a memorable crew, one that you will either fall in love with or despise for their cold-hearted ways, just like the cast of a movie.

The special effects littered throughout the game are numerous and quite flashy. There are quite a lot of gunshots and huge explosions to be seen as the player progresses and to put it bluntly, they look damn good. They’re done much in the style of a Hollywood flick, creating tension and heightening the action, they’re all very appealing to the eye and are great for those that crave big doses of excitement. The videos that are scattered between the action (and there’s a lot of them) simply implement the in-game graphics rather than using FMV sequences. Whilst visually this look isn’t as good, this style makes the change between the rolling videos and game play a lot more pleasant and less noticeable. Thankfully the in-game graphics are of sufficient quality for the developers to get away with this, if anything it adds to the overall graphical quality rather than detracting from it.

Overall, the whole outlook is sheer brilliance. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing and graphically advanced games that a Playstation owner can buy. There are neither technical flaws nor glitches that can pop up in a lot of games, it’s just a very solid graphical package, one that you could never get sick of viewing.

SOUND
The sound is almost as good, as far as atmosphere goes this audio selection has it in spades, it’s used to great effect to create tension within the player and heighten the adrenalins to really give them a kick when playing this game. Background music is used wisely, it is not utilised throughout the whole game, but rather in sections that have the most action and it’s sudden appearance really has a good effect on whoever is playing the game. When it does strike up the majority of the themes are fast-paced and action orientated. Up-tempo numbers that sound great and are pleasing to listen to. The opening and closing themes are quite haunting and typify the whole sound scheme, they’re a pleasure to listen to and are as good a reason as any to get the MGS soundtrack.

Sound effects are put to great use in Metal Gear Solid, every scene has it’s own choices that fit their various location and sound accurate and realistic. Never will a sound appear out of place, the timing is impeccable, even Snakes footsteps are perfectly synchronised with his leg movements and that’s no easy feat. The huge range of effects ensures that there is never a silent moment during the whole game, and there’s not a single flaw within any of them.

The finest aspect of the audio in Metal Gear Solid is definitely the character speech. The majority of the voice acting in the game is of movie or television quality, there are some fine voice actors on display here. There’s a huge number of lines delivered through the whole game and the number that have been poorly done could be counted on one hand. A lot of the lines in the game are quite memorable, a good choice of catch phrases to choose from here, the delivery by the actors of course makes them sound even better. This is an aspect of the game that is the best you can find in nearly any game, there is no way that the speech could be improved upon.

Overall, the sound is a quality package. Everything related to the audio is either flawless or close to it, it’s very good to listen to and should be given full marks simply for the character and atmosphere that is created by it. Add this to the graphics and you’ve got a duo of momentous proportions, it just doesn’t get better than this.

LIFESPAN
There is a fantastic lifespan offered by this game, the gameplay is of such a good quality that you’ll definitely play through it multiple times. There are a few small incentives, finishing with either of the two great endings will give you a handy little item and the third time through Snake will don a Bond style suit throughout the whole game. Rather than bragging about how they’ve completed the game, this is a game that people brag about how many times they’ve finished it. This game offers so much that you’ll just keep coming back for more.

FUN FACTOR
The fun factor offered is pretty high, whether you’re into this style of game or not odds are you’ll find yourself well entertained. This is such an original game that very few ideas implemented here have been used in other games, and of course the first time is always the best. You’ll get a great deal of satisfaction from progressing through and ultimately completing the game, despite having a serious ''We’re gonna blow stuff up and kill people'' kind of theme to it, the developers have designed the game to be more fun than one would think possible.

CHALLENGE
There is a good range of difficulty to choose from in Metal Gear Solid, one can choose from a wide selection that ranges from VERY EASY to EXTREME. In each advancement in difficulty ammo and items become more sparse and enemies smarter and more numerous. There’s a level here to suit the skill and tastes of anybody whether you like a leisurely stroll through or a game of wrist-slashing difficulty. You can also challenge yourself by trying to achieve a high code-name at the end, the better you perform the more prolific the rank that is showered upon you. It’s certainly not a walk in the park or insanely difficult, just a nice range somewhere in the middle.

THE FINAL PARAGRAPH
Overall, Metal Gear Solid is up there as one of the greatest Playstation games of all time. It has everything from dazzling graphics to enthralling gameplay, this game will hook you in from the time you start until the glorious sight of the closing credits. If you ever pictured yourself as some sort of a super hero or action star then this game is just perfect for you, for everyone else it’s just a brilliantly playable, surprisingly innovative title for you to fall in love with. If you don’t own this game yet (there’s round about ten of you left out there) then you should drop everything you’re doing and go out and get this game immediately!
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GOOD POINTS
- A very polished overall presentation, fantastic to look at and listen to
- Some of the best stealth-based gameplay you’re ever likely to come across
- Pretty much everything else, flaws are few in number and hard to find

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- Uneven enemy AI may frustrate people
- A bit of backtracking may frustrate people.....that’s about it
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GRAPHICS - 10/10
SOUND - 10/10
GAMEPLAY - 10/10
LIFESPAN - 8/10
FUN FACTOR - 9/10
CHALLENGE - 9/10
OVERALL - 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/00, Updated 10/11/01