Metal Gear Solid Review

You're standing in the dark, guarding your objective. The silence overwhelms you as you try to relax your neck that grew stiff while standing there for hours. Gun in hand; you carefully observe the surroundings, searching for potential enemies. Suddenly, you think you heard something out there. Could it have been an enemy? No, more likely a rat. At the same moment strong arms emerge from the darkness behind you silently crushing your neck. Your eyes follow him as he retreats to the shadows. So, the legends were wrong. He is much better.

Yes, I do know this game appeared some two years ago on the PSX, and I am equally aware of the fact that it was one of the best games made for that platform ever. Still, its PC emanation is just another one of those sneaker action-adventures that will seek its audience in the crowds still impressed by its PSX edition. Don't get me wrong: Metal Gear Solid is a good and captivating game, but its far from being revolutionary, especially after Deus Ex. The PC version of the game had been postponed for quite a long time, which influenced its final rating and popularity. PC gamers did get much better graphics, additional VR missions, and a slightly improved gameplay, but I still don't think that was enough to justify the long wait. Well, I'm going to try to clear all the controversies surrounding this Hideo Kojima's classic...

The main plot is a mixture of classical pulp fiction and soap operas. It takes place in 2010 and you start the game playing the role of a special "stealth" agent Solid Snake (hopefully just a codename). Snake has previously appeared in a number of adventures on NES and PSX so you can consider him to be a highly trained professional, specialist in stealth infiltration and hand to hand combat. After he retired he was looking forward to some rest, but an urgent mission of utmost importance brings him back to action. The members of the "FoxHound" team (Snake used to be a member himself) turned terrorist, and invaded some nuclear power plants in Alaska. Their main goal is to launch nuclear strikes all over Earth.

Snake's mission is to rescue the hostages held in the base, find out if the terrorists are indeed capable of launching a nuclear strike and, if so, to stop them by all means. Metal Gear Solid firmly sticks to its main plot that is full of good humor, great characters, and dramatic turns. All this is somewhat thwarted by an unfinished profile of the protagonist, and the lack of control through scripted sequences, where the character acts on his own, often in a strange manner. He has suffered more than his fair share of traumas in Special Service, which made him, shall we say, rather peculiar. He sometimes speaks of love, even tries to hit on girls, but he never acts on his words, just sticks to platonic compliments (Hmm... he wouldn't happen to be a game editor, would he now? - Ed). If we take all that in regard, as well as his in-game comments, we get a profile of a person capable of doing anything to a certain extent, yet absolutely unable of finishing a single thing (Whoa, what's that?! A Psyops profile? - Ed). Metal Gear Solid's plot is like a motley fruit salad, and you have to admit it tastes good, even though you are not quite sure what's in it. Snake will have to fight turncoats and spies, stay clear of guards, and meet various weird characters, while watching his back and sneaking around dangerous places.