Better than the original in some ways, but not all.
NOTE: This review was written by me years ago, but it's never been posted on GB, so enjoy!
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It's been almost six years since Konami dropped a huge bombshell and floored just about everyone with Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation. It had gameplay innovation coming from all directions; it raised the bar for cinematics in a game, originally something that SquareSoft apparently excelled at; the voice acting was top-notch--perhaps the best in any video game in existence. No other game would be perfect as a motion picture, as most of the work is already done.
Three years later, we were given a sequel. The gameplay was much improved, but the story--well, to this day, people are still wondering what happened. For Konami & Nintendo, it made perfect sense to take MGS2's gameplay and graphics, and combine it with MGS1's heavy plot to make the perfect Metal Gear game in existence. But is it perfect? Unless you haven't played it already, not really. Twin Snakes definitely improves over the original MGS, but not enough to warrant a second purchase if you're a vet. Even Dragon Warrior 3 for the Game Boy Color was a better remake than TS in terms of content.
The best part about TS is also its weakness. Silicon Knights and Konami basically took MGS2 and put MGS1's storyline in it. All the extras that were in MGS2 are also in TS, save for a few features here and there. But that's all that was done--they didn't bother to take things further. Why not take a page out of MGS2: Substance and add some cool stuff? (Watch them go ahead and do that later this year.) The omission of the VR training is inexplicable--what if there are newcomers to the series? I figured Konami was hoping to generate a Metal Gear fanbase within Nintendo's ranks. One more thing--the voice acting. Konami went and re-recorded the dialogue; some of the recordings aren't quite what they used to be, which is especially true for Naomi Campbell. However, the acting is still the best you'll hear in any video game.
Before this review turns into a complete rant, let's go over what was done right: the added cutscenes are sweet, though some will be turned off by the "bullet-time" effects, made famous by the Matrix. However, no one can deny that characters such as the Ninja were made even cooler with the extra scenes. Even Solid Snake shows off some new moves. Unfortunately, this is the only significant inclusion to the MGS remake.
Twin Snakes is only worth the purchase if you've never played the original MGS, or have never played a Metal Gear game before. If you fit this category, add 1 whole point to my score, because you're in for a ride. Otherwise, just rent it, because you'll still know this game like the back of your hand. You'll be playing this game for the cinematics more than anything else, so you might as well pay less than the amount to go see a movie.
