What's weird is that Metal Gear Solid 2 is probably one of, maybe, three or four games that I can directly point at and thank for sculpting my interest and dedication to video games as a medium. Considering I'm now being fed by this industry, I think I owe a lot. And here it's been over a decade since I've touched that game, though still remembering it fondly, and I never really gave a real chance to any of the other games in that franchise.
There was a time I borrowed a copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 from a classmate in high school. I don't know why I hadn't bought the game, it was the sequel to the game I'd probably spent the most time in, second only to TimeSplitters 2. But even with the copy in hand, I couldn't get myself into it. I barely made it past the title screen, actually. To this day I'm not sure what stopped me.
I think I got cynical too young. I was unable to enjoy something, for a very long time, that wasn't apparent about whether it wanted to be taken seriously or not. I quickly dismissed things that were grand or dramatic as being pretentious. I was unwilling to accept the risky or unconventional narrative. I was the sort of person who loved Oscar movies because I was told they were great, and they won awards, so obviously I was right. I remember revisiting some Metal Gear Solid 2 cinematics years ago and rolling my eyes at the verbose writing, assigning no meaning.
I fucking hate the Oscars now.
I'm not sure what series of events in my life has caused me to relapse into wanting to enjoy things so desperately again. Maybe I'm just older. Maybe I'm sick of people defining themselves based on things they hate. Or maybe I'm just bored with all of what's accepted as traditionally good and want to be surprised again.
So here I am looking back at the things I might have skimmed past because I wasn't willing to let myself enjoy them. I've found myself coming around on a lot these days. And often I butt heads with coworkers and friends who clamor praise about the most recent Marvel retread or zeitgeist shooter that thinks it's breaking new ground 'cause it postures that maybe killing is bad.
I'm sick of the standard and predictable. I want something that I don't understand for once.
I find myself turning back to one of the series that started it all for me, Metal Gear Solid. And I want to experience the first Metal Gear Solid game because I never got to and I'm so profoundly jealous of people who have.
Help me, MGS fans. I'm not sure how to go about this. I could grab a copy on PSN and play it on my PS3, which seems easiest. I'm not sure how well the game emulates though. And I know there's some weird shit with the CD case and controller port switching, and I have no idea how that'd translate. I could also just go track down a copy of the game for PS1, but that's much more expensive. I'm also not confident I even have a functioning PS1 around. There's also the GameCube port, Twin Snakes. I do have a GameCube at my current place, so that's not a problem. The game is kind of pricey though, and I've heard that it changes the direction on a few of the cinematics. That might be reason enough to avoid it. Of course, the slightly updated graphics and control would be a big plus. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
I also plan to move on through the rest of the series, including revisiting MGS2, after this. I'm leaning towards just grabbing that HD remake on PS3 for those.
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