Imagine a game that is fresh and innovative plus clearly ahead of its
time. Imagine a game with a story line that is so compelling and
enthralling that it isn't hard for gamers to become caught up in the
twisting and suspenseful plot. Imagine a story that has cast of
characters and performances that are so intriguing and amazing that
they could easily be nominated for a Grammy. Imagine a game that was a
pioneering force behind the now so popular stealth action genre. You
are imagining Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation.
The story takes place a remote island called Shadow Moses which is
supposedly a nuclear disposal facility. Right from the opening
sequence, the story begins to draw you in. The main protagonist of the
story is Solid Snake. He was a member of the legendary special
operation group called Fox Hound, but has since retired to a life of
isolation in snowy Alaskan wilderness. Now, apparently unwilling, Snake
finds himself being drug back into service again. Rogue members of the
current Fox Hound have now taken control of the nuclear disposal
facility. As it turns out, there is more to the disposal facility than
meets the eye. The Fox Hound members have in their control a nuclear
missile and are threatening to launch one if their demands are not met.
That is basically all the info you get and steadily through out the
game you pick up pieces here and there and start to put it together.
One thing you find is that you can't really trust anyone and as the
game progresses, you will see that. Overall the story line is very
sharp and told very well. Things have a natural flow and by the end of
the game most of the puzzle pieces have been put together.
At the time of this release, the PlayStation was pretty much the
coolest thing on the planet in terms of video games. Compared to now,
there is not much to impress, but in retrospect, this game looks pretty
damn good. Awesome 3-D environments, colorful polygons and the whole
lot of fun. One of my favorite things in the game is when you throw a
chaff grenade and the sparkling effect it gives off after it explodes.
Like a magical sparkle or something. For the time too, it looked great
when you shot a bad guy... the blood spray and the way the bodies fell
looked realistic. All in all, the graphics on the PlayStation for Metal
Gear Solid where pretty sharp at the time of its release. It is clear
that Kojima knew what he was doing by waiting to release his next part
of the Metal Gear series on the PlayStation. The PlayStation offered
him the power to create a three dimensional world to work with and he
made it look amazing.
The sounds of Metal Gear Solid are, to put it simply, beautiful. From
the opening musical sequence to the final notes at the end of the
game... the soundtrack was masterfully put together and is truly
fitting to the games idea and flow. Even the variety of sounds you get
from your SOCOM pistol firing or the sound of your Stinger Missiles
launching... everything sounds original and natural.
One cannot fully fathom the unique taste that Metal Gear Solid has to
offer without actually tasting it first hand. A game that is damn near
perfect in a lot of ways is a real stand out for its time period and
what it did to the now popular stealth action genre. Although some
could argue that some tweaks could be implemented, I wouldn't recommend
changing anything with this one. This game will go down as one of the
best. Instant classic!
