I play old games (Metal Gear Solid)

by arbitrarywater

It's finally time for us to reach the long, arduous, and drawn out conclusion to my Metal Gear Solid 1-3 review blog thingies. Obviously today we are going to look at Metal Gear Solid 1 (released in 1998 for the PS1), because that one was the hardest to play and therefore the last one I finished despite being the first in the series. Here are my MGS2 and MGS3 Reviews for those who missed them, but enough of that, on to the criticism!

The story of Metal Gear Solid isn't nearly as batshit crazy as that of MGS2 or even MGS3. What it is however, is a somewhat predictable (now at least. In 1998 I'm sure

This is actually the box art I got with the MGS Essentials collection it was mindblowing, but I was too busy sucking at Ocarina of Time to care at that point) affair that raised the bar for how game stories are told. Obviously I had been spoilerized before playing the game, but it's painfully obvious now that Master Miller is really Liquid and Naomi Hunter is out to get you for some wrong you may or may not have committed. However, the cutscene quality for that time period is excellent as is the voice acting (Although I find Mei Ling's voice to be borderline racially offensive, and Otacon is still annoying). Let me just tell it straight at this point. You already know the story and how it ends. All that really matters for this blog is my opinion, and I would say that while it is still great as far as the low standards of video games go, it isn't a giant upraised middle finger or a weird period piece like the other two games, which rates it lower in my book. Also, since I don't have any other game data on my PS1 memory card there is no Psycho Mantis telling me that I like Castlevania or Suikoden. :(

As for the gameplay... Remember how I said that the stealth in Metal Gear Solid 2 was both clunky and gamey as hell? Well MGS 1 is worse. First and most obviously is the lack of the first person aim, which means I can't cheese my way through by head-shotting everyone with a tranquilizer pistol. Then we can talk about how Snake has a tiny health bar that gets bigger after boss fights, but it doesn't really matter because if you get spotted you are good as dead. In other words, Metal Gear Solid is very much a 1998 game and I would rather play The Twin Snakes (heresy I know) because that game is pretty much a MGS2 total conversion mod for MGS1 and therefore adds all the stuff that made those games bearable.

In conclusion (this is a short one), I found Metal Gear Solid to be difficult to play through. There are certain elements that really irk me, and while I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the PS2 games' stories a lot more. While this certainly is excusable when you consider both the console it was on and the time it came out, as well as the impact of what it has done for video games in general, I personally wouldn't play it again since I lack nostalgia for it. I would play Twin Snakes.

Next Up: I don't know at this point. Mass Effect 2 is coming out next week and that will probably take me a while to finish. Maybe I will do a feature on all the games that I didn't finish like Fallout 2 and Disgaea. Then again, I do have that copy of Jade Empire that I have played for a total of 10 minutes... Hmmm....