Metal Gear Solid: A Game That Changed Everything

MGS3 Remake and MGS 1-3 ports, baby!! Let’s fucking GOOOOOOO!!!!

For clarification: I’m playing the original PS1 version, not Twin Snakes. Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for ‘Metal Gear Solid But Dumber’. Is dumber Metal Gear fun? Oh, hell yeah! But you gotta respect the original.

While the first two Metal Gear games had their audience, and the rest of the series reached consistent critical acclaim, it wasn’t until this, the third entry, that the ball really got rolling. Metal Gear Solid blew the gaming world away. In many ways, it still does.

Even if it shows a bit more age than some people might like to admit. Which is fine. It may not be as mind boggling now as it was twenty years ago, but it’s still a damn good game.

A group of terrorists threaten the world with nuclear war. Armed with Metal Gear, and with elite soldiers such as Revolver Ocelot, Sniper Wolf, and the son of Big Boss, Liquid Snake at the helm, they’re truly dangerous indeed. Thus, Solid Snake is drawn from retirement for one more mission! But can even he stand against his own brother?

If you love Metal Gear plots, then this is the one for you. Corny dialogue, crazy plot twists, some genuine dramatic moments, some not so genuine dramatic moments, goofy Easter eggs, fourth-wall breaking shenanigans, it’s got it all! Understandable, as this is the one that defined what Metal Gear would be going forward.

As dumb as the plot is, I still adore it. Snake’s idiotic badass act, Otacon and his Japanese animes, all the goofy bosses and their goofy backstories, it’s a video game ass video game story and I love it! It’s cheesy fun at it’s best!

But it’s got some pretty glaring issues. Namely the characterization of Meryl and… well, just about every female character in this game. But mostly Meryl. Her line about ‘psychological training killing her attraction to men’ is hilarious, and blatantly false, given her salivating over Snake half the time.

Visually speaking, this is indeed a PS1 game. A shockingly well-aged PS1 game; this shit’s got reflective surfaces, footprints in the snow, it’s impressive stuff! Yes, the character models are blocky and the environments are still simple. For the time, however, it was incredible!

This game’s also got the best Codec screen out of any Metal Gear game. Sure, Snake’s crouching pose in the background of MGS3 is really cool. But nothing beats Yoji Shinkawa’s artwork.

Even if his women have… shall we say… similar features.

And it goes without saying that the music is amazing. Metal Gear Solid scores are always a win, and this is no exception. I could listen to the main theme for hours on end and my adrenaline wouldn’t stop pumping for a second of it!

Now, let’s have a look at the actual video game part. For the most part, Metal Gear Solid still stands the test of time. The AI is shockingly good for a stealth game of this era, combat is simple but fun and effective, and the stealth mechanics themselves are far more advanced than I had expected. Remember those footprints in the snow? Enemies will actually follow those!

The boss fights are… a mixed bag. Some of them are really fun! Others are easy to break. Others still are bad. Sorry, but none of the Metal Gear fights are ever gonna be fun.

Backtracking is an issue, too. There are several points in the game where progress stops dead in its tracks and you need to run waaaay back in the game to grab something needed to progress. Hell, the final level makes you do it three god damn times, each time returning to the same place! Then you fight the damn giant robot! The endgame here is a massive letdown!

Also, there are lots of one-hit kill traps. Because those are always fun.

Yet the actual moment to moment gameplay is just so much damn fun! Sneaking around in a cardboard box, fighting a masochistic robot ninja, blowing up surveillance cameras with a rocket launcher, it’s a hoot and a holler! Time may not have been especially kind to this game, but you can still have a good time with it even today!

And thank God, it’s actually being ported to modern hardware. About god damn time.

Perfect timing, too. It’ll make playing Metal Gear Solid 2 so much easier.

Oh, wow, there are only two main line games left. How’d that happen?