I completed Metal Gear Solid for the first time the other day.
I mean, SURE, I played it back in the day, with and without cheats.
But it's different now that I'm old enough to appreciate it.
I don't know what this video is.
It's sort of like a review, but also with nostalgic memories that I had from playing
it back in the day.
But it's also full of spoilers, though hopefully I only hint to them rather than give anything
really important away.
Or maybe I'm double bluffing!
Proceed at your own risk.
For those of you who are a bit behind the times (or ahead of them), Metal Gear Solid
was pretty much touted as the Playstation 1's masterpiece.
I didn't quite understand why back then- and in all honesty- even now, but it's definitely
a memorable and iconic experience.
'Game' isn't the best way to describe it since for about 5 of the game's 8 hours that it
took to complete it I was either watching cutscenes or listening to people talk on the
Codec system.
Of the 3 remaining hours, about 30 minutes were replaying parts because I died and an
hour was backtracking through the game's levels because I HAD TO.
So all in all, there's perhaps about an hour and a half of proper gameplay here.
And really, that bit of it isn't even fun.
Back in the day I would skip the rest of it to get onto the action and was left constantly
disappointed.
Punching enemies is satisfying but normally spells failure and the silent choke move isn't
reliable enough to trust.
Many times I've tried choking urinating guards, only for them to somehow alert the entire
base of my presence within the fraction of a second it took to approach them.
Talk about multitasking.
Of course, combat isn't recommended in this game.
You're meant to sneak about like the snake you are.
This is one bit the game gets right.
The cones of vision on the radar give you just enough information to let you plan a
route through the level, but the fiddly controls and instant-detection from enemies ensures
that something will go wrong and you've then got to blindly run about the place like a
headless chicken, hoping that you find somewhere to hide without the guards following.
I would panic when I was 12, and I still panic at the age of 24.
You feel so helpless when your radar goes down and particularly towards the end of the
game, there are a lot of places where you're without this essential tool.
Most of the time the game's quite fair about it but it will occasionally throw a turret-mounted
camera to surprise the hell out of you when you least expect it.
For a secret agent it's surprisingly difficult to spot simple things.
A couple of times you may end up spotting something that Snake doesn't, which makes
him seem incredibly stupid in the following cutscene.
But what keeps the game afloat are the tons of ingenious ideas crammed into the gameplay.
Much like Half Life 2, although the core gameplay remains the same, you get new toys thrown
your way and new ways to use them.
You can TRY to use ketchup as a get-out-of-jail free card.
You can make wolves love you by holding a hanky.
You can ram rockets up the backsides of unsuspecting snipers.
The game rewards you for thinking outside- and occasionally inside- the box.
And as your box gets bigger, the game gets easier.
You end up with all sorts of weapons at your disposal and with more variety, you have more
chance of finding some kind of exploit that makes boss battles later on surprisingly easy.
The hardest ones in fact are the ones where you have to rely on hand-to-hand combat.
I found myself raging in a way that only Counter Strike can normally manage when the dying
boss kills me at the last possible moment for the 10th time.
Another surprising thing is the amount of repetition.
And not the good kind.
I'm surprised the game didn't receive more flak for this.
Most of the game needs to be completed 3 times.
You get to somewhere, realise you need something, have to run back to near the start of the
disc, get the item, then run back again.
There are few shortcuts and aside from adding extra enemies and traps to try and make it
more interesting, it really feels like a waste of time.
The worst culprit is disc 2, which demands you return to near the beginning of the disc,
TWICE.
It's just as well that the game's environment is so short that I can mentally fly from the
start of the adventure to the end in about 20 seconds.
In addition to this, you have to battle some bosses twice, or face the same sort of scripted
battle multiple times.
And what's more, it's often easier the second time.
I'm not just saying that.
You really do face easier enemies as the game progresses.
You have a horribly difficult fight against invisible enemies in a confined lift, then
later on battle against fewer visible enemies on a lift where you can easily knock them
all off the side.
Sniper Wolf has to be battled against with a sniper the first time, but the second you
can hide around a corner and take her out with missiles without so much as getting a
scratch.
For the most-part it's NOT a hard game and dying doesn't punish you.
Judging from the way that games have headed since, this game was clearly ahead of its
time.
But boy, is this game tense.
This is partly to do with the awkward controls but I found some parts, particularly the fight
with Vulcan Raven, terrifying.
Spotting a topless liquid snake running into the darkness also made me jump- something
that more modern games have failed to manage.
This game certainly has a lot of atmosphere.
That cold, snowy Alaskan base you're stranded on is home to a lot of eerie corridors and
morbid sound effects.
But it's also home to some of the most well-defined characters that you'll ever encounter.
Liquid Snake is a great villain.
He has unlimited determination and somehow survives through some of the most dramatic
explosions known to man.
No explanation is needed.
He's just EVIL.
Although he reveals the source of his hatred later on in the game, the surprise twist in
the end scenes still came as the greatest surprise to me.
Finally, a game that explains how an 'infernor' person seems to have the one-up on your character
throughout!
The Codec is a great idea and serves many purposes.
If you get stuck, hints and suggestions are just a call away.
A huge amount of thought has gone into the conversations and there are Easter-Eggs galore
if you bother looking for them.
Mei Ling saves your game and gives some great proverbs.
I stumbled upon a conversation they had about whether it's possible to save memories and
Snake refuses to believe it's possible.
Near the end of the game, he asks her if it's possible to save the conversations they've
had, suggesting some character development from the cold-hearted Solid Snake.
I thought it was a neat little touch that could be easily overlooked.
I'm sure there are lots of things like this in Metal Gear Solid.
I also liked how Mei Ling's role was replaced by Otacon in the second game, together with
a nice little twist to the formula where he massively misinterprets all of the proverbs.
The other characters are also nicely developed, but some serve more purpose than others and
you'll find your favourites changing as the game progresses.
Nastasha for me starts off as being the most interesting character.
She tells you all about the different weapons and items you have, but after that's dried
up she tells you a sob-story about Chernobyl every time you call her which gets dull very
quickly.
The only other character that seems a little off is The Master, who looks and sounds just
like Liquid Snake and seems to go AFK at the most important moments.
If Snake hadn't known him for so long I would have found this person very suspicious.
COUGH.
It's a shame that once you skip text for the first time that the rest remains silent.
There are some conversations that really tested my patience early on and as a result would
have to read the rest of it in silence even though it gets rather interesting.
I believe that the game's true strength lies in its ability to let you relate to everybody.
Every boss fight has a lengthy introduction and several different stages to it.
Even after you've finally defeated them, they still have enough strength to spew lengthy
dialogue about their life story and all sorts of rubbish.
Some of this is better than others, but all in all it is very well done.
By the end the only mysterious character is Solid Snake himself!
Of course, when I used to play I would skip most of these bits.
And that's a BIG mistake.
If you play this game, don't expect to be playing it.
Savour and try to enjoy every cutscene.
Really get to know the characters well and you'll be rewarded.
The not-so-subtle sexual tones completely went over my head when I was 12 and the topics
of nukes, politics and genetics really turned me off.
Playing it through the other day was like playing a completely new game.
It's like flicking through a movie and then watching it again properly.
You watch the same bits, but they feel very different when watched in context.
In addition to the conspiracy theories are the twists and turns that poor Solid Snake
is subject to.
By the end of disc 1 I ended up distrusting EVERYBODY and would probably have gone on
a murderous rampage if I was stuck in that situation myself.
It's like something out of a disaster movie, where everything that goes wrong happens and
everything you're holding on to turns sour the moment you could benefit from it.
There's a recurring theme of hopelessness, be it the genetics you're born with, the lifestyle
that's been forced upon the characters or the outlook to the future, but despite all
that the game concludes very nicely... even if it becomes a bit hippy-like at moments.
Most storylines end with characters learning something deep and profound about themselves,
but Metal Gear Solid almost does the opposite, sort of going 'Life's really complicated...
but screw it, just LIVE!!!'.
I'm pleased that I have revisited this game and I urge you to do the same thing if you
played it when you were young, or if you haven't ever played it before and want to know what
all the fuss is about.
Don't worry about the graphics- you quickly lower your standards and then are blown away
when something looks half-decent.
The voice acting is superb, most loose ends are tied up and there's a sense of humour
to the game that has allowed it to age nicely.
Don't play it expecting decent gunplay or fair stealth mechanics.
It walks a fine line between realistic and arcade-y and as a result occasionally trips.
But Metal Gear Solid is a game to be respected.
Despite its Japanese roots, it stays fairly normal and ninjas and other supernatural phenomenon
are treated with the surprise and scepticism you'll expect.
And what's more, my Mum likes it.
A holiday we once had will forever be remembered from the fantastic music in the game.
At one point, she came into my room as Sniper Wolf lay on the floor, bloody and dying.
Before this point, she saw games as being about endless and unnecessary violence but
something about that scene made her stop and watch.
Me, being young at the time, joked about Lemon Curd or something to try and keep the tone
light.
Shut up, young Philip.
Let her appreciate that scene.
She didn't say anything about the violence or the distress that poor Otacon experienced.
After it was over and the scene faded to black, she left the room silently, with a bit more
respect for the game.
And probably a bit less for me.
I'm not saying that Metal Gear Solid made me cry, but... well, I wouldn't be angry with
myself if it did.
It wouldn't be because it's SAD, but more out of respect for the game.
A bit like the sort of crying you do at the end of Schindler's List or that bit in UP.
Because it's humbling to watch flawed characters do remarkable things.
I don't know if there were many games before Metal Gear Solid that attempted this in such
a mature and profound way.
Once again, it's something that can be missed if you don't bother watching the cutscenes.
Please, for the love of God, RESPECT THE CUTSCENES IN THIS GAME!
Well done, Metal Gear Solid.
You're not a very good game, but it doesn't matter because you succeeded in being more
than that.