 I
admit it. When I first played Metal
Gear Solid for the PlayStation, I didn’t fully enjoy it. The
gameplay bored me but the storyline was amazing.
Who knew a simple shooter could involve genetics, metaphysical
insight and revenge as well as trying to get a wolf to pee on you?
I
beat it, put it away, and then played it again about a year later.
Something clicked inside of me and I found that the gameplay itself
was also pretty good. I now consider it one of my top five games of
all time. So, when I heard that Konami was releasing an update of the
game for the GameCube and that the update was to be handled by Silicon
Knights, of Eternal Darkness
fame, along with some help from Nintendo, I was excited. (Shigeru
Miyamoto was given a “Very Special Thanks” in the credits.)
Basically,
the storyline is that you are Solid Snake, the most badass, cigarette
smoking, and ass-kicking mofo the United States has to offer. You’re
ordered to infiltrate Shadow Moses, a nuclear warhead disposal island
in the Alaskan chain that has been taken over by your former unit,
Foxhound. You must find
hostages and stop a nuclear launch. You’ll find yourself battling
soldiers who have been genetically created, a ninja hell-bent on doing
battle with you, and people mysteriously dying of heart attacks.
There’s much more involved, but you can find out for
yourself. The entire game tries to make the happenings as realistic as
possible while still reminding you it’s just a game.
 The
remake is gorgeous -- looking better than Metal
Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty -- and the sound is quite well
done and Dolby 5.1 compatible. All
new cut scenes have been added, all the dialogue has been re-recorded,
and new details emerge in this version.
Some people may
feel it’s not enough though. All the “codec” conversations
(basically a secret radio) are exactly as they were in the PlayStation
version. The dialogue has had some of the life sucked out of it.
(Although some new information has been added.)
Mei Ling and Natasha no longer have substantial accents as they
did in the PlayStation version. Mei Ling still spouts wistful quotes
for you to chew on, and Natasha still moans about nuclear handling
procedures, but it’s not as fun as before. The VR missions -- good
for a couple hours of play max -- have been cut too. Good riddance, in
my opinion.
The control is
somewhat hard to get used to as well. Holding the Z button provides a
first-person mode, which works surprisingly well. The “quick” menu
–- done by tapping L1 or R1 in the PSX version -- is done, not by
clicking the L or R buttons, but by pressing them until before they
click. (Which took me a
good 10 minutes to figure out.) The
codec is handled by holding Start and pressing A. Not bad, but it’s
not as simple as pressing Select like the PSX version. The crawling
controls still suck as they did in the previous versions. (Try doing a
180 degree turn while crawling and you’ll see what I mean.)
 The
AI in the game is tougher, surprisingly. Now, the genome soldiers will
clear areas and track you down when you alert them, like MGS2: SOL
not like the lemming soldiers from the PlayStation version.
The boss battles have been tinkered with but many are much
easier thanks to the newly added first person view.
The cut-scenes are
incredibly done. The action is ripped out of a John Woo flick but at
times extremely unbelievable. (During
a battle with the Ninja, he uses his sword to cut a cement section out
of the ceiling, waits for it to drop, and bicycle kicks it at Snake,
for example.) All the
cut-scenes have been motion-captured and that actually adds more to
the story. Seeing Snake flip out at the President of ArmsTech, Kenneth
Baker, when he can’t remember Meryl’s codec is much more effective
now than in the PlayStation version.
Finally,
we come to the secrets. From what I’ve seen, all of them are back in
this version, including the controller swap trick for fighting Psycho
Mantis (and the memory card read, as well.) Posters from Eternal
Darkness and Policenauts line the walls. Mini-statues of Mario and
Yoshi play sound effects when shot. Searching for them all adds a fun
diversion. The best, though, were the portraits on the wall during the
Psycho Mantis fights. I’m not going to spoil it for you. The Mei
Ling trick (call her 10 times without saving, and see what she does)
is left out, though. Dog tags have been added and the “ghosts”
from the PSX version have made it in as well.
 All
in all, I love it. The new inclusions add a new dimension to the game --
making it a fun experience rather than just a rehash.
If you’ve played it before, you’ll probably be happy
renting it but for those of you who haven’t played it yet: You must
play it now. You’re missing out on one of the great games of the
32-bit generation.
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