Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Impressions

Nintendo second-party developer Silicon Knights is working on developing a remake of Konami's classic PlayStation game, Metal Gear Solid. The game, titled Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, appears to remain pretty faithful to the original, though the short demo on display at E3 shows off some improved graphics and some gameplay tweaks that make it play a little more like the second Metal Gear Solid game.

The demo being shown at E3 starts at the beginning of the game, with Snake climbing out of the water in his scuba gear. From there, he needs to make his way around a few guards to a waiting elevator. Taking the elevator to the surface triggers the long codec conversation from the first game, which describes the ins and outs of Solid Snake's equipment, radar, and mission. The first order of business is to make your way to the opposite side of a helipad, dodging watchful guards all the while, and into a ventilation duct. When you enter the duct, the demo ends.

The game controls quite well, and the GameCube controller is definitely up to the task of a Metal Gear Solid Game. You'll toggle your weapon and inventory on and off with light presses of the triggers. Pulling them all the way in lets you select new items for use. The Z trigger brings you into first-person mode. The game has a few added gameplay features taken from Metal Gear Solid 2. For instance, you can pick up and drag bodies once you've knocked a soldier out, and picking up and dropping them causes them to occasionally drop items, like rations and ammo. The codec sequences are full of fantastic voice work, and the sequences have even been lightly updated to account for the GameCube version's slightly different control. For example, the colonel tells you that you have to hit Start and A simultaneously to bring up the codec screen.

Graphically, the game looks quite a bit cleaner than the original PlayStation version, putting it closer to the level of Metal Gear Solid 2. Some of the cut sequences in the demo--specifically when Liquid Snake takes off in his Hind D helicopter to take care of some F-16s--look a little rough at the moment, but they'll hopefully be cleaned up in time for the game's release.

Not much of the game is playable, so it's difficult to currently tell how many more features will be added to the game, but in its current state, The Twin Snakes appears to be able to play a mean game of Metal Gear Solid. Look for it on store shelves this winter.