Remake of MGS? Worth Playing? Read on...
For those who have not played the PSX original, MGS is a stealth/action game with strong emphasis on plot. And what a plot it is! The game begins with retired war hero Solid Snake being forced back into his former unit, "FOXHOUND" to infiltrate a Nuclear Weapon disposal facility in Alaska that has been taken over by rogue members of FOXHOUND who are demanding that the U.S government hand over the body of Big Boss (The Legendary Soldier) and one-billion dollars in cash or else they will launch a nuclear weapon.
Snakes mission is to rescue the Darpa chief Donald Anderson, and president Baker of Armstech and to stop the terrorists from launching a nuke by any means necessary. Of course after the first hour or so of gameplay the plot twists begin and the situation goes from bad to worse for Snake. He discovers that the base is being used for the construction of a new type of Metal Gear (A Bipedal nuclear capable tank, for those who don't know).
Along the way Snake finds new allies who will help him via Codec when needed, but for the most part help over the codec is unnecessary since the game is relatively easy, even on harder difficulties. But despite being quite easy the game is a lot of fun, and, in my opinion better than the original in terms of gameplay. In this remake all of Snakes moves from MGS2 have been implemented, such as being able to attack in first person view, hang over railings, hold up guards etc.
The enemies themselves, while being a little dim, they can at times prove to be quite a challenge, if Snake is spotted by the enemy, he will call in re-enforcements and the guards begin a systematic search of the area, looking into overy nook and cranny to find Snake. The Boss fights I thought were easier than the PSX version, and 2 of them in particular were a little different than the original, but if you've never played the game before I think you'll find the boss fights to be quite fun, and for one them, quite unusual!
The games visuals are great to look at, and animations are smooth and the frame rate is consistent throughout. As I said before, the voice overs have been reworked, but apart from a character or 2 having a different voice actor it is pretty much the same as the PSX version. I was quite disappointed to find that the sample VR missions that came with the original are absent in this remake, and while the VR missions don't make or break the game it would have been nice to see them return.
I know a lot of people are of the opinion that this remake changes too many things, such as the new cutscenes (of which there are many hours worth), being too over the top, to those people I would say: This is Metal Gear, the series has always been full of over the top action and crazy humor, without these things it wouldn't be Metal Gear.
If you've played the Metal Gear series before and didn't like it then this game isn't likely to change your mind. If you're a fan of the series, or just a fan of the PSX original then I would say it's worth replaying the game once again.