Metal Gear Solid raised the bar for videogames as a whole with its interesting, important story, and inimitable style.
Metal Gear Solid’s story is both outlandish and frighteningly plausible. A secret government base on an island off the coast of Alaska has been seized by a group of terrorists called Foxhound, a group that was originally contracted by the government for covert operations. With the threat of nuclear war, and a heavy ransom demand, the government is left with no choice but to send in one person to infiltrate the compound, and take care of the problem from within. So Col. Roy Campbell (Ret.), the former commander of Foxhound, pulls another former Foxhound operative, Solid Snake, out of retirement for the mission. With an assortment of interesting characters as his support, his mission begins. The story of this game is quite simply one of the best stories ever told in this medium, or, in fact, any visual medium, so, in other words, film and television. Maybe paints to a lesser extent, but I won’t count it. It’s filled with the right amount of self-referential, wall-breaking (fourth wall-breaking) humor, cool visuals and insane plot devices, and an impassion message about the dangers of nuclear arms. I’ve heard critics say that the game is muddled in that it has an anti-violence message, but there is a lot of violence in the game. That is stupid. It uses this violence to show you the reprehensibility of these terrorists, and the government’s actions. It uses these brutal happenings to show you the useless waste of life that war is. The game also has an interesting and powerful opinion on the nature vs. nurture debate. One character in the game, a scientist, believes that everything we are is determined by our genetic makeup. Well, with that in mind, and her constant attempts to determine the hero’s behavior based on his makeup delivers the message. He keeps proving her wrong. Snake, as a person, is more than his genes, is more than his makeup. So, with this game, you get life lessons as well as political ones. Yes, it may have a great story, but what about the gameplay? Isn’t that what matters? Yes. Lucky for Metal Gear Solid, it delivers. Metal Gear is the game that created the stealth genre, and Metal Gear Solid is the game that redefined it. The game has an innovative camera angle about ¾’s over the character’s head, leaning to the back. You have a wide field of vision this way, and it works well along with your radar for spotting enemies on the field. The point is not to kill the enemies, at least not outright, because you are dreadfully outnumbered and start off low on weapons and ammunition. Besides, you aren’t invincible. The point of the game, and the genre, is to sneak around, avoiding contact if at all possible, and if you have to kill, do it quietly to avoid detection at least for awhile. There is a first person mode that makes looking around specifically a little easier as well. The gameplay doesn’t just rely on stealth to get its fun factor across. The boss battles are larger than life and most are some of the more memorable fights in the genre. There’s the shootout with Revolver Ocelot, the cat-and-mouse with Vulcan Raven, and the fierce duel with Psycho Mantis. Those names sound colorful, and the characters are just as crazy to match. There’s a wide array of weapons for you to pick up during your quest as well, from your workhorse SOCOM .45, a FAMAS Assault Rifle, and even Stinger Missiles. Your health comes from rations. You can eat these to replenish your health at any time, or simply have it equipped to bring you back to life when you are dead. You can smoke as well, but keep in mind, smoking is bad for you health, and will kill you if you do it long enough.
The graphics in the game were ground-breaking, a la Final Fantasy VII, buy they haven’t necessarily aged well, even if not as bad as Final Fantasy VII. The characters are well realized and unique, even if the angles are quite sharp and pixelated. The walls are a little monochrome, but since you’re in an industrial complex, that’s kind of to be expected. But judging the graphics how they were at the time, there really isn’t much bad to say for them, they were breathtaking and capable, showing a wide area that can be explored. The graphics aren’t weak, they do a great job of showing what’s going down and showing it well.
The sound is another great aspect to Metal Gear Solid. The score is excellent and sounds well with the overall theme of the story, and can be quite powerful when mixed with the story’s great writing. The voice acting is great, as well. There are no big names, but this proves that big names aren’t indicative of talent, because people like David Hayter, Brian Singer’s chauffer, turn in a performance that is nothing short of iconic. Cam Clarke does a great job as well. This game created a new standard for voice acting in video games, raising the level to that of the best of animated films, there was a time when Super Metroid’s Microsoft Sam monotone or “All You Base Are Belong To Us” was what we had to deal with, well not anymore, not after that.
Metal Gear Solid has but one real flaw. It’s entirely too short. There a few little things that may stimulate you for a repeat play, but that’ll still only bring you up to about the 10-12 hour point, which is the typical time frame for other video games. Other SHORT video games. As can be understood, this is a problem.
Metal Gear Solid is a wonderful game that served to raise the bar for the medium, and it’s one of the most important games in history. It’s not without its flaws, it’s far too short and far too easy, but all that can be forgiven in what is one of the best games of the PlayStation generation.