Metal Gear Solid: the revolutionary game that invented its own genre. A game that redefined the way we imagine games and how we play them. As has been well documented, Metal Gear Solid is a game that focuses mainly on stealth. Stealth, as displayed by Solid Snake, is the greatest weapon you will have in the game. Haphazard gunfire and sloppy tactics will get you killed in this game. Period. If you want to make it out of this snowy hellhole in one piece, you'd better learn when to act and when to stay still, and you'd better learn quick.
What, then, is the point of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions? Unlike the Japanese version (which released under the name MGS: Integral), the domestic version is not just a slightly updated version of the original game. The Japanese version only added the tuxedo from the original American release, along with a useless first-person perspective that was more trouble than it was worth. For the US version, MGS: VR Missions is essentially an extra disc, which, among other things, adds 300 additional VR missions for the stealthy gamers out there to occupy themselves with. That's right. At the risk of sounding like a used-car salesman, a staggering 300 VR missions awaits to test all of you who thought you were all that the first time around. Those of you who finish all these extra missions will be able to unlock special missions, such as "mystery missions," where you must solve, um, mysteries, kind of like the Hardy Boys. You can also unlock bonus missions, where you can play as the ninja, which is particularly cool.
The challenge level is fairly high, and it will take you a while to beat all 300 missions, which include nonweapon stealth missions, weapon missions, and more. Combined with the mystery modes and all the extra little things that MGS fans will appreciate, Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions gives you an extremely original collection of gaming goodness.
In addition to the extra VR missions is a photographic mode that, depending on your success and score in the regular game, will allow you increasingly closer access to the girls in the game. The higher your rating, the closer you can get to Mei Ling in a virtual photo shoot. Unfortunately, the photos still take up a shocking two memory card blocks each, making this a cost-prohibitive endeavor. However, if you're a budding stalkerazzi, then this may be the cherry on top. The game would have scored higher if it had come packed with the original game, but without it, it must simply be judged as an optional expansion pack for Metal Gear fans who crave a little more of that stealth action. Even so, with or without the original game, this is a worthy purchase for gamers who like a little meat with their potatoes. While it would have been a bit cooler as a complete set (but hey, you probably already own MGS, anyway), the VR missions belong in any MGS fan's library.
