Konami - Playstation - Metal Gear Solid Review

The Metal Gear games had a huge cult following but for whatever reason there would be 8 years before we see another chapter in this stealth/action series here in North America. Of course this means gamers were dying for another one and with the popularity of the Sony Playstation back in the late 1990's Konami would bring the franchise back as the new all Metal Gear Solid. Yeah, this is a cool looking 3D sequel to the old 8-bit NES stealth game that I didn't even like all that much to begin with but maybe this big budget sequel will change my mind on the series, eh?

Anyway, this game is an intelligent stealth based adventure where our rugged hero Solid Snake is back yet again and you must quickly infiltrate a dangerous area all alone believed to have nuclear weapons. It definitely won't be easy because there are six highly skilled ex-soldiers that are part of this threat. This even includes a man by the name of Liquid Snake and you have to figure out why he has the same name? Like the original Metal Gear you start out the game with no weapons and a bunch of smokes so Snake has to use his stealth to avoid detection.

Sure it's pretty challenging but there are a few things you can do to survive like staying close to walls, peaking around corners, and using your radar to spot near by enemies. The game even gives you these cool virtual reality training missions to help you learn all these mechanics too and these can actually be fun since you're under a time limit and you can see if out do a friend. Of course it wouldn't be a Metal Gear game without a bunch of killer gadgets like remote rockets and even cardboard boxes used to hide with. Perhaps the coolest thing about moving Metal Gear to the Playstation here is the presentation was spectacular. The game opens up like just a Hollywood action flick with great use of real time cinemas, excellent voice acting, and impactful background music. You have to love the girl with big boobs that's good with sniping, eh?

This Metal Gear game not only fixes the problems that plagued the NES games but it also becomes one of the better games you can find on the Sony Playstation. The game has it all: great movie-like storyline, sharp graphics, and smooth game play that highlight this dangerous mission to stop a bunch of wacky looking yet very serious terrorists. Metal Gear Solid is an excellent action game like no other but just get ready for one far-fetched story line though.

Metal Gear Solid overall rating: 88/100
Creators: Konami
Original release: October 1998

For 1 player only
Rated (M) for Mature
graphics: 9/10
sound: 9/10
gameplay: 8/10
replay: 9/10

-Starsoldier1 2008
(Ryan Genno)