Metal Gear Solid 1 – Tactical Espionage Masterpiece
Nowadays when you hear Hideo Kojima it’s mainly got to do with
Death Stranding, his next masterpiece with Norman Reedus in the lead,
but in a time before all that, a time when Kojima was still working
with Konami, way back in the day. He made a masterpiece that, in my
humble opinion, withstood the test of time and is still fun to play
through. As you may have guessed by the title I am referring to the
tactical espionage action game known to the world as Metal Gear Solid.
Seemingly three random words put together to sound cool, but in truth
are the names of a fictional bipedal tank called Metal Gear Rex, and the
protagonists name Solid Snake.
At first glance, a story about an American secret agent infiltrating
a remote military base in the arctic to stop a rogue special ops group
turned terrorist from launching nukes sounds like the plot of an 80s
or 90s spy thriller. Not surprising seeing as how the world famous
British secret agent was one of the inspirations behind our protagonist
Snake. My point is it really shouldn’t work well as a video game,
especially not on a console that is as limited as the PS1. Yet somehow,
not only does it work but it’s one of the best games I’ve had the pleasure
of playing. It was revolutionary in its time. If you keep your main
character half naked in the open cold for a bit too long he gets a cold,
starts sneezing and stealth is not an option until you find medicine.
Having a sniper battle where you spot your enemy thanks to her breath
and so on. All that may not sound as much, but bear in mind this game
came out in 1998, a time when it was unfathomable to have that level
of detail and consistency in a game. All of that coupled with a truly
intriguing and captivating storyline, solid (eh? eh? :D ) characters
and amazing gameplay. Suddenly the plot doesn’t seem like such an issue.
You have a variety of guns and items to choose from. It’s funny how a
stealth based game that features so many mechanics and ways for you to
pass unseen gives you such a vast arsenal of weapons that you don’t
really get a lot of chances to use if you’re playing the game as it was
intended. The game features unlockables and has decent replayability.
If you managed to get your hands on the Integral release you’re in a
treat because it features the whole VR missions package which has missions
ranging from fighting giants to aliens. It even has a few levels where you
play as the Cyber Ninja, which are worth it even without all of the others.
It has several levels of difficulty each adding something new to ramp up the
difficulty.
To summarize, even if you’re not a fan of any of this, I recommend
trying this. I was personally always a fan of RPGs and games like that.
Action and stealth games were never really my thing but after playing
through this beautiful gem of a game I became a huge fan of action and
even more of a fan of stealth games. If you play it there is a huge chance
you will like it and if that’s the case you’re in luck because this game
has 5 installments, some sequels and some prequels but all guaranty hours
and hours of fun and entertainment. That’s is from me, good luck and have
fun ^.^
