As it 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 put, and you'd better learn quick.
The story, which unfolds in real-time cutscenes using the game's graphics engine, begins
with you infiltrating the frozen fortress via an underwater aqueduct. Once you surface,
scans weapons, you'll discover your only weapons are a pair of binoculars, a pack of
cigarettes, and some rations. From the outset there are things that you'll need to watch
out for lest the guards hear your movement and surround you with alarming speed. For
example, in the very first screen, there are puddles on the ground. Step in one and a
guard will most likely hear it and will stray from his normal route to investigate. If he
happens to find you, you can either run, punch him, flip him judo-style, or grab him in a
choke-hold and break his neck. Option four is usually the best bet since all the others
will usually result in your opponent getting back up. If you successfully get a hold of
the guards and break their necks without them alerting others, they won't reappear until
you leave the area, allowing you to explore in peace.
Each and every part of the game has a number of elements that must be factored into your
strategy if you plan on keeping yourself alive. Security cameras, spotlights, infrared
beams, automatic guns with radar sights, roaming security patrols, and even wolves make an
appearance. Throw in footprints in the snow, breath hanging in cold air, gunshots,
explosions, and the sounds of footsteps on metal catwalks, and you have more than enough
factors to consider before making careless mistakes. Over the course of numerous levels
you will encounter objective after objective, each with varying degrees of difficulty,
although none of them is actually very hard to figure out. Also, the game supposedly
contains over ten times as much dialogue as the average Hollywood movie, so prepare
yourself for a truly cinematic experience. That's not much of a surprise since producer
Hideo Kojima (of Snatcher, Metal Gear, and Policenauts fame) originally wanted to be a
movie director. Most of the dialogue takes place on the Codec screen, where Snake can
confer with his Fox Hound associates via wireless transmitter. Often, it's one of these
informants who will hold the key to completing your next objective. Make sure to check in
often, otherwise you might miss something important.
If jumping straight into the game without a forum for practicing all of Snake's techniques
sounds too daunting to you, you can always select VR training mode from the start-up
screen. This mode will inaugurate you in the ways of Solid Snake. There's a training mode,
a time-attack mode, and a gun-shooting mode. A few runs through this, and your skills
should be up to par in no time. Another option available is a mission log that recaps
previous operations executed in the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
Once you get over the incredible variety of things to do and see, you'll finally notice
the intricacies of the graphics. Unlike many other 3D games that take a great many
shortcuts to achieve their look, Metal Gear Solid cuts no corners whatsoever in rendering
its incredibly realistic environments. Yes, the textures may be a bit grainy, actually,
make that a lot grainy, but it doesn't matter when the environments are so convincingly
real. Every object is rendered in full polygonal detail. Even a stapler on a desk or a
chair near the desk is rendered in full 3D. While it may seem like no big deal in the
traditional top-down mode, slip into first-person and closely examine your surroundings.
You'll find the complexity and detail of the environment staggering, right down to the
maggots in the holding cell. All the characters and vehicles look great as well, with
their animations being extremely well done. No motion capture here, everything has been
hand-animated, and the results are excellent.
The other variables that make Metal Gear Solid one of the most engrossing game experiences
ever are things like sound and Dual Shock integration. The sound in MGS is fantastic, with
every area having unique sound effects to complement the variety of each section. Areas
filled with snowfall sound appropriately muffled and windy, while crawling through an air
duct has the claustrophobic ambiance you might expect. Running through water leaves the
requisite splashes behind, while submerging under the water sounds exactly as you'd
expect. Each weapon, explosion, and electronic device has its own unique sound as well. As
far as the Dual Shock is concerned, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it. All
games should be so lucky to use the vibration features of the controller to this kind of
effect. Every time you're discovered, you'll feel a little shock in the pad that serves to
heighten tension. Walk over a trapdoor, and you'll feel a little click that warns you that
you've got about half a second to keep moving before you plunge to your death. Break a
guard's neck, and you'll feel the snap just as you make the break. Effective in the
extreme. Also, Solid Snake moves like a dream when using the analog. Anyone with
intentions to get this game should have a Dual Shock to get the most out of it, since the
subtleties are too numerous to mention here. On a side note, depending on your course of
actions in the game, at least two different endings are possible according to the
decisions you make. So choose carefully.
So, the gameplay is unique and ingenious in its design, that much we know. The
storyline is engrossing and contains ten times as much dialogue as the average Hollywood
movie, correct? The graphics, while a bit rough around the textures, are still brilliant
when viewed as a whole? Yes. The sound has been lovingly recorded to do justice to the
game itself, and Dual Shock support adds that extra something special, n'est pas? Indeed,
when you sit back and objectively look at the sheer scope of the game, and take a moment
to appreciate its perfection, you'll wonder, is there anything missing here? Well, there
are some things that could have been tightened up, and there's a couple glaring factors
that pull this game straight out of the stratosphere it was so close to achieving. First,
when you flip a guard or knock him down, you'd think in real life, if you wanted to, you
could just step on his larynx or pull off some other lethal move. But you can't. If you
botch your neck-breaking attempt and merely knocked him down, you'll have to wait for the
goon to get back up before you get another crack at him. This seems to be an oversight
that, while not enough to be a detriment to the game, remains an annoyance you'd have
thought easily remedied. Also, the guards in this game are idiots. If you flip one over,
or even shoot him in the back of the head (it takes multiple shots to kill one), he'll get
up, dust himself off, look around for a second or two, and go right back to patrolling. If
you're spotted by a guard, and manage to stay out of sight, the guards don't remain
alerted. They just assume they scared you off and go right back to aimlessly wandering.
Some might make mention of a touch of slowdown when Solid Snake has to fight more than a
couple soldiers, but please, it's hardly noticeable, and besides, this isn't a racing
game.
The greatest single factor working against the final judgement on Metal Gear Solid
is its length. After all the buildup over this game you'd think you were in for an epic of
Final Fantasy VII length or something. Heck, some people even scoffed when it was
suggested that the new Zelda game would "only" be 40 hours long. That being
said, it has to be made known that once you know exactly what you're doing, Metal Gear
Solid can be finished in under four hours! A fact that will surely send shock waves
through the gaming community - it's practically heartbreaking that the game is over so
soon. Granted the first time you play it'll take you longer than that, but under ten is
about par for the course. [Editor's note: Videogames.com has learned that the difficulty
setting of the Japanese version of MGS will be the easiest of several difficulty settings
in the US release.] The next time you play through, however, and there are incentives to
bring you back, you will likely finish it in half the time it originally took. When it's
over, yes, you will look back and say, "That was the most satisfying game experience
I've ever had!" but then the realization will set in that it was actually the length
of watching Dances With Wolves. To say that the length is disappointing is generous at
best. While the game plan probably looked gargantuan on paper, in actual practice it's
criminally short and in the greatest injustice, potentially relegates Metal Gear Solid to
being the ultimate rental, although it most definitely warrants a purchase.
While people are bound to remember Metal Gear Solid as the game
that moved gaming forward in ways nobody had ever really thought of, it will also be
remembered for being over so quickly. Heralding a new genre of "avoid 'em ups"
(to quote an associate), Metal Gear Solid has set itself a new foundation that, hopefully,
Hideo Kojima will be able to weave into a more substantial quest next time around. Even
so, Metal Gear Solid is still a must-buy, simply because it is a landmark of a game, more
so than Resident Evil ever was, or even Final Fantasy VII, because MGS is more than just
another game in fancy trappings. It's groundbreaking. While the current Metal Gear Solid
is certainly a work of art in the truest sense, it gives the impression that Kojima really
wanted to make a movie-like experience here, and it shows in its length and its incredibly
bold cinematic strokes, which is all well and good, except that most people don't want to
play a movie. They want to play a game.
By James Mielke
October 05, 1998
