Meryl tells you over the com unit that there are laser detectors covering the way to the north gate, how do you get past them lasers? Well the pack of cigs you brought along with you not only can give you cancer but also detect lasers. Metal Gear Solid is full of these little innovations.
Well for all you jaded gamers who have never heard of Metal Gear Solid, it is simply the singular greatest game ala cinematic adventure ever designed for the Playstation. Now for those of you who haven’t played the game before – you know who you are, those of you who have looked away from the PSX to cuddle up with their power guzzling PCs – it has been ported.
Metal Gear Solid for the PC includes both the original MGS along with the much-hyped VR Missions. Although Virtual Missions are a nice little bonus but anybody who has the jewel packed CD is gonna play the game for the main story mode. Since it’s early Super Nes days Metal Gear has always been like taking part in a movie……… well the PC version is not different.
You
are Solid Snake, retired Special Ops agent and a former member of the
Tactical Espionage Group Fox Hound. Sick of the pain you have caused to
yourself and a lot of other people, you have chosen a secluded life of
complacency in Alaska. Living in the vast stretches of untouched forests
was fine for you until your past catches up with you. Former members of
the Fox Hound are back and they threaten of nuking something or the other
if the remains of a certain Big Boss are not handed over to them. This
looks like a job for you otherwise there would be no game. So Snake gets
yanked out of retirement and is asked to hand all the members of Foxhound
their respective asses on a platter. Being a Secret Agent has always been
overrated thanks to one certain 007. It’s not about women and cars and
women driving cars……it’s about going in alone in a heavily guarded
base which houses a weapon with limitless destruction with only a pack of
cigarettes and a pair of field glasses. When you are Snake you just
can’t get into a room filled with baddies and mutter a joke only you
find funny and step out scot-free. When you step out you step out in a
body bag. Metal Gear has always been about stealth. You have to stay in
the dark, lurk along the walls and crawl past behind the enemy. You get
detected- you hide until they give up looking for you. Sometimes hiding
isn’t the only option, whisk out your silencer mounted SOCOM or your
FA-MAS and take them Genome soldiers down. Then again MGS is all about
reality so ammo conservation is a must.
The clever thing about MGS has always been the little green radar on the top right of your screen, which shows your position, where the patrolling guards are and their line of sight. Makes it heck of a lot easier getting past them.
Now onto the graphics, well all environments and characters have been rendered in polygons. The game supports pretty high resolutions thanks to the graphical juice squeezed out of the Video Card. But for those of you who have already played the PSX version, well what can I say it’s a port and therefore nothing more than a digital MGS. The hi-res supported doesn’t change the gameplay in any way…duh. But the fonts are still jaggy and in two words they suck.
Hideo Kojima, the games
director has paid due attention to detail – footprints on the snow give
you away, foggy warm breath when u hit the cold Alaskan air, Timber wolves
peeing on you and then recognizing the smell of their master Sniper wolf.
This was one of the best-looking games of the Playstation but it stands
the test of time but then again it’s just a port.
Well PC gamers do have one advantage you guys get to play the whole game in 1st person, which actually included in the Japanese version of the game. Though it’s not the kick-ass action of Unreal Tournament, but it’s still fun.
The Voiceovers are pretty good and some of the best in the business. Playing Metal Gear with the keyboard and mouse combo just doesn’t cut it. The game demands a controller. Looking at it from a PSX enthusiast’s P.O.V. the keyboard can’t give you the dual shock rumble capability that the PSX controller has. The greatest losses are the trigger buttons. Selecting through your equipment and weapons with your middle and index fingers was perfect. Anyways, look around, Gravis might have something that works.
As a whole, it’s a fine game. None of the things that make MGS so great have been lost. The movies and the cut scenes are extremely well done and draw you in the thick of the action. However the box quote that says there are new features and gameplay modes is pretty much untrue. What it means is now you have the VR Missions to tinker with. The VR missions can and do get pretty boring after a while. But fear not MGS has two alternate endings so replay value is pretty high.
This is a great game and nothing more. Although they had put in something extra for people like me who have already played the game. Perhaps a bonus enemy boss or a side story. Anyways this is a preview, the real show starts when MGS2: Sons of Liberty ships this year.
