A first look at the remake of Metal Gear Solid, the classic stealth game on the Play Station.
METAL GEAR SOLID: THE TWIN SNAKES (First Look)
System: Nintendo GameCube
Rating: M
Story
See the storyline Here.
Put simply, same story, new look. There are a few small changes in the script, but nothing too noticeable, usually just some things worded differently.
Gameplay
The gameplay features a revamped version of MGS1, using the mechanics of MGS2 - Such as shooting fire extinguishers to create fog, first person view shooting, hanging from ledges, a rolling attack, using a tranquilizer to knock out guards instead of killing, and the addition to lockers for hiding sleeping or dead guards in.
- Weak point: Holding L or R in first person mode doesn't give much change in the view.
- Weak point: There is no pause button. For some odd reason, they didn't even care enough to allow the Start button to do anything on its own. Instead, holding Start and A brings up the Codec window.
- Weak point: Ocelot is faster, so the previous "meet him from the spot he's running to" strategy is mostly useless.
- Weak point: The tank battle is annoying because the tank usually runs over you, and may continue multiple times before you can get back up.
- Weak point: The Psycho Mantis battle is rather frustrating due to how sensitive the Z button is for first person shooting.
- Weak point: And while it is not a boss battle, the wolves after the Mantis battle attack you much more than they used to, which caused me to die multiple times at this point, whereas the original was barely difficult.
- Weak point: Even though you can press a button to skip through Codec text, it usually gets stuck a lot, which takes away the point of skipping.
With all of these glitches, it's hard to come up with a few fixed things. Though, the rolling attack doesn't knock you out while using it on stairs (not that there's many stairs to climb.)
All in all, gameplay is basically All in all, it's like taking MGS2 and putting it in an MGS1 setting, with a few alterations.
Graphics
Graphics, like gameplay, have been revamped to fit MGS2. The characters look as they should in the modern graphics, and a number of cutscenes have been redone with some new Matrix-style slow motion cinematics. A lot of people criticize the company for adding this stuff in, but the truth is… They planned to make it perfectly syncing with the original, but Hideo Kojima himself requested they change some things. So, it would seem blame is pointed to the wrong people. Plus, these scenes are not overdone, they fit right into the style of the story.
Music
According to Wikipedia, all of the music, save for the credits/theme, have been redone. I can tell a great difference, and it, like cutscenes, fits into the series quite nicely.
Voice Actors
All of the voice actors have returned to play the roles of these characters, except for Gray Fox. While his voice actor is still here playing the role of Donald Anderson, a new voice actor was given the role of Gray Fox. Comparing the two, I can't say one is better than the other, so let's leave it at that. As for the rest, many people seem to rant about how they think the voice actors don't have any emotion at all, that they probably played the roles just for the pay. However, I can never understand where they get this impression, they sound great.
Criticism
Every series has a game, a movie, or just something people gather together to hate. This game is what I'd consider to be the most hated game in the MGS series. People consider the new cinematics to be overdone, while others think the voice actors are just there for the money. Some just don't like it because they liked the original first. To be honest, I can't really side with any of these factors - I played the original first, and it got me excited to play this. I heard the voice acting from both games, they sounded like they had just about the same energy. I saw the cutscenes online, and I loved the new cinematics. What is it really fans hate about this game?
Generally, fans of a series will consider themselves "true fans" by neglecting any remakes or unofficial products relating to the series, while other "true fans" will be the ones who like any and all things relating to the series, as long as it has some good quality to it somewhere. So, what really IS a "true fan"? I can't really give an answer, but all I know is I wouldn't turn this game down until I had a real reason, and not by trying to find something wrong with it.
I hope no one takes this the wrong way - It is just my opinion, so if you disagree, don't make a big deal about it.
Overall
Overall, so far, it's not lived up to my expectations, but I hope the ending is satisfying.
Rating: 6/10
