Pineconeattack’s Game of the Month Review: Metal Gear Solid

The finer thoughts and impression of Metal Gear Solid all condensed into snippets from each contributor of the Pinekast. Accept the mission and take the plunge to see what members of Pineconeattack think about June’s Game of the Month.

Metal Gear: a name synonymous with stealth, long cut-scenes and an animated exclamation point.

For years Metal Gear Solid has been the go-to for fans worldwide, starting heated debates, and has been pushed in my face for years as the ‘ultimate’ game and one that I was crazy to have never played. Well, now that I finally had a chance to try it out, I’m not surprised that playing a game a decade old put me off that I found to be difficult, but I was surprised by how much of the game I enjoyed… even if by most people’s measures I only made it 1% into the game itself. Comes from trying alternate methods of guard removal I guess (C4 works wonders!). Still, what little I made though it was fun and made me want to try and actually get through the game if only to say I had.

Fuck those controls though.

–Tenno

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Waah, my name is Tenno and old games scare me.

The controls aren’t that bad, with pressing against walls being the only real offender, since the camera angles playing a part in that. I may be a bit (lot) biased, but MGS has held up okay in the last 11 years since its initial release. Sure, the visual quality seems low now, but it still serviceable. At least all the mechanical stuff looks great, Rex included (which makes sense, since he really was designed around what the PSX could actually pull off). And the story itself is still a lot of fun to take in, with fantastic characters to interact with.

Those damn wolf dogs still piss me off, though.

–Ancient Flounder

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1998 was a good year for gaming.

Why? Because of Metal Gear Solid.

This was my foray into 3D gaming, and I haven’t looked back since. Hideo Kojima single handedly took video games into a new direction in terms of gameplay, graphics, and storytelling. Granted the past eleven years hasn’t been too kind to the graphic of MGS, but everything else still hold solid. (Get it?) The bosses in this game are the better than most including those in MGS series as well as other genres. Story was that of a potential nuclear holocaust, a possibility that lingers in the minds of anyone who grew up during the Cold War, is still gripping today. The only aspect of the game, aside of graphics, that’s a little dated to me, is the long winded “fluff” that is the cut scenes. The voice acting is top-notch, but there’s just too much filler. If you listen to all of the cut scenes, it can easily add an additional 3 hours to the gameplay. Still, this game is worth giving it a once through.

–Decepticreep
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Would it be too much of an insult to compare Metal Gear Solid to a Michael Bay movie?

There are some obvious overlaps:

• The big-ticket sequences look great and the story is serviceable enough to get from one to the next cohesively.
• There are plenty of racial stereotypes.
• The pointless, interminable filler makes you want to inflict bodily harm, repeatedly, with blunt objects.
• There are fanboys that give praise far and beyond what’s actually merited and haters that blindly despise without even giving it a look.
• The effects were phenomenal for their time and have aged well.
• They both enjoy using toilet humor (though only one succeeds at being amusing.)

Of course there are some glaring differences as well:

• Kojima doesn’t treat his audience like ADD-riddled 6 year olds.
• You definitely cannot turn off yer brain and zone out while playing Metal Gear Solid.
• There isn’t nearly as much self-loathing caused by deriving enjoyment from it.

So perhaps, it is indeed insulting to make the comparison, but having missed out on Metal Gear Solid when it was released and ultimately comparing it to better games that have come out since, I do not have the weight of nostalgia bearing down on me to uphold it as the be-all, end-all gaming experience. Further, at this point in time, I’d argue that the most enjoyable aspect of the game is talking about it with die-hard fans as opposed to actually playing it because I definitely view the game more favorably after our GOTM Pinekast than I did going in.

So while I can’t say that I’ll ever give my PSX copy of Metal Gear Solid another look, I’m intrigued by the Game Cube update/expansion and can easily see myself logging more time with everyone’s favorite cloned super soldier with a reptilian name.

–Baldy

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When Metal Gear Solid was released in 1998, I was still in the dark ages of gaming.

My newest and greatest system was a Sega Genesis and it wasn’t until 2002 that I got the chance to play the game. Even four years after the fact, the game blew me away. The voice acting by David Hayter, Cam Clarke, and company was top notch and the top down view complimented the game play very well because the thought that I could either engage or sneak by an enemy was new and engrossing concept that brought a new dimension to my Metal Gear experience. As far as the controls being bad, I never had that issue though it does takes a bit of finesse.

While it is true the 3-D didn’t age well, that’s a given, ten years from now, the latest and greatest 3-D graphics will look abysmal; it’s all relative. Seven years after I first played it, I still enjoy it just as much. It helps that the GameCube version updated some of the controls and graphics, but for me, the original PlayStation still stands as the king.

–Jedah Doma

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Metal Gear Solid was my first.

I was fortunate enough to pop my 3D cherry on Metal Gear Solid, which had plenty of pros and cons to my young developing taste in the astounding world of 3D gaming. I have to disagree with some of the grumblings about the controls, which I found to still be logical and purposefully old school by design. The over the top retro view made it so the player didn’t have to worry about constantly adjusting camera angles while the radar feed gives the player all the tactical info they need, as this would have then forced the player to take their time and survey the surrounding environment before progressing.

The abstract stylized look of the game held out a lot better than I expected, but let’s be serious, MSG could use some textures and everyone looked like they were made out of cardboard. I have to strongly suggest you experience the PlayStation version before upgrading to the visually enhanced modern GameCube remake/port. Either way the over the top GI Joe military drama with ninjas, psychics and terrorists threatening to destroy the world is fun no matter which system you play it on. The voice acting is top notch and sadly the outlandish story-driven plot spoiled me for many years for decent mature narrative in video games and I wish more developers would take their audience more seriously by not assuming we’re all thirteen.

–Jangofatt

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[ninja theft header art was from Deviant Art user: *lhs]