Metal Gear Solid

I should be playing something new these days, but I am not and barely have the time to catch up. By this time, I am starting to recall golden games from a golden age long past. Hopefully that age  comes back soon where people endlessly played a game like Metal Gear Solid just to see the different variations one could play it in. I also have to be honest that I am having not only stealth game withdrawals, but Original Hideo Kojima games kind of withdrawals.

Right off the bat, there is nothing more I can add to this review that other sites have done so in the past decade. Consider this a mere appreciation for the first game that started it all. The game that started the rest of the series along with its spin offs that I religiously went after.

I liked how Metal Gear Solid was revolutionary in the sense that it merged between action and stealth. The game was not full on stealth nor action, if you wanted it to be. Despite it having key events where going guns blazing is essential, I still considered it a stealth game. I also think it was revolutionary because of its downright ridiculous plot that goes on and on at least for its main entries in the series, only for me to realize that eventually, it all makes sense and all the dots are connected. I am not here to explain all of it, though. Only to acknowledge why I am still fascinated by this series until this day.

Your general objective as Solid Snake is to generally traverse one area after another without being detected by enemies. Being detected by them in their field of vision wont end the game, but it will certainly make it more difficult for you while going for your objective collecting weapons, ammo and key items. Navigating Solid Snake in a 3D map was a huge deal back then in the early PS1 days. Every mechanic used in it was a great deal till the smallest support item ranging from hugging the wall to hide from enemies and knocking objects to distract them, to smoking a cigarette to detect hidden lasers to pass through. To me, it was the Deus Ex of its time and I'm only saying this because of the various ways of completing an area and comparing it to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for example, it is nothing compared to it where Snake can crawl and hide to enter the base from one area or hiding in a cardboard box in a truck and being transferred to another base.

The narrative is a very important part of the game and so along with navigating through the maps of Metal Gear finding your next objective and progressing the story through cutscenes, the codec supports said story progression through a huge amount of exposition that is interesting and entertaining to say the least. I have wasted hours on the codec screen learning more about all the characters without regretting any minute. Calling Otacon or the colonel over and over again. A lot of fans have expressed disdain towards this mechanic or way of narrative, saying it was a cheap way of providing character information that could have been shown in cutscenes. As much as I agreed on some extent, I still saw the codec screen as a functional mechanic at the time, where you have a contact for every pillar that you want to learn more about, whether it is the med expert or the weapons expert or to save your progress. Every character is essential in their own way and learning about any of them definitely adds more to the story.

Boss fights are also another important part of the game, where if you werent being reckless with the genome soldiers beforehand, your skills are challenged along with all that saved ammo from your weapons against said enemies. Every fight has its own strategy and whether you fight a melee fight or use weapons, there are different ways to fighting in MGS up to shooting a helicopter down with a stinger. Looking back at it, I am filled again with the nostalgia and my urge to play it rises once again. As linear as it is and as cinematic as I always loved it to be, Metal Gear Solid does not disappoint one bit. Let's not forget the unforgettable soundtrack, especially to the first game the adrenaline rush is real if you were found out by the guards or when you're thrown in a boss fight after a 20 minute cutscene and realize oh shit, I am about to fight Metal Gear with only two Rations.

I really hope you realize by now that if you have not played Metal Gear Solid until now, you have a problem. Go check it out, go play it if you're excited about it. Go beat it again if you miss it. I want to do the same thing and in all honesty, I would never do it enough justice if I wrote twice the content I provided on how engaging it is. I've been Ahmed Jadaa and I'm a Metal Gear fanboy. See you on my next review.