It’s been ten years since I first played Metal Gear Solid for the PSX. Sure I’ve played it for more than enough times than I can count, but it’s been some years since I haven’t played it. Since Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming out in about two months I got a bit nostalgic and thought of playing Metal Gear Solid series once again albeit this time on the PC.
There’s so many things that can change over the years; your age, tastes, views about certain events that happen in your life and obviously you get mature than when you were twelve. But the awesomeness of the game hasn’t changed at all. I didn’t understand the broader meaning or the message that Hideo Kojima wanted to deliver in the game when I was wee old, but now I can certainly say this game was definitely ahead of its time. The concepts and beliefs expressed by the main protagonists and the antagonists in the series makes you really think over the issues that are facing the world today. You feel for the characters, their reasons for choosing the specific path that they end up in. Sure the story gets a bit cheesy with over the top characters such as Psycho Mantis and Gray Fox but it works. It feels like an anime in a sense but it feels almost real as well. That’s the magic of Hideo Kojima, the perfectionist, who is a master artist in creating a cinematic experience that can rival no other producer in the gaming business. I actually think he should be making movies. Just imagine Hideo Kojima teaming up with JJ Abrams to create the rumoured Metal Gear Solid movie. Not sure about a director though but have Admiral Adama of Battlestar Galactica as Colonel Roy Campbell and I’m definitely in.
From the opening cinematic and the eerie music that accompanies the scene I knew that the game was going to be special from the first moment I saw it. I actually got that music piece as my ringtone at the moment. Yes I admit, I’m such a fanboy ^_^.
Now playing it again I notice some of the most subtle things. How Master Miller/Liquid and Naomi acts before their deceptions; the hints were already there down to their expressions on the codec screen. That shows great planning and carefully planned story telling on the part of Kojima once again. Mixing of real history with the canon of the game; the part about the Gulf War being used as an experiment to test the effects of inserting the genes of Big Boss into the soldiers, to create super soldiers in the mold of Big Boss. The use of nano-machines to control the core body temperature so that it can withstand harsh weather conditions is another interesting concept that was used in the game. Since this was in 1998 I don’t think the concept of nano-machines were openly discussed as a possibility between scientists although it was more widely popularised by Michael Chricton in his scientific thriller “Prey” which is a phenomenal book. So kudos has to be given to Kojima-san for his passion for futuristic technology and integrating that into the game. These are only the tip of the ice-berg of the greatness of the game. To experience the greatness you have to play it.
Looking at the game-play I’m actually really surprised about how much variety there is to the game play. Starts out as a sneaking game of just infiltrating a fortress without getting detected; easy enough right? Then there are the lasers you have you have to crawl past with the help of your cigs/thermal goggles. Then collect some mines on the ground, fight a tank, fire a nikita missile and guide it to a destination, fight a person wearing an exo-skeleton, fight a psychic, use a sniper rifle, take down a Hind Helicopter, lay down an angry Shaman and then battle a huge fricking tank that is out of a Mecha-esque anime. That is how much variety the game has got, which is absolutely amazing considering the games that are coming out for this generation still can’t compete with this amount of variety to game play. I’m looking at you Dante and Altaire!
Not to mention the over the top humour in the game. How many of you were searching high and low for a cd case in the game to get Meryl’s codec number? Come on don’t be shy raise your hands. What about Psycho Mantis reading your mind? That has to be the most surprised that I had been in a game ever! ; Mantis reading the data in your memory card to increase the tension and then having to change the controller to a second port so that he could not “read your mind”. Genius! That moment will be remembered by gamers till the end of time.
Theories
- I’m currently playing Sons of Liberty and will post some thoughts on it after I’ve finished it. So let’s get into some theories about what the fourth game.
- Well we know that Snake has gotten old over a short period of time due to FoxDie and he has to take injections to incubate the ‘olding’ process. In the trailers Snake is seen contemplating on blowing his brains out; I think this is just Kojima frakking with our minds. Snake is going to live and the aging process can be stopped or reversed by none other than Naomi. That is probably going to be done by with Vamp’s blood, since he is a vampire and vamp’s don’t age, duh!
- Mei Ling will return with her Chinese proverbs; thank god she does as Otacon can never fill that void.
- The last battle will be at Shadow Moses island; where it all started and the battle will be two Metal Gears beating the frak out of each other, with Snake in Metal Gear Rex and Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gear Ray.
- Big Boss will make an appearance in the game and then disappear with the latest Metal Gear data.
- A clone of Frank Jaega, probably in his early twenties, will return with all his memories; if Big Boss was cloned, why wouldn’t the first operative of FoxHound , who earned the honourable code name FOX not? I actually think the next Metal Gear Games will be about Gray Fox with Snake returning in a Roy Campbell role.
- The Beauty and the Beast unit has the memories of their original code name FoxHound operatives.
Well that’s all I got for now, stay tuned till I finish Sons of Liberty. More theories to come.
