This review contains spoilers
Metal Gear Solid isn’t just ahead of the curve for its time period, it might be the curve that other games, then and now, should measure up to. The fact that this has full, great voice acting, engaging and intense boss fights, dynamic and creative use of physical hardware, a recap feature, and sophisticated (for its time) AI astounds me. There are games today that have higher budgets and better technology at their disposal and still lack some of these features. And that’s what make Metal Gear Solid a standout title in any era.
The premise, which is clearly inspired by action films, is shockingly simple. Terrorists have staged an uprising at a nuclear waste disposal facility and have taken hostages. They’re also threatening to use a nuclear weapon if their demands aren’t met. So, Solid Snake, the main character and renowned super soldier, has to infiltrate the facility alone, save the hostages, and determine whether or not the terrorists have the capability to launch a nuclear strike. And that’s it. It’s something you could brainstorm and write on a notepad in five minutes. But as the game progresses, the plot not only becomes more complicated with thrilling twists and turns, it reveals a deep consideration of its topics, themes, and plot structure that aren’t characteristic of the genre its borrowing from. What naturally arises from that thoughtfulness is soul, a willingness to be sincere and speak from the heart rather than shy away. It’s what separates B-list action plots from the “this is so good that I’m gonna be thinking about it long after I’m done” stories.
Now, before I forget, I want to quickly highlight the outstanding contributions from the voice cast. It’s ridiculously good for its era and does so much work for these characters. Particularly, the characters who only appear in Codec conversations, such as Mei Ling and Dr. Naomi, have a limited number of facial expressions and so the voice actors really have to be top notch for the player to care. And I did. I cared so much about these characters despite only being able to see them through these calls. Of course, the voice actors behind the bad guys are equally impressive as well. They all get a signature moment, often before they die, to deliver what would be another game’s standout scene. Each of these monologues blew me away and I was saddened that Snake had to kill these people because they seemed to be such rich and complex characters. What these voice actors have done is an achievement and shows the power behind their craft.
As for the actual cast of characters, it’s a gold mine of great characters. Solid Snake comes out of this single entry as one of the most complex action characters that I’ve seen. He’s someone, in the beginning, who keeps telling himself that he can’t truly be a good person anymore. But then you see him meet and interact with characters such as Meryl and Otacon and slowly Snake’s humanity shines through. The rest of the cast is like this as well, each revealing a depth of humanity that goes beyond their current station. It’s what makes it so easy to fall in love with these characters. They’ve got so much there to love.
Gameplay-wise, Metal Gear Solid is much more of a mixed bag. For instance, the various weapons Snake acquires never felt truly powerful in my hand because of the clunky and poorly aged controls. Stealth never quite worked as well as it could have either. Throughout the game, I repeatedly ran into an issue where I would go for stealth takedowns only to fail and alert the guards. Also, I found a few bosses to be a little frustrating since the window to punish them was narrower than it should be. But these issues, while bothersome, arise from its time period. Needless to say, it’s really hard to make something new and innovative with very few examples to look towards. I’m the type of person who is willing to forgive issues if they arise from ambition and so these problems don’t significantly affect how I feel about MGS 1.
Fortunately, the gameplay’s good aspects outweighs the bad by a huge margin. For one, the boss battles are some of the engaging and intense experiences I’ve had this year. The long-range duel with Sniper Wolf, the battle against the war machine Metal Gear Rex, the brawl with Liquid Snake, and the absolutely surreal fight against Psycho-Mantis elicited so much joy that I may play this again solely so that I can reexperience these bespoke sequences. And then, there’s some of my favorite material in the entire game…the moments where Kojima plays with non-diegetic elements to either mess with the player or further engage them. Most of these moments come from Psycho-Mantis, a character that can mess with the screen, read save data, and even alter the music that would normally play. But it’s not just limited to him. One of my favorite moments in my playthrough is when Dr. Naomi told me to rest my controller on my arm so that she could send nanomachines to relieve some of my pain. So, what happened next? The controller vibrated on my arm for a bit to simulate the nanomachines working in Snake’s body. That’s so awesome! And again, this is a game from 1998 pulling off all of these cool, ingenious ideas and set pieces.
Kojima’s storytelling chops are on full display here and it’s a marvel to behold. Metal Gear Solid deals with heavy topics such as nuclear warfare, nuclear proliferation, genetic modification, revenge, and trauma. And it handles all of these topics with tremendous care and grace. I also can’t get over how smart choosing these topics are when it comes to communicating the game’s most crucial theme, that being resisting the fate that’s been handed to you. Kojima shows that not everything is set in stone just because it’s the status quo by having Snake destroy Metal Gear Rex, a machine that symbolizes the next step in nuclear warfare. It’s possible to reverse things and change the future, as the game points out at the end with the number of nuclear armaments decreasing by more than 30,000 by 1998. He also illustrates that people aren’t just their birthright and heritage by showing Snake transform from a lonely, hardened mercenary to someone who’s compassionate, loving, and capable of saving someone.
People give themselves narratives that are limiting. They say things such as “I’m not smart” or “I’m not creative.” Often, they may even say worse things about themselves. But Metal Gear Solid says to you and me that, just like Snake and Dr. Naomi, we can grow and change. We can fight back against the situations we’re dealing with and we can grow into healthier and happier versions of ourselves. And that’s such a beautiful message, isn’t it?
The premise, which is clearly inspired by action films, is shockingly simple. Terrorists have staged an uprising at a nuclear waste disposal facility and have taken hostages. They’re also threatening to use a nuclear weapon if their demands aren’t met. So, Solid Snake, the main character and renowned super soldier, has to infiltrate the facility alone, save the hostages, and determine whether or not the terrorists have the capability to launch a nuclear strike. And that’s it. It’s something you could brainstorm and write on a notepad in five minutes. But as the game progresses, the plot not only becomes more complicated with thrilling twists and turns, it reveals a deep consideration of its topics, themes, and plot structure that aren’t characteristic of the genre its borrowing from. What naturally arises from that thoughtfulness is soul, a willingness to be sincere and speak from the heart rather than shy away. It’s what separates B-list action plots from the “this is so good that I’m gonna be thinking about it long after I’m done” stories.
Now, before I forget, I want to quickly highlight the outstanding contributions from the voice cast. It’s ridiculously good for its era and does so much work for these characters. Particularly, the characters who only appear in Codec conversations, such as Mei Ling and Dr. Naomi, have a limited number of facial expressions and so the voice actors really have to be top notch for the player to care. And I did. I cared so much about these characters despite only being able to see them through these calls. Of course, the voice actors behind the bad guys are equally impressive as well. They all get a signature moment, often before they die, to deliver what would be another game’s standout scene. Each of these monologues blew me away and I was saddened that Snake had to kill these people because they seemed to be such rich and complex characters. What these voice actors have done is an achievement and shows the power behind their craft.
As for the actual cast of characters, it’s a gold mine of great characters. Solid Snake comes out of this single entry as one of the most complex action characters that I’ve seen. He’s someone, in the beginning, who keeps telling himself that he can’t truly be a good person anymore. But then you see him meet and interact with characters such as Meryl and Otacon and slowly Snake’s humanity shines through. The rest of the cast is like this as well, each revealing a depth of humanity that goes beyond their current station. It’s what makes it so easy to fall in love with these characters. They’ve got so much there to love.
Gameplay-wise, Metal Gear Solid is much more of a mixed bag. For instance, the various weapons Snake acquires never felt truly powerful in my hand because of the clunky and poorly aged controls. Stealth never quite worked as well as it could have either. Throughout the game, I repeatedly ran into an issue where I would go for stealth takedowns only to fail and alert the guards. Also, I found a few bosses to be a little frustrating since the window to punish them was narrower than it should be. But these issues, while bothersome, arise from its time period. Needless to say, it’s really hard to make something new and innovative with very few examples to look towards. I’m the type of person who is willing to forgive issues if they arise from ambition and so these problems don’t significantly affect how I feel about MGS 1.
Fortunately, the gameplay’s good aspects outweighs the bad by a huge margin. For one, the boss battles are some of the engaging and intense experiences I’ve had this year. The long-range duel with Sniper Wolf, the battle against the war machine Metal Gear Rex, the brawl with Liquid Snake, and the absolutely surreal fight against Psycho-Mantis elicited so much joy that I may play this again solely so that I can reexperience these bespoke sequences. And then, there’s some of my favorite material in the entire game…the moments where Kojima plays with non-diegetic elements to either mess with the player or further engage them. Most of these moments come from Psycho-Mantis, a character that can mess with the screen, read save data, and even alter the music that would normally play. But it’s not just limited to him. One of my favorite moments in my playthrough is when Dr. Naomi told me to rest my controller on my arm so that she could send nanomachines to relieve some of my pain. So, what happened next? The controller vibrated on my arm for a bit to simulate the nanomachines working in Snake’s body. That’s so awesome! And again, this is a game from 1998 pulling off all of these cool, ingenious ideas and set pieces.
Kojima’s storytelling chops are on full display here and it’s a marvel to behold. Metal Gear Solid deals with heavy topics such as nuclear warfare, nuclear proliferation, genetic modification, revenge, and trauma. And it handles all of these topics with tremendous care and grace. I also can’t get over how smart choosing these topics are when it comes to communicating the game’s most crucial theme, that being resisting the fate that’s been handed to you. Kojima shows that not everything is set in stone just because it’s the status quo by having Snake destroy Metal Gear Rex, a machine that symbolizes the next step in nuclear warfare. It’s possible to reverse things and change the future, as the game points out at the end with the number of nuclear armaments decreasing by more than 30,000 by 1998. He also illustrates that people aren’t just their birthright and heritage by showing Snake transform from a lonely, hardened mercenary to someone who’s compassionate, loving, and capable of saving someone.
People give themselves narratives that are limiting. They say things such as “I’m not smart” or “I’m not creative.” Often, they may even say worse things about themselves. But Metal Gear Solid says to you and me that, just like Snake and Dr. Naomi, we can grow and change. We can fight back against the situations we’re dealing with and we can grow into healthier and happier versions of ourselves. And that’s such a beautiful message, isn’t it?