i have about 150 hours in mgsv so i figured it's about time i actually played the other metal gear games, starting with mgs1. it's still pretty fun even if it has aged rather poorly in some aspects.

my main problem with this game is how it's essentially a boss rush. the stealth is very simplistic, and while it's definitely the highlight of the game, there's no way the stealth gameplay alone could make up even the majority of the gameplay. this leads to the game following the formula of: sneak past two guards -> cutscene -> boss fight -> cutscene -> repeat. the game being about half boss fights wouldn't be much of a problem if the boss fights were fun and had creative solutions but most of them are just tedious. you run around and shoot the bad guy, and the very dated ps1 combat certainly doesn't help here. the greatest offender of this was definitely ocelot, who's boss fight is literally just running in a circle while getting shot from off screen. (i also really REALLY suck at this game which is probably a big factor here too)

that's pretty much all the problems i have with mgs1. i played the game on the duckstation emulator and the ps1 graphics are just so smooth and charming. the story is also great (definitely better than mgsv) and liquid is such a great villain.

the game's biggest strength is definitely the cutscene direction. it really is just incredible. the final fight between gray fox and rex is unbelievably hype and even when nothing exciting is happening the cinematography is still able to keep me engaged.

pretty good game!