aka Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
This getting branded as "Metal Gear Solid" outside of Japan was a massive disservice, as this is not simply a ported/demake'd MGS1. Sure, it's heavily inspired by MGS1 gameplay-wise, but Ghost Babel is a totally unique and strange alternate-universe sequel to the original Metal Gear. Even more bizarre is how much future games seem to pull directly from Ghost Babel. The narrative is, shockingly, a proto-MGSV in a lot of ways with the subplot of Viper (a venomous snake, if you will) and his crusade of vengeance against FOXHOUND. There's even straight up [REDACTED] in this game, whereas MGSV held back and wouldn't go all the way despite the themes. Some of MGS3's narrative and best moments are taken right out of this game, too. And the post-game special VR missions are just straight up Raiden's VR training alluded to in MGS2, that's not even up for debate - the missions are literally conducted by one of the Patriot AIs! It's impressive how overlooked Ghost Babel is in the Metal Gear series history given all that.
Overall, this is a delightful experience: the visuals are oozing with charm (that codec screen is just eye candy to me), and the gameplay is that classic Metal Gear 2 top-down goodness. It's retro in all the right ways if you ask me, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Metal Gear fans owe it to themselves to check this one out - just play it with save states to bypass some of the frustrating padding introduced in the last few levels.
🐍📦
This getting branded as "Metal Gear Solid" outside of Japan was a massive disservice, as this is not simply a ported/demake'd MGS1. Sure, it's heavily inspired by MGS1 gameplay-wise, but Ghost Babel is a totally unique and strange alternate-universe sequel to the original Metal Gear. Even more bizarre is how much future games seem to pull directly from Ghost Babel. The narrative is, shockingly, a proto-MGSV in a lot of ways with the subplot of Viper (a venomous snake, if you will) and his crusade of vengeance against FOXHOUND. There's even straight up [REDACTED] in this game, whereas MGSV held back and wouldn't go all the way despite the themes. Some of MGS3's narrative and best moments are taken right out of this game, too. And the post-game special VR missions are just straight up Raiden's VR training alluded to in MGS2, that's not even up for debate - the missions are literally conducted by one of the Patriot AIs! It's impressive how overlooked Ghost Babel is in the Metal Gear series history given all that.
Overall, this is a delightful experience: the visuals are oozing with charm (that codec screen is just eye candy to me), and the gameplay is that classic Metal Gear 2 top-down goodness. It's retro in all the right ways if you ask me, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Metal Gear fans owe it to themselves to check this one out - just play it with save states to bypass some of the frustrating padding introduced in the last few levels.
🐍📦