Metal Gear Solid

Am I right in saying that Metal Gear Solid is something the videogame industry has needed for a long, long time? Here is a game that actually treats its audience to a level of production quality usually reserved for big budget Hollywood action films. It deals with the intricacies of international espionage and global terrorism with maturity and a surprising amount of compassion. The actions and reactions of our protagonist have significant consequences. The horrific threats in the game are as tactile and scary as the abominations you'll see on the evening news.

Metal Gear Solid is gripping. You will not be able to make your way through this unrelenting adventure without feeling your stomach flip and churn into knots. If you've ever wanted to know what it feels like to be a highly trained Navy SEAL, Metal Gear Solid is your ticket. If you've ever wanted to see the very best of the Sony PlayStation, Metal Gear Solid is your game.

A DEADLY DANGEROUS MISSION

You play Solid Snake, the Metal Gear legend. He is a trained killer who has been thrilling gamers (and the characters in this game), with his exploits since the mid-1980's. Your mission is to infiltrate an Alaskan nuclear weapons facility. Rescue hostages. Save the Chief's niece. Stop the threat of a nuclear attack. Take down a series of boss baddies. And try not to be seen by any of the patrol goons or gun mounted cameras. Sounds simple enough.

Right away you're slapped with how difficult the mission is going to be. Slipping under a pressure pipe and flattening yourself up against a wall, you peer over your shoulder to see a guard approaching. What the hell are you going to do? He's going to see you! Try to take him out with your bare hands (you couldn't carry any weapons with you in the submersible). Oh oh! Wrong move. Alarms are going off and you're being sprayed with machine gun bullets. Let's try that again, shall we?

STOP, DROP AND PRAY

Welcome to the ultimate thinking gamer's adventure. Although plenty of games purport this, if you run through blasting in Metal Gear Solid, you really will be asking for punishment. Sneaky is your motto. The shadows are your friends. If you get stuck in certain situations, use your CODEC radio to communicate with your support crew. They'll usually give you some hints.

You'll want to search every square inch of the facility to uncover useful goodies and gadgets. Pick up a machine gun, night vision goggles, a missile launcher, a couple of cardboard boxes (very handy), even some ketchup (?). You'll need everything you acquire, so make sure you keep track of what you've got.

Now then, let's get on with the mission.

CONSUMATE CONTROL

There has never been a game that has used an input/output device as cleverly as Metal Gear Solid. The developers must have had a ball coming up with new ways to, um, shock the player with the Dual Shock Analog controller. Not only is every button on the device beautifully utilized � the cyclic item menu system is particularly superb � but the development artists behind MGS also found some playful ways to take advantage of the system and its peripheral. At one point, a character will ask you to place the controller on the floor, so he can show off his telekinetic powers. At other points, you'll be spellbound by the Dual Shock's uncanny physical correlation to the cinematic events happening before you (the helicopter taking off is a really nice touch, Konami).

The analog control itself can take a little time to adjust to. This is primarily because the common camera angle on the action in MGS is from above but the camera immediately shifts to correspond to when Snake is flattened on a wall or crawling under objects. At first this will make things a tad confusing and you'll be popping out in the open before you'd like to. After a couple of hours of game time, however, this issue is irrelevant as the control becomes as intuitive as breathing.

You may want to take advantage of the extremely enjoyable VR Training mode that Konami has generously supplied. The first time through you're learning the ropes. After that it's a time challenge.

Metal Gear Solid not only proves what is possible with a flexible controller like the Dual Shock Analog, it also illustrates in convincing fashion that there has never been a better controller built for a game console. When you pick up Metal Gear Solid, you must make sure you have a Dual Shock to go with it.

KILLER GRAPHICS, SOUNDS THAT SLAY

Visually, Metal Gear Solid reaches the absolute peak of the PlayStation's potential. There are cuter, more colorful graphics in lots of other PSX games, but no other adventure title has approached this level of realism and refinement. The textures on everything-- metal plate doors, swiveling camera mounts, chain link fences, snow filled trees, tank treads, ammo crates, even Snake's utilitarian assault uniform - are perfect.

You'll be entranced by the realistic animations in the game as well. Weapons deliver appropriate feedback force. Explosions throw human bodies through the air like rag dolls. Snake's tap-tap on walls to alert dopey guards is extremely amusing, yet completely believable.

The cut scenes, as well, have been handled with impeccable taste and polish. Konami's decision to continue with in-game artwork means that transitions between non-interactive and playable scenarios are seamless. There is a graphics hit by not choosing to go with traditional rendered CG artwork but this has meant that Konami was able to fill out the story with huge chunks of effective and entertaining narrative. Camera angles and effects on these non-playable story bits are shockingly good. I suspect MGS director, Hideo Kojima, will be getting at least one congratulatory call from Hollywood. The moment when Snake must decide whether or not to answer Sniper Wolf's plea (I won't tell you what that is) is particularly harrowing and wonderfully handled.

In addition to Metal Gear Solid's superior visuals, the game also features one of the finest audio tracks ever produced. The surround sound effects are positively chilling, especially when Snake is exposed to the gale of arctic winds. I had to put on a sweater.

Inside the facility, electronic doors gasp open and slide shut, boot taps echo through the halls and the frightening exclamations of soldiers discovering something improper will cause you to jump.

The voice over talent in Metal Gear Solid is exceedingly good. Much, much better than what we normally get in videogames. Snake himself comes from the Dirty Harry school of diction, while solid, if somewhat stereotypical, actors voice other characters.

Metal Gear Solid's music is sensational. For the most part, the tunes are perfectly orchestrated to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire mission but there are moments of quiet poignancy scattered here and there. All of the audio in Metal Gear Solid is terrific but the music is a real work of art.

TOO SHORT?

Yes, I'd say Metal Gear Solid is too short. But only because the adventure is so advanced, so rich, you just don't want it to end. It's like playing through your favorite action movie. You know how quickly those two hours fly by? Well Metal Gear's 14 or 15 hours of gameplay blur past you as well. After you finish the adventure the first time (by the end you'll realize how dopey the guards are), then you can enter the game again at a higher difficulty setting and see how well you do and so on and so on�

Although I wish that Solid Snake had even more mobility in the game world (why can't he jump over railings and onto crates, etc.?), I'd have to say that the only real problem I have with Metal Gear Solid is the collection of super cheesy character names in the adventure. Solid Snake? Liquid Snake? Psycho Mantis? Revolver Ocelot? Big Boss? I mean, what is that? These are the kinds of names that third graders might come up with for their adventures.

Other than that, Metal Gear Solid leaves me with nothing to whine about. How boring.

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