Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid was originally released in 1998 for Sony's PlayStation. It was created by Hideo Kojima, who was also the creator of the two original Metal Gear games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Little did he know that Metal Gear Solid would become looked upon as one of the greatest video games ever made. In this review, I'll explain why so many gamers hold that statement to be true.

Graphics:

The graphics in The Twin Snakes are a far departure from the graphics in the original game. Although they aren't as high quality as the graphics in MGS2, they are definitely some of the best to grace the Gamecube. They are polished well, and all characters in the game have their own unique look. It's a very good thing that the graphics are wonderful, because not only will you have to look at them during play, you'll also have to look at them during the three hours of cutscenes. That's right; this game has over three hours of cutscenes in it! However, this time around the cutscenes have been directed by veteran Japanese action film director Ryuhei Kitamura. This makes for better camera angles, a more cinematic style of cutscenes, and overall a better viewing experience. With the addition of improved graphics and cutscenes that will blow you away, this aspect of the game is sure to please.

Sound and Music:

Along with the graphics, the sound and music has also been redone. Despite them taking out a few good songs, the musical change is definitely an upgrade from the original. Instead of the same song playing in every boss battle, each boss now has his or her own battle music. The most noticeable piece of music missing is the song it plays when you get detected by the enemies. Instead, the game now plays the MGS Theme Song that was in the intro to MGS2: Sons of Liberty. Although I missed the original song for awhile, I soon got over it and took a liking to the MGS Theme Song. The best musical change in the game is the cutting of the ending theme "The Best is Yet to Come" from cutscenes. In the original, this song was used so much that by the time it played in the credits, I didn't want to hear it anymore. Now that it plays ONLY in the credits, it has a more emotional feel to it. As for voice acting, the same people return from the original to once again voice their characters. The voice acting is top notch, and is probably some of the best voice acting you'll ever hear in a video game…..period. While some of the dialogue has been altered and extended, the game still retains the basic dialogue it had in the original. This is yet another category that this game succeeds in.

Storyline:

Metal Gear Solid's storyline is definitely a very in-depth and complex one. The only video game storyline I can think of that is more complex than this one would be in the game's sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The storyline is so good, that even I, the almighty spoiler, will not spoil it for you. Instead, I will give you the basic premise of the story, along with a few background details. The year is 2005. In a remote area of Alaska, located in the Bering Sea, there is a chain of islands known as the Fox-Archipelago. In there exists Shadow Moses Island, which happens to be the location of a top-secret nuclear warhead storage facility. During an exercise on the island involving ARMSTECH Inc. and The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, Next-Generation Special Forces, lead by members of FOX-HOUND, invade the island and capture it. There, they make the somewhat odd demands that they want the remains of Big Boss, the greatest soldier who ever lived. They state that if these demands are not met within 24 hours, they will launch a nuclear weapon. Snake is then briefed on the worst part of the mission - the FOX-HOUND members who are the leaders of the terrorists. Psycho Mantis, with his powerful psychic abilities. Vulcan Raven, giant and shaman. Sniper Wolf, a deadly sniper who can sit in the same position for weeks in order to eliminated her target. Decoy Octopus, master of disguise. Revolver Ocelot, formidable gunfighter and interrogation expert. Finally, the leader of the terrorists, Liquid Snake. Snake is shocked that someone has the same codename as him, and he is even more shocked when shown a picture of Liquid. Despite different skin tones, the two of them are exact duplicates. After the briefing, Solid Snake accepts the mission and heads off to Shadow Moses Island. You will encounter various plots twists as the story progresses, all of which lead up to the truth behind the terrorist's demands and the truth behind your connection to Liquid Snake. Overall, the storyline is absolutely positively the best aspect of the game.

Gameplay:

As the box of the game clearly states, MGS is tactical espionage action. The majority of the game is spent sneaking around trying not to get caught. The action part of the game takes place during the boss battles, which play out like any other action game would. Metal Gear Solid was the first game to introduce stealth gameplay, and after all the various stealth games over the years, it's still the best. As you may already know, gameplay elements from MGS2 have been added into this remake, which makes gameplay a bit different this time around. Snake now has the ability to hide in lockers, hang over railings, and shoot in first person mode. All of this is a welcome addition, seeing as how the AI has also been upgraded to be a lot smarter. In the original, only a few guys would come after you when detected. However, when you get caught in this game an entire attack team with riot shields and machine guns will come to inspect the area. An improvement on the AI would be the fact that if you kill them, they won't be able to make a status report via radio. Once that communication is lost, a unit will be sent to inspect the area. If you leave the dead body lying there, its bad news for you because an attack team will be sent in to find you. This is where hiding bodies in lockers comes in handy. If you hide the body, they will simply replace the missing guard with another one and leave the area. Even with all the new additions to gameplay, I hardly used any of them. I rarely hung over rails, rarely hid in lockers, and rarely hid the bodies. Most of the time I resorted back to my tactics in the original game, which was to hide in a box and wait for them to leave. The best addition was the first person view mode. I found myself using this quite often, especially in boss battles. It makes it a lot easier to kill bad guys, seeing as how you can target their heads. As for the boss battles, they are exactly the same as they were in the original. While a few boss battles are made easier due to the first person view, they are still as fast paced and fun as they were in the original. The main flaw in gameplay is that the game is fairly easy compared to the difficulty level of the original. Despite this, the gameplay is still as rock solid as it was back in 1998.

Controls:

My main concern in playing this game was how well the controls would work on the Gamecube's controller. While the controls work very well once learned, the learning curve is really bad. Even though I am a veteran MGS player, I was detected by the enemies in the first five minutes of the game just because I was still getting used to the controls. The main problem is that, unlike the PS2 controller, the Gamecube's controller does not have a select button. So in order to use your communication device, you have to hold down start and press the A button. Also, in order to pause the game, you have to hold down start and press the B button. This can get really annoying, because during intense situations that need to be paused, my instinct is to hit the start button only. Even though I still am not used to the Start A/B combo setup, all the other controls work well once you have gotten the hang of it.

Replayability:

The replay value is definitely the weakest part of this game. While there are two different endings to get, there isn't much else. Silicon Knights added the ability to collect dog tags from enemies, along with taking pictures, but neither of them unlocks anything special. The main replay I got out of the game was going through it over and over. This game is so great, that no matter how many times I play it, it never gets old or boring. Other than that, the replay value is fairly weak.

Overall, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes isn't as good as the original. The fact that the first person mode makes certain bosses cake definitely diminishes the gaming experience. If you're looking for true, un-messed around with Metal Gear Solid, I'd suggest checking out the original instead. Nevertheless, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a definite buy for anyone who is a fan of stealth gaming.
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound and Music: 9.5/10
Storyline: 10/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Controls: 9.0/10
Replayability: 5.0/10
8.5
Out of 10