2021 was the year I played and finished Metal Gear Solid for the first time. One of the first games my brother ever bought for the PS1. And yet, I was ignorant about it, until now.
TLDR: Metal Gear Solid is still an amazing game, that I felt aged well enough for anyone to be able to play it. I am even considering a second playthrough, but probably only after I play the first two Metal Gear games, as it seems some story (relevant to Metal Gear Solid and upcoming games) is introduced there.
1. Review
For convenience, I played it on a Raspberry Pi 4, using RetroPie, even though my brother had bought the game when it was released in Portugal somewhere around 20 years ago. I was very young at the time, so even though I played a bit of it — and watched him play it as well -, I knew some things, knew there were a lot of story-wise twists (but not exactly how/when and how/what they implied exactly), but not enough to not enjoy the game and story. It felt like I was watching a movie whose trailer I had seen, knowing overall what the game was about, but not knowing much more about the story or its gameplay. This being said, this felt like playing a brand-new game, but one whose “world” I was familiar with. And it just became one of my favorite games of all time. I also understand (better) why people have Kojima in such high regard.
Disclaimer: I played the game on Normal difficulty.
My first statement: this game didn’t age badly, very much on the contrary. Sure, maybe I’m biased since I play a lot of retro. But except for some camera shifts and movements related to that — as is the case with many 3D games from the 90s~2000s -, I didn’t get very frustrated or turned off while playing. Instead, I was engaged till the end and got used to the gameplay fast.
1.1. Gameplay
The action sequences are usually fun, sometimes brutal — depending on your gameplay style -, but pretty enjoyable all in all. The boss fights, in particular, present some challenges, while not being utterly hard — of course, the game has some silly moments and utterly hard sequences at times, but I ended up finding out most really hard situations, could be overcome if you either explored the area you were in or if you used the items at your disposal. Thus, I can safely say there are always some mechanics that will make it doable, just explore, think about everything you’ve got on your bags, study the boss, and play with this information. And this brings me to my next point: the variety of guns and items is amazing for a game from the late 90s. You have enough different resources to the point of having several ways to solve the same situation. The UI, while using these items, felt intuitive enough to me.
1.2. Storytelling
But the best part to me was the storytelling. The way they tell you the story and interact with Snake, is amazing. Snake’s communication technology will make it feel like even though you are alone, you aren’t. There is always someone you can call, sometimes just to get a bit more of storytelling, but most of the time to either progress or get tips on how to progress. I also enjoyed the level design, even though sometimes the game gets you moving back and forth. This is also where storytelling comes into play once again. At a specific part of the game, I was told to walk to a previous area, which was far away enough for me to think “Damn this level design!”. However, when you are put into those situations, your radio (a.k.a. Codec) may present a surprise to you, and some storytelling is introduced. So even though you are “backtracking” at some points, the game gives you a bit of story to think about, making your pathway less tedious as new information is introduced.
A final remark, that I intentionally left out of my previous points (and it relates to both). The game is designed in a way, that frequently breaks the 4th wall. This is some top-tier game design in my opinion. Even though it doesn’t necessarily do anything that special to the gameplay, it helps in keeping you interested. Also, considering this game came out in 1997, this was an innovative approach.
2. Final Notes
Even though I played the PS1 version on RetroPie — and I mostly did this for convenience as setting the Raspberry is much easier and plug&play than my actual PS1 or PS2 -, GOG is selling the game, as well as the older Metal Gear and some recent releases as well, for PC, which will, probably, offer a better experience overall.
All in all, this has easily become one of my favorite games of all time. Some of this pleasure may have been fueled by nostalgia due to my memories of my brother playing it, but still…I’m amazed!
Ah! If you want to see a couple more pictures of the physical edition of the game for the playstation 1, you can check some on my instagram account (link in bio).
