Retro Review - Metal Gear Solid

somecoolname (55)in #gaming • 7 years ago

Metal Gear Solid was released in 1998 for the Sony Playstation. It was produced by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan.

Created by Hideo Kojima, you played as Solid Snake who is sent into neutralise the threat of a group of mercenaries known as FOXHOUND, before they launch a nuclear strike. Your mission is to rescue the DARPA chief and the president of an arms manufacturing company.

I remember how blown away I was by the opening cutscene of Snake emerging from the water like a scene from James Bond. The fact you could see his breath in the cold and the new dimension of gameplay that came with having to sneak around your enemies made Metal Gear such a ground breaking game.

The initial opening sees you learning how to sneak past the guards and make your way to the elevator. The cutscene that follows again feels like a Bond film where the initial action was only a taster of what was to come.

Unlike most games of the time, blasting your enemies with a machine gun wasn't Snakes method of take down. You had to make sure you went undetected by sneaking past guards or chocking them out by sneaking up behind them.

"Huh, was there a noise just now !"

If you were seen then more guards would be alerted, they would look for you until a set amount of time had past and then the alert status would be reduced again, allowing you to move about more easily.

Security cameras and footprints in the snow were other ways to give up your position.

The game had a varied array of bosses to contend with, from Revolver Ocelot with his 6 shooter to Physco Mantis who used his mind to throw furniture at you. At little cheat when playing this boss was to move your controller to port 2, by doing this he was unable to read your mind and therefore could not anticipate your next move.

Another interesting fact was if you had another Konami game saved on your memory card, Physco Mantis would mention it to you (I'm not sure if that actually worked or was just a myth).

You start the game with nothing more than a cigar and a ration pack. The cigar, if smoked took your health down and the ration pack boosted it up. Collecting weapons and ammo along the way was the nature of this game.

I remember being super excited finding the Socom in the back of the truck. But using this without the silencer would alert more guards.

CHAFF grenades were used to block security cameras from detecting you and Stun grenades were used to take guards down without taking them out.

A nice feature of Metal Gear Solid was when you were getting tortured by Revolver Ocelot, if you don't give in you save Meryl and are rewarded with a bandana which gives you infinite ammo. If you do give up you save Otacon and are rewarded with the stealth suite.

Love it or loath it, Snakes trusty Codec was used throughout the game to help with the plot line and also save the game. The iconic ring tone still rings clear in my mind as I type. :) Great memories.

The main enemy is Metal Gear Rex, which you need to take down with a rocket launcher before engaging in a tops off, bare knuckle fist fight with Liquid Snake onto of the thing.

Metal Gear was such a breath of fresh air when it was released. There have been many prequels and sequels since and as good as they are non can compare to the original.

Has anyone else got fond memories of this game?

As usual thanks for listening

Happy Steeming Steemers and Steemettes.

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