Well it worked with the original Resident Evil; so it stands to reason it would work with Metal Gear Solid. Desperate for some of that adult oriented gaming the GameCube is accused of lacking, Nintendo struck a deal with Konami to redo and re-release the Playstation hit, Metal Gear Solid. Everything gets an update here, and as long as you’ve never touched the original, you’re in for quite a treat.
There in lies the biggest rub on this title – On it’s own it stands as a great title to own if you’ve got a GameCube, but if you’ve ever played the original title on the Playstation from start to finish there’s very little here to actually make you want to come back.
The story (minus spoilers), essentially involves you trying to stop a secret government project that’s gotten into the wrong hands from launching a nuclear strike. You’ll battle old friends, discover parts of your past along the way, and take down a terrorist organization in the process.
For those who’ve never played Metal Gear Solid, they should know the remake, dubbed “The Twin Snakes”, is one of the few games out there taking itself seriously. In fact the story is designed to play out as a great espionage thriller. You can fully expect to spend quite a bit of time watching cut scenes, and being inundated with new twists, turns, and story details. It’s an amazing adventure if you’ve never played the original game before (there’s that warning again) – but if you have you’ll practically be able to recite everything that’s going to happen to you verbatim.
The literal remaking of this game extends all the way to the level design, and how to beat each portion of the game. I played through the entire title in one day simply because I knew where to go, and what to do – those of you thinking of purchasing MGS: TTS based on the belief you’ll get a new treatment of the level design, or gameplay should keep that in mind, because you probably won’t end up getting your money’s worth.
There is one major addition to Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes that adds to the fun, but by extension actually makes the game easier. The first person mode allows you to do things like shake down a guard by pointing a gun at his groin (which is always good for a laugh), but by the same token gives you the ability to score one hit kills by aiming for the head. Other options like taking out cameras in first person could make this game quite easy if not for the other major new addition: The AI. The first person feature was already used in Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty, but also boasted much harder enemies. Thankfully that has been brought over to this version of the game as well. The original MGS allowed you to mindlessly choke out guards, without any repercussions. Now guards don’t just ‘fade away’ after their death (which means you must hide their bodies), and in some instances they even get called for status reports. I don’t think I have to tell you that if a guard doesn’t answer that call his buddies will get suspicious. The increased AI, in conjunction with the new first person mode are the only reasons seasoned vets of the original game might want to come back – playing the game in first person mode does offer a new experience
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One wonders why Konami might want to have this title released only 5 years removed from the original. If you say that, you obviously haven’t spent any time playing the original recently – that PS1 game has not aged well at all. In fact if you were to try playing that game for nostalgia purposes today, you might find the graphics actually making you forget why you loved the first one so much. Silicon Knights (a Canadian company btw – give it up for one of our own), has given ‘The Twin Snakes’ quite the overhaul. This version of the game will certainly hold up much better in the long run, thanks to graphical upgrades that extend from the character models all the way to the cut scenes. It’s not THE best looking title on the GameCube, but its right up there.
The graphical upgrades to the cut scenes only add to the single biggest asset MGS brought the world of gaming – Presentation. As I kind of alluded to already, Metal Gear Solid plays out like a great espionage thriller that frequently interrupts gameplay to play out an important story element with a cut sequence. Better graphics in these scenes make for an overall better presentation. Considering how good the original was at this, you can imagine how impressive this portion of the game might be now.
The presentation in MGS: The Twin Snakes is very good because it combines great direction with great graphics, and impressive sound. Thankfully the dialog sequences in the original have held up well, and the new Dolby Pro Logic II support only helps make better what was already a strong portion of this game.
The plan Nintendo, Silicon Knights, and Konami had in mind for ‘The Twin Snakes’ seems to be: Take very little liberty with the original games story/gameplay, and just beef up everything esthetically possible. That mentality has created the definitive version of Metal Gear Solid to own. It’s also made sure that you fall into 2 categories for wanting this game: The fanatics who played the original, and who’ll only want to own this title as a collector’s item (not for its replay value). Or the people who haven’t played the original, and NEED to own this title, because as a stand alone it’s one of the best games to play on the Nintendo GameCube. Check if you belong to either category; because if you’ve played the original, and aren’t in complete love with it, you have very little reason to even rent this title.
My review score is an 8.0, but check the all important +/- value in our ratings, because Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes could score as high as 9.2 for those who haven’t played it, and as low as 7.0 for those who have.
