LogFAQs > #897001858

18. Metal Gear Solid (Snake5555555555)


I didn't get into Metal Gear Solid until 2004, and the reason I know exactly when it happened is because it was the 2004 Character Battle that motivated me to try it out. That was a weird contest for me to get curious about the series considering it was probably Snake's weakest year, but it was seeing Liquid supposedly being nearly as strong as him through Frog (which turned out to be completely and totally wrong, but we wouldn't find out until later) that made me think there must be something special about this series if the hero and the villain were that strong. It turned out to be perfect timing because I was able to play through the first two games just in time for Snake Eater to come out, and I've been hooked on the series ever since.

Of course, the entire experience could have been derailed in the very first area of the game, which might be the single most difficult part in the series, especially for a first-timer to the genre like I was. I don't remember how many alerts I set off and how many times I died before I finally made it to the elevator, but it was a lot. Once I got past that part, that was when the magic began. Metal Gear Solid was way ahead of its time with its cinematic storytelling and voice acting (although the secret to the game having such good voice acting is the fact that no one's mouth moves so you don't have to worry about matching lip flaps). Even now, it's still an incredible story with all sorts of crazy twists, compelling characters, an absurd lack misunderstanding of genetics, and lots of hilarious moments and breaking of the fourth wall. I'll never forget the shock from the fallout after inserting the final PAL Key. It's one of my favorite moments in any game to this day. Metal Gear Solid also has an outstanding cast, featuring one of the coolest protagonists around in Solid Snake and one of the best villain ensembles anywhere in FOXHOUND. Snake's support staff is really good, too. I could spend tons of time just messing around in the Codec menus talking to them all.

As far as the gameplay goes, I'm not particularly good at stealth-based games! I get caught frequently and die often whenever I play Metal Gear Solid. That's probably part of the reason I love the boss fights so much because I don't have to worry about being sneaky! The most famous boss in the game is undoubtedly the Psycho Mantis fight, where you have to switch the controller ports to beat him after you get wowed by the fact that he can tell what games you've been playing. Kojima is just so good at interacting with and messing with the player. There's one thing in particular in Metal Gear Solid that threw me for a loop, and that was finding Meryl's Codec frequency. When it talked about it being on the back of the case, I honestly couldn't have conceived that they meant the literal game case, so I spent a long time looking all over for a case in the game until I remembered seeing a frequency on the back of the game case and wondering if it was the right one. It almost felt like I was cheating at the time!

I suppose I should talk briefly about the Twin Snakes remake, which I actually like! I know some people don't like the Matrix-esque cutscenes or the fact that inserting Metal Gear Solid 2's gameplay elements makes it too easy. I don't mind the gameplay changes because, as I've already said, Metal Gear Solid 2 is super fun to play, and I still died a lot anyway, so whatever. I can handwave the over the top cutscenes away as non-canon fanservice and enjoy them for what they are. I have a lot of fun playing both versions of the game.

Bonus Question: Have you played a game because of a GameFAQs contest?

Another game many people were way off on, but AxemRedRanger and pjbasis only missed by one spot!
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