Backlog Burnout Review of Metal Gear: Solid Snake’s first mission isn’t quite so solid

System(s): MSX2, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3

Release Year: 1987

Rating: N/A

Current Amazon Price: $24.48 (PS3) $25.41 (Xbox 360)

The Skinny:

Metal Gear is a decent overhead stealth action game that eventually crumbles under its own weight. If you are familiar with the series and expecting more of the same, playing the title that started it all may leave you disappointed.

The Meat:

The Metal Gear franchise is a powerhouse in video games. Currently spanning 10 canonical, main series games and almost twice as many remakes or spinoffs on consoles ranging from the Gameboy to the Playstation 4, you’d be hard pressed to find a video game fan who hasn’t at least heard of Solid Snake, Big Boss, or Raiden. However, this legendary series had what could only be described as humble beginnings. So humble in fact we never even received the first two games over here in the states until quite recently. Before we get into the review proper, it’s time for a little history lesson.

Some of you readers may be thinking “hey wait a minute; I remember playing Metal Gear on my NES way back in the day.” And technically you wouldn’t be wrong. A game called Metal Gear was released on the NES in 1988. It even had the same box art as the original. However, while the original was developed by the mastermind behind the current series, Hideo Kojima, in conjunction with Konami, the NES port that we received in the United States was developed by a totally separate team called Ultra Games. The version that we received is completely different in a variety of ways, not the least of which is that it doesn’t even contain a Metal Gear! It is also widely considered to be an inferior version, by both fans and Hideo Kojima himself, who has gone on record as calling it an insult to his creation. The real Metal Gear game was released on an obscure computer console called the MSX2, and was only seen in Japan and parts of Europe.  The only ways to legitimately play Metal Gear and its sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in the United States are as extras included on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This update of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is available on either the Playstation 2 or as part of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, or as part of the Metal Gear Legacy collection on Playstation 3. The version of the game that I played for this review was the version included in the HD Collection for the PS3. Now that the history lesson is over, on with the review.

Metal Gear is an overhead stealth action game that was revolutionary for its time. When this game released the concept of avoiding combat instead of seeking it out was novel and unusual. You play as Solid Snake, a member of the elite military unit FOXHOUND. A group of terrorists has reportedly gained control of a walking battle tank known as Metal Gear capable of launching nuclear missiles. You are sent by FOXHOUND’s commander Big Boss to infiltrate the terrorist’s fortress of Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear. You are also to rescue another FOXHOUND agent sent in before you named Gray Fox, as well as the scientist responsible for creating Metal Gear who is being held captive. While this set up may seem like typical 80s military fare, the execution and style of the game is not. Solid Snake is not your typical action hero. He’s not bulletproof, and as far as action video game protagonists go he is quite under equipped and underpowered. If you are spotted by an enemy soldier or camera, foes will pour into the room and odds are you will be quickly overwhelmed. You have no equipment or real knowledge to begin with other than your radio, which can be used to communicate with Big Boss and people you meet over the course of the game. You must slowly sneak around the fortress, rescuing prisoners and gaining information and equipment. These early parts of the game are excellent. The tension from having to sneak and the accomplishment you feel from successfully avoiding all obstacles and rescuing prisoners is extremely rewarding and exciting. However, the excellence doesn’t last. While the first half of the game is tense, exciting, and well executed stealthy fun, the back half is an exercise in frustration and all of the worst game mechanics that the late 80s and early 90s had to offer. The biggest offender is the key card system. Almost every door in Outer Heaven is locked. You must find keycards scattered throughout the base to unlock them. This in and of itself is not a bad idea. However, its execution is horrible. There are 9 different keycards to be found, and no hierarchy to their functioning. What I mean by that is key 9 does not also open doors locked by cards 1-8. It only opens doors locked by card 9. Same with all of the cards. And you can only have one equipment item equipped at a time. This leads to cycling through all 9 key cards every time you encounter a new locked door. Sometimes the room you are in will be full of poison gas or enemies. Instead of being able to wear your gas mask, which is an equipment item, you instead have to stand there, cycling through key cards while your health slowly drains, hoping you find the right one before Snake keels over. It is nothing but frustrating and adds nothing valuable to the gameplay.

The other great old-school sin that the game commits is its sheer randomness at times. Items necessary for plot progression will be hidden behind destructible walls with no indication or clue that they are there. This leads to getting stuck somewhere in the fortress, and having to backtrack through the entire base checking every wall hoping to find a hidden room. It wasn't fun in 1987, and it isn’t fun now. I'm all for a game letting you figure things out for yourself, but when there is literally no indication whatsoever of what you are supposed to do to proceed, frustration quickly supersedes any fun that may be had.

The Bottom Line:

Metal Gear simply has not aged well. Its fun core ideas of stealth gameplay and action are bogged down and buried under antiquated and frustrating mechanics. The first half of the game is excellent, but it quickly loses its luster and drops into irritation. All of the series staples are present that would later become famous, from the unusual plot twists to fourth wall breaking conversation directed directly at the player, yet it never truly becomes a game I can give a genuine recommendation for. For that, you have to wait for my review of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The sins of the father are not always passed on to the son. 

Grant Nielsen