This is the third entry in my ongoing series chronicling my mission to play every Kojima game, dubbed “Operation H.I.D.E.O.” You can read Part 2 here.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was a game that built upon its predecessor to create a cohesive experience that was very engaging, though slightly frustrating. Were those frustrations limitations of the technology of 1990? Surely. But now we're looking at 1998's Metal Gear Solid. How does this game compare to it's predecessor?
It's quite easy to compare the two, actually, since they're basically the same game.
That may sound flippant and dismissive, but it's not! Trust me! After all, Ocarina of Time is basically a remake of A Link to the Past, and Metroid Prime a remake of Super Metroid, and we all know how I feel about those games, right?
Metal Gear Solid is a very clear adaptation of Metal Gear 2's formula into 3D. Snake gets dropped into a dangerous situation, sneaks his way through some buildings, takes out some henchman, fights some baddies, and blows up a Metal Gear or two. The only difference is that now things are in 3D, which can give the game a little more depth and a much needed face lift.
Which is why it's a shame to report that Metal Gear Solid feels like a step back for the series in just about every way. Where do we begin? Well, I'm going to start at the end. Kinda.
Metal Gear Solid, for a game about stealthy infiltration, is shockingly light on stealthy infiltration. Not a lot of sneaking, very little deception, and maps that are surprisingly small. You can blow through massive portions of the compound in minutes flat. Where is all the gameplay?
It's in boss battles. Bosses as far as the eye can see. The game is absolutely chock full of 'em. Sniper bosses, psychic bosses, bosses in fancy tanks. You can't seem to escape the fellas.
Now this is pretty much personal taste, right? Games can strike whatever balance they want between level and boss, no? Of course they can. This is, mostly, just an opinion based gripe. I wanted to perfect my sneaking, but instead was forced into one mandatory encounter after another. That's the game, so I guess I gotta deal.
Fair enough. I'll deal.
I guess my more universal complaint, then, would be around the controls in general. Aiming from a top down angle is difficult when your bullets are limited and reloads are time consuming. Sure, it works in something like Enter the Gungeon, but twin stick shooters are made to be spammed. Metal Gear Solid is more deliberate. And its really hard to shoot with confidence when your laser point barely renders and your joystick sensitivity is out of whack.
Well, what if I don't want to shoot? That's an option, right? Can't I just sneak up to an enemy and knock them out? You can try, but then you're faced with another major issue: navigating the hallways.
Metal Gear Solid introduces a feature that was only ever implied in its 2D predecessors. In this entry, Snake can lean up against a wall to increase his sneak factor. It can be a very useful mechanic when you want to do it, but it can be absolutely devastating in any other situation. Because the "wall lean" is triggered by proximity to walls, rather than a button prompt, one can find themselves constantly stopping mid-run to lean flush against a wall by mistake. After jiggling the joystick a little bit to get un-stuck for another second or two and, well, in that time you may have been spotted, or you may have over-zealously jammed that joystick only to find yourself bumping into a guard and announcing your presence.
These two simple mechanics, walking and shooting, seem like they are integral to playing the game, yeah? Well, they are. And since they're so janky, it makes playing the game...pretty dang hard. But I found my sea legs eventually, right? Did I ever get used to moving around hallways and taking out guards?
No, I didn't. I didn't because there were so many of those aforementioned bosses in the game.
It seems like every time I was just settling in, the game would shake things up. "Fight a tank! Aim rockets at a lady across a snowy field! Look out for that helicopter!"
My personal belief is that a boss battle should be a test on the skills you've exercised thus far in the game. It's the normal gameplay loop, but harder. It should not introduce new mechanics, but ensure that you've mastered the old ones.
Metal Gear Solid is constantly throwing so many different types of bosses at you, each functionally different from other bosses and level-by-level mechanics, that you never feel like the game has coalesced behind one unifying style of play.
Ultimately, the game feels like a collection of minigames. It's held together by some very light exploration and scotch tape.
Oh, and gimmicks. Lots and lots of gimmicks.
Before you pull out your pitchfork, I'm not talking about Psycho Mantis. Having a boss read my mind by checking my PlayStation's memory card is cute, and I'm sure Sony loved showing off the Dualshock's rumble feature by having the character "telepathically" move the controller. Psycho Mantis is not a problem.
Oh wait, yes he is.
Because in order to fight this boss, I had to stand up out of my chair, get on my hands and knees, and unplug my controller from the P1 slot into the P2 slot, otherwise he would "read my mind" and dodge my every attack. That takes me out of the game. It's just plain annoying.
Likewise, needing to survive an interrogation by slamming the circle button as many times as I can isn't fun gameplay. It's a quicktime event mixed with a race against the clock, and it is neither satisfying to do nor interesting the greater experience. It's just...taking up time.
Or how about this one: a sequence in which a security camera finds you, no matter how many chaff grenades you throw, and you're forced to run up twenty seven flights of stairs while being chased by guards that you have no way to evade.
Instances like this aren't fun, they're distracting. They aren't skills you build up over the course of the game, nor are they fulfilling to perform. They're there to merely contribute to the overall faux-cinematic presentation of the game.
So here I am, complaining about the setpieces and breaks from gameplay and lack of flow. So you wanna know what's crazy? How well the cutscenes work!
Knowing Kojima's reputation going into this project, I wasn't surprised at how long they ran or how over the top they come across. But I am surprised at how totally my shit they are.
From Otacon's famous pontifications to Snake endlessly questioning everything he hears, I was there for every stupid fucking line of dialogue this game threw at me. Hell, I didn't even mind that Kojima clearly doesn't understand how genes work.
The only time the story overstayed its welcome was when, well, the game refused to end. Metal Gear Solid concludes with two boss fights and an escape sequence. None of them control well and they are all tedious. Your first fight is against the camera, er, I mean, a Metal Gear. Only one weapon really works, you can't run and gun, so you constantly need to switch to and from the weapon in order to fire at the enemy and then run away. The second boss fight is a fist fight, and draining the enemy's HP is only part of the battle...you also need to bait him over to the ill-define ledge and knock him off. Then you need to also shoot at him in a car during a timed escape sequence that occurs when you just want the game to be done already. It just keeps...going...on...and...on.
I'll learn from this game's mistakes and try to not ramble much longer. I could complain about how the game forces me to do that stupid fucking temperature-controlled key quest again, or how Codec instructions can ruin puzzles, or any number of things. But I don't want to go out on a negative note here, so I won't.
Based on my very limited knowledge of coding and game design, I understand why the game is the way it is. Designing multiple buildings full of unique assets and additional items takes up a hell of a lot more space on a disc that one boss model and a list of pre-programmed movements. Locating objects at opposite ends of a map creates intermediary challenges, and controls can be janky because, well, the game is twenty-two years old.
So while this game was easily my least favorite of the three games I've played so far, I don't want to fault it too much. It's an adaptation of a previously "successful" game into a new format. Some things will work, others will not, but that's the point of experimenting and iterating on an idea. No, I didn't have a great time with the game, but it'll be interesting to see what lessons Kojima learned from this experience and how he'll expand future games.
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