Quatermass' Game Reviews

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I decided to give reviews of games that I have played. I'm not posting any yet, but I will soon.

To give you an idea of what to expect, I'll post a list of games I intend to review. They are all games I have played.

weren't you already doing this? or was that movies or books or Dr Who episodes or something?

I'm interested in seeing the reviews. I myself am something of a game reviewer, specifically RPGs...

Movies, in a humourous manner, but I only did 300. These reviews are serious.

Cool!! !! !! !! !

I must admit, Quatermass is my favourite WPer on here .

I hope there will be some classic games in here as well as new ones.

I'm not going to review anything from the 8-Bit and 16-Bit eras unless they have recieved a port or a remake, as I haven't played most of them. This is out of fairness. I'm not reviewing games that I haven't played. So, sorry Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger fans.

I will review all numbered Final Fantasy games (with the exception of 11) because I have played them.

Fair enough.

Although the 16-bit era was by far the best.

Good idea QM. I may review games on my own forum when I set it up but that won't happen for a while. So we'll stick to you for reviews.

Okay. This review will be a first: a double review, of the original game, and the remake.

Yes, folks, it's time for me to review...

Metal Gear Solid! Along with the remake version, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.


While certainly not the first stealth-based game, the first Metal Gear game, released in 1987 for the MSX computer, and later to the NES, was the first one to be well-noted. However, Metal Gear all but sank without a trace, after a forgettable non-canonical sequel (Snake's Revenge) on the NES, and a canonical sequel (Metal Gear 2) that didn't make it into English until several years later.

However, the Metal Gear series never truly went away, and in 1997, Hideo Kojima created the first 3-D version of the series, Metal Gear Solid, called 'Solid' for its immersive, solid gameplay.

The storyline runs thus: Solid Snake, a retired operative of the covert special forces unit FOXHOUND, is forced from retirement to infiltrate an Alaskan island that had been taken over by FOXHOUND. The island was a nuclear warhead disposal facility, but now a testing ground for the latest iteration of Metal Gear, a walking battletank that can fire nuclear weapons from any terrain.

Complicating matters is the fact that the terrorist leader, FOXHOUND leader Liquid Snake, bears a striking resemblance to Solid Snake, and that Snake's own superiors are being forced to hide facts from him.

Snake must team up with Meryl Silverburgh, the niece of his CO, Colonel Roy Campbell, and Dr Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich, in order to find a way of stopping Metal Gear, and Liquid Snake's plans.

When I first played this game when it first came out, I was struck by the extraordinarily complex story, although I was yet to have played a Final Fantasy game. It was also an action game with a difference, requiring stealth and strategic moves, rather than running and gunning.

The graphics and sounds combined to create an immersive world, and although the graphics don't look so good when, say, compared with some of the Final Fantasy or Resident Evil games, this can be seen as a necessary sacrifice for such an immersive world and wonderful storyline.

If one had to make a complaint, some of the voice-acting was a little OTT and the music repetitive. The amount of dialogue towards the end, and the annoying PAL card quest at the end can get on one's nerves. Balancing that out, however, are some of the best boss battles in video game history, many requiring a special trick or gimmick to finish, and one even breaking the fourth wall, especially in the preceding cutscenes.

After improving on the MGS formula in the sequel, Metal Gear Solid2: The Sons of Liberty, Konami recruited Blood Omen and Eternal Darkness developer Silicon Knights to rework the original MGS and not only bring it graphically in line with the sequel, but include many of the sequel's innovations.

While the actual gameplay work was done at Silicon Knights, Konami worked on new versions of the original cutscenes with action director Ryuhei Kitamura, and while several action sequences were given over-the-top stylings (with lashings of bullet time and scenes that would give the Mythbusters ample fodder), the new directions of more moderate sequences work well.

While some of the gameplay aspects make the game easier (first person shooting makes the Ocelot fight easier and getting rid of cameras easier), other innovations from the sequel make things more challenging. Some, like the lockers, aren't as necessary as they were in Sons of Liberty, and the dog tag system seems vestigial with the method the secret items are gained in Metal Gear Solid, but the tranquiliser system works well, and they can be used in the gameplay, though the grip system does become problematic in a key sequence of Metal Gear Solid, where it wasn't a problem in the original.

In The Twin Snakes, all of the original voice actors are back, this time, under their real names (in the original, all but Doug 'Psycho Mantis' Stone used pseudonyms, though David Hayter only used his pseudonym in the manual). David Hayter is reported to have given up half his paycheck to bring back the original voice actors (the only true newcomer being Rob Paulsen, who replaced Greg Eagles as the Cyborg Ninja. Eagles returned to play the DARPA Chief, though), and much of the voice acting is improved over the original, although some of Paul Eiding's delivery as Colonel Campbell is a little flat, and sometimes, Cam Clarke (as Liquid Snake) misses the mark.

While I recommend that you get the GameCube remake if you have a GameCube and the means to get The Twin Snakes, the original PlayStation version is competent enough by itself and will provide an excellent game play experience, despite its age.

Metal Gear Solid (PS1 Version):

Graphics: 7 (by today's standards)

Sound: 9

Gameplay: 8

Presentation: 9

Story: 10


Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube version):

Graphics: 9

Sound: 10

Gameplay: 8

Presentation: 8

Story: 10.

Last edited by Quatermass on 16 Mar 2008, 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good review , but u forgot to rate the gameplay

Ugh. I was going to have presentation as gameplay. Picky lot you are.

Quatermass,

This sounds like a good idea but I'd like to know how hard or how easy a game is to finish. I'm really not very good at these things.

I hate shelling out for a game only to find that I get stuck in the first few minutes. I hate arcade style sequences.

That's nothing. I call Super Mario Sunshine the 'aneurysm on a disc'.

Good review QM.

Thanks. Come my birthday, I will be reviewing the GameCube version of Twilight Princess.

Now, I might consider requests. Here's a list of all games I have played substantially enough to review:

Final Fantasy I-X, X-2, and XII, with Dirge of Cerberus.

MGS2 and 3 (I have played both Substance AND Subsistence)

Parasite Eve II

All main Resident Evil titles

Silent Hill 1, 3 and 4

Super Smash Bros and Melee

Metroid: Zero Mission, Fusion, Prime 1 and Prime 2: Echoes

Medievil

Gex: Enter the Gecko

Gex: Deep Cover Gecko

All of the Legacy of Kain games

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker

Kingdom Hearts I and II

Super Mario Sunshine

Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2 to Americans)

Matrix: Path of Neo

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne

Worms Armageddon

That's all I can think of. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of games I have played, but rather games that I have played at least most of the way to the end (which is why FFIII and FFV are included).

I think my next review will be another Metal Gear double act: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Subsistence.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Subsistence reviews


Okay, when I first heard that this game was coming out, I knew, like many other Metal Gear fans, that this was not only a prequel, but also the story of Big Boss, the 'father' of Snake, and the antagonist of the first two Metal Gear games.

But I had already enjoyed Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Yes, I did like Raiden. Now shut up. He had his faults, but it was a good twist on the story, and playing Solid Snake was starting to get old.

So what could Metal Gear Solid 3, a game set over 40 years before the Shadow Moses Island incident, offer veterans of the Metal Gear series?

Believe me, it offers a hell of a lot.

Set in 1964, MGS3 follows the operative of FOX (a precursor to FOXHOUND), Naked Snake, the future Big Boss. Quelle surprise, he looks, talks, and acts just like Snake, except he's somewhat more naive to the nature of politics and how they govern operations. He's about to get a rude awakening. Sent in to retrieve Russian scientist Nikolai Sokolov, whose return to the Russians after his defection was one of the conditions made to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. Snake is sent in to extract Sokolov from the eye of the KGB. But a rival Russian faction intends to use Sokolov for their own nefarious ends, and Snake's own mentor, legendary female warrior The Boss, defects, giving Snake broken bones in the process (I kid you not).

After the leader of the rogue Russian faction, Volgin, uses a nuclear mortar on Sokolov's research facility, Snake is forced to go on another mission to clear America's name. Operation: Snake Eater. To complete his mission, he will have to deal with the Boss' own special forces unit (the Cobra Unit), Volgin's GRU forces, a female spy called EVA, and his own feelings about the mission.

First off, the storyline. This is very much a Cold War story, set only two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this story, we see the origins of many characters, as well as hints to their destiny beyond the first two Metal Gear Solid games. Big Boss's influence is throughout the series, and we see a much younger Revolver Ocelot, and even have hints of his extraordinary heritage (which, in part, go some way to explaining a few plot points in MGS2), not to mention where his passion for revolvers came from. And with EVA reappearing in the yet-to-be-released Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, it is worth reappraising her role here. We also see the origins of Metal Gear in both Sokolov's Shagohod, and Granin's fanciful designs (which poses a question for a serious Metal Gear fan: was Dr Petrovich Madnar a student of Granin's, or Sokolov's?) for a walking battletank. Volgin is an interesting villain, but it is the complexity of the Boss that really shines through. The ending is less movie/radio intense than Metal Gear Solid 2, and this is a good thing. However, there is some waffling on. But it's a damned good story.

Graphics wise, there is a lot more blur and lesser framerate than previous Metal Gear Solid games. Considering, though, that the majority of the game takes place in a very well-rendered jungle, this can be forgiven, and the character models are up to Konami's usual standard. This is good, considering that there are dozens of guards, scientists, not to mention animals and plants (I'll get to that soon).

Soundwise, voice-acting's top-notch, as usual. Some very well-known voices here, especially Gregg Berger, Neil Ross, Michael Bell, and Richard Doyle. Only David Hayter (as Naked Snake) and Jennifer Hale (as Para-Medic) return from previous games. Joshua Keaton sometimes misses the mark of his polygon character model as Ocelot, but he otherwise gives an outstanding performance in a role Patric Zimmerman made for himself. Lori Alen and Suzetta Minet are damned good actresses in their roles as the Boss and EVA respectively.

The music is also wonderful, a bit more orchestral rather than electronic, to match the 60's vibe. The powerful title song, Snake Eater, is not only powerfully emotional, but also a description of one of the character's feelings.

Gameplay wise, this game is way harder than previous MGS games. Why? No Soliton radar. Instead, you're given motion detectors and radars that aren't as useful. Instead, you'll be relying on moving more slowly and using the new camouflage system to your best advantage.

And then there's the new Stamina system, which requires you to hunt, catch, and kill your own food so that Snake can stay underwater longer, steady his aim, and have his wounds heal quicker.

The boss battles continue the MGS tradition of quirky fights that have more than one solution. The fight against The End, a 100-year old sniper, is a particular case in point, taking place across 3 massive jungle areas and requiring you to use many things at your disposal to make it through. One boss-fight in particular, I have a quibble about, as it is unlikely you know the solution unless you've looked it up in a walkthrough. I'm talking about the Sorrow. But in anycase, you not only get to fight Ocelot when he's wielding two revolvers, but also a bee-manipulating soldier wielding a tommy-gun, a double jointed stealth-using crossbow freak, a geriatric sniper, a pyromaniacal cosmonaut, an electrified megalomaniac, and...but I better not spoil it.

Presentation is marvellous. Just marvellous. I cannot say much bad about it.

And then, there's Subsistence.

Now, for Europeans, we got the three-disc edition, so that's what I'm reviewing. The third disc only came with special editions in Japan and the USA.

The new version of MGS3 isn't changed that much, but what changed makes it easier. I'm talking about a fully manouverable 3rd-person camera, a necessity when trying to spot enemies early in the jungle, given that MGS' normal camera system can be a hindrance in certain situations. New camouflage is given for those who have played it before.

However, the second disc should be appealing to any Metal Gear fan. Why?

*An online Metal Gear Solid game. I haven't played it (I'm unable to) so I can't review that part.

*Secret Theater. Funny, hilarious, and downright silly. These were available on the Konami website, but now, here they are, including the comedic first trailer of MGS4, and the infamous pisstake of Raiden, Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser.

*Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Now, for the first time officially in English, the original MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. With all new English translation, it's time to find out what really happened in Outer Heaven and Zanzibar.

*Monkey vs Snake: A MGS/ Ape Escape crossover. Hilarious.

*Boss battle. Fight the bosses again for a high score.

And finally, the third disc is good for Metal Gear fans, not to mention people who can't play MGS. It is a specially edited movie of movie and gameplay sequences in the game. Whether you can't finish the game or just want to watch a long Metal Gear movie, then this is for you. Note that this is NOT a DVD. It is a DVD ROM, but you can't play it in anything but a PS2.

Overall:

Graphics: 10.

Sound: 9.

Gameplay: 9

Presentation: 9

Story: 10