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Friday 20 June 2008
felix
games.felix@imperial.ac.uk
Games
Metal Gear Solid, but there was a part of me, a tiny part of me, that felt that all the touted features of psychological warfare and advanced stealth would take a backseat. Wow. Did I ever call it wrong. Few games will have ever, and not only in the Metal Gear Solid series, offered a package so compelling, so engrossing or so puissant in terms of gameplay. Whether it’s the sheer variety or the way that the setpieces are designed to genuinely evoke emotion and adrenaline rushes, you’ll be spoilt once you finish this masterpiece. Gunplay has never been a focus for the highly stealth-oriented series, but this iteration really reveals one of MGS’ truly spontaneous draws: freedom within linearity. Your overall mission may be from one point to the other, but the staggering amount of choice you have between these two is often astonishing. To keep things organic, there are no explicit instructions to embark on these paths but it’s left completely up to the discerning player to carve his own gameplay niche. Whether you’re going to risk freeing some freedom fighters to aid you against the PMCs or enter the fracas with the highly-refined shooting model, or even stay out of harm’s way by sending the remote-controlled miniscule Metal Gear Mk. II unit to scout on ahead, these things are never openly stated. You’ll do what you feel like doing and it’s your own way that’s the right way. It’s an interesting vision of the “sandbox” concept of gaming. The Metal Gear Solid family has always been an intensely ecumenical experience with regards to everything that it incorporates. And what is a game such as this without the aural brilliance? To that end, composer Harry-Gregson Williams and his Konami counterpart whip up a maelstrom of sublime orchestral music. It’s not only
Stealth through the ages Series hero Solid Snake burst onto the scene back in 1987 with the game Metal Gear on the MSX. A few years later this was followed up by the sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It would be many a year and an entire perspective shift until the series would resurface. Metal Gear Solid was released in 1998 on the PlayStation to thunderous acclaim and cemented the series in the annals of gaming history. The controversial PS2 title Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty followed suit in 2001, earning a place in the Guiness Book of World Records recently. MGS3: Snake Eater emerged after that, innovating the stealth genre yet again. (see below)
Satiating your appetite by answering old questions and then asking some thought-provoking ones of its own, MGS4 salutes the player in style the incredibly emotive tracks that impressed me but the way it was lovingly incorporated into the right moments was astonishing. Operatic and melodramatic? Yup, but then you’ll only have used a few of many words used to describe the Metal Gear Solid saga. And the accolades can simply continue for this title of titles. I can mention the incessant urge to collect each type of the hundred-shy weapons offered in the game in order to exchange points with the enigmatic gun “launderer”
Drebin 893. I can talk about the clever product placement in the game, where you can use a fully functioning iPod to listen to music tracks spanning the Konami library. I can mention the boss fights that blend in the right amount of emotion, innovation and nostalgia; some of them are quite clever. There’s also the fact that the enemies are a far more intelligent bunch, challenging you to really test your mettle. Did I care to nod towards the new Metal Gear Gekkou and Mini Gekkou units?
In size they fail to match REX and Ray but the combination of sheer fear and adrenaline they evoke in you during your encounters is quite incredible. And then there’s the bit in Act 4 that... well, you’ll find out soon enough. A word about the much-touted Beauty and the Beast Unit of bosses must be said though. I can understand the thematic natures involved and heck, I think their stories explore the sort of macabre nature worthy of Poe, King and Gaiman and finally, I think
fighting them was a blast. Why does it bother me though? There’s just this disconnect between all these individually brilliant bits that lessen the impact from these contributions quite a lot, in my opinion. What makes it all so “fucking hilarious”, in the words of the first boss you face, is that the portions detrimental to the game range from invoking shrugworthy ignorance to taking the opportunity for a toilet break. The game has some lengthy install times between each act. Check. The cutscenes are long for the attention-challenged (you can pause or skip them now). Check. The classic MGS humour is present, although a lot of the references will either evade newcomers or cause fans to face palm. Check. And there’s some ridiculously tedious method required to sign up for the Metal Gear Online gaming service. Fortunately it’s optional but I’m quite certain many of you would love to take your single player skills onto the online space. Konami have not made it easy to do so. However, we’ve come to it at last: the last Metal Gear Solid title from auteur, genius and madman Hideo Kojima. When all is said is done, your own expectations matter little; it stings a bit knowing that, but I digress. Less a game and more of a highly insane, intense and powerfully personal experience, there are few titles like this out there. Driven on by one man’s vision to tell a tale for the ages, you’ll find yourself in a world not unlike our own, full of people and places that truly end up mattering to you. All the questions you’ve ever had are answered with introspection and poise and finally, you can sigh with relief as the multiple threads finally come together in the final knit. It’s far from perfect, but that’s what makes it beautiful. That’s what makes it a Metal Gear.
THE END