Over the last few days, I completed a playthrough of Metal Gear Solid and added it to my list of completed games. Released in 1998, Metal Gear Solid is a third-person stealth action-adventure game with a strong emphasis on stealth. Developed and published by Konami, it is the fourth instalment in the Metal Gear series and was a massive success during the early days of the PlayStation era.
With my yearly blog review due soon, I wanted to play through a game that I thought would be relatively quick and help me end my gaming year on a high note. After noticing that the game was available on Steam, I decided it was an excellent choice and would make a great addition to my completed games portfolio. After completing the game on the Normal difficulty setting, I was pleased to receive the score shown below.
I first remember hearing about Metal Gear Solid while I was at secondary school and, as a present, my mother bought me the game for what must have been my fourteenth birthday and is still in my game collection to this day. At the time, the graphics were impressive, although today they clearly show their age. The developers experimented with some unique ideas, such as using the physical CD case to contain a clue required for progression, requiring the player to switch controller ports during a specific boss fight, and even including a camera item that allowed you to take and save first-person photographs. They also made extensive use of stealth as a core gameplay mechanic, with stun grenades, chaff grenades, cardboard boxes to hide in, and numerous other ways to distract or avoid enemies altogether. The soundtrack is excellent and the story is even better, featuring two different endings depending on one of your choices during the game. That may be commonplace now, but at the time it felt groundbreaking.
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