Snake is now portable !! (Metal Gear Solid (GB))

Member Name: Mechman68

Product:	Metal Gear Solid (GB)
Date:	08/07/01 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Flowing plot that is constantly expanding, Increadable graphics, the game is absolutely HUGE , Loads of VR misisons to play though

Disadvantages: One save slot means no sharing

The name 'Metal Gear Solid' has been the buzzword around the playstation sinse its release, as it was one of the launch games and the game was an absolute classic from start to end. That is high praise from me as i am usually against playstation games. The game is currently very cheap to own on platenum for PS and is also released for the PC, and the sequal is very near general release (At time of writing). Then as i was surfing the reviews section of the various gameboy websites i frequent i saw a GBC version had appeared. Let me say now that i was more than a little impressed.

First a little synopsis. You play Solid Snake, retired secret agent who is widely know for destroying the origonal METAL GEAR. Metal Gear is in many guises thoughout the series and in this and in the PC/PS versions it is a mech-esque battle tank, armed to the teeth and nuclear capable. The intro sequence, which is VERY long for the format (and longer than some PC games i gave played) fills you in on the mission. Snake is being rehired by the government because they had decided to rebuild Metal Gear and were transfering the nearly complete machine when the plane was hijacked and taken to outer heaven, the place where the origonal Metal Gear was destroyed. The begining of the game proper has Snake being dropped into a jungle a little way from the fortress. He is then introduced to the various characters via the codec, a transmission system that Snake has and is vital the the plot. Incidentally, for all the sequences in the game the speech is relayed via text messages that are displayed in a box somewhere on screen and are large enough to see clearly but no too big as to interupt gameplay.

This is a truly masterfull game in many ways. The plot of the game consistantly expands and is one of the best i have seen on the GBC. It takes the player in loads of different ways suprising you very often and you become quite emotionally attached to the characters
that you meet in the game. The graphics are superlative and very clear. It is very hard to miss your player or anything happening on screen. The text system is very well implemented and is probably the best they could use. Some have argued that the game could have been better if digitised speech was used like in Perfect Dark, but given the amount of speech you would need several cartriges to get it all in. The way you get seen by enemies is right out of the playstation version. When you are seen you get a red 'alert' timer, which times down while the enemies cannot see you, and then goes to the yellow 'evasion' timer, and once that is gone you get your radar back online. Speaking of the radar, it deserves a special mention. Some would think that a radar system like in the PS verion would be hard to see on the small GBC screen, but it is actually very easy to see and use properly. It shows your character, the environment and the location on enemy troops very clearly and is a godsend in some situations. The boss fights are very well constructed and the inclusion of the boss health bar is very usefull. There is nothing worse in a game than fighting a boss, but having no health bar so you cannot tell if you are actualy hurting it or not. The one here is very usefull and sits nicely next to yours at the bottom of the screen. Also the game itself is huge, and is the longest game i have played on the GBC to date. It takes a huge length of time to finish and once done you want to play again.

There is nothing really to balance these with. There is only one battery backed save space which means there is no shareing of the cart until it is completed, unless the person you are sharing with only wants to use the VR missions. Sometimes it is very hard to know where there is a new save point. Save points usually occur after a stage change and at various points inside stages, and it is very hard to know where these instage ones a
re. These are not acctually save points, just places where you will start after saving with a message to mei ling.

Actually, the VR missions deserve a mention. There are absolutely LOADS of VR training missions included with the cart. There are 10 with each weapon, 10 for the sneaking, and another 5 for sneaking with each weapon and there are i am sure loads more than this. It would take a very determined person to complete them all in any kind of hurry and really do help make the player better at the game.

Really there is no other way around the matter. YOU MUST BUY THIS GAME. Even is you dont really like action adventure games for the GBC you have got to play this, even if you only borrow it from a friend. This is one of the few games that makes owining a GBC feel good, and is one that will be played time and time again.

Summary: