METAL GEAR

So to start off, I'm a big fan of the Metal Gear Series. I played through the entire series in release order a few years ago and it was a memorable couple months of my life. With that out of the way, Metal Gear is by far the weakest game in the series. It's an important piece of gaming history, essentially creating the stealth genre and a classic series. Unfortunately, it's not a very fun game. It is very much a game of the late 80's and has not aged well in many respects. There's very little plot or characters to be seen(standard at the time but it feels lacking in what the series would later be known for), gameplay is full of annoying elements(such as hunting for keycards for doors that have no logical order to them) and none of the boss fights are anything memorable. You do get to fight a Metal Gear at the end, but the fight is very gimmicky and it's very easy to lose for very stupid reasons. It ties into the most unique and obnoxious mechanic in the game, the rank system. So there are a bunch of hostages scattered around the game world and rescuing so many raises your rank(which in turn raises your health and ammo capacity). However, killing a hostage(on purpose or otherwise) instantly drops you a rank, and there are a finite number of hostages. It's possible to accidentally kill hostages(One boss is designed around this, which makes it worse) and drop your rank enough you can start the metal gear battle and not have enough ammo to actually kill it(there are no ammo pickups during the the fight and only one weapon actually damages it). Congrats, you have to find an earlier save or the game is unwinnable. This is a game for people who either really like older, hard games or people who want to play the very first Metal Gear game. Anyone else would be better off giving it a pass and maybe try to get a copy of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which is basically this game but better in every way.

I've played it a long time back when I used to have MSX. Same with Metal Gear: Solid Snake 2. Good all memories. I was hoping if they release Metal Gear: Solid Snake 2 on PC too but maybe underway with the rest of the saga I hope.

How much fun you'll have with Metal Gear will largely depend on whether you're inclined to use a guide while playing. Without a guide, be ready for lots of 'What now?' moments, coupled with egregious backtracking. If you're like me and your idea of fun doesn't consist in having to backtrack half of the game and punching random walls for half an hour to find a hidden room which contains a mission-critical item, you'll be better off using a guide from the get-go. Backtracking and cryptic progression aside, Metal Gear is an incredible game for its time, and still holds up in many parts today. The stealth gameplay may seem basic, but this is actually a good thing, since enemies almost always respawn when you leave a screen. So do items, which balances things out nicely: Since there are no 'safe' routes anywhere, you always need to be mindful of where you go, lest you waste all of your resources on a dead end. The shooting controls being clunky further incentivizes a stealth approach. At the same time, checkpoints are relatively frequent, and you're given additional resources if you die repeatedly, so aside from a few plot points, soft-locking yourself out of progress isn't really possible. Compared to later entries in the series, there isn't much of a narrative, and the codec is only used occasionally. Still, between the catchy soundtrack and moody military base environments, Metal Gear manages to create a great atmosphere, despite its graphical limitations. The PC port is based on the HD collection console release, which in turn is based on the original MSX version instead of the inferior NES one. Compared to the MSX original, the English translation has been revised in parts, and some quality-of-life features have been added, such as visual clues when punching the 'right' wall. You also get to save at any time, though you'll be reset to a checkpoint regardless, albeit with your inventory at the time of saving.

Thankfully, this isn't the NES version of Metal Gear. It appears to be built based on the properly translated version of the original MSX game. There are a couple of issues that need a little TLC, however. There are issues with sound effects that will be very jarring to people who have played the original version (even the NES port) And this is despite the correct sound effects being in .WAV form among the game install files. There is also no built-in way to map movement to the D-pad of a controller. Playing 2D games like this with an analog stick just kills any sense of responsiveness, requiring far too much travel to get the same results as a d-pad.

First time player here. This game is a great example of how to make a game that's both challenging and fun. You don't get a tutorial but are thrown straight into a mission and have to figure out things on your own. The game is linear but you have certain freedom of choice where to go and sometimes you need to explore a bit before you figure out where to go next. To aid you in this, you collect vital information either via radio or from the hostages you rescue along the way, Saving hostages is generally optional, but it's important not just to get information, but also to go up in rank, which directly affects how much ammo and rations you can carry, thus making your life easier as the game progresses. You can save the game anytime, but generally you don't have to worry too much about dying and losing progress; there are set checkpoints where you start over upon dying, usually the elevators, as well as certain exits. If you save the game for example after picking up some important item and then die, the item remains in your inventory and you can get on with the mission. In general, successfully sneaking around makes for quicker progress because you don't waste time killing everything in sight, but if you really. really want to shoot someone, completing the game unlocks a 'Boss Survival' mode where you can fight the various boss characters that you encounter during the game, to your heart's content. During the game they are mostly not required to be eliminated to make progress and they will respawn anyway, except those few whom you have to kill because they carry an item you need or something. Definitely recommended to anyone who enjoys some truly fun stealth action.