Posted on: September 10, 2023
lastfoxx
Games: 164 Reviews: 15
Stick to the emulated version
The low rating is of course directed at the terrible port. I highly recommend people who have never played this game, to play it on a PS1 emulator to get the full experience - in order to understand why this was a game changer back in the day. A LOT of the charm of what made this game so popular is lost in (port) translation. Especially the FX filters for the cinematic and the stealth effects are ruined on the PC port. And even some of the gimmicks and dialogues were cut out due to restrictions. So you have been warned. With that said I would probably rate this game 4 stars. The reason I don't give it 5 is that it if you take off the nostalgia glasses for a bit you realize the game has a lot of tedious areas which are relics from a bygone era. Especially if you want to replay the game, those parts always felt like 'homework'. I'm talking about climbing up (and down) an endless stairwell on a radio tower, backtracking half the game to get a sniper rifle and some boss battles going on for far too long (Gray fox, liquid boxing match, jeep chase and a few more). Back in the day, games were intentionally bloated, or designed like that for you to have 50hr+ experiences. But nowadays you can definitely feel the fatty parts. And don't get me started on the overlong cut scenes. To be fair this entry has the most focused story of all MG games, before Kojima went batsh** insane with the later storylines. But a lot of characters are monologuing here for almost ten minutes or you get 15min exposition dumps. I'm just saying that, so you are prepared and come with an open mind (and ears). Other than that this entry is a really solid espionage thriller that no other game has ever come close storywise in this particular genre. This game was so creative that I enjoyed even the rip offs that it spawned ( Splinter Cell, Operation Winback, Syphon Filter, Arkham Asylum etc....)
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