(Originally written Jan. 19, 2009)
Though this, um… piece of entertainment has a lot to offer epic story wise, it falls short by making the player sit and watch everything happen, keeping them from helping the story evolve by becoming a part of the game themselves. Which is why in the end I have major trouble categorizing it as a game at all.
Because of the lack of actual playtime, towards the beginning of the game I seriously thought about giving up. After all, there’s about 80% cut scenes here, if they can still be called that when they form the majority, and if I wanted to watch a movie I would have chosen to do so. Luckily a lot of work was put into the animation and dialog to draw in the viewer, saving the game for me in the end. Through the moments of pure boredom, to the moments I was screaming at the screen because of how ridiculous little things seemed to me, I slowly became attached to the characters. Not in the same way as other games where I live in the moments with them because what I do spells out life and death, but still strong none-the-less. Plus there were some pretty epic moments that I am glad I didn’t miss, such as the boat scene where the guns malfunction to pretty much anything involving Raiden. Not only that, but I really loved how a couple of times they threw a bone to the player and actually split the screen so that there were moments of gameplay going hand in hand with the movie.
In the end, or after the numerous ends of Lord of the Rings proportions, my mind had changed drastically about Metal Gear Solid; however, I was still slightly disappointed because I didn’t feel like I had contributed anything to what had come to pass in Snake’s journey.
Final Grade: 7.0
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