1503: Please Insert Gear 2

I finished the first disc of Metal Gear Solid today. I miss disc swaps; as inconvenient as some people find them, many games used them as an important part of their drama — look at how Final Fantasy VII’s first disc ended, for example, or indeed how Metal Gear Solid closes off its first disc.

More than that, though, I’m impressed with how well Metal Gear Solid is holding up. I mean, sure, there are some aspects that have dated worse than others — the painful lack of motion capture and facial animation in the cutscenes being the most glaring issue, and the somewhat clunky controls being another — but as an interactive experience, its limited technology certainly doesn’t hold it back from being a thrilling, compelling and exciting experience just as worth having today as it was back when it first came out. (And I maintain that the original is just… better, somehow, than the technically superior The Twin Snakes for GameCube; the revamped music and voice acting in that version just didn’t feel quite right, somehow)

I’m also quite impressed with how much of the game I’ve remembered since its original release. I don’t think I’ve beaten it that many times over the years, but I still remember all the peculiar little quirks as if it was only yesterday I played — changing the controller port for the Psycho Mantis battle; how to spot Meryl when she’s in disguise; how to get Meryl to be in her pants when you reunite with her; how to get out of prison. (Actually, I must confess to messing the latter part up — I remembered the whole “ketchup” thing, but cocked up knocking the guard out and ended up being released by the Ninja, which I didn’t even know was a possibility. You learn something new every day.)

Snake remains an awesome hero, too; convincingly badass, yet vulnerable and human at the strangest of times. He’s at his most interesting when interacting with the diverse other members of the cast; whether it’s struggling to show his feelings for Meryl or trying to work out the best approach to dealing with Otacon, who is terrified to the point of literally pissing himself one moment; overconfident and cocksure the next; emotional and irrational the next.

The game still packs a surprising amount of emotional punch, too, even with its primitive technology, and it’s at least partly down to Kojima’s strong direction of the game’s cutscenes. Say what you will about the series and its lengthy storytelling sequences between bouts of crouching in the dark (and, of course, “Snake, SNAKE, SNAAAAAKE!”, which I have heard a good few times today during some challenging sequences I didn’t remember quite so well) — Kojima knows how to make a good movie with some interactive elements, and I think it’s a fairly well established fact by now that I have absolutely no problem with games that prioritise storytelling over what we might traditionally call “gameplay”. (I’m particularly looking forward to revisiting Metal Gear Solid 2’s infamous 20-minute cutscene towards its conclusion.)

Anyway. Onward to disc 2 tomorrow, and a confrontation with Metal Gear, along with some other parts I’ve no doubt forgotten. For now, time for bed, possibly with some Senran Kagura Burst before sleepytime… Oh yes.