Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Review

Developer	Silicon Knights
Publisher	Konami
Genre	Tactical Espionage

In 1998, Metal Gear Solid hit the PlayStation and became one of the best things to ever happen to gaming. Series creator Hideo Kojima crafted a true cinematic masterpiece, worthy of the silver screen more than any videogame that has come before it. The stealth gameplay element introduced the industry to espionage action like no other title. The graphics kicked ass, the voice talent was unbeatable, and the story was probably the most professionally written script to ever be found in a game.

So if there’s one game that players would want to see remade on our shiny new current-generation consoles, Metal Gear Solid would likely be at the top of that list. And with the help of Konami and Nintendo, Silicon Knights aims to give gamers what they want by remaking one of gaming’s greatest adventures exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube.

Gameplay – Essentially, The Twin Snakes is a straightforward remake of the PlayStation’s Metal Gear Solid, but adds many of the newer gameplay mechanics of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for PlayStation 2, like the ability to shoot in first-person, hang from railings and ledges, hide enemies in lockers, etc. Basically, the idea is to give gamers the absolute best of both worlds: the captivating story and characters of Metal Gear Solid while dressing the game up with the cleaner graphics and more in-depth gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 2. In theory, it should be the ultimate Metal Gear, or at least, that’s the idea.

And in many ways, it is indeed the greatest Metal Gear. From a gameplay standpoint, everything falls into place very well. Manipulating Snake is more fluid than it has ever been, thanks in large part to the GameCube controller, which makes the player feel right at home with the controls, especially the trigger buttons because they make weapon and item selection feel much more solid and precise. Whether it’s clinging against and creeping along walls, or crawling inside ventilation ducts, the player connection to the controller is very tight and responsive. Snake has access to all the gear he had in the original version, and he’s even got a toy or two from Sons of Liberty. He’ll need the extra equipment too, because enemy soldiers are smarter this time around. In the original game, offing soldiers would make them disappear, but like MGS2, Snake has to hide the bodies or risk alarming the terrorists. In addition, the guards have also inherited MGS2’s more advanced search tactics (like clearing) and also call in for reinforcements if they find something is amiss when a guard doesn’t respond to a call. All this creates a more challenging game than what you remember from playing the PlayStation version. It also adds a bit more depth to an already deep game, which is always welcome.

But as great as Metal Gear Solid was on the PlayStation, very little has changed since, and so veterans of the series have no real surprises to look forward to. The story plays out identically to that of the original version. The plot is convoluted and very intriguing, but anyone who has played the first game knows exactly what’s going to happen, and when, giving those players nothing they haven’t already seen. So in effect, for anyone who has played the first game, there is very little drama or suspense to keep the player hooked on the story, which was one of the original game’s biggest hooks.

But the story isn’t the only thing that hasn’t changed. Since The Twin Snakes is a sort of fusion of MGS1 and MGS2, the gameplay offers very little new content, making the experience feel that much more “been there done that”. What was added from MGS2 is certainly welcome, but some of it didn’t translate as well as it could have. The first-person aiming, for example, is very intuitive and a joy to use, giving you the option to go for the head for a one-shot kill, which is something unavailable before. But sometimes, it’s too effective, especially during select boss fights, as they are absolute pushovers when using the first-person viewpoint. Thankfully, the ability to hide bodies in lockers and hang from ledges is good examples of added mechanics that work well within the MGS1 environment. The gameplay itself is just as compelling, but since the environments and enemy placement are similar to that of the first game, any tactics you used to take foes out then can be used here with a high likelihood of success.

Graphics – When Capcom remade their horror classic Resident Evil, the company completely built everything from the ground up to take advantage of the GameCube’s advanced capabilities. As a result, the development team was able to create a game that literally looked nothing like the PlayStation original. The game featured all-new environments, new rooms, and even new monster types, which were nothing compared to the game’s amazingly detailed graphics, nifty particle effects, and some of the best use of light and shadow effects ever to be witnessed in a videogame.

The Twin Snakes does no such thing. In fact, the game looks like only a higher-poly version of the original, which when it comes right down to it, is very underwhelming. The characters and environments both look practically identical to that of the original game, which is dominated by greens, grays, and blues. In the PlayStation days, the graphics were phenomenal, especially for a system that was just happy being able to do 3D. This limited color palette is much more pronounced today because of what today’s consoles are able to do, and so the bland look of The Twin Snakes isn’t nearly as eye-poppingly gorgeous as it could be. In a stealth game, why not take advantage of the use of light and shadows a la Splinter Cell? Why not beef up the special effects more? The Twin Snakes is actually held back by its visual presentation.

That’s not to say the game is ugly. Animation on characters is very smooth, and overall look of the graphics are crisp and very clean, with few to no unknown particles to distract attention away from the well done visuals. There are few flaws to speak of. Only a couple of hints of slowdown in the framerate arise in larger areas. And though the dip is noticeable, it never lasts long enough to become an issue, and the occurrences are few and far between.

Japanese film director Ryuhei Kitamura directs the game’s real-time cinemas, and does a fabulous job it. Many cinematic scenes players were accustomed to in the PlayStation version look much better here, packing more over-the-top action. While some of it may seem a bit familiar and overdone, the overall presentation of these sequences are top notch.

Sound – The entire sound package in Metal Gear Solid was fantastic, and all the same can be said of The Twin Snakes. The music is as great as its always been, but the voice acting has always been the standout. And once again, it’s the voiceovers take the audio spotlight. Most of the voices from the first game make a return, and sound as brilliant as would be expected. The dialogue in the game has been completely rerecorded, and for the most part, everything sounds just as it should. Unfortunately, some of the more standout characters return with a noticeable change in the voice. For example, the character of Mei Ling has completely lost her accent, and even though the new voice sounds competent, it takes away from the character’s personality that made her so memorable.

Sound effects are as well executed as everything else in the audio department, and even contain the same effects as in the original game, such as the sound of the codec and item selection menus. The weapons effects are just as good, giving veterans of the original game that nostalgic feel that could just as easily be absent in remakes.

Bottom Line - The Resident Evil remake offered spectacular graphical effects, new rooms, new enemies, new locales, new play mechanics, and even new storyline twists and characters, all while retaining the original environment, characters, and gameplay that made the game so great to begin with. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes does no such thing, feeling more like a by-the-numbers remake, mimicking everything about the original PlayStation version, even down to the visual presentation. And what new gameplay elements that do make an appearance are from Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty, and there are times when those gameplay elements don’t translate as well as they should’ve. So in essence, there isn’t anything here for veterans of the series to be excited over, which leaves the experience slightly disappointing, especially considering what Silicon Knights could have done with the GameCube hardware had they thought outside the box.

Still, there are few games that are more deserving of a revival than Metal Gear Solid, and everything fans loved about the original are still well intact, but in a higher-res, mega polygon-sporting glory. If you’ve never played the original PlayStation game, this is the one to get. After all, it’s still Metal Gear Solid, arguably one of the best stealth games ever made. But if you’ve played it six years ago, there is little here to see, which is a bit of a letdown.

Review by Brendon Hivner