I've never done a review for this site and I'm pretty much doing this for fun. Feel free to tell me how to improve.
First of all, I never actually played this on Xbox 360 (although I have it for that on the HD collection). I experienced this on my PS Vita. I had heard a lot about the Metal Gear series from my friends and the internet, but I wanted to play through the series in release order. I started with this one and I played through this game twice: once on easy and once on original. The second time I played through this was after I played all the other canon Metal Gear games.
This game was the brainchild of the Hideo Kojima. He was supposed to make a shooting game for the MSX2 system, but the limitations on the system had him thinking about how he could make an entertaining game with less action happening on screen. The result was Metal Gear: a game where the goal wasn't to be a killing machine but to be stealthy.
The plot of Metal Gear is simple which makes it a good place in the series to start. You're Solid Snake, a newbie at Foxhound who is going on a mission to stop Metal Gear with your boss and radio contact... Big Boss. There are a few more contacts during the game, but they're mostly not important. Since it's an older game, the plot isn't the focus at all. Although the ending did surprise me a little since I knew nothing about the series.
The graphical capabilities once placed on the MSX2 are fairly well emulated on modern consoles in the HD Collection. People talk about Gears of War (never played any of those yet) being full of brown and dull colors, but they obviously haven't played Metal Gear. If you're looking for an upbeat colorful game, you're not going to find it here. The game is fairly good looking for the time it was made (1987). If you don't like dull looking colors and 8 bit game graphics, skip this one.
The music in this game is catchy, but it's sometimes very creepy (look up the basement theme; oh god). You'll end up hearing one song just about the entire game though: the Theme of Tara. It will get stuck in your head forever. If you hate repetitive music, stay away.
The gameplay was very different for a game of that time. Well, there were stealth games before this, but I don't think any before had reached the level of popularity Metal Gear did. Sneaking in this game is simple. if an enemy's line of sight touches you, you've been spotted. Often, you can just walk to another room or to another screen and the alert phase goes away. It's not that hard of a game; just some parts are a bit cryptic (not too bad, but a guide helps). You get different guns throughout from a handgun to an RPG. Specific items are often needed to progress. Items and guns aren't usually too hard to find. I recommend easy for the first time and then going to original after you know where everything is. I didn't actually notice too big of a difference between easy and original other than the amount of ammo/rations you can carry(Metal Gear 2's original is brutal though). The gameplay is really simplistic and rough compared to newer games in the series and many fans might be frustrated with this and give up.
Metal Gear Solid is a hugely popular series, but not every game has achieved true notoriety. Here are 7 lesser known Metal Gear Solid games.
The list is missing Metal Gear Solid Mobile for Nokia phones, but it includes the well known and multi million selling Portable Ops? 🤨
Apart from being one of the main characters' iconic pieces of gear, Metal Gear's bandana also has major narrative and gameplay implications.
I haven’t read the article but it’s obvious jungle + heat + humidity = sweat in your eyes 🤷🏿
Oh got it they when that rout with the article 🤣
With the original Metal Gear releasing on the MSX2 35 years ago, it is worth examining its foresight and impact on the stealth game genre.
Good review.
I've not had the privilege of playing any of the old school Metal Gear games, but seeing as I'm a huge fan of the franchise I probably should get round to it sometime.
Metal Gear is best played on PS1,PS2,PS3,soon the PS4 and if you still have a NES and the MG1 and MG2:Solid Snake games then that is good as well.
This game literally invented stealth action genre, you need to give it more credit.