After having played and beaten this game numerous times over the last few years, I finally decided to review it. More details will follow:
GRAPHICS: Your standard PS1 graphics, but a LITTLE improved over many other PS1 titles. Motion capture got a lot of focus, and seeing how big this game is, that's no surprise (look at the end credits and tell me this isn't a huge title). However, you will see the normal cluster of pixelations and graphic "swerving" (a PS1 graphics bug that seems to make objects "reshape" if the camera is at a certain angle or distance), but you really won't be blown away by this. However, the graphics do just fine on their part, so no complaints. And don't expect the character models to have facial expressions, because everyone has on the same face throughout the game. And the characters just bob their heads whenever they speak, but you gotta have some way to tell they're talking if their mouths can't open.
SOUND: The sound is actually well composed here. The music score is not the most legendary music you will ever hear, but it suits the atmosphere of whatever is going on. Probably the most lively music is the Boss music, and that's one of the songs I like the most. Also, the weapon noises are well-done, too. The SOCOM handgun sounds like an actual handgun going off, and the Stinger missile launcher actually sounds like shooting off a mini-missile...and you get it. The voice acting is also well-done, from David Hayter's scruffy voice for Solid Snake, to Cam Clarke's charismatic British accent for Liquid Snake. If you die in a VR mission, you can enjoy the remix of the "Game Over" tune resurrected from the original Metal Gear game.
GAMEPLAY: Basically the same premise as the previous Metal Gear games...stealth is an important key. Getting caught by any guards or patrols will make them flock around you until you run and hide in a safe place. You can avoid being caught altogether by just shooting everyone in sight, but shooting an enemy with an un-suppressed weapon will be the death of you. However, if there is only one enemy in the room and you still haven't found the suppressor for you SOCOM, shooting the enemy anyway can avoid getting you caught. So, the gameplay retains its legendary stealth mechanics. Be grateful, because there are only a few game series out there with passable stealth mechanics. Boss fights are your classic "deplete his/her health till he/she dies" battles. But, when it comes to these boss battles, each boss battle requires a certain strategy; for instance, during the Psycho Mantis fight, you must plug your controller into the right socket in order to be able to beat him. Other than this, there isn't much else I can say.
STORY: Someone's up to no good with Metal Gear again. Piggybacking off the previous Metal Gear entry ("Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake," not "Snake's Revenge"), Solid Snake is called back into battle once again, and he is off to Shadow Moses island, a fortress nation out around Alaska. The reason why Snake was picked for the mission was because a), Snake knows what's up with Metal Gear and is able to stop it, b), he is the only one worthy enough to stand off against Liquid Snake, the leader of the terrorists who took over the base. We all know the prime enemy here...the Metal Gear prototype. As the story unravels, Snake is told everything there is to hear about what the Metal Gear is capable of (most of you may remember that the same specs that were used with the first Metal Gear are once again being used with Metal Gear REX), and eventually faces off with it, and then faces off against Liquid in a final fight. In the end, Revolver Ocelot (one of the terrorists) is the one who survives the entire ordeal, and lives to fight it out once again in MGS2.
BOTTOM LINE: I've been trying a good while to keep this game in my collection, because I either rented it or borrowed it. Now that it's mine, I've been able to check out all the nice extra end-game features, like the effect the different endings have on your next game. The gameplay does succeed more than other games on the PS1, so there's really no room to complain there. I give this game a 9/10.
GRAPHICS: Your standard PS1 graphics, but a LITTLE improved over many other PS1 titles. Motion capture got a lot of focus, and seeing how big this game is, that's no surprise (look at the end credits and tell me this isn't a huge title). However, you will see the normal cluster of pixelations and graphic "swerving" (a PS1 graphics bug that seems to make objects "reshape" if the camera is at a certain angle or distance), but you really won't be blown away by this. However, the graphics do just fine on their part, so no complaints. And don't expect the character models to have facial expressions, because everyone has on the same face throughout the game. And the characters just bob their heads whenever they speak, but you gotta have some way to tell they're talking if their mouths can't open.
SOUND: The sound is actually well composed here. The music score is not the most legendary music you will ever hear, but it suits the atmosphere of whatever is going on. Probably the most lively music is the Boss music, and that's one of the songs I like the most. Also, the weapon noises are well-done, too. The SOCOM handgun sounds like an actual handgun going off, and the Stinger missile launcher actually sounds like shooting off a mini-missile...and you get it. The voice acting is also well-done, from David Hayter's scruffy voice for Solid Snake, to Cam Clarke's charismatic British accent for Liquid Snake. If you die in a VR mission, you can enjoy the remix of the "Game Over" tune resurrected from the original Metal Gear game.
GAMEPLAY: Basically the same premise as the previous Metal Gear games...stealth is an important key. Getting caught by any guards or patrols will make them flock around you until you run and hide in a safe place. You can avoid being caught altogether by just shooting everyone in sight, but shooting an enemy with an un-suppressed weapon will be the death of you. However, if there is only one enemy in the room and you still haven't found the suppressor for you SOCOM, shooting the enemy anyway can avoid getting you caught. So, the gameplay retains its legendary stealth mechanics. Be grateful, because there are only a few game series out there with passable stealth mechanics. Boss fights are your classic "deplete his/her health till he/she dies" battles. But, when it comes to these boss battles, each boss battle requires a certain strategy; for instance, during the Psycho Mantis fight, you must plug your controller into the right socket in order to be able to beat him. Other than this, there isn't much else I can say.
STORY: Someone's up to no good with Metal Gear again. Piggybacking off the previous Metal Gear entry ("Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake," not "Snake's Revenge"), Solid Snake is called back into battle once again, and he is off to Shadow Moses island, a fortress nation out around Alaska. The reason why Snake was picked for the mission was because a), Snake knows what's up with Metal Gear and is able to stop it, b), he is the only one worthy enough to stand off against Liquid Snake, the leader of the terrorists who took over the base. We all know the prime enemy here...the Metal Gear prototype. As the story unravels, Snake is told everything there is to hear about what the Metal Gear is capable of (most of you may remember that the same specs that were used with the first Metal Gear are once again being used with Metal Gear REX), and eventually faces off with it, and then faces off against Liquid in a final fight. In the end, Revolver Ocelot (one of the terrorists) is the one who survives the entire ordeal, and lives to fight it out once again in MGS2.
BOTTOM LINE: I've been trying a good while to keep this game in my collection, because I either rented it or borrowed it. Now that it's mine, I've been able to check out all the nice extra end-game features, like the effect the different endings have on your next game. The gameplay does succeed more than other games on the PS1, so there's really no room to complain there. I give this game a 9/10.