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| Title |
Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes |
8 |
| Publisher |
Konami |
| Developer |
Silicon Knights |
| Genre |
Stealth Adventure |
| Players |
1 |
| Version |
UK PAL |
Remarkable feat
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When Konami announced they were releasing an exclusive Metal Gear title on the Gamecube, they got a lot of chins wagging. Solid Snake has had a long history with Nintendo; making his debut on the Nes with Metal Gear, he then went on to appear in both Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake as well as the oft forgotten Gameboy Advance title, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. However, his greatest success so far was seen on Sony?s Playstation in 1998 with Metal Gear Solid. It wasn?t long before it was revealed that this title would be remade for the little purple box in the form of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.
While it would have been easy for Konami to simply port over the PSX original (ala Capcom?s Resident Evil 2 and 3) they sensibly decided to call in Silicon Knights, of Eternal Darkness fame, to completely revamp the title with the Metal Gear Solid 2 engine. While this obviously means improved visuals over the original (and in many cases over the PS2 version of Sons of Liberty) but Silicon Knights have also moved across some of Snake?s new moves.
Some of these new gifts include being able to hang from ledges, hold up terrorists and most importantly enter first person view mode while holding a weapon. I say most importantly as this drastically changes the way you play the game. However, while improvements in gameplay are always a good thing, it is questionable whether this should have been included with the same dynamics used in the original Metal Gear Solid. The reason I mention this is that it is now extremely easy to take out cameras rendering the chaff grenade almost useless. The chaff in Metal Gear Solid 2 was rarely used but it wasn?t needed so much anyway. In Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation it was an integral part of the gameplay and made manoeuvring strategically a lot harder and thought provoking. Now the cameras are just something to keep you occupied for a few seconds before shooting it with your silenced Socom.
The hold ups and hanging are of little relevance unfortunately though. Holding up a soldier results in the same outcome as in Sons of Liberty, and yes dog tags make a return, but again, they have little to no use as collecting them all gains no hidden extras. Again, a waste of feature I feel. It seems a shame because these new techniques were so instrumental in making Sons of Liberty such an improvement in terms of gameplay over its predecessor.
In terms of story, everything is ported over well here with some new elements added to a few of the character arcs (I won?t spoil it for you). This is a good thing because it was the story of Metal Gear Solid that holds it up above Sons of Liberty so well. While still farfetched, it is believable without going overboard (MGS2). In a nice (although that is an arguable case) addition, Silicon Knights have added in all new cut scenes moving the story along with new voice pieces added along with fully, although some may suggest over-directed, motion captured events. Although visually stunning, these can sometimes drag on longer than one would like and can interrupt the flow of the game. This was one of the biggest criticisms of the original so Kojima-san obviously decided to extend these to the nth degree. Watching these back to back would give you over two hours in themselves. Take that away from the overall gaming experience and you?re left with little more than 5 or 6 hours depending on how you fair with the game.
Graphically Twin Snakes is obviously quite an achievement, but its obvious that the engine wasn?t fully optimised for the Gamecube as in several areas noticeable slowdown will be incurred. This is generally only in a few isolated spots however and really doesn?t detract too much from the overall game in itself. Some of the character models (namely Vulcan Raven and Otacon) could have used more work in the facial areas but apart from that Snake and the rest of FOX-HOUND are all recreated in luscious detail. The improved level and weather effects are nice additions but there aren?t as many interactive elements as in Sons of Liberty.
In terms of music, none of the game?s original soundtrack is intact, with Konami enlisting Metal Gear Solid 2 composer Harry Gregson-Williams. It is indeed a shame that the original music doesn?t remain intact, or even redone by Gregson-Williams, but his replacement orchestral score is certainly a good replacement. Voice acting is as always top notch here with David Hayter reprising the role of Snake once again and doing so wonderfully. There is really very little to fault when it comes to audio enjoyment on this title.
If Silicon Knights had gone the extra mile and altered some of the level design and structure to make the added techniques either more useful or in the case of first person view not such an advantage over every camera in the game this could well have been an instant classic. Nevertheless it is still a very good remake of a grade A title and certainly a must own on the system. Even having finished the original several times I found enjoyment in vast quantities playing through this iteration. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story in a game along with gameplay that only Hideo Kojima himself could create.
Seth Powell |
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