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There is the now and the time Before Snake and no in between.
And from that point on, the hype was tangible.
“This is it.
This is the surprise hit of 1998,” read a standfirst within CVG’s February 1998 issue.
This feature originally appeared inRetro Gamer magazine.
Metal Gear Solid was featured in an article looking at the “Hot Games Of ‘98!”
Curiously, the article also drew close attention to its cinematic qualities.
“When playing the game you could be mistaken that you’re watching a movie,” it read.
This is evident when you see the movement of all the characters and how enemies react."
“It was so next-level, so many interesting camera angles for everything,” says Richard.
“It felt so cinematic.
“I was despairing,” he says.
“It looked like they were doing everything that we were trying to do, better.”
The player was always playing.
“Going further into the game, it provided a fully action movie-like experience.
“Think of the sequence with the jeep in the tunnel, for example.
This was going much further than all previous action games.
And that was totally inspiring.”
For some, exposition and narrative is one of the biggest ways of doing that.
“Save the girl and save the day.
It’s a classic spy story or an adventure story.”
“I always viewed Solid Snake as an antihero,” says Jeremy.
“That’s why in my mind the choice to make him sound like Clint Eastwood was obvious.
I wanted him raspy and tired of war, and someone burned out.
In my mind, the Clint Eastwood character fit the bill exactly.”
“Do you think love can bloom even on the battlefield?”
Dr Hal Emmeric, better known as Otacon, once posed to Snake in the game.
“It’s the thing that they kept doubling down on that pretty much nobody else does.
How many games can say they have universally changed the appreciation of the humble cardboard box?
But the gameplay wasn’t all military-grade packing solutions.
It’s a permissive game, actually, Game Over (“SNAAAAAKKKE!")
“The first time I saw Metal Gear Solid was at a Blockbuster,” adds Antonio.
“They had the demo to play in the store.
I didn’t understand English back then so I had no clue what to do.
I was stuck and couldn’t get past the [starting] Cavern area.
Every time we went to Blockbuster, I’d try it again.
I was captivated by this strange game where I had to hide.”
“Remove one of its elements and the experience will be dull, frustrating or ridiculous.
MGS was perfectly executed in that regard.
No frustration you know when you lose and don’t blame the game for it.”
You like to play Metal Gear Solid?
That’s not to say there weren’t moments of action, too.
I don’t know how Mr Kojima is managing his teams but the result speaks for itself!”
Want to jump into some tactical espionage action?
We’ve got ourbest Metal Gear games listright here for you!
