Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

Metal Gear Solid was a big hit for the PSX back in 1998. It brought stealth action gaming to the next level. The game focused on being hidden from the guards and get to your objective. This could be achieved by crawling under places, hiding under boxes, knocking guards out, etc. The game also boasts a intense story filled with lengthy cutscenes and many plot twists. Simply put, Metal Gear Solid is one of the greatest games ever made.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for Gamecube, is a remade version of Metal Gear Solid. It has redone cutscenes, updated graphics, new gameplay features, and more. While this is technically the superior version, it generally does not stay true to the original game.

You play Solid Snake. You infiltrate a hidden facility in Alaska called Shadow Moses. Your first objectives are to meet the DARPA chief and found out about a potential threat. What first seems to be a straight-forward plot to a action game, soon becomes a dramatic, intense, and plot twisting story like no other. There will be many unexpecting twists in the story. You’ll grasp what will be going on at first, but then the game throws another thing at you that is totally unexpected. This is something that should be spoiled to anyone that is a newcomer to the series. The way the story is presented, however, falls in the “you either like it or not” category of gaming, with some “flaws” that are known throughout the series and to Twin Snakes specifically.

Cut scenes in the game are absurdly long, though for obvious reasons. The story is one of the main things fan come to enjoy from the series (though certainly not the only one) though some may draw the line to consider the series as a “movie” instead of a game. Cut scenes are presented mostly by in game events or by codec- a communicator device Snake uses to contact his team. Its hard to put this down as a somewhat flaw considering the fact that I fully enjoyed the cinematics in the game. No matter how well the cutscenes are people will knock the game down since many will want to actually play the game. And considering the fact this game is relatively short means that the actual time playing won’t be much, I’d say around 7-12 hours of gameplay/total it will really put people to consider if the game is really worth it.

The main flaw with the presentation of the game is the way they portray the Main character in the game, Solid Snake. In the original he was a normal soldier who overcomes the odds. This game however presents him as a legend in a complete and different way. You will be seeing the main hero performing backflips, bullet time jumps, flips off missiles, etc. Now you might be thinking what’s wrong with that? While it is fun to watch and all, but like I said earlier Snake wasn’t portrayed as a superhero who could perform stunts such as that. And the worse part is that when you go comparing it to Metal Gear Solid 2, it really doesn’t make sense at all. Now I played Twin Snakes before the original, and I obviously didn’t see what the whole thing was about, but after I played the whole entire series (besides 4, which I’ve yet to play) it starts to add up that Twin Snakes does not portray a man going through normal actions doing the impossible. Nonetheless the custscenes are still a joy to watch and the story itself remains unchanged, you’ll still get the entire plot unchanged in the game.

The Game has many features added to the stealth gameplay. The added features are mostly from Metal Gear Solid 2. You will now be able to Peek around corners, Shoot in First person, hide in lockers, hide bodies in lockers, hang from ledges, and shoot out of a corner. This makes the experience enjoyable and really adds to the stealth aspect, and is still in my opinion one of the greater stealth experiences in gaming. The bad part about this is that on the standard difficulty it makes the game a tad bit too easy. It will still be very challenging on the harder difficulties though, so don’t fret. Overall this is where Twin Snakes excels at. The game is fun to play (and watch) despite the short amount of time the game can beaten in.

Snake can have access to a lot of weapons and gadgets throughout the game. Such as pistols, assault Rifles, grenades, C4, Thermal Goggles, etc. Some gadgets are crucial to getting through parts of the game. Such as disabling a camera with a chaff grenade or distracting the enemy with a empty magazine clip. Weapons on the other hand have very limited use, especially considering this is a stealth game. This is not a problem since this is NOT the game for the typical shooter fan that would rather blasts his way through each door. You will have minimal success (and joy) doing so as you will only make it harder for yourself.

The game’s bosses are fairly easy thanks to the new mechanics, and also much more repetitive. Though of course their backstory makes up for it I suppose. Just about every boss is easier in TS than the original. There will be items that are conveniently located near by, etc. While I could have expected more additions to the bosses themselves , the way they are presented is completely outstanding. As long as you don’t expect anything challenging from the bosses you’ll have a great experience throughout.

One thing that Twin Snakes lacks is replay value. First off Virtual Reality Missions are absent in the game, which gave some extra depth to the original game. These missions ranged from sneaking, shooting, crawling, knocking out people from Point A to Point B. It would have been great to see a revamped version of VR, but sadly there isn’t. The only thing that will make you come back is the unforgettable story, and multiple difficulty levels. The higher difficulties, like I stated before, are no pushover and will satisfy the stealth gaming fans.

Graphically this is some of the best on the gamecube. The game is generally comparable to MGS2. Character models look amazing as do the background and animation. There are a couple flaws however. First, the framerate will slowdown at time during cutscenes with lots of detail. This doesn’t hinder the experience, though it can be very noticeable considering the game runs at 60 FPS, dropping a bit at some specific parts. In game though for the most part, stays steady and is fast and fluid. The second problem is that the character’s facial expression can show little detail at times. This isn’t the case most of the time, but people’s faces (especially Baker’s) can look absurd at times. Overall Twin Snakes looks outstanding on gamecube, with only a few key noticeable flaws here and there.

There have been some key changes in the sound department. Voice acting may be the biggest one. Gone are the accents of Naomi Hunter and Mei Ling, Cam Clarke now voices Liquid, and Rob Paulsen voice acts Ninja. Some voices however remain unchanged such as Solid Snake voiced by David Hayter. Voice Acting in general is decent for the Most part. The music is very fitting throughout the game, though some decisions seem very questionable. The main theme to the song , and main boss theme are both nowhere to be seen. Both have been replaced with less interesting tunes and slight remixes. While what is in the game is exceptional, a more epic soundtrack could have been used. Sound effects are top notch from gun fire, footsteps, explosions, etc are all done right and all seem natural.

All in all Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a great game. The stealth mechanics are top notch and is fun, and a exciting upgrade from the original. Bosses are entertaining despite their shortcomings. And the story itself is completely fascinating. The way things are portrayed however, sometime don’t stay true to the series. While it may not be the true experience of Shadow Moses to many fans, its still an exceptional remake of an unforgettable classic.