Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (Nintendo GameCube, 2004)

There's only one thing that makes me really like this game. Just one: the newly done cinamatics. The intro battle between Snake and cyborg ninja was just incredible. And how Snake takes out the HIND D helicopter... wow. It can be too over to top (is this Matrix of MGS?) but still, they were incredible. And the graphics that this is done in... wow.

Everything else... so so.

The gameplay is exactly the same as MGS2 and a little less. The newly added features make this game too easy. There's no difficulty factor anymore.

But there's one thing that makes me just grind my teeth and hate it. Newcomers to MGS series won't understand and they should definitely buy this game because it is fun and amazing. But if you're fans of the MGS series, buy the PC version of Metal Gear Solid instead.

Why?

The newly done voice overs. Absoutely horrible. No, take that back. Absolutely worst thing ever to enter in the realm of this planet we deem Earth. Even David Hayter turns out to be a HORRIBLE voice actor in this game.

Everyone is monotonous, has absolutely no emotions and what is with the 30 second pauses in the conversations? Seriously. For example...

Colonel: Snake you have to find a wall with a difference color.
(pause for five seconds)
Snake: a wall with different colors?
(pause for two seconds)
Colonel: Yes. (pause) That's what the DARPA chief said.
(pause for ten seconds)
Snake: Ok. Gotcha.

What in the almighty God's name is that?!! Snake isn't dumb!!! He speaks six different languages all fluently and he knows the insides and outsides of guns and he can memorize long passwords just by glimpsing at it. So what's the deal in making him a total idiot? And everyone else as well?

Not only that, the new voiceovers for the cyborg ninja and Psycho Mantis will make you want to commit suicide. The original voice acting had me on the edge of my seat. With the new voice overs for Psychy Mantis, I found myself yawning and wondering where my PS2 was so I could play something else.

There's one thing to learn from this: Hideo Kojima should direct MGS. No one else.

Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation was one of the best and most revolutionary games ever made, and I personally think it is the best in the entire series and impossible to top. When I first heard of a Gamecube remake a few years back, I nearly wet my pants, in hopes that this would make one of the greatest stealth action games even better. But when the time came for the game to be released, I guess you could say I was a little disappointed.

My initial impression of this game was that is BEAUTIFUL, which (don't get me wrong) it is. The graphics in this game are phenomenal and every bit worth drooling over, and it's great to see the old MGS crew redone so the characters actually have eyes and can open their mouths when they speak. With high polygon counts and super smooth textures along with realistic characters and settings, I think it's safe to say that this is one of the best looking games available for the Gamecube.

Rendered graphics aside, I was a bit bummed out to see that they didn't bother updating all of the live footage used in certain cut scenes and in the games' ending. These segments of live action footage are lifted directly from the Playstation game, from an era where FMVs in games were still not yet perfected. Thus, in modern times we should expect better, and these segments stick out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of the beautifully rendered game. It's akin to listening to a remastered version of one of your favorite records only to hear it crackle intentionally in various spots, as if it were engineered that way in the studio.

Along with some of the updates, they also modernized some of the gameplay elements allowing for First person combat, the ability to hang from ledges and the disposal of enemy soldiers with smarter AI. While this is a welcome addition to the game and makes everything less frustrating, it also makes things seem a little TOO easy, not to mention the fact that it brings back memories of the underwhelming Metal Gear Solid 2. In a way, these (new?) additions feel like they sort of clutter the gameplay, and makes fighting enemies a little more cumbersome than anything.

Despite all these after thoughts, the game is still very much the same story, albeit with a tweaked audio/visual twist. I say audio because they also RE-recorded the ENTIRE script of the game. It just sounds really strange to hear familiar codec conversations redone with the characters forcefully changing their tone and dialect. It sounded perfect the first time, and I see no reason it had to be COMPLETELY redone, since if it ain't broke, don't fix it right? Well, I guess guess remake is the name of the game, which leads me to my next point:

What the hell is with all of the cheesy, overdone matrix choreography?! I hate that crap, and this is by far what makes me the most upset about this game. It takes the game to a whole new level of bad, since it requires a suspension of disbelief the size of the Titanic. Sure it's not as bad as MGS4, but all the slow-mo action scenes are REALLY distracting and are more annoying than entertaining. Then to see Snake nod to the camera really done it for me. That's when I knew the game was a self-mocking, self-aware cash-in with no intention of doing justice to the original.

All in all, this game feels completely unnecessary. The only thing that makes it worth playing is the graphics. Everything else feels tacked on and uninspired. The original is much better.

The masterwork that spurred a cinematic movement and made high-tech espionage a staple in the world of video games is back to entertain another generation. Whether you found yourself staring wide-eyed in disbelief at a taut, action-packed sequence, or marveling in awe at the cleverness of the stealth-laden gameplay, Metal Gear Solid delivered one memorable moment after another in its original version. Under the guidance of series' creator Hideo Kojima and the development muscle of Silicon Knights, players are invited to rekindle these unforgettable moments in this technologically advanced remake.

If you were to go back and play through the PSone version today, I can pretty much guarantee that the thought, "I can't believe that I used to think that these graphics were amazing" would pass through your mind. The 32-bit era of gaming didn't exactly age well. Pixellated texturing…jagged polygons…it's not a pretty sight. Hence, all of the graphics in the Twin Snakes are completely updated and showcase the best of today's texturing, effects, and character modeling.

Introduction - Back in 1998, we were all wowed by the impressive Metal Gear Solid. It's plot and gameplay were unrivaled. Sure, Final Fantasy games have great stories, but their gameplay isn't always too exciting. MGS brought a deep story, fantastic gameplay, and some of the best voice acting the gaming world has ever seen. Then, MGS2 came along, it too had a great story, but it's gameplay was far more impressive than the originals. Combining the graphics and gameplay of MGS2, and the story and setting of MGS1 has created one of the most perfect games to ever grace the console world.

Gameplay - The gameplay is essentially the same as MGS2's. There are no new moves to do really. The only new thing is the control setup. I won't lie to you, the controls are very awkward, but only for a little while. By the time you reach the first boss, you should be proficient in aiming your weapon and putting it away if need be. You can even alter the controls slightly. You can make it so that you don't have to hold down the FPS aim button, you can just tap it to go into FPS, and tap it again to turn off FPS.

Story - What can I say? Brilliant? Yes. The same as before? Yes. Nothing new to say here. You are Solid Snake, an ex-member of FOXHOUD sent to shadow moses to rescue hostages from your former unit. The story unfolds from there with all sorts of neat little twists and turns.

Graphics/Sound - I've heard people say the graphics aren't that great. Lies. The graphics are more brilliant than anything MGS2 had to offer. I found the graphics of MGS2 to be very bland and way too bright. The setting this time around is perfectly lit and greatly animated. The character models are by far much better than the MGS2 characters. It'll be hard to spot any ''jaggies'' here. The sound is also very good. The music is outstanding, and new. I like the music they use, very fitting. The VAing is also still just as good. Even though they re-did it all, it's still very impressive. I like the fact that Naomi and Mei Ling dont have accents anymore, they sound less hokey. And Ninja's new VA rocks.

Play Time/Replayability - It doesn't take very long to complete, but with loads of extras, kickass cut scenes, multiple endings, and addicting gameplay, you'll be back more than one.

Final Recommendation - I would highly recommend this game to anyone that likes the MGS series. It is a true highlite of the GameCubes year lineup. If you don't buy this game, a puppy will be gutted alive in your name!

10/10

There is no debate, you just have to answer one question: "Do I want to see the original Metal Gear Solid with extra cutscenes making the whole story fluid and more understandable, while having better graphics and the ability to shoot in first person view mode?"

If the answer to this question is no, then don't bother buying it. The game is exactly the same with only a minor diffence in gameplay. If you don't want to spend $20 to get it, you can always replay your old psone copy and just imagine the cutscenes that should have been added, slightly better graphics, and better transitional scenes, camera angles on transitions, etc. Everything you have no control over is generally better and the gameplay is exactly the same with the exception of being able to shoot at enemies when you hold down the button to look ahead of you(first person view).

The whole intro is different, it makes it much easier to understand and the better graphics play nicely on my Wii. I bought it even though I had recently purchased the repackaged version that included the other two ps2 titles, and I was not sorry for doing so.

I like it when a game is good, and when they can make a title like Metal Gear Solid even better, it's worth finding a copy. I managed to snag mine right here on Ebay for $20 and that's less than the cost of my original copy for psone.

If you already own a psone copy and you also have a gamecube or wii, then go ahead and spend a little to get it, unless you are only interested in moving on to bigger and better games. If you are a collector that enjoys great games, this is worth the price.

If you don't already own a copy then there's no question, buy this for gamecube/wii, buy VR missions for psone, and you won't be sorry. You'll have the best of both worlds and enjoy every minute of it.

I only have one problem with the graphics which is that it seems a little darker than the psone version, it made me instinctively check my brightness level setting for my tv. That doesn't make it so distracting that the gameplay is lessened, but if it were possible to lighten the image a bit I would.