I loved the first "Metal Gear Solid"-game for the PSX. The character of Solid Snake really was one of the coolest bad-asses I had ever played in a game (if not THE coolest of them all), and the gameplay was fantastic, all-though the story was sometimes incoherent and the dialogue over-the-top cheesy (but then again it was written by Japanese people, the master race of entertainment but when it comes to original plots... hm.. let's just say they have seen better days).
Now I looked so much forward to "Metal Gear Solid 2" that it was the main reason I bought myself a PS2! The gameplay was even better, and so were the graphics and so on (not surprisingly since the year was 2001). But there was also a couple of points that had it been even more dominant would have sunk the game completely:
1. The dialogue is even more cheesy, so much it actually puts the C in both cheesy and clichéd!
2. A couple of main-characters are so annoying that in the end I wanted them to turn up so I could use my silenced Socom on them. Especially Jack's girlfriend, Rose. I lost count of the times when I needed to save, and after doing so she would follow up with five minutes of "Oh Jack I miss you," "Why won't you tell me more about yourself?", "Oh Jack, talk to me, why are you so quiet?" etc. Here I am trying to save western civilization as we know it (on a deadline!) and she rambles on as though we were seated over a candlelight dinner!!! I get angry just thinking about it. In the end I found myself frantically pressing the controls whenever she turned up just because I had enough of the broad and this is supposed to be my girlfriend, which I am supposed to care for! The character is an insult to every female out there, my grandmother would be more suited for participating in this mission than her!
3. It starts to feel repetitive: you meet another character and you know what follows: he hands you a security card with a higher lever of clearance so you can get in through all those doors you couldn't earlier, to help you one more step closer to the next showdown with a super-boss. Now this latter point belongs back in the days of Donkey Kong. In the end I just went "sigh... not another confrontation!!!" It is the sneaking part that makes these kind of games really fun, not firing stinger missiles at a vampire who can walk on water! (Phil LaMarr does however deserve credit for his nice voicing of 'Vamp').
4. All the movie-sequences. They dominate so much of the game you feel you are spending 30% of the time playing and the other 70% just watching the screen as a bystander. This would be fine if it weren't for what I mentioned above: the silly storyline and embarrassing dialogue.
5. The character of Jack - who I at first really liked - turns more and more into a dummy. He delivers about one million "huh?" through the game when speaking to other characters, and when confronted with a hard decision he can start to whine and whimper like a little child reluctant to do the job. I thought this was some sort of super-trained nerves-of-steel-soldier they sent in here, in stead it feels like the brain of Gomer Pyle on the body of Markus Schenkenberg.
To sum it all up: great gameplay, wonderful graphics and locations, hampered too often by silly dialogue, a couple of annoying characters (which I hope I get to assassinate in the sequel), predictable storyline, movie-sequences that are way overlong and a whimpering baby for a hero.
Wow, this sounds like below average, but no, it is still Metal Gear Solid so I give it a 7/10.
Now I looked so much forward to "Metal Gear Solid 2" that it was the main reason I bought myself a PS2! The gameplay was even better, and so were the graphics and so on (not surprisingly since the year was 2001). But there was also a couple of points that had it been even more dominant would have sunk the game completely:
1. The dialogue is even more cheesy, so much it actually puts the C in both cheesy and clichéd!
2. A couple of main-characters are so annoying that in the end I wanted them to turn up so I could use my silenced Socom on them. Especially Jack's girlfriend, Rose. I lost count of the times when I needed to save, and after doing so she would follow up with five minutes of "Oh Jack I miss you," "Why won't you tell me more about yourself?", "Oh Jack, talk to me, why are you so quiet?" etc. Here I am trying to save western civilization as we know it (on a deadline!) and she rambles on as though we were seated over a candlelight dinner!!! I get angry just thinking about it. In the end I found myself frantically pressing the controls whenever she turned up just because I had enough of the broad and this is supposed to be my girlfriend, which I am supposed to care for! The character is an insult to every female out there, my grandmother would be more suited for participating in this mission than her!
3. It starts to feel repetitive: you meet another character and you know what follows: he hands you a security card with a higher lever of clearance so you can get in through all those doors you couldn't earlier, to help you one more step closer to the next showdown with a super-boss. Now this latter point belongs back in the days of Donkey Kong. In the end I just went "sigh... not another confrontation!!!" It is the sneaking part that makes these kind of games really fun, not firing stinger missiles at a vampire who can walk on water! (Phil LaMarr does however deserve credit for his nice voicing of 'Vamp').
4. All the movie-sequences. They dominate so much of the game you feel you are spending 30% of the time playing and the other 70% just watching the screen as a bystander. This would be fine if it weren't for what I mentioned above: the silly storyline and embarrassing dialogue.
5. The character of Jack - who I at first really liked - turns more and more into a dummy. He delivers about one million "huh?" through the game when speaking to other characters, and when confronted with a hard decision he can start to whine and whimper like a little child reluctant to do the job. I thought this was some sort of super-trained nerves-of-steel-soldier they sent in here, in stead it feels like the brain of Gomer Pyle on the body of Markus Schenkenberg.
To sum it all up: great gameplay, wonderful graphics and locations, hampered too often by silly dialogue, a couple of annoying characters (which I hope I get to assassinate in the sequel), predictable storyline, movie-sequences that are way overlong and a whimpering baby for a hero.
Wow, this sounds like below average, but no, it is still Metal Gear Solid so I give it a 7/10.