4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Metal Gear.

System: PlayStation 3 (Metal Gear Solid HD Collection) Started: October 3, 2015 Ended: October 6, 2015 Flashback Review I was planning to get the NES port of Metal Gear but after doing a little research, I noticed that the MSX version is the preferred version to play the original game, and you can play that along with Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for modern consoles. I skipped purchasing the NES port and managed to snag a copy of the HD Collection for PlayStation 3. It’s a good thing Konami released the MSX games in the HD Collection since getting an actual copy is in Japanese, and obtaining an actual MSX2 console just to play Metal Gear would be impractical and cost reasons. The HD Collection port offers a full English translation and minor changes, such as adding easier difficulty curves, while also avoiding copyright issues with movie companies since most enemies are referenced to actual movies. Metal Gear, which some folks say is the “first” video game to invent stealth, has its merits, but I strongly disagree since Castle Wolfenstein was released in 1981 and employed stealth mechanics. If you played Metal Gear Solid, you've likely heard important contexts like “Outer Heaven,” “Big Boss,” and “Gray Fox.” If you really want to understand these contexts, you have to play the classic Metal Gear games for story purposes. Looking at the original cover for Metal Gear, you could tell that Kojima was always a movie buff since its Kyle Reese from The Terminator on the front cover. My thoughts on the original Metal Gear are that it’s actually a decent old-school stealth adventure game with some problems along the way, but it’s a good starting point for a famous video game series. It’s not a bad 2D stealth game for its time. Your main objective in this game is to infiltrate Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear. While you’re at it, the majority of the game involves rescuing prisoners. The more you rescue, the higher your rank goes, your health bar increases, and you can unlock more weapons and increase your ammo capacity as you progress. The original Metal Gear sets up the groundwork as it is unlike any of the Solid games that were released afterwards, so it’s forgiven. The theme of "Tara" is still a catchy tune that matches the sneaking gameplay. What is funny about this game is that the Outer Heaven grunts have extremely poor peripheral vision, allowing you to sneak up to the side while remaining hidden. They can only see within 90 degrees. This limitation is likely due to the hardware limitations of the MSX2. The game can also be cryptic at times; you'll easily get lost in Outer Heaven and might stumble upon a boss fight, which is actually pretty easy if you come prepared with remote control rockets and grenade launchers. You’ll mostly die from traps. Thankfully, with its game design, once you find keycards and prisoners, you will uncover more items and gear to pick up, making Solid Snake more versatile. It's true flaw lies in finding keycards that open specific doors. You have to go through your item inventory to check which keycards can unlock that door. There will be moments when enemies are nearby, and they can kill you while you’re looking through your inventory items. Also, don’t expect the same level of backstory as in the Metal Gear Solid games, which feature long cutscenes; it plays more like old-school retro gaming, but you do get conversations on your codec with characters like Big Boss and Jennifer, providing tips and interesting dialogue, including Big Boss telling you to turn off the game console like in Metal Gear Solid 2. While it’s not my absolute favorite Metal Gear game, it’s actually a good game. I would recommend playing it to see how it all started, and it’s a perfect reason to learn more about Solid Snake’s first adventures. Even though Gray Fox was an unfocused character in this one, he will be an important character in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The NES Port has actual problems because it's not as powerful as an MSX2 and there’s actually no Metal Gear in it. The NES Metal Gear replaced the ultimate weapon to a Supercomputer which is a gyp. Also, if you play this, be sure to look up a guide because you need to know where the prisoners are located and which keycards to open specific doors to rescue them in order to win the final battle of the game and save yourself from dying frequently.