4.5/5 ★ – Rig2Big's review of Metal Gear Solid.

This is obviously a masterpiece, but as far as it’s role goes in being one of the first major story/character driven shooter titles of its kind, therein lies some flaws. For one, the motives within the MGS story are about half as interesting as the characters themselves. I can shrug off the cliches, hell, I even respect them most of the time, but I just can’t fully bite into the immersive potential here, ESPECIALLY with the game halting you with really hit-or-miss dialogue, and too often at that. Also, for however unimaginative this game pans itself out as a traditional sci-fi/action narrative, it sure as shit has a LOT of mumbo jumbo to throw around. Gene therapy? Nanomachines? Retrovirus? Deepthroat? Psycho Mantis??? I have an outsiders understanding of the Metal Gear meta, having only played Phantom Pain, and now this, but Jesus sometimes the terminology feels self-masturbatory. What I’m getting at is, perhaps my opinion will change as I nail out the rest of the series. My only other REAL complaint is the boss fights. They’re all so fucking cool conceptually, but then fighting them is just complete AIDS. It’s like every one is equally annoying in a similar way that I can’t even give justice in describing. Like holy shit I was fucking RAGING at that final series of boss battles, including the final escape.