With this review I hope to do something differently. Because I'm not going to talk about experiencing an old classic for the first time.

By the time I've experienced Metal Gear Solid for the first time, during a snowy night in December of 2012, I was 18 years old. In 2012, the very first MGS was considered as something ancient. It was probably considered as something older than its seen as today.

In 2012, there was not a single thing MGS did that hadn’t been done by games that came out after 1998. Games had better graphics, better writing, better gameplay, better acting, touched on more adult themes, etc. In 2012, games like Red Dead Redemption, Deus Ex, Spec Ops: The Line, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory were already on the market. Each of these games is better than the very first Metal Gear Solid. Hell, every subsequent MGS game is better than MGS1 in terms of sheer quality.

What's even crazier, is that even before the release of MGS1 there were games, that had better stories, gameplay and better voice acting.

Personally, by the time I was 18, I had probably watched every movie that inspired Kojima. Whether it was Escape from New York, Universal Soldier, The Rock (still, the only MGS adaptation), Rambo: First Blood, or many other war/action movies.

And despite that, thanks to Volume 1 of the MGS: Master Collection, the first "Solid" game had me glued to the screen for the better part of the last night. Since 2012, I've played MGS so many times, that I have 80% of its voice lines memorized and I can probably get through majority of the game with my eyes closed. And, as I've said, I could not get myself to skip a single codec call.

I can't claim to know for sure, what exactly makes Metal Gear Solid into this memorable experience. Maybe for me was that it was that furious blizzard in 2012, that somehow made me even more immersed into Shadow Moses. For you it might be something else.

But I can try to explain that.

Before I jump to the obvious, I think the atmosphere of Shadow Moses is often overlooked. Whether its glass corridors, frozen caves, or industrial areas the ambience and design always feels super evocative and surreal at the same time. It has that dreamy vibe around everything. Shadow Moses feels like icy island in the dark void. The music is just a cherry on top, the combination of industrial synth melodies with chorals is super unique and memorable. The track "The Best Is Yet To Come" is ridiculously well used.

The voice acting is incredible. It has that perfect combination of camp and just good delivery. I don't know how they did that, but I cannot identify a weak link in the cast. It's like having an amazing radio drama, with a game attached to it.

Snake saying "That takes care of the cremation" always gets me.

Finally its the story. I always find it hard to explain what happens in Metal Gear Solid without sounding like a total lunatic, because a lot happens in that relatively short game. I think its the juxtaposition of the game being about both real world subjects like post-cold war politics, Rhodesian civil war, Gulf War syndrome, ethics of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear deterrence, sci-fi concepts like bioweapons that can kill only specific people, bipedal robots with nuclear railguns, PSI powers, and a strong dose of moral dilemmas like whether our genes determine our future, whether a player enjoys killing in video games or "whether love can bloom on the battlefield". All of this is unironically presented in an experience that often breaks the forth wall, and never acts like there is something wrong about Psycho Mantis "reading the contents of the PS1 memory card".

It was a lot to take in, even for 18 years old me. Now, 14 years later I think I've finally understood the most important lesson Metal Gear Solid tried to instill on me. I think that lesson is hidden in the fact of how it still goes on after its weirdest, most surreal moments. You can wake up to the news of one of your friends dying, and still be expected to go to work the same morning. You can lose your job, and still have to pay your bills. Sometimes the weirdest, the most surreal things happen, and you are still expected to keep going. And its fine, because "The Best Is Yet To Come".

The gameplay is the part I return to least enthusiastically. It can become an entertaining speedrunning puzzle once memorized, but even in 2012 my first playthrough was rough. Every sequel improved upon it.

But overall, Metal Gear Solid is a one in the lifetime experience for me. I don't think it can be replicated anymore, and I'm glad I've got to experience it for the first time when I did.

I fucking love this write up. (Also The Rock is a perfect film.)

I love how its borderline impossible that The Rock influenced MGS, and yet it feels like it did.

I think that the gamers that grew up during the "graphics revolution" can appreciate the games on a deeper level. I'm the same age and I played it for the first time last year. 100% hooked since the first minute. Nothing bothered me, ancient controls, camera, graphics, whatever. My mind was raised on games that required my imagination to fill the gaps. Even though in 2026 graphics can be hyper realistic, my mind can still do that.

My cousins who was born in 2008 saw this and said "I couldn't play this for 5 minutes, the graphics is so bad". He was raised on GTA5 level games. His mind can't imagine, it just consumes.

Somewhere in the early 2010s games became way more about "the content" than "the experience". A lot of modern games are about removing every potential roadblock between the player and the icon on the map indicating the next activity. The gameplay systems are getting more polished, but it makes them blur into one. I think the gaming audience would have anyone with the ideas like "check the CD case for Meryl's contact number" summarily executed.

I'm glad you enjoyed a game that is and always has been widely recongized as one of the best ever made.

I played it for the first time about 5 years ago and it was a very special experience for me too, and is one of my favourites of all time. I completely agree about the atmosphere of Shadow Moses and the dreamlike vibe. It's probably has my favourite array of boss fights too. I love the others in the series too but that one was just a miracle in my eyes.

what

It's a bit of a remake of Metal Gear 2, at least it takes back some ideas. Masterpiece of a game, first time I saw something that cinematographic.

I prefer MGS2 because the topics resonate more to me but it's a monument.

‘It was probably considered as something older than its seen as today’ lolwut?

I was born in 1996, and my best friend in 2001, so I started gaming right as the PS1 aesthetic was still there, while they started as things were preparing to transition to the 360 era. It's notable how we see PS1 games differently, with them finding the look a bit primitive, while I tend to gush over the style (thankfully, they love seeing me get excited over a pair of PS1 headlights giving the road a blocky illumination).

That game really was "lightning in a bottle". I love the other games, but MGS1 just has a special feeling to it. It may be of lower fidelity, but somehow I think the voice acting is the strongest in the series and the story is compelling despite being silly.

I never actually played the original, only watched a playthrough.

The one I played was twin snakes, which while playing better changes the tone in a way many dislike. My favorite aspect of Kojimas writing is his willingness to add utter nonsense to his generally serious stories, so I found it a fitting shift.