Pure tactical espionage action... Even says so on the cover...

So what is Metal Gear Solid? To say it's a masterpiece from the original PlayStation era is a step in the right direction but doesn't explain the game at all. MGS is in fact the 3rd in the Metal Gear series and the 1st to find it's way to America. Players were amazed at the grand storytelling and well acted in-game cinematics, not to mention the hybrid gameplay of sneaking around terrorist soldiers and taking them head-on with an arsenal of weapons as you infilitrate the fortress and stopping their threats.

"... I really hope they popped up the E-brake..."
-Solid Snaaaaaaaaaaaake

You play Solid Snake, a legendary soldier (Well known for killing Big Boss and destroyed his Metal Gears) brought out of retirement to stop special forces unit Foxhound who've taken control of a nuclear weapons disposal site and threaten to launch a nuke if their demands are not met. Their leader is none other than Liquid Snake. There's lots of plot twists ranging from Liquid claiming to be your twin brother to a cyborg ninja going kill crazy in the facility, from saving your CO's badass but cute niece to resuing hostages only so they die from apparent heart attacks, finally to discovering the base's true purpose was the construction of a new Metal Gear... I can't help but wonder if M. Night Shyamalan took notes of shocking twists from the game's writer and director, Hideo Kojima...

"What if Solid and Liquid are actually split personalities? What if Meryl and Cambell are actually aliens? What if Metal Gear is actually Snake's mother? What if the cardboard box was bigger on the inside and featured a fully functioning bathroom? What a bunch of twists!"
-M. Night Shyamalan

"... What if I replace Snake with a scrawny guy that looks like a chick and he whines a lot in the sequel?
-Hideo Kojima

"You'd be a twit!"
-M. Night Shyamalan

When I first played this game I beat it within the week while renting it from Blockbuster, and as time went on I realized you can beat it much quicker if you skip all the lengthy videos and dialogue... Seriously, there's like 5 times more dialogue and cinematics than gameplay! That said, it's hard to really be drawn to the complexity of the story, and the cineamatics and intense action really make this feel like a blockbuster action flick! As short as the game is, it's awesome just how big they made the faciliity, you'll find yourself going back and forth to get those missed items and keep playing the game through and through.

It has it's flaws here and sometimes you'll feel annoyed and bored and maybe even yell, "Get back to the game already, I just saw a freakin' cutscene!" But the more you play it, the more it just feels awesome... Well, if you're into action games, military, spies, conspiricy cover-ups, and so on. I give Metal Gear Solid 4 out of 5 Snake brothers.