Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

I do not understand why anyone would complain that this project will not be successful. It is obvious that Silicon Knights is doing everything they can to maintain the storyline, dialogue, and stylistic visuals. MGS is one of the greatest videogames of the past 10 years, but, truth be told, the original is no longer graphically impressive. Don't believe me? Try popping the game into your PSX or PS2, you may be surprised at how awful the game looks when compared to today's standards.

I'm in no way bashing the game, it was groundbreaking in terms of storytelling, gameplay, and graphics. However, like many 3D PSX games (including other revolutionary games like Final Fantasy VII and Tekken) MGS has not survived the test of time.

The Twin Snakes is a fantastic way of bringing new life to a dying classic. I have much faith in Silicon Knights, they know how to make videogames and make them right. Their great, yet overlooked, title Eternal Darkness is one of the best Gamecube titles to date. Working with material as strong as the original MGS, there is little chance that The Twin Snakes will disappoint. For all you PS2 and XBOX owners who are bashing this game, give it a rest. XBOX was lucky enough to get MGS: Substance, and PS2 is getting the sure-to-please title MGS: Snake Eater later this year.

Nobody should overlook this remake of the original genre-defining game.

Master Video Game Creator Shigeru Miyamoto one of the greates game makers teams up with friend and video game creator Hideo Kojima to bring the classic Metal Gear Solid to the Gamecube.. with next generation graphics. The game is being handled by Silicon Knights that have on their resume the award winning ETERNAL DARKNESS that created a brand new genre for video games.. the cinematics and direction are being handled by Ryuhei Kitamura japanese film maker.. known for VERSUS and AZUMI... this game will be as fun as the first one with the inovations of the second one... and the visual style taht only HIDEO KOJIMA could bring to a video game.. this is going to be a timeless classic that should not be passed...

Having played both the original Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Substance and now Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, I can safely say that this series is a high point in all the history of video gaming.

What makes The Twin Snakes so good?

Is it the over-the-top cut scenes, redirected by a genius in animation? Or maybe the new mechanics, added from the sequel? It could also be the enhanced AI, or even (and most noticeably) the improved graphics.

Well, it's all this and more.

The re-telling of the original Metal Gear Solid could have easily gone south. But when you think about the amazing company that was in charge of doing it and the experienced people involved in the project, you just know it's good - actually great.

Everything that has been changed from the original seems to have been improved for the sole purpose of showing MGS the way it was meant to be played and experienced and, in that respect, it works like nothing else. You'll quickly forget fighting the ninja and the bathroom scene of the original (for example); after you've seen them here. And the fact that enemies don't give up chasing you if you crawl inside a duct and actively try to flush you out by throwing grenades and spraying the whole area with gunfire makes the experience seem much more believable.

While it doesn't make you question everything and everyone the way Sons of Liberty did, its story is not nearly as hard to follow and proved ample room for excitement, adrenaline pumping and heart moving moments.

All in all, this is an indispensable item for anyone even remote interested in a fresh story with memorable characters and for all those Metal Gear fans that want to see Solid Snake as he was meant to be seen, from the beginning.

Let's put it this way:

Metal Gear Solid (1998 Release): Good. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty: Better. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - BEST!

By fusing the game play of MGS2 with the original MGS, Kojima has gone and created the best game to come out on the Gamecube since Metroid or Zelda.

Having redone the art, cut scenes, voiceovers, and everything else, Kojima and the team at Silicon Knights have done an incredible job. Hopefully they'll do the next one like this...like bring out Sons Of Liberty to the Gamecube...

When I played through Sons of Liberty, being disgusted with the bizarre and implausible storyline twists (they might as well have thrown in space aliens) I couldn't stop thinking to myself that a re-make of the original MGS with the graphics and gameplay of Sons of Liberty would be quite awesome.

Lo and behold, Silicon Knights and Konami team up to do just that-- with excellent results. They even address the minor problems in the first MGS (a couple spots of weak dialogue, cheesy accents, especially from Nastasha and Mei Ling). The graphics, I daresay, surpass Sons of Liberty with ease. The cinematics have been totally redone as well-- the "hallway of death" scene alone would make it equal to a rated-R movie. And there's no idiot Raiden! The only MINOR problem with Twin Snakes is the music-- it just doesn't feel as "Metal Gear" as the original music in MGS, especially for the bosses, and the main theme introduced in Sons of Liberty makes only a few minor appearances.

Minor quibbles aside, I can't help but feel that the relentless bashing done by PS2 fanboys is merely because they're bitter that it's not coming out for their system. Don't worry, MGS3 is coming soon, quit complaining and let the Gamecubers enjoy this gem in peace.