Terrible controls, bored voice actors and Ninjitsu Snakes OH MY!
Remakes seemed to be all the rage back in 2002-2005 what with a number of Final Fantasy remakes surfing throughout the rumor topics and of course the fantastic remake of the original Resident Evil. The success that came with the REmake also garnished another remake of an old ps1 classic. The original Metal Gear Solid released back in 1998.
IMO and I'm sure alot of others too is that MGS was an incredibly revolutionary title that created a new standard for the story in games and how much effort should really be implemented. The gameplay too while sort of seen as a hate or love it type of thing overall was praised for its uniqueness.
Now The Twin Snakes has come along and is what I'de expect, in short, an easier way for newcomers to the series to get involved in the story and finally make sense of the sequels.
Since while gaming was of course starting to rise with the days of the ps1 it of course doesn't even compare to the days of the ps3 and 360.
Though unlike the example earlier of the remake to the original Resident Evil, Twin Snakes doesn't exactly bring alot of new things to the formula and more or less slips in MGS2's gameplay into MGS1's story. Which for most is reason enough just to be able to have abit more time with Snake in last gen graphics due to him being pulled from the spotlight by Raiden, and to be able to experience the original with some extra gameplay mechanics.
Now in terms of gameplay, I could say it's sort of mixed for me. Sure the game is much more fun with all of SOL's gameplay elements added in such as being able to walk for one... Hang off ledges, roll into enemies and of course the FPS view. But what really drags it down is the clumbersome controls, I generally found myself being spotted quite alot throughout my first play through for example due to me accidentally running away from the wall instead of trying to shimmy along it. Plus the general controls for punching and grabbing enemies and also the FPS view seem really out of place and a very big nuisance to get used to with the Gamecube Controller never mind master. But once you finally find yourself comfortable with the controls and learnt to memorise just what the hell does what and how to do this and that the game can be rather enjoyable. But I'd expect it will take some time and frustration before you get to that stage. Still on gameplay, another fault is while aiming and preparing to shoot with the handgun you can't back down, meaning that once you've begun aiming you'll to unequip your handgun if you don't want to alert everyone with a loud bang from your SOCOM pistol. That again can be rather frustrating and will take some needless time to get used to, espeically due to SOL's ability to simply slowly let go of the fire button to avoid wasting a shot.
Now what's even worse is you can't aim in FPS at all with the FAMAS assault rifle - even a light breeze on the fire button while in FPS will send the FAMAS in full auto. It does have a laser sighting but again doesn't make sense since you can only aim while blasting at something.
When sneaking comes into play, due to like I said earlier about the clumbersome controls, can really get in the way and will find yourself being cheaply spotted quite a few times at least for your first run through.
Unfortunately the gameplay isn't the worst of my troubles involving Twin Snakes.
The story if anyone has played the original gives little to nothing in terms of surprises. While there may be some noticable changes to people (like myself) who had played the original to death and beyond overall it's the same tale. The cutscenes though will definitely seem new, in no small fault at they are. Besides of course a nice graphical update all the cutscenes have been handled by a different director, a director who seems like he's already got a Matrix 4 movie on his to do list. Snake was always a legendary soldier who was pretty much skilled in everything in terms of combat and sneaky manoeuvring but in Twin Snakes he seems to have transformed into some sort of semi-super hero with him doing ridiculous stunts and backflips that would make Leon S Kennedy gasp in awe. It really doesn't suit Snake IMO and I'd wager it was a way to try and make sure that Snake becomes a badass hero as possible to all the new MGS fans out there.
Off cutscenes and leading to the sound that too is, espeically compared to the original, a major let down.All the dialogue has been re-done because of course for all the new button tips you received to help you learn the controls and also for some added fourth wall humor.
But I for one if I was a voice actor would expect having the do the same story all over again abit of a nuisance, and in some characters case it shows. Paul Eiding (Colonel Cambell) for example sounds rather bored throughout and that of course leads him to be quite a bore to listen to. David Hayter still does a pretty good job as Snake but compared to his initial performance this one seems a little sloppy. The only character who still has top quality with his role is Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake who manages to still gives a brilliant and charismatic performance, one that shall be remembered for a long time among his many roles in videogames.
The music too has become downright annoying with it mainly consisting off annoying techno tunes that while seem to fit with the ridiculous tone off the cutscenes just further place Twin Snakes story almost into the lazy action-shlock standards. Overall the cutscenes due to bored voice actors, annoying tunes and also awful directing have really fallen off a big hill indeed from the original MGS.
At least the game looks good, well for the gameplay side at least. The gameplay graphics and animations are all fantastic and fluid. Snake moves just like he will(?) in MGS2 and everything from his roll all looks likes it was seamlessly pulled right out of MGS2. The overall look too seems cleaner and refined than MGS2 aswell and frankly is a better looking game overall. Though the cutscene graphics I can't say the same for. They all look rather blotchy, especially on behalf off the face's, with the character models looking sort of stodgy like they were coloured in with pastels.
But ignoring the dissapointment that is the story part of the game, at least the gameplay once your familiarise yourself with the controls is fun and responsive.
Though again this remake doesn't really add anything new.... at all. You'll still face the same bosses as you travel through the same enviroments ect. The M9 tranquillizer handgun has been brought along for the ride so you may choose to take bosses down via there stamina gauge but other than that nothing new. The dogtag minigame from MGS2 makesa a return though unlike MGS2 there is absolutely no reward for doing so and is merely there as a boring distraction. So it is basically like going through the original tale but with the gameplay of MGS2. Which again isn't a bad thing but in terms of how remakes goes this certainly is a rather shoddy one.
As to be expected if you've already completed the original you can expect to complete this game in around 8 hours, possibly even 3 if you skip the cutscenes. If you haven't played through the original you should obviously take some time longer to get through your first run.
Another annoyance I couldn't get past is even the unlockables are the exact same from the original, so everything that you remember jumping for glee for when you unlocked them in the original is exactly what you're going to expect for Twin Snakes, no more no less. Of course I'm not gonna list them for spoilers sake but if you've totally owned the original you know what to expect.
Now incase I may have given the impression, I don't see Twin Snakes as an overall bad game but more of a serious disappointment when compared to the superior remake that is Resident Evil REmake. The clunky controls and total re-hash of the script doesn't help much either but I'd guess it's still worth a purchase for, say, MGS junkies and Raiden haters alike.
IMO and I'm sure alot of others too is that MGS was an incredibly revolutionary title that created a new standard for the story in games and how much effort should really be implemented. The gameplay too while sort of seen as a hate or love it type of thing overall was praised for its uniqueness.
Now The Twin Snakes has come along and is what I'de expect, in short, an easier way for newcomers to the series to get involved in the story and finally make sense of the sequels.
Since while gaming was of course starting to rise with the days of the ps1 it of course doesn't even compare to the days of the ps3 and 360.
Though unlike the example earlier of the remake to the original Resident Evil, Twin Snakes doesn't exactly bring alot of new things to the formula and more or less slips in MGS2's gameplay into MGS1's story. Which for most is reason enough just to be able to have abit more time with Snake in last gen graphics due to him being pulled from the spotlight by Raiden, and to be able to experience the original with some extra gameplay mechanics.
Now in terms of gameplay, I could say it's sort of mixed for me. Sure the game is much more fun with all of SOL's gameplay elements added in such as being able to walk for one... Hang off ledges, roll into enemies and of course the FPS view. But what really drags it down is the clumbersome controls, I generally found myself being spotted quite alot throughout my first play through for example due to me accidentally running away from the wall instead of trying to shimmy along it. Plus the general controls for punching and grabbing enemies and also the FPS view seem really out of place and a very big nuisance to get used to with the Gamecube Controller never mind master. But once you finally find yourself comfortable with the controls and learnt to memorise just what the hell does what and how to do this and that the game can be rather enjoyable. But I'd expect it will take some time and frustration before you get to that stage. Still on gameplay, another fault is while aiming and preparing to shoot with the handgun you can't back down, meaning that once you've begun aiming you'll to unequip your handgun if you don't want to alert everyone with a loud bang from your SOCOM pistol. That again can be rather frustrating and will take some needless time to get used to, espeically due to SOL's ability to simply slowly let go of the fire button to avoid wasting a shot.
Now what's even worse is you can't aim in FPS at all with the FAMAS assault rifle - even a light breeze on the fire button while in FPS will send the FAMAS in full auto. It does have a laser sighting but again doesn't make sense since you can only aim while blasting at something.
When sneaking comes into play, due to like I said earlier about the clumbersome controls, can really get in the way and will find yourself being cheaply spotted quite a few times at least for your first run through.
Unfortunately the gameplay isn't the worst of my troubles involving Twin Snakes.
The story if anyone has played the original gives little to nothing in terms of surprises. While there may be some noticable changes to people (like myself) who had played the original to death and beyond overall it's the same tale. The cutscenes though will definitely seem new, in no small fault at they are. Besides of course a nice graphical update all the cutscenes have been handled by a different director, a director who seems like he's already got a Matrix 4 movie on his to do list. Snake was always a legendary soldier who was pretty much skilled in everything in terms of combat and sneaky manoeuvring but in Twin Snakes he seems to have transformed into some sort of semi-super hero with him doing ridiculous stunts and backflips that would make Leon S Kennedy gasp in awe. It really doesn't suit Snake IMO and I'd wager it was a way to try and make sure that Snake becomes a badass hero as possible to all the new MGS fans out there.
Off cutscenes and leading to the sound that too is, espeically compared to the original, a major let down.All the dialogue has been re-done because of course for all the new button tips you received to help you learn the controls and also for some added fourth wall humor.
But I for one if I was a voice actor would expect having the do the same story all over again abit of a nuisance, and in some characters case it shows. Paul Eiding (Colonel Cambell) for example sounds rather bored throughout and that of course leads him to be quite a bore to listen to. David Hayter still does a pretty good job as Snake but compared to his initial performance this one seems a little sloppy. The only character who still has top quality with his role is Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake who manages to still gives a brilliant and charismatic performance, one that shall be remembered for a long time among his many roles in videogames.
The music too has become downright annoying with it mainly consisting off annoying techno tunes that while seem to fit with the ridiculous tone off the cutscenes just further place Twin Snakes story almost into the lazy action-shlock standards. Overall the cutscenes due to bored voice actors, annoying tunes and also awful directing have really fallen off a big hill indeed from the original MGS.
At least the game looks good, well for the gameplay side at least. The gameplay graphics and animations are all fantastic and fluid. Snake moves just like he will(?) in MGS2 and everything from his roll all looks likes it was seamlessly pulled right out of MGS2. The overall look too seems cleaner and refined than MGS2 aswell and frankly is a better looking game overall. Though the cutscene graphics I can't say the same for. They all look rather blotchy, especially on behalf off the face's, with the character models looking sort of stodgy like they were coloured in with pastels.
But ignoring the dissapointment that is the story part of the game, at least the gameplay once your familiarise yourself with the controls is fun and responsive.
Though again this remake doesn't really add anything new.... at all. You'll still face the same bosses as you travel through the same enviroments ect. The M9 tranquillizer handgun has been brought along for the ride so you may choose to take bosses down via there stamina gauge but other than that nothing new. The dogtag minigame from MGS2 makesa a return though unlike MGS2 there is absolutely no reward for doing so and is merely there as a boring distraction. So it is basically like going through the original tale but with the gameplay of MGS2. Which again isn't a bad thing but in terms of how remakes goes this certainly is a rather shoddy one.
As to be expected if you've already completed the original you can expect to complete this game in around 8 hours, possibly even 3 if you skip the cutscenes. If you haven't played through the original you should obviously take some time longer to get through your first run.
Another annoyance I couldn't get past is even the unlockables are the exact same from the original, so everything that you remember jumping for glee for when you unlocked them in the original is exactly what you're going to expect for Twin Snakes, no more no less. Of course I'm not gonna list them for spoilers sake but if you've totally owned the original you know what to expect.
Now incase I may have given the impression, I don't see Twin Snakes as an overall bad game but more of a serious disappointment when compared to the superior remake that is Resident Evil REmake. The clunky controls and total re-hash of the script doesn't help much either but I'd guess it's still worth a purchase for, say, MGS junkies and Raiden haters alike.
3 Comments