Recently my friend Brian and I played through Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne. I've always been aware of MGS but not until I began following a certain sketch comedy group have I actually taken an interest in the series. Some say to play the games in chronological order and start with the third game, but I really wanted to start with the PSOne classic. Brian had the idea to race to the end of the game, which I thought sounded like fun, so we did it.

From the very beginning of the game, the story is interesting and the stealth gameplay solid; I knew I was in for something great. The story is wonderfully developed throughout the game with the long cutscenes that the series has become known for. You would think that this might take away from the action of the game, but it really doesn't. The cutscenes are usually just as exciting and interesting as the rest of the game. Probably the most commendable aspect of MGS is its ability to maintain an incredible story, all the while still sporting top-notch gameplay that stays fun to this day.

The graphics in MGS have not aged nearly as gracefully. All of the textures are incredibly low-resolution. You can spot pixels from quite a far distance. This is all time-relative, however. There is no facial animation in the game, all of the characters just sort of bob their heads as they speak. It looks quite silly and I actually laughed out loud several times during the cutscenes. All of this is time-relative, however, the everything makes an astounding improvement in the GC remake, Twin Snakes; I'm unsure if MGS was graphically on-par with other games at the time.

Throughout the game Brian was usually a bit ahead of me in the race, and it stayed that way until the final boss, in which I took the lead and won. The ending wraps things up nicely and it's pretty satisfying. If you've never played this before, you need to pick this up. From beginning to end this game is still incredible. Not to mention it's probably the best story I've ever experienced in a game. I can't wait to play through the rest of the series. And for only $10 on PSN, it's a steal.