Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel

The Good
I know my headline is quite the hyperbole, but having viewed digital comics in many mediums (through the PSP's own comic service, Marvel.com's service, and others), I have to say there is yet to be a digital translation of a comic that meets these standards.

And to clarify again, I mean translation as in comics that were not initially designed to be viewed digitally but on printed paper.

I should mention I'm not that experienced with the franchise -- my only background with Metal Gear is the PSP Acid card game.

What makes this unique is that Kojima actually took time deconstruct the comic panels so that they fit perfectly on the screen without scrolling. They also added layering and transition effects that truly explore what an interactive comic book should be.

There's also some animating of the original static comic frames, as well as also added sound effects and music clips. Something that comes close would be the Watchmen motion comic DVD/Blu-ray, but there's something about that product that turned it into more of a cartoon.

Kojima even added 3d rendered scenes (but with cel/painted shading to blend with the artwork) that adds a new dimension to the animation.

The Bad
My biggest gripe with the product is the supposed "game" that was built in. You can zoom into panels and unlock dossiers and info on characters, events, etc. This is a bit distracting and time consuming, which is fine, but the payoff is extremely disappointing.

Instead of viewing the unlocked content in a traditional interface, you have to navigate a strange 3d link structure and reconstruct the links. I was not able to get past the first five, and after fiddling with it for nearly 20 minutes more, I gave up. I believe there is nearly 100 pieces of info to unlock/find.

I'm also not a big fan of the comic art style itself. It is very abstract, and look more like the artist's sketchbook than a final product. That said, it is still serviceable and I still feel the overall product is fantastic.

The Bottom Line
The story is a bit contrived and far-fetched, but this is a great technical demonstration of the paradigm that digital comics should be built upon.