Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

The Good
Basically, The Twin Snakes is the game Metal Gear Solid could have been if PlayStation was not so underpowered. I'm not saying original MGS was that bad; I played it on PC and it looked okay. But it was probably a good example of a gamemaker's vision exceeding the limitations of the hardware: The game had lots of engine-based cutscenes and you couldn't get enough detail out of the thing to make it really cool. That's not a problem in The Twin Snakes: Cutscenes really shine here.

I also like how MGS2 play mechanics have been added here - not that they really add much to the game, but they add stuff that counts.

The Bad
One of the things I liked was that the original cast had a chance to remake their lines. It really showed. Lines that were weakly delivered in the original are now great. Generally, this has succeeded well. Yet, this could have needed just a little bit more improvement in certain areas.

The remade music is good, though in certain cases it doesn't set the mood as perfectly as it did in the original. Okay, maybe it's just me, maybe I just have trouble adjusting. The new music isn't awfully wrong, anyway... Glad that some of the original tracks are still here, like the end music.

I kind of lament the lack of Integral/PC version stuff, like the VR missions. Now, the package just has the main game, which isn't replayable indefinitely, just in small doses once you're first done with it.

The Bottom Line
Basically, here we have Metal Gear Solid, one of the greatest stealth games ever. Er, make that cutscene-fest which actually has pretty darn good gameplay moments.

Then, on top of MGS, we get new cutscenes, new music, actual motion capture acting, new engine that looks just as good as MGS2, new cutscenes, lots of new game mechanics lifted from MGS2, and new cutscenes. Well, the new cutscenes are just re-thought-of cutscenes from the original, pretty well directed this time.

Does it work? Well, to be honest, it works pretty well, just not as well as it may sound on the paper first. But even ignoring small flaws that could have been averted, this still is a remake worth the Metal Gear Solid name.