Advertised as Metal Gear Solid fused with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami’s latest efforts can be summed up easily…Metal Gear Solid…only prettier. Sure there are a couple of hidden goodies, new dog tags to collect, and a few secrets scattered about, in the end though, it is just that…Metal Gear Solid. Is this a bad thing? Hell no! Was it a bad thing when they re-issued Resident Evil on the GameCube a while back? No. What this does is revitalize a game that is arguably one of the best games in the last 10 years! Should we be surprised of this move? No. Let’s see, like the aforementioned Resident Evil game, we have seen many remakes from the media industry as of late. From the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to the upcoming Dawn of the Dead, and even Tim Burton is remaking Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s easy to see that remakes these days are hot, if not frowned upon slightly for unoriginal ideas. All I know is that I get to be Snake again, all the way through the game, without that blasted Raiden taking the spotlight!

I will keep the synopsis spoiler free so gamers who haven’t played through this series yet, won’t have the game and it’s engrossing story spoiled for them. You play as Solid Snake, called upon to research a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island in Alaska. While doing so, terrorists take over and threaten to unleash a nuclear weapon if the government doesn’t turn over the remains of Big Boss in 24 hours. You have a few helpers at your disposal, Roy Campbell (Snakes Commanding officer), Naomi Hunter (Chief of the Medical Staff), Mei Ling (Saving Chick…err...Operator in charge of communications), and others that help guide you throughout the game. The story is one of brilliance, and the plot twist and turns would make a great movie any day!

Visually Snake has been redone and it’s a beautiful thing! The polygon count has been pumped up and it shows. The entire game and its presentation have been bumped up to next generation standards. Konami even threw in a new first-person view, which is very helpful in boss fights and pinpointing certain shots. Sure, Sons of Liberty still looked better in most aspects, but Twin Snakes is damn close. This updated version is detailed in its cinematic cut scenes, and uses better lighting and textures than ever before. One thing that did get missed in the process was the CODEC. The images in the CODEC are fuzzy and low animated, much like the PS One version. There is also some notable frame rate loss in certain areas, but it seems as if it is more of a streaming issue than an engine problem. I noticed a few instances where slow down occurred, though when I moved back to the same area, the slow down was gone. As is though, the frame rate issues don’t hamper the game in the least or affect game play.

Audio is stellar. The voice acting is spot on and wonderful. These are real professionals who supply the voice talent, and you can tell they really cared about the project. They tell the story in such a way that it makes the game so addicting just to find out what’s coming next. You may find yourself actually caring for these characters after a while. There is a reason why there are legions of Snake fans out there. If that wasn’t enough, the musical score is wonderfully orchestrated and provides up-beat rhythms when action is heated, and slower melodic themes for the more serious moments in the game. Let’s not forget the now famed exclamation sound effect!

What more can be said about the game play other than this is the game that defined a genre. You wouldn’t have Sons of Liberty, Mission Impossible, or Splinter Cell if it weren’t for the vision of the game’s developer. I know, I know, Tenchu came out first and “truly” introduced stealth, but MGS was in development far longer, so MGS was the groundbreaker. Snake can run, shoot, dodge, hide, sneak up behind you, and lastly, kill you will the greatest of ease. Controlling Snake may take about an hour or so for newbies to the series, but once you have the system down, the adventure plays as good as it looks. As far as new features are concerned, some of the nuances found in Sons of Liberty have been added to this story (lockers, tapping on walls, etc.).

All in all, there is nothing I can tell fans of the series that they don’t already know. This game kicks ass, and remains one of the best games of all time. Now it’s even prettier. For the rest of the 2 or 3 of you who haven’t played the series, you are missing out and I can’t suggest enough that you go out and demand Twin Snakes! It’s the best 40 dollars investment you can make, as you will play it over and over and over again. Just ask any MGS fan.