"Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes" Review
Being a fan of the series but never owning a PS2 is a bit strange but that's the category I fit into (MGS:PC, MGS2:Xbox). Seeing as I enjoyed the original on the PC I decided "MGS:Twin Snakes" was a reasonable purchase. I had not played the original in quite a while and I had gone back to play it later but it would crash on my more modern PC setup. Was it a good purchase? Read on...
Graphics/Technical: 3.5
After playing through the game and refreshing my memory of the MGS2 engine, I would say that they are very close in terms of quality. In some places MGS2 has better texturing but Twin Snakes is smother and does not suffer from the major framerate drops that plagued MGS2 on the Xbox. But, compared to other graphics engines on the GC I find it solid but nothing about it had the kind of wow factor that Metroid prime, Resident Evil, or Viewtiful Joe had. I would have liked to see more detail in the textures and rooms but it seems they stuck to the original maybe to a fault. That being said it is a huge improvement over the original engine in every way.
Story/Cinematics: 4
For those that don't know the story (huh!) it will likely be very refreshing and intriguing. For the rest of us, it still a great story even though there are no new elements. Unlike graphic engines, A good story is a good story no matter how old it is. The cut scenes are very well done with lots of over-the-top action and good voice acting all around. As in the original, the characters are not developed too much but they are fun to play against.
Gameplay/Control: 5
Although its missing the extra shoulder buttons of the PS2, the Gamecube does an excellent job with the controls. The only tricky part is getting used to tapping on the shoulder to quickly switch weapons. It works very well, it just takes some getting used to. That gameplay is pure MGS with a few bonus moves. Strangely, the game does not require that you use these MGS2 moves very often and at times the level design almost makes it seem like cheating. Still, I feel it adds to the game by simply giving you more options.
Bias (+ or -): (-.25)
My one gripe is there are very view "extras" or bonus features. Since they did not have the burden of level design (for the most part) it would have been nice to include some bonus missions and VR mission (i.e. MGS2).
Other than that, its quite an upgrade of the version of the original version. It looks 100% better, sounds great and has great new (and extended) cut scenes. If you are a fan of MGS gameplay and you are not sick of the original, you will enjoy Twin Snakes.
Final Score: (3.9 out of 5) 78%
