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What they did with Psycho Mantis was really interesting, watched it on a YouTube stream packed with MGS fans, most of which hadn't seen this before and they were all surprised by it, that was a treat. It's genuinely just interesting seeing a different take on MGS1's story, I don't regret giving it a watch.
That said, even though the way they merged the good and bad ending together was really sweet, Liquid Snake's fight scene and death were the lamest thing imaginable, and they cut the car chase out, come on!
That said, even though the way they merged the good and bad ending together was really sweet, Liquid Snake's fight scene and death were the lamest thing imaginable, and they cut the car chase out, come on!
The original story of the iconic Metal Gear Solid received a unique retelling on the PlayStation Portable with the release of Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel in June of 2006. Developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami, this “video game” is more of an experiment in interactive storytelling, offering a digitized version of the Metal Gear Solid Comic drawn by Ashley Wood and published by IDW with added sound effects, animations, music, and other interactive bells and whistles. Unfortunately, while the nostalgia of Metal Gear Solid’s story is undeniable, the experience stumbles on its static presentation, limited interactivity, and, most importantly to a graphic novel, its artwork.
The story itself is a timeless classic, needing no introduction. Solid Snake's infiltration of Shadow Moses Island, the subsequent defeat of the rogue members of FOXHOUND (including his twin brother Liquid Snake), and the inevitable destruction of Metal Gear REX is a masterclass in narrative tension. This comic book adaptation, however, strays from its stellar source material at various moments to provide its own interpretation of the events. These alterations range from trivially minute to jarringly different and at times make no logical sense or portray important characters incorrectly. I understand this is an adaptation of Metal Gear Solid and was never going to be a 1-to-1 translation considering the interactive medium of video games, but changes made in any adaptation to the story and character portrayals in a source material should make sense, provide important missing details not found in the original, or transform the source material in an interesting and unique way. Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel does none of these.
With that said, the changes made to this classic video game story could be entirely overlooked if everything else about this adaptation was spectacular, unfortunately, that is not the case. To understand what I mean, we have to first look at how the game is presented to a player. First, the "digital graphic novel" moniker suggests a unique blend of impressively drawn static panels and interactive elements. In reality, this means turning pages with button presses and occasionally scanning or zooming in on panels to uncover hidden secrets and unlock bonus content in the game's Memory Building Simulation mode. While some may find enjoyment in this game's rendition of Where’s Waldo as they scour every corner of the uneven artwork for that next tidbit of information, for me it comes off as just a glorified scavenger hunt that wasn’t worth my time or the eye strain. Unfortunately, this seek-and-find aspect, along with the connections required to fill out the Memory Building Simulation mode, is the most interactivity the game has to offer and these feel more like a tacked-on afterthought. For the most part, players will spend the bulk of their time as spectators, passively consuming the story of Metal Gear Solid without the genre-defining stealth gameplay and pulse-pounding boss fights.
My biggest issue with this adaptation, however, isn’t with its lack of interactive elements or even the changes made to the original story, it is with the artwork. All of the art for this digital graphic novel is pulled straight from the Metal Gear Solid comic illustrated by Ashley Wood. An Australian comic book artist and award-winning illustrator, Wood has been involved in several projects over his career including working for both Marvel and DC Comics as well as supplying art for the cinema scenes in both Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. A winner of the 2002 Communication Arts Award of Excellence in Illustration and a collaborator with companies like Disney and Sony Pictures, there is no doubt that Woods is an incredibly talented illustrator. The artwork on display in the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, however, is a mixed bag of illustrated artistic brilliance tossed among an unsurmountable amount of rushed and unfinished sketches. While some panels capture the essence of the Metal Gear universe, showcasing the tension and grit of the narrative, others appear unpolished and lack the finesse and detail one expects of both the Metal Gear franchise and the graphic novel medium. Edges are jagged, characters appear blocky or morph into awkward caricatures of themselves, backgrounds lack detail and depth or simply don’t exist at all, and the overall impression is one of unrealized potential. It’s not offensively bad, it just doesn't do justice to the franchise's visual legacy - especially the work of the lead character designer for the series Yoji Shinkawa.
Ultimately, the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel is a footnote in this long franchise's history. Not quite a game, not quite a graphic novel, and not quite something new altogether, it is best suited for completionists and die-hard fans who have an unhealthy obsession with collecting every scrap of franchise minutiae (like myself). For newcomers, it's a decent primer on the story, but the changes made to the narrative, the rough visuals, and the nonexistent gameplay might leave them wondering what all the fuss is about. If you're a seasoned Metal Gear Solid fan looking for a way to relive a classic or a newcomer hoping to get into the franchise, look elsewhere. But if you're willing to overlook the artistic shortcomings for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a few bells and whistles, then this might just scratch that itch. Just don't expect a masterpiece or a revolution in interactive storytelling.
The story itself is a timeless classic, needing no introduction. Solid Snake's infiltration of Shadow Moses Island, the subsequent defeat of the rogue members of FOXHOUND (including his twin brother Liquid Snake), and the inevitable destruction of Metal Gear REX is a masterclass in narrative tension. This comic book adaptation, however, strays from its stellar source material at various moments to provide its own interpretation of the events. These alterations range from trivially minute to jarringly different and at times make no logical sense or portray important characters incorrectly. I understand this is an adaptation of Metal Gear Solid and was never going to be a 1-to-1 translation considering the interactive medium of video games, but changes made in any adaptation to the story and character portrayals in a source material should make sense, provide important missing details not found in the original, or transform the source material in an interesting and unique way. Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel does none of these.
With that said, the changes made to this classic video game story could be entirely overlooked if everything else about this adaptation was spectacular, unfortunately, that is not the case. To understand what I mean, we have to first look at how the game is presented to a player. First, the "digital graphic novel" moniker suggests a unique blend of impressively drawn static panels and interactive elements. In reality, this means turning pages with button presses and occasionally scanning or zooming in on panels to uncover hidden secrets and unlock bonus content in the game's Memory Building Simulation mode. While some may find enjoyment in this game's rendition of Where’s Waldo as they scour every corner of the uneven artwork for that next tidbit of information, for me it comes off as just a glorified scavenger hunt that wasn’t worth my time or the eye strain. Unfortunately, this seek-and-find aspect, along with the connections required to fill out the Memory Building Simulation mode, is the most interactivity the game has to offer and these feel more like a tacked-on afterthought. For the most part, players will spend the bulk of their time as spectators, passively consuming the story of Metal Gear Solid without the genre-defining stealth gameplay and pulse-pounding boss fights.
My biggest issue with this adaptation, however, isn’t with its lack of interactive elements or even the changes made to the original story, it is with the artwork. All of the art for this digital graphic novel is pulled straight from the Metal Gear Solid comic illustrated by Ashley Wood. An Australian comic book artist and award-winning illustrator, Wood has been involved in several projects over his career including working for both Marvel and DC Comics as well as supplying art for the cinema scenes in both Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. A winner of the 2002 Communication Arts Award of Excellence in Illustration and a collaborator with companies like Disney and Sony Pictures, there is no doubt that Woods is an incredibly talented illustrator. The artwork on display in the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, however, is a mixed bag of illustrated artistic brilliance tossed among an unsurmountable amount of rushed and unfinished sketches. While some panels capture the essence of the Metal Gear universe, showcasing the tension and grit of the narrative, others appear unpolished and lack the finesse and detail one expects of both the Metal Gear franchise and the graphic novel medium. Edges are jagged, characters appear blocky or morph into awkward caricatures of themselves, backgrounds lack detail and depth or simply don’t exist at all, and the overall impression is one of unrealized potential. It’s not offensively bad, it just doesn't do justice to the franchise's visual legacy - especially the work of the lead character designer for the series Yoji Shinkawa.
Ultimately, the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel is a footnote in this long franchise's history. Not quite a game, not quite a graphic novel, and not quite something new altogether, it is best suited for completionists and die-hard fans who have an unhealthy obsession with collecting every scrap of franchise minutiae (like myself). For newcomers, it's a decent primer on the story, but the changes made to the narrative, the rough visuals, and the nonexistent gameplay might leave them wondering what all the fuss is about. If you're a seasoned Metal Gear Solid fan looking for a way to relive a classic or a newcomer hoping to get into the franchise, look elsewhere. But if you're willing to overlook the artistic shortcomings for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a few bells and whistles, then this might just scratch that itch. Just don't expect a masterpiece or a revolution in interactive storytelling.
This is a movie that attempts to summarize the plot of Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2. Key word: "attempts". It takes more than a few liberties with the plot, veering into non-canon territory. So, it can't really be a reliable source for a summary. It's a neat relic, but the changed dialogue and plot elements change the story too much. I will admit that there were some clever twists.
Beautiful comic art style, It's very interesting the way it all works together, overall wish it was a game and not an interactive movie.
While the illustrations are quite nice per se, I find that the stylistic choice of the artwork is way too detached from the scientifically detailed tones and the analytical, complex themes of the original story. The writing is equally way too superficial and sketchy, taking too many liberties regarding the characterization of characters, who end up becoming cliches of themselves, lacking any kind of narrative engine and human depth. I don't know exactly what I expected from this project, since the source material seems to me very difficult to adapt in an expressionist medium like comics because of its irreducible verbosity, but the result seems to me really pitiful from every point of view, a completely meaningless product.
Takes a comic based on the PS1 classic and adapts it into a visual novel format with some minor animation and sound effects. No voice acting though, which would have gone a long way. Can serve as a nice, quick refresher before jumping into Sons of Liberty or something if you need one. Not sure I’d recommend making it your first introduction to the narrative though, unless you just for some reason aren’t interested in/don’t like the gameplay of the original or its remake The Twin Snakes.
I’ve seen people on here complaining about slight changes to dialogue or tweaks to some moments that were included to make them better fit the shift in mediums. Personally, I think their outrage is more than a little ridiculous. Even the added character interactions don’t do anything to significantly alter the events, and are we really going to get up upset over the differences making this a “non-canon” retelling in a franchise where greater than half of the games aren’t canon anyways?
Honestly, the biggest problem with this version of the plot is Ashley Wood’s artwork. It’s a style I’ve seen used in a lot of crime, political/governmental, or espionage thrillers that always seems to receive acclaim from whoever it is that professionally reviews comic books for a living. It’s never failed to come off as ugly to me however, looking more like rough concept sketches and scribbles than something that should have made it to print. Oh well, at least he drew Meryl in a thong for her famous underwear scene.
Kojima Productions tried to make the experience a bit more than just simply reading text by giving us the ability to scan panels at varying magnifications to uncover hidden data and objects that can be pieced together in the “Memory Building Simulation Mode” to unlock supplementary information. It’s a novel (lol) idea, but the process isn’t terribly enjoyable and the lack of any substantial reward for doing so meant I didn’t stick with it for long.
Overall, it’s a decent, solidly executed concept that’s only missing something special to really draw you in. I don’t want to be too harsh with my rating because it’s not, like, horrible or anything, but even the most devout Metal Gear fan would have a hard time calling this worthwhile. Maybe if you’re some kind of hardcore completist or whatever then give it a shot. Otherwise it’s inoffensive, but totally skippable.
6/10 - “Okay”
I’ve seen people on here complaining about slight changes to dialogue or tweaks to some moments that were included to make them better fit the shift in mediums. Personally, I think their outrage is more than a little ridiculous. Even the added character interactions don’t do anything to significantly alter the events, and are we really going to get up upset over the differences making this a “non-canon” retelling in a franchise where greater than half of the games aren’t canon anyways?
Honestly, the biggest problem with this version of the plot is Ashley Wood’s artwork. It’s a style I’ve seen used in a lot of crime, political/governmental, or espionage thrillers that always seems to receive acclaim from whoever it is that professionally reviews comic books for a living. It’s never failed to come off as ugly to me however, looking more like rough concept sketches and scribbles than something that should have made it to print. Oh well, at least he drew Meryl in a thong for her famous underwear scene.
Kojima Productions tried to make the experience a bit more than just simply reading text by giving us the ability to scan panels at varying magnifications to uncover hidden data and objects that can be pieced together in the “Memory Building Simulation Mode” to unlock supplementary information. It’s a novel (lol) idea, but the process isn’t terribly enjoyable and the lack of any substantial reward for doing so meant I didn’t stick with it for long.
Overall, it’s a decent, solidly executed concept that’s only missing something special to really draw you in. I don’t want to be too harsh with my rating because it’s not, like, horrible or anything, but even the most devout Metal Gear fan would have a hard time calling this worthwhile. Maybe if you’re some kind of hardcore completist or whatever then give it a shot. Otherwise it’s inoffensive, but totally skippable.
6/10 - “Okay”