Hard to really think of as a stealth game. You’ll be backtracking enough to the point where it feels like you’re accustomed to patterns and just waltzing through a majority of the game. Thankfully the boss encounters (most) and memorable character interactions carry the experience forward into near-masterpiece territory.

It must be stated that this game could've coasted on its great action and stealth mechanics alone, with a standard tactical espionage narrative inspired by Bond movies. This would've already made Metal Gear Solid the single-player game to reveal how mediocre Goldeneye really was, but Kojima didn't coast on anything merely functional. Speaking of "functional", play any Naughty Dog game and count the scenes that feel like they're there just to be there, rather than genuinely surprising you. This game's full of those moments.

There have been more definitive and far-reaching fate-oriented stories featured in games since, but I’d hardly penalize Metal Gear Solid for that considering it’s one installment in a much larger story. That’s not just from benefit of hindsight either. The way characters have so much background in the world at large, plus the potential narrative threads that sprawl out from here (there’s no way the Foxhound and Foxdie programs just end here), indicates that much already, regardless of whether Kojima decided to tell the rest of the story. Thankfully he did.