After playing the original two MG titles thanks to the Master Collection, I was in the mood to revisit a classic I haven't played in years.

I've been a huge fan of Metal Gear since high school, Snake Eater was the first in the series I completed, then I went back and played the first two games (I tried MGS2 prior but wasn't into it) and my obsession began. Obviously this is a special game to me, so I'm happy to report that not only does it hold up, it's somehow even better than I remember. Revisiting Shadow Moses was every bit as fun and engaging as it was the first time I played through all those years ago. Obviously it took some relearning to get back into the swing of things, but once I did I played it over and over again.

I long maintained that this was the best MG title (I know 3 is the most beloved, but I slightly love this one more, and I didn't religiously replay 2 did the others), and I still feel confident in that opinion, although I'm likely going to set up my PS3 to play the HD collection since playing this again reignited my love for Metal Gear. It has my favorite story, my favorite cast, and several of my favorite lines and scenes in the series (plus the codec call with Mei Ling after the Hind boss fight is my favorite call in the series, still amazing after all these years).

I haven't played the VR missions until now so I wanted to try getting them out of the way before the main story (due to a misunderstanding with the trophy requirements, I ended up doing a few playthroughs on Integral to unlock a few missions). Some of the missions were super simple and straight forward, some needed trial-and-error, some were very funny (protecting Meryl from a Godzilla-sized guard was absurd in the best way). Many of them were rage-inducing horseshit that made me question whether or not it was worth it. To add insult to injury there were OVER 300 MISSIONS, I ended up taking almost 10 hours of playtime to finally finish them. I admit some of it was trial-and-error and a skill issue on my part, but many mission required you to play in ways that actively work against the gameplay loop (a good portion of them demand you kill guards as if you were Rambo, while still getting killed fast if you played poorly). Too many of the missions refuse to play to the game's strengths, and it leads to a very frustrating experience.

To say something else about my trophy hunting, my Fox playthrough was pretty funny. I did 5 (!) playthroughs in preparation and had most of it memorized, then the AI does things that actively tried to sabotaged my playthrough. In all my years of playing the game, it was the first time Mantis instantly shot Meryl before I had a chance to knock her out.

I admit this log isn't my most organized or most well written post here, but it's hard to post my thoughts on a game this special to me in a cohesive manner. I'll definitely replay it again soon, and likely will regularly replay it after. I think after revisiting it with the MC, I can safely say that this is my favorite game of all time.

10/10

And the duology is complete.

Definitely a big step up from the original Metal Gear. The story feels much more like the type of story Kojima would become known for, it's a lot more twisty and spy film inspired than its predecessor. Also really neat to see the introduction of a few characters in MGS, especially fulfilling to see Gray Fox's debut. The soundtrack is also pretty great, the original game had a few decent tracks but this one has some genuinely memorable themes (the first building's main theme especially). There's also a pretty big difficulty jump in this game, guards have excellent sight and peripheral vision, so you need to play extra careful to avoid getting spotted. It's still obviously a product of its time and a few mechanics are dated (albeit the checkpoints are more generous than the first game), but it's still a genuinely good game that is worth playing for longtime fans who haven't played the originals like myself before last night.

7/10

Long time MG fan finally playing the original thanks to the Master Collection (disclaimer: I just bought MGS1 standalone as I already have the PS3 HD collection and it seemed like the option that made more sense).

Not too much to say here. The foundation of the series is laid here, the beginning of one of gaming's greatest franchises and stories had a pretty straightforward run. There's really not too much to this game, its stealth mechanics are expectedly basic (not saying as a negative) and it has the classic "I'm not sure where to go next so I'll have to look it up" feel games back in its time did. Was still interesting to see the series' roots (it's also physically impossible to not read Snake's dialogue in David Hayter's voice), and it was definitely pretty fun. Now on to MG2.

6/10