February 9, 2004

"What are you realy after?" - Solid Snake

"The restoration of the era when warriors such as us lived as we should." - Liquid Snake

"That was Big Boss's fantasy."

"When he was young during the Code War, the world needed men like us."

"I don't want that kind of world..."

That little exchange of dialogue between Solid and Liquid Snake, featured at the begining of the now legendary 27 minute Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes trailer should be a pretty big indication of what exactly Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater should be. More on that latter. First let's look at the brief look at what is going on in the Metal Gear franchise.

- Birth -

For us in the West, the introduction to Solid Snake came in the form of Konami's classic NES port of Hideo Kojima's MSX masterpiece. Released in 1988, Metal Gear was revolutionary for it featured gameplay that rewarded stealth as opposed to all out war, featured promiently in the Konami's own Contra series. Playing the game was a joy for myself. I remember being so impressed with the title and being a huge fan of Contra, I enjoyed the change of pace offered by Metal Gear. Konami continues to be a huge 3rd party software developer, but back in the day their series of military war games from Conta to Rush'N Attack to Jackal rocked. They just fitted so well in that 1980's cold war, Reagen era mentality. I was in heaven with those titles but we also can't forget Konami's more fantasy oriented Castlevania and Gradius titles which simply kick ass.

Konami for me during that wonderful NES era were like rock stars, they pumped out hit after hit after hit. Their name was the mark of quality and still are. I sadly didn't have an NES back in the day, but my buddies did and we played Konami games until our hands bled. Luckily, Konami finaly began porting there classic NES titles to home computers in the late 1980's allowing myself to finaly obtain a few titles for my Commodore 64 such as Castlevania, Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game and of course that legendary title... Metal Gear.

Sadly a port of the Kojima's own MSX sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake never hit our shores. Instead we got the half-baked title Snake's Revenge which I won't go into any detail except to say it sucks and the only reason you have a copy is that it's for your Snake collection. Yes, I have a copy.

I've played a bit of original MSX titles and have to say what a fine piece of gaming they are. These games are masterpieces and if you can figure out how to get an MSX emulator running on your home PC, then you too can discover Kojima's magic. For me the original will always be that poorly translated, oddly ported NES classic. Those were good times! In summer 2003 when MGS:TTS and MGS3 were announced at E3, I busted out my Dreamcast and that wonderful NES emulator Nester just to play that MG once again on the big screen.

- Rebirth -

"Everyone wants to use the newest, latest technology." - Revolver Ocelot

May 2003 E3 saw the announcment of MGS:TTS with a return to Nintendo systems. Fans were pleased and so were Nintendo fanatics to finaly see the legendary series return to home territory. The production to be headed by Kojima and his Konami of Japan staff. The legendary cinematic scenes are to be redirected by Ryohei Kitamura, a respected Japanese director and personal friend of Kojima's. Finaly development is to he handled by famed Canadian software studio and 2nd Nintendo party Silicon Knights, fresh from their critical acclaimed title Eternal Darkness. The powerful trio set out to recreate one of the greatest action titles ever and you can only play it on the Nintendo GameCube, thanks to renewed, stronger relations between Konami and Nintendo. Oh yeah and if you don't have a Cube than you are dumb... and an idiot... because they are cheaper than dirt.

Remember when MGS was first released for the PS1 way back on October 21st, 1998? The latest Zelda game for the N64 was also released around the sametime. Damn! That was such a great time for gaming. I mean 2 friggin' fantastic titles for two great systems. MGS not only became a huge seller but it also pushed the industry from a pure toy/gaming perspective into the entertainment medium for the new millinium. The game featured a story that put Hollywood to shame with so much depth. Layers of history, honor, ideaology and moral teachings hit the gamer as they took control of a solider who fought for honor, love and peace. The characters were memorable. The dialogue was smartly written and the directed cinematics from Hideo Kojima himself felt like a Hollywood veteran was at work. Oh yeah and played like smooth butter. The series just got better with the GBC title released May 20, 2000 (I can still remember crapping my pants when my girlfriend picked it up for my birthday) and the legendary sequel MGS2: Sons of Liberty. But that first MGS title was magic and that's what makes the GC remake so special.

MGS was so popular it was a huge mainstream sucess. Non-gamers got into it big time. My cousin Darren practicaly got a Playstation just to play it. Of course the remake of MGS for the GC was also a reason why he picked up the latest Nintendo console. To this very day there isn't a conversation that goes by that we aren't talkin' about Snake and his adventures. Our dream of course is to finaly get to that Metal Gear fan film I'm always dreaming of.

- Revolution -

"I've been waiting a long time for this day." - Cyborg Ninja

So what were Solid and Liquid Snake talking about? The return of the Cold War era? Big Boss's fantasy? That's were Metal gear Solid 3 comes into play. We know it takes place in the 1960's during the Cold War era and you play as Snake. We'll we can now unravel the mystery by stating that you are indeed Big Boss in his prime. The Cold War won't return but we can go back in time to it's peak. Solid and Liquid we're clones of Big Boss's DNA to create the perfect solider. Thus we have the legendary hero's strengths and weaknesses splint into two. Solid Snake filled with the hero's strengths and best intentions. While Liquid Snake reflects the negatives of greed and hate.

- Review -

It's been a very exciting time for the Metal Gear franchise. Christmas 2002 saw the release of the beefed up Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance for the X-Box, starting the series on a new console. Months later the title hit the PS2 and PC. Konami announced to the world in May 2003 that Snake's adventures would continue onto the Nintendo GameCube in a remake of that classic first Solid title. As for MGS 3, Who knows when its going to released? Some say Christmas 2004 while others anticipate an early 2005 release. All that we can hope for is that this isn't going to be the end of Snake. Kojima didn't want to direct MGS2 nor MGS3 but was pressured in to doing them since no one at Konami wanted the overbearing task of doing such a title. Maybe this is it. I sure as hell hope it ain't.

To round it off here is a compiled list of release dates for the entire series in North America. Special thanks to The Snake Soup and IGN for supplying the info. Note that dependant on where you live in North America, one may have to alter the release a day or two for the ideal release it hit your area's store shelves. Example: The official release date for MGS:TTS is March 9th, 2003. Here in Canada eh, we're lookin' at the title actualy hitin' store shelves on March 11th. Beauty eh? So there Darren gets a Metal Gear game right on his birthday... the bum! Oh well, I got MGS for my GBC a couple of days before my birthday (May 24) so we all get Metal Gear games around birthday time! ;)

Metal Gear - NES - June 1, 1988

Snake's Revenge - NES - ???? - No one wants to seem to acknowledge this game was even released. Anyone have a date?

Metal Gear Solid - PS1 - October 21, 1998

Metal Gear Solid - PC - September 22, 2000

Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions - PS1 - September 25, 1999

Metal Gear Solid - GBC - May 20, 2000

Bleem! Metal Gear Solid - DC - October 31, 2001

Metal Gear Solid 2: Son's of Liberty - PS2 - November 13, 2001

Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 - PS2 - September 25, 2002

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - X-Box - November 5, 2002

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - PS2/PC - March 4, 2003

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snake's - GC - March 9, 2003

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - PS2 - ????

- Kelley