Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (1999)

I forgot just how much fun the original Metal Gear Solid was. It's been 8-9 years or so since I played all the main MGS games in order, and I remember the first one for its wild cutscenes and conversations more than anything else. But I am now reminded that it really is an amazing game on many levels.

Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions is not Metal Gear Solid, though. It's just the gameplay, spread out into a ton of bite-sized missions, that test Snake's skills with various tactics and equipment. Environments are very simple, as it's supposed to be the VR training for Snake's mission. In this day and age this would basically be the mobile game spinoff of the full game I guess.

(Side note, what if an "MGS6" had levels like this as secret side missions... That would be cool... Anyway that's never gonna happen.)

It's a lot of fun, though many of the missions are very simplistic. While there are definitely more interesting ones in here, people wanting more of a challenge on the average level will have to settle for running the missions back for a faster time. I still enjoyed all of it, though. Surprise, surprise, Metal Gear Solid is fun.

Its only real crime holding it back from a higher rating is just being exactly what it says it is. It's a fun diversion for fans of the game Metal Gear Solid, or you could look at it as a tutorial for that game, and it's not enough more than that to be a really outstanding game. And that's ok! Totally worth a play for anyone nostalgic for the old games that doesn't want to actually go replay a full game. Newer fans, probably just skip this and come back later.

I liked the original Metal Gear Solid. It's short but very memorable with multiple ways of escaping, sneaking or fighting enemies and bosses. The cinematic presentation and use of rumble from the dual shock controller was innovative. I wasn't aware of the 8-bit versions before it so this game was even more of a revelation to me. Choking a guard out was always satisfying.

However, I also really enjoyed this separate disc of VR missions. It added almost a puzzle element to the base gameplay and it further showed that Metal Gear wasn't just cut scenes but had some fun gameplay behind it. I really enjoyed playing these VR missions and the challenge behind it. Some of it was a bit convoluted and you had waist-high cubes you couldn't jump over but otherwise the levels were well designed.

I recall you could also play as the Ninja but it had to be unlocked and was pretty short.