Worthy of the Hype

By Russell Baillie

Metal Gear Solid *****
PlayStation
(Konami)

In PlayStation-land the expectations on this one have been up there with the anticipation levels for the new Stars Wars instalment.

You can see why, even from just one weekend spent creeping around the maze of its "tactical espionage action" scenario.

It's soon apparent this isn't your average sci-fi commando creep-about-shoot-'em-up-and-save-the-world title.

This is one of those landmark games and comes with far more plot than almost any action movie it may resemble.

And it has a bigger cast, too, led by our hero (that's you) Solid Snake - all the characters have names which seem to have gained something in the translation from the original Japanese. Come on down, Revolver Ocelot, Decoy Octopus and Psycho Mantis.

However, all going well you'll get to meet plain old Donald Anderson, Kenneth Baker and various other nuclear weapons boffins who have been kidnapped by the terrorist outfit Foxhound, which wants the return of Big Boss or they'll start firing missiles.

So it's Solid Snake's initial mission to infiltrate their Alaskan base, find the hostages and stop the launch ...

Therefore, it's not a matter of blasting your way in, but trying to avoid detection from spotlights, guards, security cameras and remote-controlled turrets.

You do this while creeping about in ventilation shafts, edging along walls and just occasionally popping off an enemy - either by a quick throttling or a shot with silencer-equipped guns.

But what makes this so engrossing is its constant sense of tension from all the hide and seek, mixed with its occasional bursts of pulse-racing action - usually when you have made a mistake and there are guards running from all directions.

As well, its frequent animated instalments keep the plot unfolding, twisting and getting weirder by the hour. Snake can communicate with his masters - who are plotting his every move - via radio and they, too, become intriguing characters in the storyline.

That might be explained as a mix of Japanese Manga sci-fi meets an X-Files sense of paranoia and conspiracy and crossed with a little bit of Guns of Navarone.

It offers the epic dimensions of say, a Resident Evil 2 or Tomb Raider, but with greater unpredictability, more exacting tactics and an atmosphere all its own.

Graphically, it's superb. Button-wise its directional controls take a little adjusting to, as does the overhead view mode which makes aiming Snake's firearms a bit finicky.

But it's not about body count, it's about putting you in the picture - any more games like this and the days of the Hollywood action movie are sure to be numbered. Metal Gear Solid lives up to the hype.

Pictured: Solid Snake... our hero