Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid was a landmark video game in terms of cinematic narrative and stealth gameplay, delivering easily one of the best video game experiences ever. The game begins with an elaborate, superbly presented briefing of your mission: to enter Shadow Moses Island, rescue the DARPA Chief and Kenneth Baker, then ascertain whether the terrorists can make a nuclear strike, and stop them if they do. With it being outlined that you'll have to acquire any weapons on site and won't get any official help (aside from Codec support), Kojima was truly throwing the rule book out the window and the gauntlet down to gamers everywhere. After we catch our first glimpse of Liquid Snake going to take care of business, we get control of Solid Snake for the first time. The Dock section of MGS is one of the most enjoyable areas to explore, a small sandbox of sorts in the sense that it's a great training area to get you to grips with the combat, movement and controls, while providing you with numerous decent places to hide also. Whether you decide to sneak or just strangle everyone, you have to wait for the elevator to return with a soldier before you can board it up to the Heliport. Doing so results in Snake removing his scuba gear as the game's title card appears. Get ready for greatness. Everything from its Soliton Radar system to the incredible score and immense atmosphere made this a huge breath of fresh air back in 1998, and right from that opening Dock section, it was a relentlessly entertaining, nerve-shredding exercise unlike anything we'd ever played. Did we miss any of your favourite opening levels? Let us know in the comments below!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
