Metal Gear is a name that comes with baggage. Think of Metal Gear, and you think of Solid Snake, of Revolver Ocelot, Big Boss, Raiden, Otacon and a host of other improbably named characters down through the past ten years. You think of the excitement around Metal Gear Solid, the hype around MGS2, perhaps the satisfaction of MGS3"s return to form. You think of Hideo Kojima"s complex, philosophy-laden storylines and self-indulgent cut-scenes, and his constant claims that the next MGS will be his last - and the next, and the next. Metal Gear"s baggage has piled up to the point where this is a videogaming institution, upon which many gamers have strong views. Whether it"s a love of the series" great characters, a hatred for the dodgy pacing and interminable codec dialogue sequences, or a simple case of old-fashioned platform fanboyism, it"s not hard to find those who profess either to love or to hate Metal Gear.
What"s often forgotten - buried, to stretch this metaphor a little further on our creaking introductory rack, under the weight of all this baggage - is that Metal Gear boasts fundamental, solid game mechanics. Sure, sometimes it forgets to let you play for a bit too long, but ten years of development have honed MGS" basic elements of sneaking, shooting and hand-to-hand combat.