First and foremost, I must thank samejamesbond for letting me have this review.

The year is 1998, and video games seem to be bright and cheery. You have the colorful world of Super Mario 64, with it's magical paintings. You have the lush fantasy world of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. Let's face it: The characters and worlds were getting a little bit old. Along comes Metal Gear Solid, with dark, cold environments and a somewhat less flamboyant hero.

You play as Snake, a retired member of the special forces group FOX-HOUND. Snake is a heavy smoker and hits on every female he comes into contact with, even if only by codec. You are given the mission of infiltrating the base on Shadow Moses Island to save the DARPA chief and the president of ArmsTech inc. You are supposed to remain hidden, but it doesn't always work that way.

Graphics: 5
The graphics hold up surprisingly well after around 12 years. The environments aren't as colorful as other games from the time. They environments instead feel cold and metallic, which is good, seeing as the game is set in an area that resembles a military base. The character models look realistic and footprints in the snow serve more of a purpose than graphics, if a guard sees your footprints, he will follow them, which can get you caught, or you can use this to your advantage and sneak right by the area that was once guarded.

Just hide behind the conveniently placed tank, and things will be okay.

Sound: 5
The soundtrack is very well put together and the voice acting is good, though a little over the top. The most ridiculous line is:
"There's nothing like the feeling of slamming a long silver bullet into a well greased chamber." ~ Revolver Ocelot, during the fight.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj7UfgWYHiY&feature=related"]YouTube- Revolver Ocelot's famous one-liner[/ame]
Here's some music from the game:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaPAXknX88k&feature=related"]YouTube- Metal Gear Solid - Danger!![/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss0wCqTNLBI&feature=related"]YouTube- Metal Gear Solid Soundtrack: Intruder 3[/ame]

Replay Value: 5
To fully experience the game, you need to play through it 3 times through. One for each ending, and one to see the alternate costumes, and use a combination of the items from each ending. Not to mention the fact that there are 10 VR missions to hone your skills with three variations on each of them, and there are four difficulty settings, the last one must be unlocked.

Challenge: 5
You are eased into the challenge, but it does get hard after a while. You need to fully utilize all of your skills and weapons to beat the bosses, your weapons are disabled from time to time, and you have to use your cigarettes (which take away health) to avoid infra-red beams. You also start with low capacity for health, and the ability to hold only two rations (used to restore health). You will probably be seen by guards at some point, and you probably won't be able to fight them all off, and so you will see:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwnPFryXF6g"]YouTube- Original Metal Gear Solid Game Over Screen[/ame]
You can't shoot from the first person perspective, so head shots are not an option.

Overall: 5
This is an awesome game, one of the best ever made. Everyone should play this at some point. The only real problem I have with MGS, is the fact that it is such a short game, if you skip all the cutscenes, and don't explore much, this game can be beaten in less than 5 hours.