Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
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| Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Silicon Knights Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Series | Metal Gear |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Release date | NA March 9, 2004 JPN March 11, 2004 EU March 26, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Stealth game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature CERO: 15+ BBFC: 15 |
| Media | 2 GameCube Game Discs |
| Input methods | GameCube controller |
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth game developed by Silicon Knights and Konami that was published in 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube video game console. The Twin Snakes is a remake of Metal Gear Solid, developed and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation.[1]
The game's story centers on Solid Snake, a retired soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons disposal facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit. He attempts to liberate their two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, and stops the terrorists from launching a nuclear strike. Snake also confronts and defeats members of FOXHOUND, who reveal his mysterious heritage.
The Twin Snakes features graphical improvements over the original, new cut scenes written and directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, and gameplay functions originally introduced in the sequel Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game also includes a revised translation with re-recorded voice acting using most of the original English voice cast.[2]
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[edit] Gameplay
For The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid's gameplay was altered to resemble that of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. While all of the original areas and enemies were kept, new ways for the player to combat them were introduced, such as the ability to shoot using first person view.[2] Enemy AI was also improved, giving enemy soldiers the ability to communicate with each other and detect the player more intelligently.[3]
[edit] Development
The Twin Snakes was first announced in 2003 by Nintendo of America, confirming that Silicon Knights would be developing under the guidance of legendary developers, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.[4]
Although The Twin Snakes was largely developed at Silicon Knights, its cut scenes were developed in-house at Konami and directed by Japanese film director Ryuhei Kitamura, reflecting his dynamic signature style, utilizing bullet-time photography and choreographed gunplay extensively. Kitamura created many of the games cinematics to look identical to those in the original Metal Gear Solid, but upon inspection Hideo Kojima had him redo them.[5] The game's composition duties were split: some of the in-game music was handled by Steve Henifin and Silicon Knights' music staff, while the rest of the music (in-game, menus and cut scenes) was handled by Konami's music staff, including Metal Gear Solid 2 co-composer Norihiko Hibino.
[edit] Release
The Twin Snakes was released on March 9, 2004 in North America. It was originally to be released in November 2003, but was pushed back, along with the other versions.[6] The European date was pushed back several weeks and was repackaged with artwork to make up for the delay.[7]
In Japan The Twin Snakes was released on March 11 alongside an exclusive Premium Package. The box includes the game itself; a platinum-colored GameCube adorned with the FOXHOUND logo; a 44-page book titled Memorandum containing production notes, sketches and photos; and a GameCube disc called the "Special Disc" containing an emulated version of the Famicom version of the original Metal Gear and a trailer of The Twin Snakes.[8]
[edit] Voice acting
The voice acting was re-recorded, with most of the original voice cast from Metal Gear Solid returning in their original roles, with the notable exception of the voice actor for Gray Fox. In the original game, Gray Fox and Donald Anderson were both voiced by Greg Eagles. In the remake, Eagles reprised his role as Anderson, but Gray Fox was voiced by Rob Paulsen. Unlike previous MGS titles, no Japanese voiceovers were recorded for The Twin Snakes. Instead, the Japanese release used the same English voice acting as the North American and European versions.
[edit] Cast
| Voice Actor | Former Pseudonym | Character |
|---|---|---|
| David Hayter | Sean Barker* | Solid Snake |
| Cam Clarke | James Flinders | Liquid Snake |
| Debi Mae West | Mae Zadler | Meryl Silverburgh |
| Paul Eiding | Paul Otis | Roy Campbell |
| Jennifer Hale | Carren Learning | Naomi Hunter |
| Kim Mai Guest | Kim Nguyen | Mei Ling |
| Renee Raudman | Renne Collette | Nastasha Romanenko |
| Christopher Randolph | Christopher Fritz | Hal "Otacon" Emmerich |
| Rob Paulsen | N/A | Ninja |
| Patric Zimmerman | Patric Laine | Revolver Ocelot |
| Peter Lurie | Chuck Farley | Vulcan Raven |
| Doug Stone | none | Psycho Mantis |
| Tasia Valenza | Julie Monroe | Sniper Wolf Computer Voice |
| Greg Eagles | George Byrd | Donald Anderson |
| Allan Lurie | Bert Stewart | Kenneth Baker |
| William Bassett | Frederick Bloggs | Jim Houseman |
| Dean Scofield | Dino Schofield | Johnny Sasaki |
| Granville Van Dusen Steven Blum Scott Menville Scott Bullock Scott Dolph |
N/A | Various Genome Soldiers |
- *This credit appeared only in the game manual and early demo versions of the game. David Hayter did not have a pseudonym in the game credits.
[edit] Reception
Much like the original Metal Gear Solid, which received excellent reviews from critics, The Twin Snakes also received an 8.8 and 85 from Game Rankings and Metacritic,[9][10] respectively. IGN gave Twin Snakes 8.5 out of 10, praising its superior graphics and likening the presentation to epic movies.[11] GameSpot gave it an 8.2 out of 10 or "Great" on their scale,[3] Eurogamer rated The Twin Snakes as 8/10 and Gaming Age gave it a "A-" rating. American gaming magazine Game Informer gave The Twin Snakes a 9.25/10, citing its improved gameplay and graphics, and also its faithful retelling of the original Metal Gear Solid story.[12]
Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, The Twin Snakes has also drawn criticism. According to GamePro, the game has a "flagging framerate and bouts of slowdown that occur when too much activity crowds the screen."[13] The new gameplay elements from MGS2 have also been criticized as unneccessary, as the level design is virtually unchanged from MGS1,[13] and even "spoil the challenge ... and completely ruin at least one boss battle."[14]
[edit] Differences
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Apart from the obvious upgrade in graphics, The Twin Snakes has a number of less apparent alterations compared to the PlayStation version.
- Minor dialog changes.
- All cutscenes were re-rendered, most undergoing major reworking. Two new cutscenes were added to give the Ninja character more depth and a new section was added to Psycho Mantis' cutscene. Also, during Sniper Wolf's death scene, several wolves appear and howl over her death.
- The ending text was rewritten to reflect the year 2003, as opposed to 1998 when the original was released.
- The disk change location is now at the bottom of Communications Tower A. The PlayStation version's disk swap occurred before entering the Blast Furnace.
- Like Metal Gear Solid 2, dog tags can be collected from enemies. However, unlike MGS2 there is no reward for doing so.
- Guards can now call for backup and make regular reports on patrols.
- The Boss Survival mode was added to the Special menu.
- Psycho Mantis' dialog regarding saved games was altered to mention GameCube games, specifically Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem; rather than the PlayStation games mentioned in the original.
- The entire musical score with the exception of the ending theme was rewritten.
- Like Metal Gear Solid 2, the pause screen has a map of the base, the original version just had the name of the place you were in.
- The Game Over screen was replaced.
- Ration packs were changed from their original square shape to the circles found in MGS2.
- The Very Easy difficulty setting was added.
- No VR Missions were included.
- In the PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid, the player's life and maximum ammunition are gradually increased as the game progresses. In The Twin Snakes both are at maximum from the beginning. In addition the life bar is refilled after every boss battle, whereas in the PlayStation version it was only refilled partially after boss battles, and only completely after certain events.
- Codec call skipping was altered. Originally, pressing a button during a Codec call would result in the voice over stopping and the screens progressing manually. In the remake there are two choices for call skipping. Pressing the B button mirrors the original game's manual progression, while pressing the A button will fast forward the call straight to the end.
- Many environmental elements from MGS2 were introduced into the remake, such as lockers, fire extinguishers, etc. In addition, many objects in the background can be destroyed or broken, such as monitors.
- One of the biggest changes was the introduction of first-person shooting, also introduced in MGS2.
- The M9 and PSG1-T were added, as well as boss Stun bars.
- The ability to hang and drop was added.
- The books for distracting guards were introduced (featuring a picture of Alex Roivas, the main character of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem).
- Sniper rifle controls were changed. In the remake it is possible to shoot while standing or kneeling. In the original, Snake automatically went into a prone position when the PSG1 was equipped. The auto-zooming nature of the original was removed.
- Security cameras can be shot and destroyed.
- The FPS mode can be set to either Toggle or Hold. In previous iterations of Metal Gear Solid, the player had to hold down the First Person View button.
- FPV effects were added, such as snow on the screen, cracking when killed, and mask tints and outlines.
- The Thermal Goggles were updated to show a more realistic representation of heat. In the original, the Thermal Goggles tinted the screen red and significant objects such as enemies were a solid red. (As introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance)
- Key cards were altered to work automatically and do not need to be equipped.
- Claymores placed by the player are visible. In the original game they disappeared after placement.
- The Nikita missiles must be controlled from First Person. Originally the player could guide them in either First or Third Person view.
- The AP Sensor was added.
- The PAL key icon changes color according to what temperature it is, rather than the player having to check its information screen as in the original game.
- The radar mode "Caution" was added.
- "Game Over if Spotted" was added to the Hard and Extreme difficulties.
- The radar is replaced by an enemy's field of vision window if they spot footprints.
- Bodies do not disappear in The Twin Snakes unless they are discovered.
- The Ninja boss had one section removed. Originally, the player had to shoot at the Ninja when his force field went up.
- Metal Gear REX's missiles have a lock on ability in the PlayStation version. This is no longer the case in The Twin Snakes.
- Many small modifications were made to level layout and design. For example, figurines of Mario and Yoshi are now found in Otacon's office, along with a GameCube and a Wavebird wireless controller. (Shooting Mario will also restore life)
- The alert music is different in every area.
- The cutscenes prominently feature the use of bullet time effects as well as fight sequences.
- The footage of Policenauts that was shown during Otacon's explanation of anime in the original has been replaced with footage of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner.
- As with Metal Gear Solid 2, The Twin Snakes had a web site where players could submit Clear Codes that are displayed upon the completion of the game, and compare the results with other players. The website was open between March 9, 2004 and March 31, 2005, and a total of 20,405 codes were submitted.[15]
[edit] References
- ^ GameSpot site staff. Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes Tech Info/Credits. GameSpot. Retrieved on October 25, 2006.
- ^ a b IGN staff. IGN: MGS: Old Versus New. IGN. Retrieved on October 28, 2006.
- ^ a b Tracy, Tim (2004). GameSpot Twin Snakes review. GameSpot. Retrieved on October 26, 2006.
- ^ IGN. IGN: Metal Gear Solid Official. IGN. Retrieved on October 28, 2006.
- ^ GameSpot. Hideo Kojima Q&A. GameSpot. Retrieved on November 4, 2006.
- ^ IGN staff. IGN: Snake Gets a Date. IGN. Retrieved on 28 October, 2006.
- ^ IGN staff. IGN: Twin Snakes Late in Europe. IGN. Retrieved on 28 October, 2006.
- ^ Hirohiko Niizumi (2004). Twin Snakes to come bundled. Gamespot. Retrieved on 28 October, 2006.
- ^ Eurogamer and Gaming age reviews via Game Rankings. Game Rankings. Retrieved on 28 October 2006.
- ^ Twin Snakes @ Metacritic. Metacritic. Retrieved on 26 October, 2006.
- ^ Matt Casamassina (2004). IGN: Twin Snakes review. IGN. Retrieved on October 28, 2006.
- ^ Reiner (2004). Game Informer Twin Snakes review. Game Informer. Retrieved on 28 October 2006.
- ^ a b Mike, Major (April 2004). "ProReview: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes". GamePro (187): 64.
- ^ Macdonald, Mark (April 2004). "Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes". Electronic Gaming Monthly (177): 126-128.
- ^ Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Mission Records. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
[edit] External links
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