I can still remember the first time I met Snake. I was at university, and the person in the next room from mine had a PS1. I remember seeing loads of legendary games for the first time sitting on their couch as their PS1 sat upside down – it was one of those with the wonky laser. Snake, though? Snake was special.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1Developer: KonamiPublisher: KonamiPlatform: Played on SwitchAvailability: Out now on Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam)
I hadn’t played games in a while, so bundled up with my memories of stuff like Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider was my confusion and delight and concern about the ways that games were embracing 3D, and possibly leaving people like me behind. MGS felt like it was leaving me behind for sure. Snake crawled out of the chill waters into Shadow Moses at the start of the game, and I saw patrolling guards, puddles on the ground, complex formations of rock and electrical equipment and it made me think: this is so realistic! This is so much more serious than the Mushroom Kingdom! Games have grown up too much!
A few minutes later I had one of those slight reorienting moments. The point where Snake is getting ready to infiltrate the base, and he has to move past two spotlights that cast their beams on the ground. You have to find the moment to slip by them both while staying in darkness. Oh, I remember thinking – there is a game here that I could maybe understand. It’s not just grown-up architecture and special forces. This is almost Pac-Man.
Then, a few days later I had another of those reorienting moments. I ducked into my neighbour’s room and Snake was fighting a sort of cyborg ninja who appeared to be partially invisible and was banging on about how much he liked pain. I realised: oh, this game is not the straight-up Andy McNab-fest I imagined. It’s weirder. It’s real but hyper-real, and also camp and funny and surprising. Oh Snake!
I’ve played MGS since then myself, but I’ve also spent a lot of time not playing, not able to play it really, for want of a version that suits me. And while I haven’t been playing it the game has become this beautifully rich thing, this dark night in a strange, endless, complex and sinister place. A lone hero, friends on the radio, no idea what secrets lie ahead. One of my greatest, fondest memories of games, you might say, is not being able to play MGS so instead it just grows greater in my mind. And now it’s here – on many platforms, but also on Switch, as part of a collection. I’ve been so excited for this.