Metal Gear Twin Snakes Adapter Talks Future

Thanks to Game Informer for its interview with Silicon Knights' founder Denis Dyack, following this week's release of fairly well-received GameCube Metal Gear Solid remake, MGS: The Twin Snakes. Dyack says of the game: "I think we've met the watermark and I think gamers are going to be happy and looking at the responses so far... we think people are fairly pleased", and looks forward to the next Silicon Knights project, suggesting wistfully: "We'd really love to make a hardcore dark Zelda, but at the end of the day, that's something that needs to be discussed with Mr. Miyamoto and his group and that's his baby."

Pleasing everyone with the next Zelda...

[Man In Black]

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I have what I think would be a great way to please everyone with the next Zelda game, while inherently adding to the replay value of the game:

Basically, you program the game in a fairly flexible manner so that change some of the graphics rendering methods on the fly, as well as switch some of the character models. Doing this, you could provide an option whether you want a cel-shaded cutesy Link, or a dark, brooding Link. You could probably get away with using the same models for the vast majority of characters in the game (except for probably Link, Zelda, and some other important characters), and for those that don't look quite right, you could probably swap some textures around to make it look a bit better.

Of course, whether you chose cute or dark, you'd still play the exact same quest, but I really think that the entire "feel" of the game would be entirely different in each mode. It would probably be enough to make it worthwhile to play the game in each mode (as if you needed another reason to play a Zelda game a second time anyways).

It doesn't seem to me that this would even be all that hard. I know some video cards are capable of forcing cel-shading and such into games that don't do it themselves... and these days, any programmer worth his salary would probably be using skeletal animation for 3D models, so swapping models and textures out shouldn't be a huge problem. It's not like I'm asking for two seperate games on one disc, just a choice of rendering modes and a handful of small changes to make the conversion complete.

Please

[drewmca]

Before everyone gets soiled while riding SK's jocks, let's take a look back at Eternal Darkness. An innovative game in a lot of ways, very clever on the novelty front, but actually fun to play? Not really. The actual combat and user interaction (besides where they screwed with you, meaning you sit back and let the game control you) simply wasn't that fun.

I'd personally hate to see their version of Zelda. A lot of really dark cut scenes, with your controller shaking, and maybe some blackouts where you don't know if it's your TV going out or the game screwing with you. But no actually fun gameplay to keep you interested for the length of the game. Oh, and every enemy is a rehash of the enemies you saw before. (doh! doesn't that happen in Zelda already!)

Yeah, I don't trust SK with Zelda.

[gasaraki]

As tempting as it is to say "yes" to any Zelda (the more Zelda the better) I can't say I trust SK at all with the franchise. Although Eternal Darkness was interesting in some ways, ultimately I don't think it was a very good game, and it certainly didn't capture my attention or compel me to play like Zelda does. Now look at what Miyamoto's team has done with Zelda, from Link To The Past to Ocarina to Wind Waker, they've made games that are not only innovative but also just so much goddamn fun to play. This fun simplicity is the last thing you get from ED, and considering he's calling this theoretical game "Dark" Zelda, I expect the same thing would happen to that. No thanks, SK.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

[Vexware]

If you take a look at the game's different reviews [gametab.com], you will notice that the average critics' score is 84%. Now I do not want to sound like some kind of demented fanatic - I know that 84% is a good score -, but in my opinion, the game really is underrated for what it is in terms of gameplay, longetivity, graphics, and story. I know I sound kind of biased, and as a fan of the PlayStation edition I'm sure I am, but surely Metal Gear Solid deserves more than that even as just introduced to new players.

Firstly, such an amazing gameplay surely deserves a bit more acclaim than it is currently getting. Some will call it 'out-dated' - those are the people who haven't really played the game but just checked the original release date and wan't to sound as if they know something about it. Great gameplay is never out-of-date. Metal gear Solid was, and still is, a game that you could play for days on end simply because the gameplay is pure fun; there are so much ways to play through the game, and now, the game has all the best things from its sequel: amazing AI, new moves, first-person-shooting, and general increased environment interactivity. I could already play the original game for a long time without even getting near the pit of boredom; now I have even more ways to play the game, more diverse ways to get through it. How could that possibly not make this gem shine even more?

Sure, once you will have played through the game a few times, you will be able to finish it in less than a few hours, but just being able to play through it in so many different ways will be what will make you come back to playing it over and over again. I just do not see how you can get bored of Metal gear Solid.

Silicon Knights have greatly updated the graphics, and it is a real pleasure to play through the game with 'next-generation' graphics. It makes the gameplay even more pleasurable, even more enjoyable. Some people say that 'gameplay is more important than graphics'. Metal gear Solid: The Twin Snakes has both great gameplay and updated graphics; what more could one want?

As for the story, well this is where the opinions are more diverse. The game is basically story-driven, and that is a bit of "the problem". Players of the original edition will remember hours upon hours - literally - of CODEC conversations, about nuclear war, government, terrorists and discrete love twists. Some will love the story, and I belong to that batch, but some will just want to get a refund because they asked for a game and not for a movie. The game's story is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it - but you'll just have to do with it, because you can't skip the nigh-on 30 minute conversations, which you can probably do without. It seems Silicon Knights has not added a skip function, from what i have red in the reviews, and this is a feature they should not have overlooked, because of all the complaints when the game came out, most were about these "hellish" conversations. You will have been warned; if you wan't non-stop action, you will be somewhat disappointed.

All I have to say is, beyond the long conversations which cut the gameplay every so often - depicting a story you may love to follow or love to hate -, if you do not buy this game, you will be missing out on a gem of gameplay, one of the pioneers of the "stealth'-em-up" revolution. In my opinion, this will be a future 'must-have' for GameCube owners, and the memories which will be forged will be worth much more than the scores the reviews give to the game.

Why Zelda?

[antin]

If they are so keen on making a dark Zelda, why not just make a knock off? Ie a game where you have an extensive overworld with lots of stuff to do and people to speak to, multiple dungeons based around puzzles, various collectable items that let you solve new puzzles and get to new areas of the overworld, etc...

Star Fox: Adventures was basically just that - Zelda but with with Fox instead of Link. I think the recent Sphinx game was similar to Zelda, BG&E was also kinda close, so have been a bunch of games.

Personally I would rather Zelda gets kept by Nintendo and Miyamoto, but if Silicon Knights or anybody else want to make a Zelda-esque game, they should just go right ahead... I'll prolly even buy it.

Re:Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

[Dark Paladin]

Most of the reviews I've seen that give the score 80-odd percent is because it doesn't "add anything new to the game" - they expect as large a change between MGS: Twin Snakes as, say, "Metroid: Zero Mission".

Which I disagree with. Silicon Knights updated the graphics, sound, AI, and others, but they wisely left the rest alone. It's kind of like watching Casablanca, then getting Casablanca on DVD with voice commentary, multiple languages, optional color track, and then getting pissed because they didn't include a new ending where Rick gets the girl.

The point of a "remake" should be fairly simple: update the graphics, maybe some new features that the developers would have done if they had the technology, and update that don't impact the original game's flow or storyline (such as Chrono Triggers monster gallery and multiple ending viewer in the PS One remake of the game), and that should be it.

A remake is useful not to the "old guys" who have played the game, but to the new guys who've never had a chance to play the original and see what the "big deal" was about.

Re:Eternal Darkness

[13Echo]

They changed a lot. They added a lot of controls from MGS2. You can now hang from walls and use lockers. Snake has more moves. They added a first person mode. They also totally redid almost all of the dialogue. Of course, the graphics have been overhauled, and look fantastic. There are a ton of other things that have been changed as well; too many to list.

Re:Why Zelda?

[Krellan]

A game that plays like Zelda 1, with an extensive overworld, lots to do, dungeons with puzzles, items that open up new areas, backtracking to old areas and finding more things you couldn't get to before, and so on? And, to top it all off, a very dark and brooding theme with an overarching plotline?

Silicon Knights has already made this game!

Blood Omen 1 [siliconknights.com], for PSOne and other platforms. It came out in 1996. The first - and many say the best-playing - in the Legacy Of Kain [nosgoth.net] series.

The game has its warts (most noticeably the clumsy controls and almost-nonexistent AI), but if you're into Zelda-style games and/or dark-themed games in general, it is not to be missed!

And a remake of Blood Omen 1 on a modern platform would be just sweet....

Re:Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

[rufo]

They really should have included the VR training disc (included in the PC version of MGS, a separate purchase for the PSX version). That's basically some insane number of different levels one can play through... it's just huge. If you like the gameplay, but hate the story, that would be a really strong option. Unfortunately it sounds like it's not included, which is a big bummer (I think it would've gotten much higher ratings if it had included the VR Training)