Text/GameForce
In the field of games, there is a view that everyone can agree on, that is, the improvement of hardware technology can also make the concept of game production continue to evolve.
The most direct example of this is the Sony PS console released at the end of 1994, which has a very important significance, 3D polygon capabilities replaced the 2D scroll capability, began to become a new standard for measuring hardware performance, while the capacity of up to 650MB and low cost of discs, but also a subversive impact on the traditional cassette, in such a big environment, but also brewed a number of revolutionary classic games, today we want to talk about the PS console's iconic exclusive work: "Metal Gear" (Metal Gear). Solid）
Sony PS console and Sega Saturn SS console almost simultaneously released, the two from the beginning of the fierce competition, over time, 3D function leading PS began to prevail, until the release of "Final Fantasy 7" (Final Fantasy 7) in early 1997, with the top game graphics performance, new combat system, rich game elements, became a landmark work, since then the PS console's victory is irreversible, Defeating SS while becoming the most popular console of the 32-bit era.
The success of "Final Fantasy 7", let developers and players appreciate the powerful charm of CG animation, soon gave birth to a large number of similar works, when the standard of "good game" is the core operation experience + massive CG introduction plot, just when people think that this will be the basic form of the future game, "Metal Gear Solid" turned out, so that everyone can see the real meaning of the "new generation of games".
Speaking of the PS version of "Metal Gear Solid", it has to start with the genius producer Hideo Kojima.
Born in 1963, the greatest joy of his childhood was playing games such as thief catching and hide-and-seek with a group of his peers, and this experience had an important impact on his future game development philosophy, and when the protagonist of the player's operation was nervously acting under the eyes of the enemy, the feeling was not panic, but the great sense of achievement born of the danger ring, and the classic memories of returning to childhood.
Hideo Kojima had a strong interest in movies when he was a student, and always dreamed of becoming a good director, and when he was in college, he caught up with the Nintendo FC console, so he came up with the idea of combining game interaction and movie narrative, with unlimited creativity in his heart, after graduating from college in 1986, Hideo Kojima joined Konami (Konami), after experiencing immature platforms such as MSX, PCE, 3DO, and diverging from Konami's production philosophy. Hideo Kojima has gradually grown into the industry's top producer, and in the 32-bit machine era, he finally waited for a space platform where he could express his ideas.
In the previous 8-bit machine, 16-bit computer era, all the game screen can only be displayed in 2D form, although the use of scrolls, zoom and other special effects can make some "pseudo-3D" effects, but the degree of fineness and fluency performance is not good, the common use of lenses in film works to enhance the audience's sense of substitution means, in the game can hardly be used, which is the so-called "game cinematization" has not been able to achieve the most fundamental reason.
In the 32-bit machine era, Hideo Kojima first transplanted the two early works of "Policenauts" and "Snatcher" in PS console, which is an experimental work on the new platform, through massive cutscenes, so that players have a new game experience, but the gameplay of these two works is mainly click-through adventure, Hideo Kojima will obviously not be satisfied with this, what he wants to create is to let players interact through operation, Truly immersive experience that blends into the game.
In Hideo Kojima's early works, the most distinctive is "Metal Gear", which was once ported to the FC console, and some domestic players have played it, creating a new "infiltration" gameplay, while the fascinating storyline and character relationships are no longer simple fights and kills, so that people have a new understanding of action games.
At that time, due to limited functionality, many ideas could not be fully displayed, and even because Konami adapted a very bad sequel without authorization, Hideo Kojima decided to create a new series of works on the PS console, changing the name to Metal Gear Solid.
In 1996, the game was officially developed, and just as the recruitment was being recruited, the young artist Yoji Niokawa came to the news, and the bold mix of ink and sketching design style showed a unique charm, and since then he has become Hideo Kojima's royal artist, and Konami Tokyo Branch KCET has deployed a large number of elite talents for this project, striving to create a shocking work.
The picture style of this work is cold and dark, the first impression is not so amazing, and it does not use a large number of CG animations that were popular at the time, all the cutscenes are generated in the form of real-time calculus, simply put, the image seen in the cutscenes is the same as the actual operation, in general, "Metal Gear Solid" is not the best work of the PS console screen.
At that time, in other masterpieces, usually use separately produced CG to explain the plot, although the effect is outstanding, but because the CG and the actual game screen are different, it will cause the player a feeling that the game process is interrupted by CG, and the large use of CG not only makes users aesthetically tired, but also some manufacturers focus on doing CG and ignore the essence of the game, and finally even appear PS2 "Bodyguard", CG and game content A strange game in the sky and an underground.
The biggest innovation of Metal Gear Solid is that the player in the game truly integrates with the game environment, thanks to Hideo Kojima's deep understanding of the use of cinematic lenses.
The screen perspective in the game constantly changes with the protagonist's actions, sometimes pulling the panoramic god perspective to see the overall situation, sometimes zooming in to show the tension and excitement of the enemies behind it, coupled with the cutscenes that explain the plot, so that the player feels that he is personally involved in the action movie.
The content of this work is also rich and wonderful, although it is a "sneak action" as the theme of the work, but and the "Allied Death Squad" to avoid the enemy's line of sight as the main experience of the game is completely different, the infiltration operation is more to let the player experience the atmosphere of the game environment, basically arranged in the early stage, to the middle and late stages of the player can basically let go of the hands and feet of bold action.
The protagonist in the game can use pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, mines, explosives, remote control missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons, as well as thermal imaging, gas masks, body armor, sedatives and other auxiliary props, weapons and auxiliary props are only equipped with one, players need to flexibly switch weapon prop combinations according to the needs of different scenes.
The flow of this game is relaxed, the content distribution is reasonable, both the open scene of high freedom of the hidden action, as well as the direct hard frontal combat, as well as the content of puzzle exploration, but the most impressive is several well-designed BOSS battles, both pistol battles in the fixed space, hand-to-hand combat, but also the main perspective of sniper duels, as well as VS tanks, VS helicopters, VS mechs and other asymmetric battles, defeating the final BOSS ready to evacuate, there is also a driving chase battle.
The common wonderful elements in action movies are vividly reflected in the game, and what is even more subtle is that all the weapons of the protagonist can be used in these BOSS battles, and some battles can be won in many ways, no weapon is superfluous and useless, and there is no "god suit" that can be fought to the end, which fully reflects Hideo Kojima's exquisite conception.
The plot of the game is fascinating, in addition to the main story of the cutscenes, it is also an important pleasure to grasp the hidden background through radio communication and various dialogue details. The character image of this work has a distinct personality, whether it is the protagonist, NPC, enemy BOSS or even the unknown pawn, although the picture is full of rough polygons and jagged teeth, but with the characteristics of the shape and the whole voice, it still constructs a flesh-and-blood portrait group.
The Japanese voice actor of the protagonist of this game, Sneek, is the famous voice actor Akio Otsuka, the tough guy Bart in "Ghost in the Shell", the Hades in "Saint Seiya", Lü Bu in the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other classic character voices are from him, and the English voice is american actor David Hayter, and the classic voice makes Sneek's image deeply rooted in people's hearts.
"Metal Gear Solid" was first released as a trailer at the E3 show in Atlanta in the United States in 1997, and in the year of the flood of gorgeous CG, the debut of the game as a real game screen was widely praised, and many people were looking forward to the arrival of a new "interactive movie" experience. On September 3, 1998, the game was officially released in Japan, October 21 in North America, soon caused a sensation, IGN gave a super high rating of 9.8 points, the Japanese version sold 3.18 million sets, 2.85 million sets in other regions, Hideo Kojima and his works, became the number one sign of Konami.
Such an excellent work is naturally inseparable from transplantation and reproduction, and "Metal Gear Solid" has launched several versions. The first is the original Japanese version, 2CD capacity, Japanese dubbing + Japanese subtitles; the original AMERICAN version, 2CD capacity, English dubbing + English subtitles; June 24, 1999 released the full version (Metal Gear Solid Integral), English dubbing + Japanese English subtitles optional, added 300 levels of highly acclaimed VR training mode, new male and female protagonist costumes, main perspective game mode, enemy patrol mode changes, hidden call wireless frequency, difficulty also expanded to 5 kinds, The full version sold 110,000 copies; on October 12, 1999, the U.S. version of Metal Gear Solid VR Missions was released, which separately included the new VR training added to the Japanese version of the full version, and this pure information article unexpectedly sold 1.18 million copies.
In 2000, the game was ported to the PC platform, and the picture effect was improved compared to the PS version, so that players without a console also had the opportunity to appreciate the style of the game. Then in 2004, the game was remade on the Nintendo NGC console using a new graphics engine, in addition to the main storyline, the graphics and details were redesigned by Hideo Kojima, and the remake achieved 470,000 copies of sales, did not port to other platforms, and is still one of the iconic exclusive works of the NGC console.
Many players are discussing the most representative works of PS consoles, from the perspective of the development trend of the game more than twenty years later, the gameplay with CG performance as the selling point has gradually declined, and games like "Metal Gear Solid" that pursue immersive experience are constantly being carried forward, from this point of view, Hideo Kojima's "Metal Gear Solid" undoubtedly has the significance of a pioneer, just like a bottle of aged good wine, the aroma of the year is charming, and after many years, there is a more scenery.
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