Metal Gear
Early top down action game featuring famed Solid Snake
The early Metal Gear games, of which this is one of them were still driven a lot by stealth mechanics. However, as you would imagine, the brand of sneaking and silent takedown was served in a much humbler set of clothes, while a lot of the game was trial and error. Thankfully enough, you don't have to sneak all the way through in Metal Gear, you can also go full guns blazing if that is what you want to do, and you will find that this approach works just as well. The game was initially released for consoles, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and thus, controls wise as well as graphics wise, the DOS version feels just like the original NES. That translates into simple 8bit graphics as well as simple controls. So, while the game is definitely reminiscent of top down shooters from the 8bit era, it has enough variety, especially due to the silent takedowns and sneaking so it feels more original and better produced, overall, than most of its siblings. I certainly recommend it, as the game is still highly playable due to its brand of simple mechanics and good enough graphic presentation.
Marked a genre (stealth action)
Metal Gear is a military action-adventure video game that is considered to be one of the first stealth-based games. I remember playing the NES version, later, I found out that there is actually a MS-DOS port of the game and I've decided to give it a try. The DOS port was a little bit better, but it wasn't bad enough to make me abandon the game. The game takes place in 1995, when the West discovers that a WMD, known in the game as Metal Gear, is being constructed somewhere in South Africa. The US send out one of their top agents, Gray Fox, to investigate and destroy the weapon. After losing contact with him, Solid Snake is sent to finish the job. This is pretty much the story you need to know about the game. The controls in the game are basically the same like in the NES version: move around, kill people, gather some items, get some information along the way, rescue hostages ans so on. The funniest thing in this game that some of the advices you get from your radio come a bit too late. Like, for example, when you need to travel through a room full of gas, you only get this information when you have already entered the room. Someone needs to rearrange the informers. The graphics are a little bit better, however the sound can be become loud. Overall, if you want a good series of stealth games, beside Hitman, go ahead and start the Metal Gear series with this one, not the NES version!
