IPHONE GAME REVIEW
Like a snake shedding its skin, Metal Gear Solid adopts a new form on iPhone. Abandoning the stealth play of the main series so far, Metal Gear Solid Touch is all about the trigger finger. All-out action replaces tactical espionage in what plays more like Duck Hunt than Metal Gear Solid.
It's a dramatic departure for a franchise venerated as the progenitor of the stealth-action genre. The result is a game that fails to carry the spirit of the series, trading sophisticated gameplay for accessibility.
Reprising his role in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Solid Snake returns as the distinguished Old Snake for one final mission against his nemesis Liquid Ocelot.
The first three acts of the saga are chronicled in Metal Gear Solid Touch beginning with an arrival in the Middle East and ending in a foggy European city. The game's 12 missions will be boosted by others released as a free update at a later date.
Instead of sneaking in the shadows, you control Snake in a series of gun-slinging stages. Swiping your finger across the screen pops Snake up from cover, moving the reticle on his M4 assault rifle.
When you have an enemy in your sights, a quick tap fires off a bullet. Distanced foes can be taken out using the SVD sniper rifle by zooming in. Sliding two fingers apart horizontally on the screen swaps Snake's M4 for the SVD, switching the view to that of a scope.
Private military contract soldiers join elite forces "Frogs" and bipedal mechanical Geckos in Snake's shootout. As you progress, enemies appear more frequently, require more shots to kill, and move with greater speed. There are also boss battles capping each act that have you square off against noted figures from Metal Gear Solid 4.
Aiding you are special GA-KO and Kerotan power-ups (read: rubber duckies and frogs) that replenish Snake's health, as well as equip him with a one-use RPG-7 and temporary stealth mode. You won't need the help, but honing in on the miniature figurines adds variety to otherwise repetitive stages.
There's nothing particularly creative about these Metal Gear Solid-themed shooting galleries. Enemies pop up in a predictable fashion, broken only by the occasional uninspired boss battle. More could have been done to capitalise on the bosses, especially considering the source material.
The duel with Laughing Octopus is especially disappointing and does little to play up her unique attributes. Giving the adversary in question extra health and speeding up their movement in comparison to regular enemies doesn't make these battles more exciting, just longer.
Metal Gear Solid Touch attempts to hide its banal battles behind slick graphics and a full set of features. The problem isn't in the shooting gallery gameplay, which works rather well; instead, it's the complete lack of creativity, the unwillingness to leverage the format to deliver a cutting edge shooter.
Someone needs to teach Old Snake a few new tricks because his iPhone ops is just barely solid.
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Instead of an atomic bang, Metal Gear Solid Touch arrives on the iPhone with more of a firecracker pop. A lack of creative gameplay takes the pow out of this slick production
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Joined:
Sep 2008
Post count:
60
Oh dear.
:(
Joined:
Sep 2008
Post count:
23
It does seem a little strange, taking an established IP and cutting out almost everything that defines it. Even Metal Gear Acid made a certain kind of sense with its slow, tactical play.
Joined:
Sep 2008
Post count:
60
Ever since Guns of the Patriots I've thought Kojima might just have lost his mojo.
Joined:
Feb 2008
Post count:
287
That's a shame, but maybe it'll be worth a bronze award at least once the full game is here (i.e. chapter 2 as well)?
Joined:
Sep 2005
Post count:
276
Sounds like a real missed opportunity this, but hopefully Konami can put it right with updates, future versions. 6/10 isn't terrible of course, it's just average.
Joined:
Sep 2005
Post count:
276
If you put aside your Metal Gear Solid expectations...it's still average
Tracy | 19 March 2009
I couldn't agree with you more jonmonkey. It just doesn't feel like Metal Gear. And you too Bigbear--it's so painfully average.
Joined:
Feb 2009
Post count:
261
If they didn't tag the MGS theme on it, this game wouldn't have scored so low. The controls work well, the graphics are great (floating debris in the sky,) the sound is top notch, and the storyline is all included too. The concept is a little too simple and repetitive, but it's not really bad. Probably not worth $8, but it's a polished little duck hunt like game that is for casual fans. Kojima himself came out and said the game is supposed to be lighthearted nowhere near as hardcore as MGS4 on the consoles. Shame that reviewers can't look at this game without the dizzying expectations that accompany an MGS game.
Scholl | 19 March 2009
I understand your point Wong, but the reality is that it IS an MGS game and it is impossible to look at this game without high expectations. Konami raised the expectations themselves. Did you see the super polished website for this glorified version of Duck Hunt? The funny thing is: I'm not even really a fan boy of the MGS series, but I am shocked by this overpriced (yet also deep) minigame. This platform deserves better.
Scholl | 19 March 2009
So much hype for this?!?!?
