Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
From the Metal Gear Wiki
| Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Silicon Knights Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Series | Metal Gear Solid series |
| Released |  /  March 9, 2004 March 11, 2004 March 26, 2004
|
| Genre(s) | Stealth action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Ratings | ESRB: Mature CERO: 15+ BBFC: 15 |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Media | 2 GameCube Game Discs |
| Input methods | GameCube controller |
| Previous game (release) | Metal Gear |
| Next game (release) | Sons of Liberty |
- "From the moment we're thrown into this world, we're fated to bring each other nothing but pain and misery."
- — Psycho Mantis
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth-based game that was developed by Silicon Knights and Konami for the GameCube and released in March 2004. It is an enhanced remake of the 1998 PlayStation best-seller Metal Gear Solid, the third canonical game in the Metal Gear series.
Changes were made to the graphics and gameplay in order to include new features introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty on the PlayStation 2. Also, the voice acting was re-recorded, with most of the original voice cast from Metal Gear Solid returning.
[edit] Division of Work
The Twin Snakes is interesting as a collaboration between Nintendo's then second-party developer Silicon Knights, Konami, and film director Ryuhei Kitamura.
In 2002, Nintendo invited Konami to create a Metal Gear game for the GameCube. Series creator Hideo Kojima agreed, but decided that it should be a remake instead of an all-new game, and it was also decided that a new developer should work on it. Kojima claimed there was no point in having the staff repeat their earlier work, while his team at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan had little experience working with the GameCube, and was already busy developing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Nintendo ultimately found an available team with suitable experience; Silicon Knights' lead designer was casually offered the "commission" by Shigeru Miyamoto during a lunch meeting.
Silicon Knights handled the bulk of gameplay development and technical work. They created the character and stage models, and their in-house music staff also created some of the in-game music. Cult director Ryuhei Kitamura was responsible for directing the new cut scenes for the game. The action sequences are far more dynamic than those in the original and utilize bullet-time photography and choreographed gunplay extensively. Konami developed all of the game's cut scenes under Kitamura's direction. Kojima oversaw the game as a whole.
[edit] Music
The game's composition duties were split: some of the in-game music was handled by Silicon Knights' music staff, while the rest of the music (in-game, menus and cut scenes) was handled by Konami's music staff, including Metal Gear Solid 2 co-composer Norihiko Hibino.
As with previous games in the series, the cut-scene music has a more orchestral/choral basis than the in-game music, which is more electronic with an emphasis on strong beats during action sequences. As the game is a remake, many of the themes recall the music in the original game. Hibino composed a military-themed take on the "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" for the game's trailer; "Mantis' Hymn" was transformed into a driving battle theme. The main theme itself was largely excised from the game, and replaced by a slightly modified version of Sniper Wolf's theme. While many fans of the original were unhappy with the changes, most were pleased with the new interpretations, leading to frustration as Konami failed to release a soundtrack album.
[edit] Critic and Fan Reaction
The Twin Snakes received mostly positive reviews from critics, though the scores it was given were noticeably lower than those given to original Metal Gear titles such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Metal Gear fans generally agreed it was a quality title, but not one without flaws.
Most of the criticism stemmed from the fact that the structure of the original game was not designed for features from Metal Gear Solid 2 that were included, such as the ability to fire weapons in first-person mode (making what some already called an easy game even easier), hang from ledges, and hide bodies in lockers. Revolver Ocelot in particular can be beaten with four headshots in literally ten seconds.
Also, many were disappointed with the direction of the new cut-scenes, despite the fact that Ryuhei Kitamura was hand-picked by Hideo Kojima to direct the cinematics. One criticism is that they are more extreme, featuring Matrix-inspired fights that are a stark contrast from the first game's gritty realism. In the original, for instance, there are no scenes where Solid Snake backflips off of a missile or dives in the air, dodging a rather large section of the roof that Cyborg Ninja has cut off and kicked at Snake. One particularly controversial cutscene involves Snake and Meryl standing for ten seconds watching what is obviously a sniper's laser sight dancing over Meryl's body.
Another criticism is that the Codec support team's voice acting is weaker. Those who had foreign accents in the original (Naomi Hunter, Mei Ling, Nastasha Romanenko) now sport more American accents. However, while some of these changes were disliked by some fans, most of them were intentional. Mei Ling, for example, has a less distinguished Chinese accent, but since we later find out that the character was born and raised in America, the change makes sense.
A few lines were altered from the game's script as well. While having most that were from the original, some phrases that were in the japanese version were added into this new english dub. One such case was the following line as Snake talks to Campbell and Naomi about Liquid surviving his helecoptor crash:
Original: "...He'd be sliced up faster than an onion on an infomercial as soon as he ejected."
Remake: "...He'd be torn to ribbons by the rotor blades as soon as he ejected."
| Metal Gear Games |
|---|
| Metal Gear Canonical Universe |
| Metal Gear — Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake — Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty — Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater |
| Non-Canonical Universe |
| Snake's Revenge — Metal Gear Acid — Metal Gear Acid 2 — Metal Gear: Ghost Babel |
| Remakes and Updated Versions |
| Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes — Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions — Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance — Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence |
| Comics and Other Interpretations |
| Metal Gear Solid Comic — Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel — Metal Gear Online |
