Coming from a true fan of Metal Gear Solid, this is the best game in the series next to Snake Eater.
Like any other Metal Gear game, the storyline is absolutely outstanding. Even though it is the oldest Solid game, it still has a story that competes with the rest of the series' games. On a remote Alaskan island nicknamed Shadow Moses, Solid Snake's former unit FOXHOUND goes rouge, demanding the body of Big Boss, the greatest soldier who ever lived, from the US. Led by Liquid Snake, FOXHOUND already commanded Genome soldiers, who were the subjects of advanced gene therapy. With the DNA of Big Boss, they could become super soldiers. If the US failed to meet their demands, FOXHOUND would launch a nuclear strike. You take command Solid Snake, called out of retirement for a solo mission to prevent the nuclear strike from happening. What is unique about this game though is the fact that there are two separate endings, each chosen by a player's actions. No other Metal Gear Solid game does this, making this game even greater. To experience more of this amazing plot, play the game.
Gameplay in Metal Gear Solid is almost identical to Metal Gear Solids 2 and 3, featuring crawling, sniping, and pressing against walls. The one difference is the lack of aiming and shooting in the first person. Even though it is older than the other games, you still have the ability to put enemies in a chokehold after sneaking up on them. I would describe the gameplay and controls as an early version of its predecessors, because of the lack of analog sticks on the PS1 controller.
Considering that this game is from 1998, by today's standards the game doesn't have very good graphics. Characters' faces aren't detailed and have the infamous "box" type shapes. Back when Metal Gear Solid was released, the graphics were regarded as amazing, considering all the different locations, size of areas, great cutscenes, and detailed character faces during codec conversations. I don't know a whole lot about graphic descriptions, but considering this game is for the PS1, they were ahead of their time at it's release.
Overall, like I mentioned in the Review deck, Metal Gear Solid is the best in the series along with Snake Eater. I really liked this game because of the storyline and unique characters. My favorite aspect of it was the setting. Alaska is the greatest place on earth, and every time a video game is set there, I have to check it out. The ending song at the credits is amazing, especially when short clips of the Alaskan frontier are shown with it. For anyone who loves action/adventure, you should definitely try this game out, even though it is quite outdated. For Metal Gear fans, this game is a must play.