This classic series' first entry lays a fine groundwork, but numerous frustrations keep it from being a must play title.
This review is for the version found on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
***NOTE***
I really can't tell you how much I wanted to embrace the earlier Metal Gear titles. I love their successors to death and the frequency with which they're mentioned in those later installments always had me itching to play them, as if I'd been missing out on two more Kojima masterpieces. With the original MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake included as extras in the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence release, I felt the time to experience these long forgotten gems was at hand.
Sadly, that's simply not the case. While references to Solid Snake's legendary rookie mission in the MGS titles conjures up spectacular images, actually playing it is almost a chore. The AI is frustratingly glitchy and enemies reappear every time you re-enter a room. This wouldn't be a problem if not for the horrendous amount of backtracking. To make matters worse, the gunplay is awful and the health system is probably even more frustrating than the backtracking. I can't tell you how many times I unequipped my rations to open a locked door only to enter the room and get killed within about three seconds. To add insult to injury, the game spawns you in an area about ten full minutes before your death, every time without fail. The game goes something like this: Clear an area --> try to enter a new area --> become aware of something you need for the new area --> backtrack to get item --> repeat for about five or six hours with a terrible, item draining boss battle thrown in every now and then for good measure.
Now that's not to say Metal Gear is a bad game. It certainly isn't, but after experiencing the depth of its sequels, it's just difficult to devolve back to such a buggy and glitch filled 8-bit title.
Don't get me wrong, there are pros. For instance, it's simply amazing how similar presentation-wise it is to its successors. The game's stealth based structure is familiar, as are the alert stages and inventory control. Even the codec is featured! That said, while the gameplay is certainly reminiscent of its more acclaimed sequels, it has a rough, loose feeling that lacks the later games' polish. The game is certainly groundbreaking and ambitious with its ideas, but the tech is just so debilitating that a lot of Kojima's brilliance is lost in translation. After playing Metal Gear, it's not hard to see why he waited eight years for the PS1 to continue Snake's story.
Another feature that Metal Gear has going for it is its story. While no where near as deep as its sequels, the story is head and shoulders above most of is contemporaries.
The year is 1995 and the U.S. government has reason to believe that a weapon of mass destruction is being built within Outer Heaven, a military fortress off the coast of South Africa created in the 1980s by a legendary mercenary. The government calls upon Big Boss' FOXHOUND unit to investigate. After veteran FOXHOUND agent Gray Fox is captured with his final transmission reading, "Metal Gear...", rookie FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake is sent in to finish the job and neutralize Metal Gear.
However, while the story is certainly solid, without the series' trademark voice acting and cut scenes, the storytelling is just mediocre.
In summary, Metal Gear does have its moments. But for every pro there's a con. Take the music for instance, it's a pretty catchy tune. But it's only about two minutes long and it's on loop for the entire game. I hated it by the end. That it's the only Metal Gear title I was relieved to have finished says it all. It shows flashes of brilliance more fully realized in the later entries and lays down a great framework to build upon, but the game's (along with its sequel) inclusion with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is more of a throwaway curiosity to the fan that wants to see how it all began than anything of substance.
Put it this way, there's a reason it's not in the Essential Collection.