Metal Gear Solid（《合金装备》）迎来28周年，更凸显 PlayStation 的最大失误

It’s been almost 30 years since Metal Gear Solid released on the original PlayStation, garnering huge critical and casual acclaim as one of the best stealth action games ever made. There have been countless accounts of how influential the original Metal Gear Solid is, from its creation of realistic 3D environments that players interact with on detailed levels to its memorable boss fights that force players to interact with their hardware to win. However, all these points of nostalgia are not ones PlayStation seems to have held on to, as it hasn’t prevented them from detaching themselves from the series’ future.

There have been multiple collections that have featured the original Metal Gear Solid, with the franchise still being among the most memorable in its genre. Successful remakes like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater have only proven how much Metal Gear games mean to fans, for both the series’ tactical gameplay and fascinating escalation of espionage stories. Yet, despite the attachment fans have toward Metal Gear Solid and its creator Hideo Kojima, PlayStation and publisher Konami haven’t been as attentive to the franchise in ways fans have wanted.

Metal Gear Solid Released In October 1998 As One Of The Original PlayStation’s Most Innovative Titles

1998 was a year when many impactful games were released, but Metal Gear Solid might have been one of the most innovative for the time. Launching on the original PlayStation, Metal Gear Solid was revered for how it was one of the first games that encouraged players to interact with their environment extensively to keep themselves hidden and infiltrate guarded spaces. Players could crawl under objects, duck or hide behind walls, and make noise to distract enemies at every step. This game was the first to establish what is now a classic stealth system — stay out of sight of enemies, and if you get caught, find some way to get hidden again.

The red exclamation point and musical cue of enemies spotting main character Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid has become iconic, referring to an exciting gameplay loop other titles have emulated for years. Evading suspicion and trying new ideas to get into secured places turned Metal Gear Solid into a great game for players to express creativity, with no two players having exactly the same approach to progressing missions. Additional gadgets and tools unlocked to add new layers to this process also helped prevent the game from becoming stale at any point, only giving players more ways to play as missions got more complex.

Metal Gear Solid‘s presentation is top notch too, with wide overhead camera angles and dynamic visuals that were far ahead of their time. A changeable first-person view only added to the immersion, especially during boss fights. Even 28 years later, players still refer to the original Psycho Mantis boss battle, where the boss reads the player’s memory card and calls them out for what games they’ve played the most. These kind of innovative moments happened frequently in Metal Gear Solid, with a serviceable story that cemented the game as an all-time great experience for players of all kinds.

Stealth Action Gameplay Of Metal Gear Solid Will Be Followed By Physint, Sony’s Cancelled Project

All of the praise surrounding the first Metal Gear Solid around its Anniversary makes it even more baffling that PlayStation chose to cancel the game’s spiritual successor — Physint. The project Physint was made in partnership with Kojima Productions and Hideo Kojima himself, the original creator of Metal Gear Solid and that franchise’s continued direction for many years. Kojima recently announced that Sony had lost confidence in the project following the lower than expected sales of Kojima’s latest game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.

While PlayStation’s caution toward new gaming endeavors is understandable considering the tumultuous state of the industry, their decision to cancel Physint is not their smartest. Since the attempt at cancellation, Kojima has found new partners at Xbox to complete the game, making it another potentially impactful stealth action title in his catalog. However, Sony or PlayStation will receive none of the same accolades as they did for Metal Gear Solid as a result of their new business choices regarding Kojima and his project visions.

Letting Physint Be Acquired By Xbox Through Budget Cuts Might Be A Huge PlayStation Blunder

By merit of being connected to Metal Gear Solid alone, Physint has grasped player attention everywhere, with the stealth action genre desperately needing an innovative new title. With the hiatus of other series like Splinter Cell, Physint could fill a space in gaming that has been left dormant for quite some time, leading to big sales and critical acclaim should Kojima do what he’s done several times before. With the promise of a game like Physint, it’s strange why PlayStation wouldn’t support it, given its connection to one of the most well-known gaming series of all time.

This is but one of many controversies PlayStation is dealing with, but the severed relationship between Kojima and Physint might be the one that has the longest lasting consequence. Should Physint be as sought-after as the first stealth action experience that sold many PlayStation consoles, Sony might suffer an even greater loss of their fan base than the cancellation of physical disc production is already causing. If the excuse of budget cuts for Physint was also applied to the first Metal Gear Solid back in 1998, maybe the landscape of gaming would be much different than it is now.

What do you think will happen with Physint and its attempts to succeed the Metal Gear Solid series? Let us know in the comments below!