Every now and then, we in the gaming community are presented with a pathetic excuse for a video game, a console port. Most of us computer gamers are jaded to a certain extent, that's to say we crave complexity. Fortunately, Metal Gear Solid offers a certain degree of sophistication, found in its ability to force players into using stealth. Metal Gear Solid has quite a strong tradition on the console, first found on the Nintendo and more recently the Playstation. In a somewhat revolutionary move, Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation forced players into using stealth tactics rather than just running around mindlessly, killing anything and everything in sight. The creation of Metal Gear Solid spawned a completely new action gaming sub genre, a group that includes games like Rainbow Six. Finally, Metal Gear Solid has arrived on the computer, including both MGS and the VR Missions, offering something new to less console friendly computer gamers.

The plot behind Metal Gear Solid resembles something found in a Steven Segal movie. You assume the role of Solid Snake, naturally a badass, who must infiltrate a terrorist base and rescue hostages and a stockpile of stolen nuclear warheads. Highly original, isn't it? Nonetheless, the plot does have some bearing on what you must accomplish in the game. In order to help you traverse the dangerous terrain, you are given a video transmitter in order to remain in constant contact with a cast of MGS experts. Playing as Solid Snake, you are thrust into the fray without any sort of weaponry, only a pair of binoculars and your fists (don't worry, you can find plenty of weaponry later). Instead of simply kicking ass and taking names, Snake is forced to be stealthy in order to avoid detection. It is impossible to complete this game without using stealth some of the time, therefore players must decide when to be noisy and when to be quiet, believe me I've tried.

On most occasions, console to PC ports seriously lack in the graphics department. Metal Gear Solid doesn't disappoint necessarily, but it doesn't exactly offer anything special. There are, however, vast improvements from the Playstation version of the game. All of the characters and backgrounds are a lot crisper and really look nice compared to the Playstation. Despite the fact that the game looks better than the Playstation, it doesn't say much, considering a lot of the low-res textures are still used throughout the game.

The gameplay and controls remain the same from the Playstation. Control depends on what kind of gamepad you have; I used a Gravis GamePad Pro (almost an exact copy of the Playstation controller). The majority of the game revolves around following orders from your Colonel, ranging from hostage rescue to infiltrating a guarded area. The guards are somewhat easy to fool, but when they are alerted of your presence, it's a good idea to run. Also included in this package are the VR Missions, which is basically an add-on pack for Metal Gear Solid.

For those of you who have already played Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation, you don't need to pick this up, because it's the same thing. But if you're one of those purists who simply won't touch a console, Metal Gear Solid is not to be missed, especially at $35. It may not seem that innovative and special at first, but consider that it was the first of its kind.