It's too, too bad, this game could have been something great. It was however, flooded with flaws. This was "the greatest game of all time" for maybe the day it was released. The main being that this game was so short I must have beaten 10 times 10 minutes after I got it. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but it was seriously lacking in the time department. Not to mention how easy it was, the bosses were a joke, and the guards had the intellegence of a chesse ball. The game did have it's ups though, great voice acting, real guns, and the realism the game brings to a market flooded with over the edge shoot-'em-ups.

The graphics made you say "eh." They weren't good but they weren't bad. The cineamas were cool, because they added a whole bunch of cool effects, blurring, brightness overload, cinematic camera angles, etc. They also had some real-life video which was pretty cool, I don't want to give anything away though (yeah, right by the time you read this review you could have beaten the game around 8 times.) The explosions were nice, so were the laser effects, and the sniper rifle sight. Graphics were just another tally to the mediocraty scoring table.

Sound was very, very good. The music set the tone and the voice acting was a model for how other companies would follow. The sound effects were great too, gun shots ecchoed in large warehouses, silencers cut the noise down to a slight "pshh." Back to the voice acting, if you can ignore a couple of parts where Snake (the main character) tries to laught or get mad, it is the best voice acting in a game yet. They all speak very believably, the bad guys sound like bad guys, the general sounds like a general, and the doctor sounds like a doctor.

The controls were very nicely done. One of the games best features was how you could lean against the side of a wall and look over it to see if a baddie was-a-comin'. Snake moves very responsively, he doesn't jerk or gently turn around, it if juuuuuuussst right. Good thing to, because one false move and you may be in trouble. The aiming system was good too, pust the shoot button to raise your gun, then release it to shoot (with a pistol,) with a machine gun, just aim and fire as much as possible. Be careful though, you might run out of ammo sooner then you want. Speaking of ammo, the game has a great menu system, especially switching guns. Hit the R1 or L1 buttons to bring up a items or guns screen (respectively) then use the directional buttons to pick the one you want, a very nice touch.

The game has very good replay value. It's a good thing since you can beat the game so easily. If you beat it and Meryl dies, you get one thing, and if she doesn't, you get another thing. Not to mention the last scene (in the ending) is one of the better endings I've ever seen. I can't give anything away though, deal with it. The training system is very good, multiple skill levels, and tons of different scenarios, all helping you prepare for the real thing. Sad thing is that the game is much easier than the training missons.