It’s the stealth. The situation. The feel of it. MGS is one of the first truly interactive forms of entertainment. It immerses you into the role of the protagonist in Kojima’s feature film. The characters you meet along the way, the setting, the things you learn, all come together in a solid (no pun intended) package (no pun here either) that provides an intuitive gameplay system that works.

It’s not you’re ordinary shoot ‘em up or soldier/war/ battlefield game. It’s tactical espionage action. Okay, so you’re on a one-man infiltration mission to rescue some hostages from some terrorists. But then you’re hit with these characters and twists to the regular formula that’s unexpected, suspenseful and interesting. The real-life clips and comments on today’s society, the emotion, back story and eccentrics built into the characters works wonders for the game. You are genuinely invested in the game and you care about what’s happening, what could happen, and what you’re discovering.

MGS has consequences. You can choose to go around killing everyone but the game tries to convey the hardships that come with war. We witness characters inflicting pain upon others and there’s a sense of the seriousness of the atmosphere and situation around us. We could lose the people we care about if we’re not careful. I don’t know about you guys but when Meryl got hit by Sniper Wolf I was worried as hell. She could have died in that long, cold walkway and I’d have to withstand torture before I could get her back. In Snake Eater we must walk down a fiery path knee-deep in water surrounded by the ghosts of all the people we’ve killed. MGS is not a mindless game, that’s for sure. As Meryl sorrowfully articulates, “War…is meaningless.”

The codec allowed for the player to really interact and talk with the characters in the world we were living in. It allowed us to get to know them and at the same time, made them fuller, detailed and believable characters. If it weren’t for the memorable characters in the first games, MGS3 wouldn’t have been able to make us so giddy to see young Ocelot or the return of Vamp in MGS4.

The games strengthen our knowledge of issues in modern society by making it a part of the story, making us want to know more. MGS2 implemented this wonderfully. The game’s use of philosophy, metaphors and cerebral challenging of the players thoughts and ideas as well as the vast amount of information it supplied, made MGS2 one of the most profound games ever, where paying attention to the story to get the most out of the game is the actual payoff.

With MGS3 we get a great story, another worthy entry. Was the story deep? Sure, but it was the emotion angle that got played up this time. We also get one of the most interesting videogame characters in the form of The Boss.

MGS took players on a journey and they were changed because of it. To me, that is one hell of a feat.