Okay, a few more points:
-Quite cool to see Gray Fox, in my words, "pull off a Super Metroid" and sacrifice himself to help Snake destroy Metal Gear REX.
-Naomi's final words were pretty darn powerful and uplifting if I do say so myself.
-I loved the video clips of Alaskan wildlife shown during the credits. I guess the implication is that the clips are from Snake's point of view. If they aren't...allow me to have my own interpretation, please!
And the review!
First off, like I said, I'm with the people who consider MGS1 to have one of the best storylines in any video game, and that was likely the biggest reason I beat the game so quickly - the plot was just so darn gripping, and it got even moreso as the game progressed. Very few characters, if any, are left to be mere cogs in the war machine, pretty much all of the good guys and perhaps even one of the bad guys undergo some serious character development to emerge as at least happier people if not necessarily "better" people (since that term can be used rather loosely), the plot does an amazing job tackling real world issues like nuclear weapons and genetic engineering, etc. The game's top-notch (at least for the time!) presentation also really helps - I personally believe that the game's music was utilized as a storytelling tool very well even during the gameplay, and I would not be surprised if the graphics are perhaps the best of any console game until Final Fantasy VIII, plus the voice acting is top-notch. I can't really think of any way to improve the story or presentation.
However, I feel that Metal Gear Solid is still just as much about its gameplay as its story, if not more about the former. I found MGS's stealth gameplay to be very satisfying (particularly trying to fix my own mess when I got caught), and it's of course quite complex (yeah, just wait until I get to the sequels, I know. Looking forward to them!). Furthermore, each area in the facility has its own architecture and its own traps to deal with, making for entertaining level design as well. I also really enjoyed the "Metroidvania" elements and boss battles.
I can think of a good few issues I had with the gameplay, but they barely did much to get in the way of my enjoyment. My biggest issue with Metal Gear Solid, which again isn't that big of a deal, is some of the backtracking needed, and there were only really two occasions during the game where this got the slightest bit egregious.
Score: 10/10. While I still do feel a bit disappointed for reasons I outlined earlier in this thread, it's safe to say that Metal Gear Solid has joined the ranks of my favorite games of all time and I certainly want to explore the rest of the series and quite possibly the genre.
And...I honestly feel as if I wrote that haphazardly. I planned my review ahead of time, but then I forgot what I originally planned to write when I came here. Good thing the review turned out to be decently long anyway I guess.
Okay, current "next playthrough consideration list" looks like this:
1) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
2) Final Fantasy VIII
3) Super Metroid
4) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time
Though I won't have my Wii back until near the end of this month, as I stated earlier. Discussion on this is definitely encouraged, although for now, I want to journey into the rest of the Metal Gear Solid series.