Gamertell

Title: Metal Gear Solid Touch
Price: $7.99
System(s): iPhone, iPod Touch
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Konami (Kojima Productions)
ESRB Rating: Rated 9+ for violence.
Pros: The right design idea.
Cons: The wrong implementation.
Overall Score: One thumb up and one thumb Down; 75/100; C; * * 1/2 out of five.

Metal Gear Solid Touch started its life as a viral campaign on Kojima Productions’ website. A giant green three-quarter circle with an exclamation mark in the center proceeded the phrase: “The next Metal Gear is”. A treasure trove of conspiracy theory gems such as “Metal Gear Solid 4 on 360!” poured in from around the internet.

Then one night, the Kojima Production teaser gave way to a portal to the official Metal Gear Touch website and the excitement began. I was especially excited having been at the right place at the right time and unveiling the news as it happened.

Now that it MGS Touch is finally in our hands, we have to say that this might not be the mobile Metal Gear Solid game everyone wanted but its the one we expected.

MGS Touch takes its gameplay from the Time Crisis and Virtua Cop school of designs, only Kojima Productions took things a step further and spliced in-game settings and objects from the actual Metal Gear Solid 4 game to create a gorgeous high-resolution arcade shooter.

Everything you’ve seen in the screenshots is made possible due to the use of cardboard cutout imagery from MGS 4. PMC troops, GEKKOs, the surroundings, and even Snake himself are cutouts pieced together. The idea is so simple and genius yet really lame all at the same time. This is something you’d fully expect to see from Kojima Productions.

Because of the use of cutouts, players won’t have to worry about the stealth gameplay Metal Gear games are known for. Instead, this is a point-and-shoot game. Getting Snake to aim his gun involves simply moving your finger over the screen and tapping your target. Switching weapons is done by pinching (dragging two fingers together on) the screen.

Where MGS Touch really stands out is how good the game sounds even on the iPhone speaker. The gunshots, the cry of the Haven troops, the distracting croak of the Kerotan Frogs all sounds really vivid.

As for features, MGS Touch offers a story mode, survival mode and the Drebin shop. Story mode will take you through a quick rundown (sans the epic cutscenes) of MGS 4 events from Act 1 to Act 3. Survival mode is just like it sounds, you go from stage to stage maintaining your time and health. Survival mode is easily the best mode in the package since participation generates a lot of tension especially getting up to the higher numbered levels. You’ll find yourself actually hunting the battlefield with your eyes for those chickens and frogs (they give you health and weapons/stealth) while keeping an eye on your enemies, timing when to strike before getting stricken. 

Finally there’s the Drebin shop where you will spend imaginary Drebin points awarded from the Story mode on “3D” artwork that you can then use as wallpapers for your device. There’s not a lot of value in the shop yet, but I definitely see the value increasing in the future through patches or even taking advantage of the to-be implemented in-game transaction system in the iPhone OS 3.0 update.

Unless you’re a hardcore Metal Gear Solid fan, eight dollars might seem a little high for what is so far Konami’s best Touch Konami-brand offering. The cardboard cutouts cheapen the value of the look for the game and while the sound is phenomenal for a iPhone game, only a handful of people are going to care.

iTunes Link [Metal Gear Solid Touch] Official Site [Touch Konami]

Check out the gallery: Metal Gear Solid Touch