Well if it isn't the dying days of summer once again? That time of year where the blue skies and fine weather persist but you can detect that ever so subtle change in the air. Full beam heat is no more, the green is a little less greener than it was a few weeks ago and the stage is set for the inevitable arrival of the Autumnal hues. This is all a very fine way of saying: why look at the time? See how it's getting on? Why what better way to mark it than to showcase some of my favourite game music. Not just my favourite game music but music from what might just be one of the all time greats. A game series that may or may not be my favourite of all-time. That's right, behold some of my favourite music from Metal Gear Solid and its many sequels.
There'a lot to say for me and my thoughts on this game series but for the sake of brevity I'll try and keep it to the edited highlights for now. The game and the series overall takes great strides to be as cinematic as possible. It's not always the most coherent storytelling heaped in hardcore authenticity but neither does it reside completely in absurdity either. Rather there is a delicate mix of sensibilities here as Hideo Kojima relays his thoughts to us on the many things that occupy his mind. Issues of legacy, memory, memes, genes and the military complex. It's a heady mix and manages the feat of being somewhat novel when it's not making you wonder what the heck is exactly going on?
But what of the soundtrack? Since the release of Metal Gear Solid in 1998, the sound of this series has shifted to more grand orchestral themes but it has nearly always retained something of its electronic roots in there somewhere. The OG Metal Gear Solid still hits hard though. From the moment you load up the original menu, to creeping through Shadow Moses and encountering the many colourful super soldiers within, the game never fails to immerse the player and heap on layers of rich synthesizer sound. It's atmospheric is what I'm saying, it accentuates and underscores the sense of isolation against a cold, harsh backdrop.
The unsung heroes and creators of this soundtrack are credited as KCE Japan Sound Team. Not much is out there specifically on them but without their contribution I feel the experience of playing this game would be dramatically different. Another standout for me is Warhead Storage. It's introduced early in the game and my pivotal memory of first listening to this track is irrevocably associated with the mental image of seeing Solid Snake creep through a warehouse stocked with nuclear missiles. One of those indelible images that sums up much of the appeal of this game for me. There are other tracks I could mention here but again for brevity, let's remember that the sequels did much good on this front too. For instance when you load up one of the finest sequels of all time in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, you hear this...
Now this hits different than the menu theme from Metal Gear Solid, but it nails the tone of much of what is to follow when you select the option to start game. From this point onwards in the series Harry Gregson-Williams takes over as the main composer. Whilst he certainly brings a more blockbuster touch to the Metal Gear Solid score, there is still a lot of continuity with what came before and he has a hand in most of my favourite game music from this point forward.
Sons of Liberty is quite the piece of work and I say that in the most congratulatory of tones. A self-aware sequel of sorts, very postmodern and knowing. A sequel that deliberately goes against the grain of what you might expect of a sequel to one of the best games of all time. A forward looking game that was released in 2001 and yet somehow anticipates much of what was to come in the next ten to twenty years. We didn't have iPhones yet, or social media, or really even widespread broadband internet. I can't lie and say I entirely 'got' the ending at the time, but when I played it again as part of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection a decade later it clicked in a way that totally stunned me. This game is also responsible for another all-time great piece of game music in the epic main theme that played not only in the intro but also in what might be the best trailer for a video game ever made...
Lots of hyperbole in this write-up I realise that but not unduly so in my view. I realise I am racing through a brief selection of tracks here but there was no way I could omit yet another piece of menu screen music. Indeed I could have just made this all about them. With the exception of Metal Gear Solid V I think they all came with absolute bangers that played before you even started the game proper. In this case I am referring to the CQC theme that starts off Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. As well as being one of the best prequels of all time, this was also a love letter to 60's James Bond and 80's Rambo. After some more daring creative choices with the previous game, this one perhaps plays it a little safer overall but its no less a great game for that.
Again on the sound front it feels familiar yet distinct and another taste of what is to come in the game itself. As with the previous game I played this again in the HD Collection version and it definitely held up in my view. Now I've come this far into a write-up on Metal Gear Solid music without really touching upon the soaring ballads that pop up every so often. They don't come up often but when they do they certainly hit their mark. I raise this here because Metal Gear Solid 3 has another total banger on it's hands here in the titular main theme 'Snake Eater' by Cynthis Harrell. It's powerful, soaring and just a tiny bit Kojima but it's all the better for it.
Okay so I realise this entry is turning into an extended version of a Youtube comments section at this point so I will leave you with one last selection from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Sometimes it feels like the series creator Hideo Kojima gets a little too indulgent with some of the creative choices made in these games. Often it works to the game's credit and certainly it helps them make their unique mark as a creative work with something to say. Sometimes though, it gets a bit much and you end up watching an unskippable 30 minute cut-scene because, well just because? That's what MGS4 feels like in retrospect. As always it had its moments and I wouldn't call it a bad game by any stretch. I just feel like it took twice as long to reach where it was going than what was needed for that particular journey. Anyway, its another Metal Gear Solid game with another iconic menu screen and theme...
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