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Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Developer(s)	Silicon Knights Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Series	Metal Gear
Release date(s)	NA March 9, 2004 JPN March 11, 2004 EU March 26, 2004
Genre(s)	Stealth-based game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature CERO: 15+ BBFC: 15
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Media	2 GameCube Optical Discs
Input	GameCube controller

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth-based game developed by Silicon Knights and Konami that was published in 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube video game console. The Twin Snakes is an enhanced remake of Metal Gear Solid, developed and first published by Konami in 1998 for the Sony PlayStation video game console.^[1]

The game's story centers on Solid Snake, a retired soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons disposal facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit. He attempts to liberate their two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, and stops the terrorists from launching a nuclear strike. Snake also confronts and defeats members of FOXHOUND, who reveal his genetically-engineered heritage.

The Twin Snakes features graphical improvements of the original, new cut scenes written and directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, and gameplay functions originally introduced in the sequel Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game also includes a rewritten script with re-recorded voice acting using most of the original artists.^[2]

Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development 2.1 Release 3 Voice acting 3.1 Cast 4 Reception 5 Differences 6 References 7 External links

For Twin Snakes, the original Metal Gear Solid's gameplay was altered to resemble that of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. While all of the original areas and enemies were kept, new ways for the player to combat them were introduced, such as the ability to shoot using first person view.^[2] Enemy AI was also improved, giving enemy soldiers the ability to communicate with each other and detect the player more intelligently.^[3]

Twin Snakes was first announced in 2003 by Nintendo of America, confirming that Silicon Knights would be developing under the guidance of legendary developers, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.^[4]

Although Twin Snakes was largely developed at Silicon Knights, its cut scenes were developed in-house at Konami and directed by Japanese film director Ryuhei Kitamura, reflecting his dynamic signature style, utilizing bullet-time photography and choreographed gunplay extensively.^[5] Kitamura created many of the games cinematics to look identical to those in the original Metal Gear Solid, but upon inspection Hideo Kojima had him redo them. The game's composition duties were split: some of the in-game music was handled by Steve Henifin and Silicon Knights' and music staff, while the rest of the music (in-game, menus and cut scenes) was handled by Konami's music staff, including Metal Gear Solid 2 co-composer Norihiko Hibino.

Twin Snakes was released on March 9, 2004 in North America. It was originally to be released in November, but was pushed back, along with the other versions.^[6] The European date was pushed back several weeks and was repackaged with artwork to make up for the delay.^[7]

Japan received the game on March 11 and received an exclusive Premium Package of The Twin Snakes, traditional as past Metal Gear games received one. The box includes the game itself; a platinum-colored GameCube adorned with the FOXHOUND logo; a 44-page book titled Memorandum containing production notes, sketches and photos; and a GameCube disc called the "Special Disc" containing an emulated version of the Famicom version of the original Metal Gear and a Twin Snakes trailer.^[8]

The voice acting was re-recorded, with most of the original voice cast from Metal Gear Solid returning, with the notable exception of the voice actor for the Cyborg Ninja. In the original game, Cyborg Ninja was voiced by Greg Eagles, who also voiced Donald Anderson. In the remake, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen, even though Eagles did reprise his role as the DARPA Chief. Unlike previous MGS titles, no Japanese voiceovers were recorded for The Twin Snakes. Instead, the Japanese release used the same English voice acting as the North American and European versions.

Voice Actor	Former Pseudonym	Character
David Hayter	Sean Barker*	Solid Snake
Cam Clarke	James Flinders	Liquid Snake
Debi Mae West	Mae Zadler	Meryl Silverburgh
Paul Eiding	Paul Otis	Roy Campbell
Jennifer Hale	Carren Learning	Naomi Hunter
Kim Mai Guest	Kim Nguyen	Mei Ling
Renee Raudman	Renne Collette	Nastasha Romanenko
Christopher Randolph	Christopher Fritz	Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich
Rob Paulsen	N/A	Gray Fox
Patric Zimmerman	Patric Laine	Revolver Ocelot
Peter Lurie	Chuck Farley	Vulcan Raven
Doug Stone	none	Psycho Mantis
Tasia Valenza	Julie Monroe	Sniper Wolf/Computer Voice
Greg Eagles	George Byrd	DARPA Chief
Allan Lurie	Bert Stewart	Kenneth Baker
William Bassett	Frederick Bloggs	Jim Houseman
Dean Scofield	Dino Schofield	Johnny Sasaki
Granville Van Dusen Steven Blum Scott Menville Scott Bullock Scott Dolph	N/A	Various Genome Soldiers

*This credit appeared only in the game manual and early demo versions of the game. David Hayter did not have a pseudonym in the game credits.

Much like the original Metal Gear Solid, which received excellent reviews from critics, Twin Snakes did also receiving an 8.8 and 85 from Game Rankings and Metacritic.^[9][10] respectively. IGN gave Twin Snakes 8.5 out of 10, praising its superior graphics and likening the presentation to epic movies.^[11] GameSpot gave it an 8.2 out of 10 or "Great" on their scale,^[3] Eurogamer rated Twin Snakes as 8/10 and Gaming Age gave it a "A-" rating. American gaming magazine Game Informer gave Twin Snakes a 9.25/10, citing its improved gameplay and graphics, and also its faithful retelling of the original Metal Gear Solid story.^[12]

Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, Twin Snakes has also drawn criticism. According to GamePro, the game has a "flagging framerate and bouts of slowdown that occur when too much activity crowds the screen."^[13] The new gameplay elements from MGS2 have also been criticized because they are not necessary because the level design is virtually unchanged from MGS1,^[13] and even "spoil the challenge ... and completely ruin at least one boss battle."^[14]

Fan reaction has been mixed in regards to the cutscenes, with both parties having strong opinions. Among the criticisms, purist gamers have felt that the portrayal of Solid Snake in this game has been considered out of character, as opposed to the down-to-earth mannerisms in the previous games. Several examples point to Snake's near impossible acrobatic stunts depicted in the game. However, others claim it fit the over the top nature of the series.

Apart from the obvious upgrade in graphics, the Twin Snakes has a number of less apparent alterations compared to the PlayStation version.

• Minor dialog changes.
• All cutscenes were re-rendered and finessed, most undergoing major reworking. Two new cutscenes were added to give the Ninja character more depth and a new section was added to Psycho Mantis' cutscene. Also, during Sniper Wolf's death scene, several wolves appear and howl over her death. The wolves were not in the PSX version of the cutscene.
• The ending text was rewritten to reflect the year 2003, as opposed to 1997 when the original was released.
• The disk change location is now at the bottom of Communications Tower A. The PSX version's disk swap occurred before entering the Blast Furnace.
• Like Metal Gear Solid 2, dog tags can be collected from enemies. However, unlike MGS2 there is no reward for doing so.
• Guards can now call for backup and make regular reports on patrols.
• The Boss Survival mode was added to the Special menu.
• Every line of dialog in the game was re-recorded with the original cast, with the exception of Ninja as stated above. Naomi and Mei Ling's accents were removed and Nastasha's was toned down.
• Psycho Mantis' dialog regarding saved games was altered to mention Gamecube games such as Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda, rather than the PlayStation games mentioned in the original.
• The entire musical score with the exception of the ending theme was rewritten.
• The Game Over screen was replaced.
• Ration packs were changed from their original square shape to the circles found in MGS2.
• The Very Easy difficulty setting was added.
• No VR Missions were included.
• In the PSX version of Metal Gear Solid, the players life and maximum ammunition are gradually increased as the game progresses. In Twin Snakes both are at maximum from the beginning. In addition the life bar is refilled after every boss battle, whereas in the PSX version it was only refilled after certain events.
• Codec call skipping was altered. Originally, pressing a button during a Codec call would result in the voice over stopping and the screens progressing manually. In the remake pressing a button will result in the call fast forwarding through to the end.
• Many environmental elements from MGS2 were introduced into the remake, such as lockers, fire extinguishers etc. In addition, many objects in the background can be destroyed or broken, such as monitors.
• One of the biggest changes was the introduction of first-person shooting, also introduced in MGS2.
• The M9 and PSG1-T were added, as well as boss Stun bars.
• The ability to hang and drop was added.
• The books for distracting guards were introduced.
• Sniper rifle controls were changed. In the remake it is possible to shoot while standing or kneeling. In the original, Snake automatically went into a prone position when the PSG1 was equipped. The auto-zooming nature of the original was removed.
• Security cameras can be shot and destroyed.
• The FPS mode can be set to either Toggle or Hold. In previous iterations of Metal Gear Solid, the player had to hold down the First Person View button.
• FPV effects were added, such as snow on the screen, cracking when killed, and mask tints and outlines.
• The Thermal Goggles were updated to show a more realistic representation of heat. In the original, the Thermal Goggles turned everything red and hotter objects were more brightly lit.
• Key cards were altered to work automatically and do not need to be equipped.
• Claymores placed by the player are visible. In the original game they disappeared after placement.
• The Nikita missiles must be controlled from First Person. Originally the player could guide them in either First or Third Person view.
• The AP Sensor was added.
• The PAL key icon changes colour according to what temperature it is, rather than the player having to check it's information screen as in the original game.
• The radar mode "Caution" was added.
• "Game Over if Spotted" was added to the Hard and Extreme difficulties.
• The radar is replaced by an enemy's field of vision window if they spot footprints.
• Bodies do not disappear in Twin Snakes unless they are discovered.
• The Ninja boss had one section removed. Originally, the player had to shoot at the Ninja when his force field went up.
• Metal Gear REX's missiles have a lock on ability in the PSX version. This is no longer the case in Twin Snakes.
• Many small modifications were made to level layout and design, for example the addition of Mario and Yoshi in Otacon's office.
• Two pipes were added to the east side of the Underground Maintenance Bay. One contains Liquid Nitrogen, the other steam. When shot these pipes can instantly freeze or heat the PAL key respectively.
• The alert music is different in every area.

• Official Website (In English and Japanese)
• Official Nintendo Page

v • d • e Metal Gear video games

Metal Gear • Metal Gear 2 • Metal Gear Solid • Metal Gear Solid 2 • Metal Gear Solid 3 • Portable Ops • Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake's Revenge • Ghost Babel • The Twin Snakes • Metal Gear Acid • Metal Gear Acid 2 Characters • Metal Gears